Beep! Beep! Beep!
The next morning, the alarm set the previous night woke Wise up right on time. However, Belle, who was still lying on top of him, clearly wanted to sleep a little longer.
"Ugh, turn off the alarm, it's so noisy..." Belle mumbled in a half-asleep state before closing her eyes to go back to sleep.
"I've already turned off the alarm, but can I trouble you to let go of me first, Belle? I have things to take care of today, and I still need to make you breakfast in a bit."
Wise gently pushed at Belle as he spoke, but her hands were still gripping him tightly, as if she didn't want to let him go. Every time Wise removed Belle's hand, she would immediately find another part of him to grab onto again. She was exactly like a koala, which led to him failing to break free several times in a row.
However, this time was a little different. As Belle reached out her hand...
...(Content Deleted)...
Vaguely realizing what had happened, Belle was instantly jolted awake. Her little face was bright red, but she kept her eyes shut tight, seemingly trying to feign sleep to get through the situation.
Wise wasn't faring much better. To be honest, he had wanted to stop her the moment he realized what was happening, but unfortunately, Belle's hand had been too fast.
At the end of the day, I'm still just an 18-year-old kid, plus a few dozen months.It's normal to feel shy...
Wise thought, calming his heart. In a situation like this, it was better to pretend he didn't know and just muddle through. Otherwise, things would definitely be awkward between them for a while. It wasn't as if similar things hadn't happened before, but that was when they were little kids, after all.
"Ahem, I'm going to go make breakfast first. Belle, come down early when you wake up."
Belle, still pretending to be asleep, didn't respond. She just feigned a natural turn, rolling over so her back was to Wise. Seeing this, Wise didn't say any more and went straight downstairs. After hearing the door close, Belle finally opened her eyes, her flushed little face still not having calmed down. She turned to look in the direction Wise had gone, her heart filled with unknown thoughts.
Down on the first floor, Wise opened the main door to the shop, but the moment he did, he saw Anby already standing outside.
"Anby? Why are you here so early? Didn't we agree on 9 o'clock?" Wise specifically glanced at the time as he spoke, confirming that it was indeed 6:30 AM.
"Mmm, I know. But Nicole said that if there's a commission, it's better to head out early."
"Is that so? By the way, have you had breakfast?"
"I've eat—"
Before she could finish, Anby's stomach let out a loud growl, as if to refute its owner's words. The situation was self-explanatory. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Anby touched her stomach, her face slightly red as she lowered her head.
"In that case, why don't you come in and eat with us? We haven't had breakfast yet either."
"Thank you, but Nicole said I shouldn't easily accept kindness from others, so I'd better not."
Just as Anby was about to refuse, Wise took her hand. "Nicole is right, but I'm not 'other people,' am I? Tell me, what do you want to eat?"
Looking at Wise, who was holding her hand, Anby felt an inexplicable flutter in her heart. A situation like this would have increased her favorability by a lot even without the bonus from his 100 Charm.
"A hamburger. Ah, if you don't have that, anything else is fine."
"A hamburger for breakfast? I guess that could work." Wise thought that since a sandwich could be eaten in the morning, there was no reason a hamburger couldn't. Coincidentally, didn't the Emotion Value store just add a hamburger recipe because of Anby? I'll just buy it and give it a try.
Although it cost 500 Emotion Value, because Anby's favorability had just increased by 1 point, he had also just received 500 Emotion Value. So, after the purchase, his Emotion Value was still 996, and Anby's favorability had reached 91. As for why that situation only increased her favorability by one point, according to the system, it was because favorability above 90 was special. Although it was harder to increase, it was also not easy to decrease. And once it reached 100, the person would agree to do almost anything you asked of them.
Seeing the system's explanation, Wise fell into deep thought, because he thought of Belle. Her favorability was at 100.
Never mind, what's the use of thinking about that? I should make breakfast first.
Wise then began to prepare the day's breakfast. In addition to Belle's usual favorites, Wise also specially made four hamburgers. Since the system said it was the flavor Anby liked most, he naturally had to try it. As for why he made an extra one? Of course, he was thinking of Anby's appetite. To her, two hamburgers would probably be nothing.
Anby, who had been pulled into the shop, found a place to sit in the first-floor room. With nothing to do, she began to play with the shop's Bangboos. Anby's unique sense of humor seemed to be very popular in the Bangboo community; at least, little 06 and little 18 both seemed to like her a lot.
A little while later, Belle, pretending she had just woken up, came downstairs fully dressed. When she got to the first-floor room, she happened to see Anby playing with the Bangboos.
"Anby?"
Seeing Anby, Belle immediately took out her phone to check the time. She let out a sigh of relief only after confirming it was just past 7 o'clock. That was close, that was close. I almost thought I overslept.
Anby, seeing this, couldn't help but marvel. As expected of you two, even the motion of taking out your phones is strikingly similar. "Nicole said if there's a commission, we should set out early, so I came ahead of time."
"Is that so? Well, since it's so early, have you had breakfast?" Belle asked. Anby explained, "No. Everyone else isn't up at this hour, so no one made breakfast. But Nicole gave me some money to eat out. The hamburger place isn't open at this hour, though, so I thought I'd come here to wait first."
Hearing this, Belle nodded. To be honest, she had initially thought Nicole had deliberately made Anby come over early to freeload off their breakfast and save some money.
Just then, Wise, having finished making breakfast, came over carrying plates.
Chapter 13: Wise: Anby, You Can't Waste It, You Have to Eat It All.
"Hm? Belle, you're awake? Just in time, breakfast is ready. Come and eat."
