abcnovels
Chapter 13 An Unexpected Date
Chapter 13 An Unexpected Date
-----
When we left the grocery store, we quickly moved back home, where I was able to finally make the pancakes. I also decided to make a few toasts, scrambled eggs, and some bacon, which my daughter also liked. These two girls were very gluttonous so I was sure this would be easily eaten all by themselves…
Ah, well, I was also very hungry, so I am going to eat a lot as well! Although not as much, I still needed to save space for lunch, where I ended up inviting Mark.
Mark… Eh? Wait… Why did I invite him out of nowhere? Wow, that was just… I just did it? It must have felt weird! Maybe he thought a creepy old woman was trying to take advantage of a young man like him? Ah! I didn't want him to think I was a pervert or something...
Ugh… Ah, well, I just had to show him that I had good intentions and there was nothing weird about it! I would just give him some nice food, and we'd talk about work or something else, and then he could go back home or maybe stay and watch a movie or something with me—Wait, that also sounded creepy, didn't it?
Sigh… I could already imagine him all scared in front of an old woman like me, and him thinking that I was some sort of predator or whatever like in those tv series… He probably just accepted out of courtesy but I should not try to make it seem as if I was trying to take advantage of him or something, or I might end up getting fired from my job if I was too creepy!
Well, he was very nice, maybe he was too nice to notice that I looked creepy?
"Lady Elayne, I think the pancakes are getting a bit black…" said Anna.
"Ah? EH?!"
Because I ended up diving into my own thoughts for too long, the pancake I was making began to release a lot of steam, it was getting toasted!
"C-Crap!"
I quickly flipped it upside down, but it was all charred on the other side… Sigh!
I didn't like to throw food into the trash, my mother always taught me to eat the food, because only the rich had the luxury of throwing away food into the trash, so I was going to eat this charred pancake! A lot of cream, jam, and fruits should do!
I decided to concentrate into the tasks in front of me and began flipping pancakes constantly, until a big pile was made, and I quickly brought it to the girls in three plates, one for each of the two and another for me, alongside some strawberries, maple syrup, cream, and a bit of butter.
I also left the scrambled eggs and bacon in the middle of the table, with the toasts and more butter at the sides. It was alongside some strawberry jam I had bought, while it was accompanied and paired with some nice coffee for me and the girls decided to drink milk tea.
"Uwah, this looks splendid! Time to eat~" said Anna. She took out a big chunk of pancake with syrup, cream, butter, and some strawberries and ate it whole. She seemed to be enjoying it because she began making happy sounds while munching.
"Hmmm! This is so fluffy and tasty! I've never eaten such good homemade pancakes before! They're always made from those frozen ones my mother buys in the supermarket…
"Well, there is nothing better than homemade food, dear," I said with a smile. I then enjoyed some pancakes myself. The pancakes' fluffiness combined with the sweetness of the maple syrup, the creaminess of the whipped cream, and then the citric and strong aromatic fruity flavor of the strawberries? It all combined together really well and made an amazing combination of flavors in my mouth.
"Hmm…"
Elena didn't say a word, but she was enjoying the pancakes silently. I could tell since she was eating them so quickly that she needed to drink some milk tea.
"Is it good, dear? See? You always skip breakfast when mommy can cook you this every day!" I said. "So stay a bit in the morning to eat with me, okay?"
"…Okay," she said.
"R-Really?" I asked. "You promise it?" I held my girl's delicate hand, as she seemed to get a bit red!
Uwah, my precious princess was so adorable!
"I said okay…" she said, taking her hand away from mine and drinking some milk tea.
"Heheh, you don't know how happy that makes me, you've already made my day!" I said.
Anna looked at Elena with a cheeky smile.
"Damn Elena, you got such a nice mother and I feel like you're just wasting her! Be gentler with her," she said. "Or I'm gonna steal her."
"Eh?" I asked while raising an eyebrow.
Elena looked at Anna while squinting her eyes.
"Don't joke with stupid things like that," she said and stared down at her dead-serious.
"Geez, you're so serious today…" sighed Anna. "Must be because you ended up losing yesterday in the PVP match?"
"Don't remind me of that…" sighed Elena. "I'll beat him to a pulp next time."
"Eh? What's going on here? Is there PVP in the game you play?" I wondered.
If I recall it correctly, PVP was where players fought against one another and… tried to kill each other! That's a bit too much for me. Wait, did my daughter participate in such a horrible practice?!
"Nothing…" said my daughter.
"Yeah, don't worry about it, just some silly games," said Anna.
"O-Okay…"
After we enjoyed breakfast, the girls finally decided to move to Elena's room, which was quite spacious. Anna had brought her own game console and game it seemed, so the two were going to connect to the game together… Ugh, I wish I could join them as well!
"We are off for a few hours, when it's lunch, call us over, Lady Elayne!" said Anna.
"Hm," said my daughter, as she entered the room while holding a bag filled with snacks.
Are they really going to eat all of that?
I checked the hour, and it was around 11 AM. I needed to start making lunch around 2 PM…
As I washed the dishes, I began to wonder what to do now. I already took a bath and all.
Usually I would sit on the couch and watch random TV, or browse the internet… Or play some puzzle game on my phone. Or do some exercise, but today was not my gym day, it's tomorrow.
