When I woke up the next morning, Ly Giai was not next to me anymore. Getting out of bed, I headed to the main room, where I saw her preparing breakfast for the three of us. There was a rich aroma in the air that I couldn't resist smelling.

I came over to help her. "Why didn't you wake me up to help you?" I asked, my voice still heavy with sleep.

Ly Giai smiled and tucked her long silky hair behind her ears, letting her hands cut oranges and nicely decorate them on a dish. "There isn't much since you already bought the ingredients yesterday," she said and hand-fed me a piece of orange. The sweet and sour taste of the juice instantly woke me up.

While Ly Giai was handling the fruits, I helped her by getting the necessary utensils and putting out the bread on each dish. "Can you help me scoop the soup too?" she asked, flicking her head toward the bubbling pot on the stove.

I went to get three bowls and approached the stove. Lifing the lid off, a cloud of steam released, carrying the rich, comforting aroma of chicken soup.

"I didn't know you could cook, Ly Giai," I commented, ladling the soup into the three bowls. "I thought young ladies from rich families like yours had servants to cook."

Ly Giai giggled softly, finishing up with the fruit. "When we were fleeing, all we had was dried food and wild fruits, so I didn't get to cook. In wealthy families, we might learn arts like poetry and singing, but we're also expected to manage household duties like cooking and sewing."

"That must be stressful keeping up with the high expectations," I remarked, genuinely impressed.

"I was thankfully naturally talented and found them fun to learn, but it is very stressful for the other young ladies."

As we continued chatting, I couldn't help but be distracted by the delicious smell of the soup. Curiosity getting the better of me, I dipped a spoon into the pot and tasted it. The flavors were so heavenly that it made me smile involuntarily. "Any man lucky enough to marry you must have saved a kingdom in his past life," I joked as I placed the bowls on the table.

Ly Giai giggled. She also finished decorating the fruit dish with oranges and grapes and brought them out. "Then should I go and ask the princess to find me a partner? Since I am so precious as you said," she teased and set the dish down.

I took this opportunity to slip behind and wrapped my arms around her. Leaning my face to her, I whispered to her ears, "Would you?"

Caught off guard, Ly Giai's cheeks flustered in a deep red. "Do… what if Si sees us?" she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper as she gently tried to push me away, though her efforts were half-hearted.

I chuckled, holding her a little closer. "I checked on him before coming here. He's still snorting," I reassured her, then pressed, "Ly Giai, you haven't answered me. Would you?"

Ly Giai was flustered, her gaze darting around the room. "W-would I what?" she stammered, pretending confusion while avoiding my gaze.

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"Why are you avoiding looking at me?" I teased softly, enjoying her flustering.

"S…Since when are you like this?" she was not prepared for this surprise attack at all, even her neck was burning hot now.

To my eyes right then, Ly Giai was no different than a small, shy cat. I couldn't resist teasing her. Her soft body didn't help her either. I just kept wanting to hold her forever.

It was strange, before this, Ly Giai was always the confident one in our intimate moments, and I would be the shy person trying to avoid her attacks. This time, it seemed like my sudden initiation had caught her off guard, turning what would be a fierce and aggressive tiger into a small and shiny kitten.

"Who knows? Do you not like this?" I teased her again while smirking. Ly Giai tried to push me away again, but couldn't escape my arms. To be honest, I didn't even put any force holding her, just gently placed them around her shoulder and waist. Any effort she was showing had been in vain simply because there wasn't any force in Ly Giai's pushes as if she lost all the energy the moment our skin touched. "I won't release you until you answer me," I gently said. "Would you leave me for another partner?"

By that point, she has given up resisting. She anxiously fidgets with her fingers while biting her lips, not wanting to give me what I want. That was when I realized that Ly Giai was still somewhat childish. She didn't want to admit defeat.

Knowing that, I pressured her again. "I can do this all day, you know." Turning my head to the hallway, I added, "And it looks like Si is about to wake up. I don't mind him seeing us like this, but…"

I wasn't able to finish the sentence and Ly Giai already cut in abruptly. "No!"

I smiled, not wanting to let her off so easily. "No? No what? I can't understand with just that?" I acted dumb.

Ly Giai quickly turned and gave me a look of suffering. She did not want to want to admit defeat. But I slowly put my face closer, and that made her shyness come back instantly. At last, although she didn't want to, Ly Giai uttered so quietly that I almost couldn't hear her, "No, I won't find another partner..."

I was planning to tease her more telling her to repeat but louder, but at that moment, both of us heard the sound of footsteps coming from the bedroom direction. Miraculously, Ly Giai pushed me out with a force so strong that I almost fell. We fumbly tried to act like nothing happened. She pretended to organize the utensils while I even took back the bread to the kitchen and brought them out again.

*Yawn! Si stepped out to the hall and saw us. "You two woke up so early," he said half asleep, his eyes barely open.

"Yeah…" I awkwardly said. "Did you just wake up?" I asked to make sure he didn't see our intimate moment.

"Yup…" he took a long yawned again. He turned his head up, gazing at us with his almost closed eyes. "Ly Giai, why are you so red? Are you sick or something?" he asked innocently, but that made Ly Giai even shyer.

She quickly defended herself, "Ha ha… It was just the kitchen is hot. Let me go wash my face," she said and stood up, rushing to the restroom.

Si and I saw her running away, and it made Si scratch his head. "Why are you two so awkward today?"

When Ly Giai came back, she quietly sat down next to me and the three of us ate breakfast, it was so unbearably uncomfortable between Ly Giai and me. But Si was unaffected by it, he didn't feel our awkwardness between each other.

Si did not help when he suddenly attacked me verbally, "By the way, Do, when are you going to find a job?"

*Phugh! I spilled the spoonful of soup in my mind to his face. I quickly got some paper and wiped him. "W…Why are you bringing that up again?"

Si wasn't happy with the plash on his face. He talked while I cleaned his face. "My teacher asked us to describe what our parents do. I said that Ly Giai is a royal seamstress."

"And what did you say about me?" I anxiously asked, holding my hands together under the table. I had no idea what Si would say with that unfiltered mouth of his.

"I told them you are a house-husband," he replied nonchalantly.

*Hic!

A small, almost unhearable sound rose next to me. I slowly looked in its direction and saw Ly Giai turn her head away from me, but she couldn't hide the chuckles.

Needless to say, I just wanted to bury my head in the sand. I flicked Si on the head, my face was beat red. "You…" I couldn't even find the words. "Why would you say that?"

"Ouch!" the little boy complained, rubbing his forehead. "Why are you hitting me?"

Anger stuck in my throat. I didn't know how I should be angry at his naivete. "House-husband… that just makes me look like a leech," I sighed and shook my head. "I will have to avoid your school from now on."

Then Si remembered something. "Oh yeah! We have a parent meeting today! I almost forgot."

I couldn't believe my ears, my eyes wide opened while I stared at him. "What did you just say?"

"Parent meeting," Si repeated, not knowing how much damage it carried. "At least one of you, Ly Giai or Do, have to attend."

I turned to Ly Giai, almost begging her, "Ly Giai! Can you attend it?"

The girl next to me, while the conversation between me and Si was going on, tried the best of her life to not burst out laughing. She took deep breaths for a while before speaking, but her voice was in the constant of cracking up a laugh. "I… I can't. We have an important order from the court that… is close to deliver."

I felt the energy left on my legs as I fell back to the chair, hopelessly looking at Si. "Can I not go?"

The little boy hopped down the chair and walked over to me, placing his hand on my shoulder, and spoke like an old man, "Sometimes, there are things in life you can't avoid."