Yes, I was bold enough to ask Thida for her skill without previous warning, catching her off guard.

“Young master, are you talking about my healing spell?” she said, confused.

“Yes, Thida, it might be a transgression on my part, but I don’t know who else to ask,” I said.

This was my only opportunity even to come close to healing skills. I was overstepping myself, but I could not let this opportunity go.

“I’m not sure how useful my spell would be to you, master. It's just the third-tier healing spell, lesser restoration,” Thida said, looking bewildered.

“I use it to bless the food, restore it to a healthy state, and remove any toxins or chemicals that might have been added.”

Almost all chefs working in Transcendent homes have this spell for this exact purpose. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and with all the competition between the houses, if you are not careful, someone is likely to try to poison you or worse to get the upper hand. So, almost all major families or corporations hire Transcendent chefs who can purify their food.

“I just need to see the DNA sequence for a bit, Thida; it's for a school project I’m doing,” I said half truthfully.

Thida looked at me with some concern in her eyes. I’m unsure if she was wary or concerned about me.

“Thida, I’m not going to do anything stupid with it. I can’t even use skills as I haven’t awakened yet,” I said, trying to reassure her.

“The project I’m putting together is to compare different skills for ease of use and understanding,” I said.

“I already have two other spells; one is a wind spell, and the other is an enhancement skill that I got from some teachers,” I continued.

I was trying to sell it as a school project to make it look more realistic and adding that other people had already let me look at some of their skills did the job.

Soon after, Thida's facial expression looked more relaxed.

“Young master, it would be my honor to have you use one of my skills in your school project,” she said.

By this time, I had sat at the rectangular wooden table in the central kitchen, where most of the staff eat.

Chef Thida walked over to me and put a large plate with an omelet and some biscuits with jelly in front of me.

“You eat, young master. Let this old lady go and get you that DNA sequence,” she said as she laid the plate of food in front of me.

“Thank you, Thida,” I said as I watched her walk out of the kitchen and head to the servants' quarters.

“The food would be one of the few things I would miss when I left this home,” I told myself as I dug into the omelet and biscuits.

As I was chowing down on my food, Malee came running into the kitchen.

“Khyrum, thank god I found you,” she said, a little out of breath.

I looked at her with a questioning gaze.

“What’s got you all worked up, Malee?”

She quickly sat down next to me and started chattering away.

“I was just inside the house sweeping when I heard young master Brandon telling his mom that he wanted to hurt you,” she said.

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“The worst part is that Madam Daisy agrees with him. She said he should find an opportunity to put you in your place,” she continued.

“I feel sorry; no, it's not sorry; it's more like disgust for someone such as Brandon,” she said in a concerned tone.

“You have to be careful, Khyrum,” she said tenderly.

I looked at her, a little surprised.

“Don’t worry, Malee, I will be extra careful and vigilant in the future. I appreciate your concern,” I said.

If she knew there was nothing Brandon or anyone else here in Rayong could do to me, she would probably faint from the surprise.

She looked at me for a second, as if she wanted to say something, but then Thida walked in.

“Malee, what a surprise to see you here at this hour,” she said, eyeing Malee with a curious look.

Malee quickly got up from the table and spanned around me, heading towards the opposite exit in the kitchen. I could see a slight redness on her cheeks as I watched her head towards the door.

“I just came to say hi to Khyrum,” she said shyly.

“Also, to let him know that I have stocked his refrigerator with some snacks and fruits of his liking,” she hurriedly said as she left.

Watching her go, I could sense a feeling of déjà vu, but from where?

Thida watched Malee race out of the kitchen as if a pack of hungry wolves had chased her.

“Hmm, this girl still hasn’t worked up the courage, it seems,” she said, shaking her head while laughing.

“Young Master, if everything ok?” said Thida as she looked at me.

“Yes, everything is good,” I said.

“That’s good to know, here,” she said, pulling out a small personal flash drive from her skirt pocket.

“Oh, that was quick,” I said, slightly surprised.

“Yes, I already had the sequence saved in the flash drive. I was going to pass it on to my child if she decided to be a chef like her momma, but it was not to be,” she said softly.

“She chose a different path, so the flash drive has just been sitting there in the drawer for many years,” she continued a hint of wetness in the corner of her eyes.

“Are you sure you are ok with me looking at the sequence?” I said as Thida seemed to be getting a little sentimental.

“Yes,” she said, catching herself before tears started to fall.

“This is the best outcome. At least my skill will help you in some way,” she said.

I looked at her and nodded.

I then took my PLE from my pocket and downloaded the sequence on the flash drive.

“Thanks, Thida,” I told her as I returned the flash drive to her.

“Anything to help you, young master; if you ever need it again, just let me know,” she said as she took the flash drive back.

She then returned to the kitchen's stove and prep area to continue working on the food.

I finished my breakfast, got up, and left the kitchen.

I was heading back into town to look for Roy and see if he could help me check on the angel wings pendant.

“Man, I hope Roy didn’t sleep in today since it's Saturday,” I told myself.

After about an hour of walking and gliding on air when no one was looking, I found myself in front of a rundown-looking butcher shop. The front doors were halfway open, so It seemed that Roy had not slept in.

I walked up to the doors and was about to go in when I heard a distinct female voice behind me.

“Surprise, Surprise,” said Eva playfully.

I turned around only to spot Eva and Brandon coming down the street.

“What the hell are you doing here,” said Brandon.

“What? I can’t come down here and go sightseeing on my day off,” I said.

“Sightseeing in a butcher shop?” said Brandon questionably.

“What about it? I can check any store I want. I just came from a herbalist's store and also from the fish market. So why couldn’t I check this butcher job?” I said firmly.

“Hmm, that is weird, but everyone has quirks,” said Eva.

“For instance, my quirk is that I find men who defy me very interesting; it makes me want to conquer them that much more,” she said while staring intently at Khyrum.

I played it down as usual, but Brandon was even more of an ass after that comment from his beloved.

“You tell me who has defied you, Eva, and I will make sure they kneel at your feet,” he said aggressively.

“Thank you, Brandon, but I think I can handle this myself,” she said.

"Oh man, this girl is going to eat him alive," I told myself.

I just continued to play dumb as usual.

“Man, these girls need to find a boyfriend or something to keep them company because they are becoming more of a pain in the ass to deal with each passing day,” I kept thinking.

Suddenly, Eva moved to where I was, grabbed my shoulder, and turned back to look at Brandon.

“Brandon, I want to go inside the Butcher shop with Khyrum for a moment,” she said.

“Can you go on and get everything ready for later today?”

She then looked at me and said, “Don’t tell me you forgot the double date we have today?”

“Shit, how could I forget the supposed date today? The twins keep messaging me every hour, reminding me about it,” I said, a little annoyed.

“Also, what are you trying to do, coming in with me?” I said.

“Brandon likes you, so why don’t you spend time with him?” I continued.

“Brandon is Brandon,” she said.

“But I want to know more about you,” she said, smiling at me.