“Brother, did you say something? I couldn’t hear you over the water.” Noah yelled from within the bathroom.

Levi exhaled a long sigh charged to the brim with emotion. “I’ll tell you later…”

Noah dried his hands with the towel, “Blackie, did you hear what he said?”

Blackie side-eyed his blissfully ignorant host, “Yes. He proclaimed his undying love for you.”

Noah rolled his eyes, “If you didn’t hear it either, just say so, no need to be snarky.”

The “snarky” Blackie: “…” (눈_눈)

‘Alright, don’t say later I didn’t warn you. It’s you who chose not to believe me.’

┐(￣ヘ￣)┌

“It’s probably nothing anyway,” Noah concluded.

And so, by the time Noah came of the bathroom, he had completely forgotten about the matter.

Blackie, on the other hand, was itching to roast his annoying host and future husband.

Levi: ‘My first love confession and its target didn’t even hear me…’

○|￣|_

Blackie: ‘Ah, that’s not true!’

Levi: ??

Blackie: (¬‿¬) ‘Your first love confession and the target wasn’t even there.’

Levi: (凸ಠ益ಠ)凸

Blackie: ‘Put a sock in it. I’m not buying that pitiful act. If you had wanted him to hear, you would have said it to his face.’

Levi: ‘…and I will! I will definitely say it to his face one of these days!’

Blackie: (¬‿¬) ‘Will that be before or after you marry his sister?’

Levi: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

Blackie ‘hehe’-ed to himself.

“Brother,” Noah called out to Levi as soon as he came back, “Are you hungry?”

Before Levi could respond, Noah interrupted, “Even if you don’t feel hungry, you have to eat. We missed both lunch and dinner.”

Levi pressed his lips together but voiced no protest. He really, really wanted to snuggle with his baby some more!

…but his darling needed to eat. And his baby’s needs naturally trumped his own desires.

Since his baby wanted to go downstairs to eat, then, of course, he could only follow. Wherever his baby went was where Levi would be.

And that’s how Noah and Levi descended the stairs into the fully illuminated yet deathly quiet manor.

In the oppressive silence, it felt as if even the floating particles of dust were tiptoeing around.

However, like the quiet before the storm, this illusion of peace didn’t last long. As they approached the living room, they could hear the exasperated voice of the housekeeper aunty, “Madam, you’ve already watered it five times…” ‘…if you don’t stop, it will drown’.

In the spacious living room, Cordia mommy was watering the potted plants absentmindedly. It was hard to tell how long she had been at it, but the pot of begonias next to her had started leaking water.

Cordia mommy was a Nurturer; her power helped plants grow faster, bigger, and better. Due to her high affinity with plants, whenever she was stressed, she would go around the manor to water and nurture the foliage. And in turn, the staff added more decorative greenery around the estate, eventually turning it into its current lush state.

Cordia mommy showed no signs of hearing the other’s words, yet, the moment the echo of Noah’s and Levi’s footsteps reached her, her body abruptly shook. Before Noah could even step into the room, a hurried click-clacking trotted over. The source of which threw herself towards Noah.

Levi instinctively moved to block, but then halted, realizing that the wild creature that popped out of the bushes was his future mother-in-law.

The red-nosed and puffy-eyed Cordia mommy threw her arms around her baby son and nearly strangled the daylights out of him. Luckily, her impulse of superhuman strength lasted only a moment; otherwise, Noah’s still tender ribs would have cracked once again.

"Mom, I'm fine," Noah responded before she could even ask. “We both are.” Then he sheepishly added, “No, actually, we are not fine. We are starving! Is there anything to eat?”

Cordia mommy nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice, “Eat! Eat! What do you want to eat? I’ll get it done right now!”

Noah shared a helpless look with Levi, “For me, anything is fine. What about you, brother? Is there something specific you want to eat?”

Levi gave his darling a deep look, the meaning of which only Blackie could interpret. In the end, Levi could only respond with thoughts of actual food, “No. Anything is fine.”

“You boys take a seat in the living room. I’ll get it done asap!” Cordia mommy smiled dotingly and wiped the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand. But then she remembered, “Sweety, your father is in the study. Although he is swamped with work, he insisted on coming home so he could be here when you woke up. You should let him know you are alright.”

Cordia mommy turned to shoot Levi an encouraging look, “You too should talk to your mother” She motioned to the living room, “She has been anxiously waiting for you to wake up for the entire day.”

Before hurrying into the kitchen, Cordia mommy even squeezed Levi’s shoulder affectionately.

Levi had expected the encounter with his mother-in-law to turn awkward; after all, it was his own power that nearly killed her only son. Giving him a cold reception would be considered a good outcome, but instead…

Levi eyed the retreating form of his mother-in-law. How come he felt the other was especially affectionate towards him today? His mother-in-law had always been considerate and pleasant, treating him like he was a part of the family, but she had never before attempted to express that care physically. His treatment seemed to have upgraded from future son-in-law into adopted son? She resembled a hen sitting on her eggs - whatever butt that egg came out of, the moment she sat on it, it was her egg.

Perhaps it was because he had looked too pitiful earlier, hugging his baby to his chest? His mother-in-law’s motherly instincts must have been stimulated. Or maybe this was a case of “everyone who likes my son is a good person” disease that was so common among mothers.

Well, whatever it was, it was a good thing to have his mother-in-law’s approval.

It would be easier to get her son’s hand in marriage.

Levi was about to follow Noah into the living room, but then sharply halted. ‘Wait… did mother-in-law mention my mother?? Mother is here?!?’

Noah noticed Levi’s abrupt stop and turned to ask what was the matter, but his question got stuck in his throat. Levi looked like he had swallowed a fly.

“Um… brother, what’s wrong?”