Blood Assimilation

Chapter 23 - A Sudden Change

Randy looked at these familiar settings and could not help but recall the past when he used to come here very often to have dinner with this family.

'As luxurious as always" he silently thought to himself.

After reaching the dining table, they all waited for Emilia to come down before they partake in eating. To pass the time, they all took a glass of wine, and juices and sipped on it. Well, Randy on the other hand had a glass of water instead; his mother had wine and his little sister a freshly squeeze orange juice.

It did not take long for Emilia to come down. It was only about 2-3 minutes of waiting at most. She was very quick, considering that she probably had to clean herself a bit. Not like she needed to anyway. Due to her innate ability and cultivation level, she does not sweat very often, so there was basically no need for her take a shower before coming and thus probably the reason why she came so quick.

It seems her mother was aware of this fact, which was the reason why she had them wait for her. Emilia came down wearing a casual white dress with a refreshing look and took a seat at her usual seat happens to be in front of Randy, leaving a space her and her mother. Currently Randy was seating on the edge sandwiching his little sister in the middle along with his mother on the other side.

At this moment, Jenny clapped her hands together and declared happily, "Let's eat!"

With that, everyone picked up their eating utensils and began their cutting meats, picking side dishes and whatnot. Randy took a ladle and scoop some fried rice this time; usually, he had some mashed potatoes with some braised chicken or lasagna since the chefs in this house are really good at preparing these dishes but today, for some reason, he opted out for fried rice instead. This was his little sister's favorite food and naturally he also like it himself.

At this point, Lydia suddenly spoke when she saw him, "Brother, why are you not having mashed potatoes like before. I thought I was the only one who liked fried rice."

"Nonsense, who said that only you can fried rice; are you saying that I can't eat it because it is your favorite food?" Randy turned then said to her.

"That's right, I was afraid that you will eat all of it, not leaving me some." Lydia seriously answered him.

"…"

Everyone around the dining table was speechless by her words that was spoken in serious tone. After a while, they all burst in laughter from this. This also rid the table of any awkwardness that could be brewing in the air as they enjoyed their meal together.

With this, they all had a ceremonious and peaceful dinner. After dinner, they exchange some pleasantries with each other with smiles on each of their faces. After which, when the outside was getting darker, indicating that it was nighttime, Riley took her children preparing to leave.

"Riley, you all better get home safely. There had been an increase in criminals in the Eastern District and other districts lately." Jenny advised her.

"Alright, I understand but do you not know who I am? Or did you forget?" Riley responded with a confident smile on her face.

Thinking for a bit, Jenny shook her head, chuckled, and agreed, "Right, it was wrong of me to worry; it should be them who have to be careful not to run into you instead."

They exchange more pleasantries for a while. At this time, Lydia was happily talking with Emilia with an anticipating expression.

"Sister Emilia, when are you coming over to our house?" Lydia excitedly asked.

Emilia hesitated for a bit, and replied with a smile, "I am not sure; I have to prepare for the university entrance examination, so I'll be busy for a while."

"Oh, is that so?" Lydia dejectedly replied in a low voice.

Seeing her reaction, Emilia hurriedly replied again, "But I will come by after the university entrance examination so don't worry, it won't be long. By that time, we'll be able to play together again."

Lydia raised her tiny head asked in confirmation, "Really? Then you and me and Brother would play together again?"

"That's…" Emilia did not know how to respond to that, and she silently glanced at Randy who was staring blankly in the void as if there was something there, clearly not paying attention to their conversation.

She then turned to Lydia before replying with forced smile on her pretty face, "That's right, we will play together like always, but you'll have wait until I am done with my examination."

"Okay!" Lydia replied in a gleeful tone.

Eventually, they each said their farewells and Riley took her children with her and departed with them.

…

As soon as they left, Jenny turned to her daughter, glaring at her as she spoke with a frowned on her face, "Emilia, what were you doing with that pest just now? Did I not warn you to stay away from him as it might affect your academics and reputation when applying for a university in the future, especially if they find out that you associate with a defect like him?"

Emilia instantly replied to her mother, "Mom, why are you always acting like this? Like Randy said before, we only ran into each other when we were on our way home. Besides, I had already being avoiding him in school like you told me to, so why can't you just leave him alone?"

"You… How dare you talk back to me? You have no idea that I am only doing this for your own good. With your talent, you'll be able to apply to the top universities in this district, yet you kept frolicking with that useless brat?"

"Mom!" Emilia raised her voice and shouted in disbelief.

"I wasn't frolicking with nobody. You know better than I do, that he was only my childhood friend. Besides, you…" Emilia was shocked by her mother's words, and she replied refuting her, but did not finish the later part of her sentence, only saying finishing it in her head. 'You used to like him a lot when he was young, but why are suddenly acting like this just because he couldn't awaken his ability?'

"Besides what? And what did you say, 'childhood friend'? Do you think you can lie to your own mother? Do you think I do not know how you feel about that useless brat?" Jenny demanded and then stated in a knowing tone.

"I-I…"

Emilia bit her lips and did not reply to her mother's statement. She could not find the words to refute her mother as she felt her chest tightening in frustration.

Ever since two years ago, after consistently failing to awaken his ability, her mother told her to cut ties with Randy saying that it might affect her performance in school, but in fact, it was Randy who was more hardworking that she was in terms of academics, so she always goes to his house to study together and sometimes, he comes over to her house instead.

As a result of that, she was able to grasp a perfect studying habit but now her mother was acting like none of that ever happened and repeatedly telling her to stop seeing him just because he could not awaken his innate ability. How could she not refute this? Although she had tried arguing with her mother, at the end of the day, she was not an adult, and she could not change her mother's mind either.

Eventually leading to the current situation where she had heeded her mother's words to stop associating with Randy. At the time, she did not completely listen to her mother and still maintained a somewhat supporting relationship with Randy, but her mother still found out and ever since then, she constantly tries to find faults with him whenever he came over to study together, causing him to not come over anymore.

Due to that, Emilia realized that her mother adamant about trying to separate the two of them and to prevent her mother from harassing him further, she also tried to avoid Randy in order to not hurt his feelings. She did not care if Randy came to hate her in the process.

Seeing that her daughter unresponsive and was not saying anything for a long time, Jenny loudly snorted and said in a sternly tone, "Hmph! You had better listen to what I say otherwise, don't blame me for doing something unreasonable. Even if he is the son of my best friend, I cannot tolerate trash around my daughter."

And then she turned around and walked into the mansion leaving her daughter standing by the gate with a listless expression on her face.

After standing there for unknown duration of time, Emilia also walked through gate and into the mansion before heading to her room.

…

Smith Household, Randy's home.

After reaching their home, they each took turns taking a shower and it was finally Randy's turn to take his shower. He walked into the bathroom, took off his clothes, revealing his robust and well defined arm muscles and abdominal muscles. Due to him constantly working out and his recent awakening, his body's physique had improve greatly almost to perfection. Right now, he remained motionless as he recalled what happened earlier when he tried to rob that burglar from before. A sudden change occurred.. He had no idea what could have caused this change and was even surprised at first, but he could not help himself getting curious about this sudden change.