I'll do some stretches and then I'll play BNLO then!
I also got Mark's number on my phone, and I got him added to my social media so I texted him.
-----
[Mark: See you next week for work!]
[Elayne: Sure, take care, Mark]
[Mark: Thank you :)]
-----
This is what we texted last night, we mostly only spoke about work stuff, I think this was the first time I am going to text him about something else…
-----
[Elayne: Hello Mark, we'll have lunch at around 3PM, is that okay for you?] (Read)
[Mark is typing…]
-----
Oh, he read it very fast.
-----
[Mark: Sure thing, it is okay with me. Do you want me to bring something?]
[Elayne: Hmm… Like what?]
[Mark: Something to drink? Like… Wine?]
[Elayne: Oooh! Sure. Bring whatever you feel like.]
[Mark: Alright then.]
-----
Maybe I should tell him about how I feel too…
-----
[Elayne: Mark, I wanted to apologize to you… I ended up inviting you to have lunch with me without thinking about it too deeply. I really don't want to make it seem as if I am a creepy old woman trying to take advantage of you… I am a bit clumsy sometimes and I end up talking about what's on my mind without thinking about it twice. Sorry if I ended up creeping you out.] (Read)
[Mark is typing…]
-----
Uwah, I hope he doesn't get angry… though I've never seen Mark angry with me.
-----
[Mark: Oh, that didn't seem to be like that for me. You were very polite and nice, and you're not a creepy old woman at all, Elayne… You're in fact very young-looking and pretty. So cheer up, don't worry, I am happy to have such a nice coworker as you :)]
[Elayne: Uwah… Mark, you're so nice to me. Thank you! I hope you like meat croquets.]
[Mark: I do! My auntie used to make meat croquets to me, back when I was a kid]
[Elayne: Oh, that's so interesting! My grandma made them for me, and she taught me how to make them, perhaps we can exchange recipes when you get here.]
[Mark: Sounds good to me.]
-----
Mark was such a gentlemanly young man, I'm quite happy to have met him.
Now, I should leave and stop annoying him with texts, he was probably busy in the store.
-----
[Elayne: I am leaving now, I will be busy for a bit, so see you soon. Take care.]
[Mark: Sure! Take care as well.]
-----
With that said, I quickly left my phone charging and set an alarm for 2PM, while I stretched a bit and then rested over my bed, closed the door of my room with keys, and then connected to the game once more…
…
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in my avatar, which seemed to be wearing some skimpy clothes, but I was glad I haven't encountered any player yet so I don't feel embarrassed, NPC seem to not mind these clothes, it seemed.
I looked around and it seems that everything was alright, there was no monster break or something, and it was a relaxed morning in these woods. I decided to walk back to Acorn's home, where I found him still sleeping on the bed, while Belle was sleeping on the floor.
The moment I entered, Belle's eyes opened as she moved to my side and began licking my belly.
"Meee…!"
"How are you doing, dear? You're still all sleepy, aren't you?" I asked with a smile. I checked Belle's Status.
-----
[Summon Name]: [Belle]
[Race]: [White Goat: Lv2/30]
[Race EXP]: [1920/2000]
[Satiation]: [62/100]
[HP]: [150/150]
[MP]: [60/60]
[STR]: [75]
[VIT]: [65]
[DEX]: [45]
[AGI]: [60]
[INT]: [20]
[WIS]: [25]
[LUC]: [30]
[Race Skills: 5/10]
[Farm Animal: Goat: Lv1], [Charge: Lv2], [Horn Attack: Lv2], [Milk Production: Lv1], [Berserk Mode: Lv1]
[Equipment]
[Lucky Bell]
-----
Ah, her stats increased after she leveled up by a lot! She seemed to be very physically oriented… Summons didn't appear to earn any Skill Points or Stat Points, but they did seem to gain more stats than normal because of that? Or perhaps they get them automatically assigned?
Anyhow, Belle also leveled two of her major skills, Horn Attack and Charge.
She also got the Berserk Mode Skill… which seemed completely insane. This girl was really strong, I guess we already got our "warrior" in the party with her, even though I never expected a farm animal to end up like her, it was still nice.
She also got Milk Production! Maybe I should try to see her skills in more detail now that I got time and Acorn was still sleeping? Yeah, let's do that. More importantly, the Milk Production Skill!
-----
[Milk Production: Lv1]
A skill acquired by all Farm Animals capable of producing milk. By spending Satiation Points, a Farm Animal is capable of producing a consumable item, Milk, for the player to consume directly or use as an ingredient in cooking. Usually the cost would be 10 Satiation Points = 1 Liter of Milk. As the Skill increases in level, more delicious milk can be produced but the Satiation Points cost increases as well.
-----
Oh, I see! It cost her satiation points, but now she was quite hungry, wasn't she? If the satiation points were fully exhausted, I think her HP might begin to go down and she could die, so that was not good.
"Let's go down to eat grass," I said. "I-I mean, for you to eat grass, dear."
"Meee!"
Belle accompanied me down there, and she jumped directly from the tree all the way down to the floor of the forest, and quickly began to eat grass… I guess she was very self-sufficient.
I left her to eat grass while I decided to wake up the sleepy squirrel…
-----