章 21: A Family Breakfast

After I thought about all the problems which could trouble me after a short time and their possible solutions - I turned off the shower through the control panel and just after that some vents opened at the floor and ceiling and it sucked away all the fog.

As the fog cleared I found myself standing in front of a mirror, which was a glass wall till now.

It's been a day since I reincarnated in this world but it was only now that I was seeing myself in a mirror.

Since I've seen Rio's memories I wasn't surprised to see someone else's reflection in the mirror. Rio had short white hair and dark black eyes. An oval face with a sharp nose and slightly chubby cheeks which made him look cuter. His height was average for kids his age neither too tall nor short.

Rio didn't have any kind of marks or scars on his whole body which is a far cry from my old one.

Since I used to go for the fight clubs on my work off days or when I had too much stress piling up - there were some scars that would always come out. Then there was my edgy personality and the long scar on my back which that bastard gave me .

So overall Rio is probably a little bit more handsome and whole than I was on earth.

I got out of the bathroom and was thinking about what to wear when I saw that a new dress was already placed on my bed - which I think was sent by Artemis.

I picked up the suit and went on to get ready , which nearly took me half an hour just to do that.

Being someone from earth and born in a middle class family and later on who became a lazy guy like me - I never had to wear fancy clothes like this, and here being a Duke's son I have to maintain Rio's style of appearance and his status as a noble - so I had to put in a little more extra effort.

After getting ready I came out of my room and saw 2 guards standing there. They were arranged by Artemis herself and tasked to follow me while she takes care of her business.

When they saw me they bowed their heads, to which I just nodded and then started heading towards the family hall.

Family hall is where everyone's waiting for me I guess. From what I've seen in Rio's memories, if his parents were at home then they'll always eat together .

It was a strange and good thing for me cause I don't remember when was the last time I sat around with my family and had eaten together or just talked normally in that regard.

I walked in the long hallways observing everything about this house .

A guy who lived in a single room for half his life was suddenly placed in this big mansion - you could imagine my Predicament. Now I was feeling glad that I survived that massive headache back then and seen through Rio's memories or I would just get lost in these hallways everyday.

When I finally reached the family hall. As I guessed Artemis and Amelia were already present there .

I looked at the Duke's chair which was empty and could guess that he was probably leading the hunt against the Evil Scion's followers till now and probably won't rest till his anger calms down.

When Amelia saw me coming , she said - "Lazy brother, we've been waiting for so long. I thought you slept back again."

Even though I wasn't sure about Amelia and didn't know how I should act around her, just looking at her and seeing her actions would bring a smile to my face.

I shook my head and sat on the empty chair beside her. Rio would always do that unless he wanted to tease her by sitting near Artemis , which would make her angry.

Amelia looked towards Artemis and made a proud expression on her face like saying - " See this. I won. "

Artemis wanted to smile at her cute daughter's actions but decided to just play along with her and made a displeased expression, which just made Amelia even more happy.

Amelia had the expression of being the happiest person alive.

Amelia was thinking that today was the best day of her life - though at the beginning she did fell down from bed and it hurt , but then her brother agreed to play with her for 4 hours and now she was sure to take her revenge on Rebecca , plus now she even succeeded in teasing her mama - which is the biggest achievement for her.

I just looked at her and only one thought came to my mind - she really is just like her.

After I sat down some maids came and started serving the food on the table. And one thing which I noticed after watching that - was that it was a lot of food - like if it was placed on earth, it could easily work for a class reunion dinner with 15 hungry teenagers who had nothing better to do besides eat and sleep. The maids served the dishes - after that they went back and stood at some distance.

From what I could see on the table and recognize everything prepared today was something that the original Rio liked - I looked towards Artemis and she smiled and nodded in response.

My heart felt warm seeing that - it's been a long time since someone especially did something for me - well if you remove the gesture of Ali ordering pizza at my room after every time I call him.

I shook my head and then with my building anticipation I started eating. Just after taking the first bite I was surprised, blown out of my mind. Since I only watched Rio's memories and didn't share any sensations or actually eat anything myself - I didn't know what it would taste like.

From Rio's memories I could understand that food would be different here and tastier with all the mana rich ingredients but I was still surprised.

It was almost the best food I've ever eaten.

And yes I said almost cause Queency knew how to cook too , and no one could beat her. Or maybe that's just my bias since I loved her too much.

I stopped thinking about the past and started focusing on eating everything and trying out all the new dishes - cause my body really did feel weak and hungry.

While Rio started eating , Amelia was just looking at her brother and as time went on, a frown started appearing on her face. And soon her previous happy expression started morphing into a pout.

Artemis watched this whole transition and finally couldn't stop herself and a small chuckle escaped her mouth.

Amelia looked towards her mama and watched her ' trying hard ' to control her laughter and failing miserably , her anger started rising too. If before she had a cute pouting face, then now she just looked like a fuming red tomato.

Watching this Artemis finally couldn't control herself and started to straight out bursting in laughter while pointing at her daughter.

Even some maids had the expression of smiling too, while some others were trying hard to control their expression and look elsewhere.

Hearing her laughing I looked towards Artemis and saw her pointing her finger towards Amelia.

I looked towards my side and saw Amelia's cute angry face as she continued glaring at me and Artemis while crossing her arms on her chest.

It took me a moment to understand what was happening and when I did - I could just smile nervously and try to calm her down.

Actually the role of a foodie had always been hers, she'll be the first to eat whenever she could, but today she waited for him to come and he just ignored that, and started eating himself.

" Hehe, will you believe me if I said I was just teasing you. " I said.

Amelia looked towards me with a ' surprised expression ' and said - " Ohh so you remember me now. I thought I would have to wait till you finish eating everything. "

" I was just checking to see if the food was to your liking or not." I tried to fool her but she was smarter than I thought.

" Haaa liar , you think I didn't see your face when you were gobbling it up. You looked like you would eat everything on the table. " Amelia replied as she pointed at my plate - which was filled at the beginning but was half empty now.

I looked towards Artemis hoping to get her help but I saw that she was still eating her food , while looking at us like she was enjoying her favorite tv show.

Now I see why original Rio's memories were filled with so much filler drama - this woman is just enjoying it everyday.

I looked towards Amelia and she was still angry. I thought of something , then I picked up the spoon and sent it towards Amelia's face - " Here eat. "

Amelia looked at me and said - " Why didn't you do it before, it's late now. "

Hearing her reply a smile came to my face and I said - " I was only eating faster cause I thought we could go play quickly after that. But it looks like you don't want to play with your big brother now. "

Listening to me Amelia remembered it and she took the bite from that spoon - "Hmmm I'll forgive you , but only this time. "

I smiled a little as I saw Amelia who started eating from her plate now and then we all focused on finishing our breakfast.

This breakfast felt surprisingly good - the food, the taste , the people and the love - they were all sweet. -maybe more sweeter than something, someone like me deserves.

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A/N - A light fun chapter , after the previous 2 tough ones.

Do give me some suggestions for some fun scenarios - in the siblings relationship.

--- and come join the discord, link is in synopsis