[Next Day.]
[9:26 Am.]
"I am hungry!!!"
Kelly rushed down the stairs, following the scent of food. Her mind was free of the horrors she had endured, guided entirely by the primal, innocent desire for breakfast. She stopped before the dining room, staring at Asher, who was busy in the kitchen.
"Wait Kelly!! You haven’t brushed your teeth, and bathed!!" Juliana rushed down the stairway next, and froze seeing Asher. The ruthless gangster persona that demanded SSS-Rank evolution stones last night was completely dormant, replaced entirely by the timid, easily embarrassed version of herself.
"Oh, Um... Good morning, Asher." She stammered, lowering her gaze to the ground. Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson, unable to maintain eye contact with the man who had provided for them so fiercely.
Asher stopped chopping the onions, staring at her in surprise. The meek and shy Juliana is back: The sheer whiplash of her Dissociative Identity Disorder was something he was still trying to navigate, but this version of her brought a strange, comforting sense of domestic normalcy.
"Good morning, Juliana. And Kelly, please listen to Juliana, the food will be ready." He said with a small smile.
Kelly stared at him for some seconds, her head tilted to the side like a confused puppy, then turned to Juliana: "What’s that guy doing in the kitchen? Where is our cook?"
".....?!"
Both Asher and Juliana were stunned by the question. Wasn’t the cook the one in the kitchen, chopping onions while wearing an apron?
Juliana sighed softly, recognizing the massive gaps in Kelly’s fractured memory, and pointed at Asher: "He is the cook, all the food you have been eating, he cooked everything." She said.
"...?!"
Kelly was stunned, turning to Asher, who still has his smile on his face:
"Are you sure about that? He seems too young to be a cook." Kelly stated, narrowing her eyes at their husband with genuine skepticism.
Asher felt her words stabbed his heart like a knife; he simply kept his smile on his face. The fact that his own wife saw him as a total stranger hurt more than he expected, a bitter reminder of the distance he still needed to cross to heal them.
"He might not look it, but he is the cook, the chef who prepared all your favorite food." Juliana explained, gently defending his honor.
"Wow, alright, I will follow his words! Come, come! I can’t wait!!" She grabbed Juliana, and rushed back upstairs, her excitement completely overriding her earlier doubts.
’If someone saw this, they won’t sense anything wrong... When comes to food, Kelly is always spirited, even with her situation. As for Juliana, she seems normal to the eye.’ Asher thought, taking solace in their brief moments of happiness, and continued with his duties.
{DING!}
{Congratulations! Wife Kelly’s Affection Greatly Increased.}
{Wife Kelly: +50%.}
{Total Affection: 70%}
"....?!!"
Asher paused, staring at the screen in disbelief. Just revealing to Kelly that he was the one cooking for these past weeks, earned him a whole 50% affection?? Her love language was clearly acts of service—specifically, culinary service.
{Congratulations! Gained a System reward for the high Affection increase.}
{Charm: +50%.}
{Total Charm: 80%.}
Asher only felt a wave of energy wash over his body, and vanished the next moment. He blinked, placed the knife on the table, staring at his hand, flexing his fingers to see if he felt any stronger.
"Charm? Why didn’t I feel anything? This system never gives meaningless rewards, so there must be something to this." He muttered, completely unaware of the subtle but devastating, reality-altering shift that had just occurred in his physical presence.
BAM!
".....?!"
Asher looked up at the sound. He blinked a couple of times, staring at Sara who stood in the dining area. Her book was on the ground, her eyes wide in shock as she stared at him. The usually stoic, emotionally detached woman was visibly breathless.
’Huh? Why is she looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?’ He thought, and waved his hand at her, completely oblivious to how the morning light now framed his flawlessly enhanced features.
Seeing Asher’s movement, Sara finally snapped out of her gaze. She blinked a couple of times, her pale cheeks tinting slightly pink, then gently bent down, picking up her book. Standing upright, she walked towards the dining table, and sat down, not looking up at Asher.
’Did I do something wrong? I don’t think so... I also wasn’t joking yesterday... Oh well, I should be quick with the last dish.’ He thought, chalking her reaction up to their tense conversation the night before, and focused on his work, occasionally stealing glances at Sara, who was intensely focused on her book.
Today, she was in a white long sleeve dress, which covered all her body, her white hair was styled cascading behind her like a waterfall. The pristine beauty of her appearance made his heart skip a beat. Asher quickly moved his gaze, focusing on his dish before he could be caught staring.
___
[Ten minutes Later.]
"Hungry, hungry--"
Kelly and Juliana stopped in their tracks, for two completely different reasons. Kelly froze due to the food on the table, which covered every spot with steaming, aromatic perfection.
While Juliana froze because of the guy smiling at them from his seat. If Before Asher was handsome, now, he was simply a divine angel in her eyes.
"WOW!!"
Kelly yelled, rushing to the table, completely ignoring Asher’s charm. Her gaze and attention were utterly and solely fixed on the food. A handsome face couldn’t compete with roasted duck.
"Yes, Wow." Juliana answered absentmindedly, still staring at her husband’s glowing visage. Noticing her words and how they sounded, she shook her head furiously:
"Um, I was referring to the food!!" She yelled, trying to explain herself, but the two simply ignored her embarrassed panic.
One was deaf, and the second doesn’t fucking care, when there was food before her.
"Come and sit down... Let’s eat." Asher said, gesturing to the seat on his right, playing the perfect, welcoming host.
"Oh, yes! Alright." Juliana stammered, awkwardly walked towards the seat, and sat down, finally tearing her gaze away from him to stare at the pile of food before them.
"Okay, I think we should first say our prayers."
"Prayers? You sure about that?" Juliana pointed a finger at Kelly, who was already stuffing her mouth with food, aggressively ignoring anyone else from the table.
"...?!"
Asher was dumbfounded, watching Kelly devour the meal like a starving wolf. Was his cooking that good?
He turned to Sara, and saw her also eating. Not as feral as Kelly, but she was eating far more than she usually did, taking rapid, delicate bites, unable to resist the taste.
Juliana closed her eyes, trying to maintain some semblance of manners: "Thank you for the food." She said, and opened her eyes again, picked up her spoon.
Asher watched as she took a bite then froze in complete shock:
’Wow! This is good!!’ Juliana thought in disbelief, taking more full spoons, her embarrassment entirely forgotten in the face of absolute culinary bliss.
{DING!}
{Wife Kelly’s Affection: +2%.}
{Total Affection: 72%.}
{Wife Sara’s Affection: +1%.}
{Total Affection: 61%.}
{Wife Juliana’s Affection: +5%.}
{Total Affection: 90%.}
"...?!!"
Asher was speechless. The combined assault of top-tier cooking and an 80% Charm stat was conquering his wives’ hearts faster than any dungeon raid ever could.