Chapter 169: Dinnertime Deliberation

The CEO may have cheated slightly. Entirely even. He was willing to admit that much as he looked at the woman who took it in her mouth and flushed a deep shade of red.

"Mhmph, It's delicious!" Leila looked up and met his gaze with a bright and warm one. The flavors bursted in her tongue and she gave him a grin. "You're really amazing, I envy Sister Setsuko for having you as a consort."

He shrugged, "I really hadn't done much."

The man did not lie about that.

Li Yang had found something useful in the Point Shop in the Harem Member section of the Shop. There was a quick and life-saving Item or rather an Item Bundle called [ Delightful Dinner Date ] which he had purchased and somehow worked with all of the ingredients he gathered and prepared those for a meal.

Anything that might have related to improving his relationship with women were there, and thankfully it included something that allowed him to create a dish with multiple servings. It wasn't too expensive, but it managed to at least make a decent amount of food for the Priestesses that joined him for dinner.

The scent of mouth-watering food that wafted in the dining hall had made a great number of the women around to swallow the lurch in their throat.

One wiped the drool from their cheek and the other gulped.

Somehow, their rice bowl dishes seemed kind of pale and bland when compared to the colorful plating of the meal that the only man in the temple prepared.

And yet, naturally, not everyone could crowd over to his table and beg for even scraps.

The ones present were mostly Leila and her friends who sat with him along with others who seemed to be food enthusiasts and asked to join them for just a taste.

This probably had been the first time that they tasted a unique dish akin to this one. Telriah seemed to be a world that was still predominantly focused on Eastern Asian like cuisines, or perhaps it was just the location he landed himself in.

But finally, like a tug in his own stomach—the man looked right up at the door and saw a familiar face. Even while he had not actively used his senses to search for her, somehow their bond made it easy. Her gaze immediately met his.

Blue eyes bore on his face and then flickered around the women he was with. She was probably surprised at the jump of numbers.

"Miss Setsuko—you're finally here. Please have a seat." Li Yang naturally saved a seat for her. While Leila may have wanted to sit beside him, the others were more willing to concede to the fact that Setsuko was his Lady.

If anything, it felt like the Priestess Leila had brought more Beast Cores.He was probably wrong, surely the Priestess who sponsored Leila wouldn't give more of the precious items without any solid progress—but he was the one who consumed them.

"What seems to be happening here?" Setsuko eyed the women, but quickly plopped beside him. There was no place she'd rather be right now than at his side. She grabbed his arm and leaned on him. The woman sighed heavily and muttered a bit childishly, "I did not know how you suddenly became so popular."

The CEO raised a brow at the sudden closeness she provided in front of everyone, but was quick to correct her. "It's not me, but the food. I cooked something today."

He motioned at the hefty serving of the risotto he had been craving for earlier along with other dinner dishes made by the System.

"Right… this?" Setsuko stared at one dish in particular made with a hefty amount of green leafy vegetables. While it didn't smell good for her nose, it was him who had made it… "I did not know you could cook."

The man had never once offered to do it back when they were in the Kin Hunters.

Probably because they didn't have time for proper meals—maybe she was just thinking about this too hard. There was nothing special about him cooking and having numerous women with him as a result.

Has she ever told him that she preferred meat?

Not necessarily his meat, but she'd take that too.

"—I'm not confident in my skills, I only do decently in this aspect," Li Yang explained. He wanted to say that the most recent cooking he had done was a grilled cheese sandwich, but it was not the time and place for this kind of conversation. "But I saved some for you, if you'd like to have some?"

The way her nose wrinkled did not escape his attention.

Neither did the feeling that something flickered in his loins or hers—and with a thoughtful look, she quickly grabbed for a bowl and quickly ate. "Thank you for the meal."

She mostly scarfed it down.

Unlike the rest who relished the new flavors, she mostly shoved the food into her mouth and swallowed. Possibly unlike the women in the temple, she was used to eating in a hurry to even appreciate the meal.

Someone who ate to live, not necessarily living for food.

"Can I have some extra serving?" One of the Priestesses asked.

"Sure, is there anyone else who'd like some?" he asked.

"Would it be alright if we gave some to the High Priestess?" Another asked with a bright smile." She's sure to enjoy this!"

He pursed his lips, but nodded once. "You're free to do as you wish."

There wasn't going to be any mistakes by allowing a High Priestess to sample his dish. What could one actually do with food?

Once a few of the women—who actually were primarily servants of the High Priestess—left, the table cleared up and allowed them to be at ease.

Li Yang finally dug into his own bowl now that he had finished ensuring that everyone at their table had something to eat. The Priestesses around their table conversed amongst themselves, their table finally filled with sound and life for once beyond that of Li Yang or Setsuko eating.

If the people around them had any thoughts as for the couple in front of them, it was something close to this:

'Oh my, the two are such an elegant couple eating in silence—'

'Consort Yang is truly a magnificent person, I think Lady Setsuko is doing amazing in her studies as well. A naturally gifted couple. I want to see his sword!'

'I wish I had a Consort who'd cook me delicious food everyday.'

But then there were others who were predisposed to other sentiments. Some experienced a small wave of envy at the sudden woman who had walked into the temple and achieved a high position by virtue of—by virtue of talent?

Even someone who was gifted started at the bottom of the ranks, but Setsuko was placed up in the ranks without any question. Jealousy and envy permeated in some of their hearts. Especially more when they had realized that she had brought a man to the temple and obviously kept him to herself.

He was the subject of both curiosity and desire.

And then Mitsuko arrived and stepped into the dining hall. She did not wear a sopping robe fresh from the spring, but instead wore a clean and seemingly new outfit. Her long pink hair rested gently across her shoulders and looked as if she had never even broken out into a single sweat while they had fought in the afternoon.

The Priestess looked around idly and located herself at a table—not at Li Yang's but with some other higher-ranked Priestesses. She was quick to greet them respectfully and smile, taking a seat.

Both of them did nothing but share a quick look, before they returned to one another's businesses. While there were originally plans to be taught during the night, Li Yang didn't think any of that sort would happen based on recent events.

Did he regret his actions?

There was a small twinge of regret and also embarrassment that panged within him, but other than that—their experience was pleasantly quick and fleeting. It was for this moment that he somehow understood his brother's desires to enjoy varying women. Or was this something natural for all men?

He didn't know—but he almost wanted to choke up blood at his silent admission to the fact.

He never really wanted to be like him or their father.

Neither had he interest in being similar to their forefathers before them. He had a child, yes. He had a System that demanded him to collect women and make them members of his harem—at least with how things so far had gone. But… the man refused to give it any more useless thoughts.

The man looked up to find that Setsuko was engaging in light conversation with the other Priestesses. It relieved him to see something like that occur after the amount of time they'd been here.

He wasn't sure if he was always going to be beside her, and he cared enough about the woman that he wished she expanded more to just focusing on her lessons and spending the nights with him. Somehow it felt like she had regressed a little by staying here at the temple.

This was the kind of improvement he was hoping for, if worse things became the worst. Later this evening, he'd finalize and finish the absorption of the rest of the Beast Cores—if it worked, he'd probably attempt using the World Warper again.

Most likely straight back to Earth this time.

—-—-

Author's Note: New cover is finally up and I settled with Setsuko as the cover girl to signify this arc! It was made by Sadi_Eve on Fiverr and hopefully it looks good. Nine-tails would make the cover stuffy, so we settled with one. Thanks for reading! (Add'tl Note made on May 31, 2021: Due to a sudden health weakness of this Author, June 2021 would be where I'll be taking a month's break to recuperate.  ;-; I'll see you guys around if I can. Thank you for understanding.)