"Oh." Belle nodded in agreement, then her gaze fell upon Wise. She subconsciously observed him for a moment.
...(Content Deleted)...
Noticing Belle's strange behavior, Wise felt a wave of embarrassment... (Content Deleted)...
Anby, watching the two of them from the side, also had a strange look on her face. She could sense that something had definitely happened between them, so she decided to ask. "Wise, did you and Belle have a fight? Nicole says that small problems in a team need to be dealt with in a timely manner, or they'll become big problems if you drag them out."
"Uh, about that... it's really nothing. How should I put it... It's just that a little accident happened this morning when Belle was lazing in bed."
Wise's words, however, made Anby even more confused. What kind of accident could make Belle react so strongly? Hearing this, Belle's face turned even redder. Idiot brother! What are you explaining to Anby?! Don't say weird things to me! This was Belle's inner thought. At the same time, Anby asked again.
"What kind of treasure was it? Can I see it?"
Seeing Anby's curiosity, Wise was put in a difficult position. In the end, he could only demur. "That... not right now. But there will be a chance in the future."
...(Content Deleted)...
Wise, of course, was paying close attention to Belle's inner thoughts. But watching the ever-increasing Emotion Value, he could only say he was sorry. The Emotion Value eventually reached 1388, so making this kind of joke, regardless of his image in his sister's heart, wasn't a total waste. It was also worth noting that Belle's favorability showed no signs of dropping. In fact, the panel kept showing it was rising, but since it was already at 100, it couldn't increase any further.
"Oh." Anby didn't dwell on the issue and instead turned her gaze to the breakfast on Wise's plate. Immediately, her amber eyes began to sparkle.
"Is that a hamburger? Why are we eating this in the morning?" Belle looked at Wise with some confusion. Even if Anby wanted to eat one, there was no reason to make four, right?
"Ah, I saw a hamburger recipe before, so I thought I'd try making it myself. If you don't want to eat it, Belle, I also prepared your usual favorites."
Seeing this, Belle's dissatisfaction vanished. All she was ever afraid of was that her brother's care for her would diminish. But now, since Wise was still considerate of her feelings even with Anby around, then nothing else mattered as much.
"Um, Wise, can I start eating now?" Anby, whose stomach had started growling again from the appetizing aroma, couldn't help but ask.
"Of course, you can. I even made two especially for you. You have to eat them all, okay?" Wise said jokingly, his words potentially holding a double meaning. Anby, however, nodded very seriously in response.
"Mmm. Wise made this, so I will definitely eat all of it." As she spoke, Anby eagerly picked up a hamburger and opened her little mouth as wide as possible, as if she were starving. It almost looked like she wanted to swallow the entire hamburger whole, but in the end, she could only manage to bite off about a fifth of it.
"Mmm!"
The moment the hamburger entered her mouth, Anby's eyes widened, her face filled with shock, which then turned into bliss. She didn't say a word, instead continuing to eat the hamburger, seemingly because it was just too delicious.
"Uh, is it really that good?" Belle, watching from the side, felt it was a bit of an exaggeration. It was just a hamburger, after all. But when Anby heard this, she urged Belle to try one as well, though since she couldn't speak, she could only express it with her eyes.
Not quite understanding, Belle took a bite with a "might as well try it" attitude, and then the same thing that happened to Anby happened to her.
The hamburgers Wise made were quite large, which resulted in Belle being unable to eat her other breakfast after finishing one. To avoid waste, Wise could only eat her leftovers first. He then noticed that Anby, who had unknowingly finished two hamburgers, was now staring at him with a look of longing. Uh, to be precise, she was staring at his hamburger. Seeing this, Wise chuckled softly and pushed his plate in front of Anby.
Anby was visibly delighted by this but then shook her head and pushed the plate back. "What's wrong, Anby? Are you full?"
"No, I still have room in my stomach. It's just that this is yours, and you haven't eaten yet."
Anby's words surprised Wise a little, but considering her personality, it was a reasonable thing for her to say. "It's fine. After eating all this, I probably can't finish such a big hamburger anyway. If you can still eat it, then go ahead."
With him having said that much, Anby naturally didn't refuse again. She picked up the hamburger from the plate and took a bite. Then, she thought of a great idea.
"Wise, you have a bite."
"Eh?"
Watching Anby hold the hamburger in her hand out to him, Wise didn't react for a moment. She continued, "If you can't eat the whole hamburger after eating all that, then one bite should be fine, right? Since you made it, you have to at least taste it. That's the most basic thing, right?"
Anby had clearly guessed that Wise hadn't tasted it himself. After all, he had just said he saw the recipe before, so this must have been his first time making it. Wouldn't it be a pity if he didn't even taste it himself on the first try? Besides, only after tasting it could he ensure he could make it just as delicious, or even more delicious, next time.
That's what Anby was thinking. After Wise understood this, he stopped refusing. Then, without taking the hamburger from her hand, he leaned in and took a bite directly.
"Huh?"
This time, it was Anby's turn to be stunned. The place Wise had just bitten was the exact spot she had bitten from. She thought he would take it from her and then find a new spot to bite, but she didn't expect...
Anby didn't say much. Her face slightly red, she retracted her hand and continued to eat as if nothing had happened. This... this counts as an indirect kiss, right?!
Belle, watching from the side, couldn't remain calm in the slightest. Her brother was being stolen by another woman right in front of her face. What was she, the little sister, supposed to do about that? Even though Wise and Anby had already kissed before, doing it in private and doing it in front of her were two completely different things, right?