Ryan yawned into the dining hall and got himself comfortable on the chair. He had just had a bath, and thus his hair was still semi-wet. Meanwhile, his face glowed with a healthy complexion that showcased his good mood.
Seeing him, Lysandra raised her eyebrows. "You woke up early."
Ryan smirked. "What is sleep, if not an interruption to life. Of course I have to wake up early and sleep early."
"Shut up and eat, brat." Lysandra dug a fork into her own luxurious cuisine. "Did you see Seraphina?"
Ryan began preparing his plate of food, only taking the meat and avoiding the vegetables. "Sera might be asleep," he said. "She sleeps like a log."
"That is for deep rest. But she wakes up before the sun is up." Lysandra then frowned. "I thought you two were back at being a tail-and-head again, what happened, split again?"
Ryan blinked and looked up at her. "Tail and head?"
"You used to be her tail all the time, right? It's been a while since I saw that being the case."
When nothing was happening in life, people would end up believing that no one was noticing their own existence. That they did not matter. That they themselves were invisible. But in the end, when changes happened, people who cared did notice.
Ryan smiled. "Now, she is my tail and I am the head."
"You wish." His mother grinned, pride glinting across her purple eyes. "My Sera is not so weak for a brat like you to lead her around."
Ryan just clicked his tongue and eagerly began gorging down the sumptuous meat of whatever exotic beast it was in front of him. It tasted like absolutely delicious chicken, the rare stuff you get to eat once in a lifetime on Earth.
Damn, just this food is worth everything.
Just as he was eating eagerly though, a sweat-soaked figure in a simple martial robe walked into the dining hall. Her silver eyes scanned the food as both the mother and son turned to look at her.
"Oh, you are here," Lysandra said.
Sera took a warm towel kept to the side and rubbed her face while sitting down beside Ryan. Once she was done, she threw the towel on Ryan's face before digging into the food he had placed infront of himself.
Ryan's lips twitched as he threw the sweaty towel aside. "That's my food."
"Hm, yeah, you have good taste. Add some veggies, though."
He scoffed and took another fork to eat from the same plate. Their forks moved faster and faster, both fighting for each strap of meat.
"Don't fight, there is so much more on the table…"
"Tell Ryan that," Sera said in irritation.
"You are the one who stole my plate!"
She took the whole plate aside and glared at him, face stuffed with food. "Prepare another plate for me and you can have this," she offered. "Or get lost."
Lysandra just placed a new plate of food infront of Ryan.
Ryan grinned, but before he could take that plate, Seraphina made it float into her own hand and placed the other, already empty plate infront of him. Ryan's hands twitched: "I hate you, you bitch!"
"Language, Ryan."
"You never scold Sera, mom!" Ryan gave Sera a shove.
Lysandra shook her head and gave her own plate to him. "Sera, don't play with food."
"Sure, sure, sure."
Ryan's face became gloomy. "But mom, your plate is full of greenery."
"Eat."
Ryan pushed the plate away.
Lysandra pushed it back.
Seraphina chuckled. "Mom, did you know our boy became a man?"
Her mother was surprised. "Really?"
"Ask him."
Lysandra looked at Ryan with an interested expression.
"You two are so shameless," he said with irritation, face red. "Let me eat in peace for once."
He added more meat to the dishes and began filling himself silly.
They did not ask about it for a while.
Soon, the main dishes were complete and maids came with desserts and drinks. Ryan enjoyed those with relish as well.
"So, Ryan, how was it?" Lysandra asked.
"Do you think I'd tell you that?"
Ryan licked his lips, black eyes glinting with emotion as he remembered Kaelith.
Lysandra chuckled. "Ask her to join us in breakfasts or dinner once in a while. She is a cute little thing."
Seraphina groaned. "Please don't make her do that. That'll ruin my mood to ever join the table."
"Hey, that's rude. Kaelith is a nice girl."
"Yeah, and the commoners outside the palace are nice people as well. Might as well bring them to sit with us."
Ryan gave a shove to Seraphina again.
'Don't be such an ass,' he said.
She stared at him. 'Or don't bring others into my private heaven. I didn't say anything when you did whatever with her in your private world.
'And more than this stupid romance, there is more important things we have to address.'
The dead cheetah flickered through her mind, and the image transmitted into Ryan's mind as well. He frowned as he stood up.
"Mom, we are out."
Seraphina nodded as well, standing up and stretching slightly.
Lysandra watched them both silently. "Where are you going, something special going on?"
Sera nodded. "He is watching me train."
Lysandra sighed. "Don't push yourself too hard. Do you want me to heal you up a bit?"
"Not for now."
Seraphina took Ryan's wrist and left the dining hall boldly.
'Did you get something new for me to Plunder?'
'Yes I did. But before that, we need to address the cheetah. Why do you think it died?'
'I… don't know.'
'It's simple. Your power plundered the Cheetah, and that exhausted it at its core. It could still hold on when you simply plundered one power, but when you plundered two, it could no longer handle it and died.'
'...Doesn't that mean anyone I use Skill Plunder on twice will die?'
'Yes. Theoretically. But we might be able to circumvent that issue using healing skills. If mother had healed that cheetah before it died, it might not have died, for example.'
'Interesting.'
Lysandra also left, watching her childrens back with a deeply satisfied smile. Her own mind was focused on other things. She had been experimenting on a new genetic makeup recently, and that was taking up a lot of her thoughts.