Chapter 312: Domestic Morning, Worries, and Comfort
Cedric was so out of it that he didn\'t even notice Chrissy\'s subtle movements. He also didn\'t notice her gently waking up Erica, who was sleeping on the other side of the bed.
Erica was woken up from her peaceful nap and was notified by Chrissy. She frowned and looked at Cedric to see what she meant, then her expression was replaced by subtle solemnity.
She briefly made eye contact with Chrissy; they conversed with gazes before Erica snuggled deeper into Cedric\'s embrace, which finally shook him out of his daydreaming.
"Oh, you\'re both awake," he muttered, planting a kiss on their foreheads. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Omelette and coffee with extra cream, please." Erica sighed blissfully in his arms.
"Ceasar salad and orange juice for me," Chrissy replied.
Cedric chuckled and said, "Alright, coming right up. Why don\'t you girls take a shower first? I\'ll wait for you downstairs."
"I don\'t want to," Chrissy whined, sinking deeper into his warmth. "It\'s comfy here; let\'s have breakfast in bed, then go back to sleep."
"That\'s lazy." Cedric rolled his eyes. He then looked at Erica and asked, "You want that too?"
"Mnnn." Erica nodded, not even bothering to open her eyes.
Cedric shook his head and accepted their request. "Okay, breakfast in bed it is."
He himself didn\'t bother to get up; he just used his mental power to prepare their meal instead.
Downstairs, you\'d see all sorts of kitchen utensils floating around as if they were picked up by invisible hands. The fridge opened, and ingredients were taken out to be prepared according to the recipe. Appliances were turned on and used to prepare their food as well.
After about 15 minutes or so, the door to their bedroom opened and a cart with a freshly prepared breakfast rolled in. The door closed behind it, and the smell of food roused all three of them into wakefulness.
Cedric made the dishes float from the cart to the bed; he also summoned a small table, which he placed on the bed where he could put the dishes.
They then had breakfast while watching the morning broadcast online. The atmosphere was peaceful and domestic. This kind of ordinary peace was something that all three of them cherished and appreciated greatly.
With their busy schedules, Cedric always makes an effort to spend a little bit of time with them. Most of the time, the atmosphere is just like this, and it\'s precious. It\'s these little things that made the girls unable to separate from him.
It\'s a shame that they can\'t always have this kind of lifestyle, though.
To achieve their goals and dreams, they have to work for them. Humanity is in a period of steady but fast development, and as the future pillars of the race, they have responsibilities to attend to. Because of this, times like this where they could just peacefully stay in bed and bask in each other\'s warmth are rare. So, whenever they can have it, they appreciate and treasure it a lot.
True to their word, they stayed in bed after breakfast. The news broadcast was the only noise that\'s disturbing the silence of the room, but it didn\'t cause their peace to disappear. If anything, the endless yapping of the newscaster just added to the \'ordinariness\' of the atmosphere, creating a rather relaxing atmosphere.
Cedric\'s eyes were on the news, but his mind was somewhere else. His thoughts were drifting again, as was obvious by his empty gaze. Erica and Chrissy looked at each other; the former sighed, and the latter shrugged.
Chrissy then ran her soft and delicate fingers under his shirt. Her slightly cold hands caused Cedric to visibly shiver and return to reality. He raised a brow and looked down at her. He was about to say some teasing words, but he completely forgot about them once he saw the look on her face.
Cedric looked as if he were being caught doing something bad. He tried looking at Erica and discovered that she too held an accusing gaze at him. A wry smile appeared on his face as he defeatedly rested his head on the pillows and stared emptily at the ceiling once more.
"Come on, talk to us," Erica grumbled as she patted his chest.
"Yeah. You\'ve been distracted since we woke up; your thoughts were so loud, but we can\'t understand them unless you explain them to us. What\'s the matter?" Chrissy asked.
Cedric feels guilty now. It\'s strange how they could easily see through him. They just understand him so well.
"It\'s nothing much, really..." he muttered. He then looked outside the window and sighed.
"I just think that, since the continent has essentially stabilized by now and our development is stable enough, I found myself having nothing much to do."
There\'s a period of silence after he said that.
"Like, Acala\'s healthy enough for now. I can\'t help her heal any more than her current state because that would show some visible changes that will alert the fleet outside."
"Azure Terra has been hidden from their eyes; unless the Demon God personally comes down, it\'s practically impossible for the rest to disable the veil I used to hide it away."
"The Lost Continent is still the Lost Continent. Even though I could tell that they\'re sending more troops to increase their numbers there and they\'re using all sorts of ways in an attempt to crack down on my enchantments, their efforts are useless. I also don\'t feel like personally going there to interfere with whatever they\'re going on."
"The same can be said with our people." Cedric paused. "They don\'t need me to hold their hand and show them what to do. And even if they do, I won\'t because the race can\'t be too reliant on me."
"I could go into seclusion, but even if I spend a very long time doing that, my progress will be limited by the quality of energy available here. My demands can\'t meet the current supply of Prime Earth even with the Spiritual Dragon Veins in effect, especially now that I\'m at the Planar Sage Realm."
"So, I was thinking that..."
Cedric paused for a good while. The girls didn\'t interfere with his thoughts and just stayed silent, waiting for his next words.
"I\'m thinking that maybe I should go back to the tower?" Cedric wondered out loud.
"I don\'t know how long I\'ll take to get there, but I do know that only an hour will pass here." Cedric smiled wryly. "But I\'m also a bit...sacred, I suppose?"
"Sacred of long-term seclusions because I know that it will dampen my emotions and change my mentality. Even I, with my current strength, aren\'t immune to the side-effects of loneliness."
"I say this mostly because I don\'t do things halfway." Cedric stayed. "If I return there, I won\'t return unless I complete or fail the second stage of trials. Only an hour will pass here, but for me, it\'s not the same."
Cedric then looked at them with a sad smile on his face and said,
"I just don\'t want to return and discover that I don\'t feel the same towards you two anymore. I don\'t want to return and suddenly feel like you\'re my shackles that I need to get rid of for me to be truly free."
"I don\'t want to forget about all of this, and I don\'t want loneliness to change me too much."
There\'s a period of silence in the room after he said all that, only disturbed by the incessant yapping of the newscaster.
"Well, maybe that\'s one of the challenges you must face aside from the trials too," Erica pointed out. "Like, you know...a test of character or something, I think?"
"Yeah, I think so too," Chrissy chimed in. "If it\'s not, then you can think of it as one. Anyway, I\'m sure you can get through it. You\'re you, after all. You\'ve created miracles before; something like this might scare you, but it won\'t defeat you. I\'m sure of it."
"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence. I really needed that." Cedric chuckled.
"You got this." Erica cheered him on. "Your goals are way too grand for something like this to stop you."
"And if it ever comes down to that, just return here before it\'s too late. If you dare to forget about us, we\'ll just remind you of the simple fact that you can\'t live without us anymore," Chrissy confidently stated.
"It\'s nothing a whole lot vigorous love-making can\'t fix." She giggled as she snuggled in his embrace.
Erica smacked her arm out of naughtiness, while Cedric just laughed out loud.
Yeah, with them being like this, what was he so worried about?