The next day...
As Alex woke up from bed, Katherine was still peacefully asleep in bed next to him.
His head still ached a little, but he was a little relieved that nothing weird had happened in his sleep.
After sitting up from the bed, his movement accidentally woke Katherine up as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Good morning, Mom."
"Good morning, Alex."
As the two looked at each other, Alex was the first to look away, and his face blushed a little.
"Hehe, did sleeping with Mom make you a little embarrassed?" Katherine suddenly asked as she smirked.
"Mom, don't say that..."
Alex's face blushed even harder as her words sounded extremely misleading, especially when she emphasized the word "sleeping."
"Alex is embarrassed!"
"Mom!"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop... I don't get why you looked so shy sleeping with Mom. It's not like we haven't slept together before."
As Katherine yawned and stretched her arms out, Alex's eyes couldn't help but notice the two bouncy assets before her.
Even though she still had her normal clothes on, it was too much for Alex to handle so early in the morning.
"You want to see and touch them?" Katherine suddenly asked, noticing Alex's stare towards her chest.
"A little... Mom! Stop making fun of me."
Alex immediately got up from the bed in anger as Katherine couldn't help but laugh at his embarrassment.
"Okay, I'll stop for real this time... It's not like we slept together. I wasn't even wearing a bra underneath my pajama——"
"That's different. I was still young back then." Alex interrupted before Katherine could finish her self-murmuring.
"Really? But Alex, you're only ten. You're nowhere near to being an adult."
As Katherine tried to grab Alex for a hug, he quickly ran over to the door before opening it.
Enjoy reading at m v-lem-pyr
"Mom, weren't you the one who taught me to be more aware of gender differences?"
"Really? I don't recall that... Come on, Alex, give your mommy a morning hug."
After a short consideration, Alex hugged her in the end.
"Okay, you can go back to your bedroom and get a change now. I'll go to wake Sophia and Mary next."
As Alex left the bedroom and closed the door, Katherine turned her attention to her drawers.
Grabbing a pair of new clothes, Katherine blushed as she thought about the thing she had said to Alex earlier.
"Why did I act like that? Why did I tease him so much?" Katherine murmured to herself as she began taking off her clothes.
Her face started to blush more and more as she reflected on how lewd some of the words she said to Alex were.
"Calm down. It's just an innocent joke between mom and son. Stop thinking so much into it."
After calming her heart, Katherine finally changed out of her old clothes into her new ones.
But as she brushed her teeth, her mind was still fixated on the 'jokes' that she made with Alex.
It was clearly inappropriate, but deep inside her heart, she wanted to do more of it.
"I just want to see Alex looking embarrassed. Yeah, that's the reason."
With an excuse made inside her head, Katherine finally rinsed her teeth before washing her face.
With the back and forth going on, Katherine's face suddenly looked a little relieved.
It was almost as if a worry inside her head had disappeared. Still, her anger was starting to show on her face.
"Enough. Did you two read what was inside?"
After a short silence, they both nodded, which caused Katherine's face to start blushing red.
"Did you two look at the last page?"
After another short silence, both of them nodded.
"Get out of bed and take a shower. You guys are going to be punished for stealing. I'll be waiting in the living room."
Both of them quickly left the bed before heading into the bathroom, leaving Katherine alone in the living room.
Looking down at the book in hand, she let out a sigh as she headed out of their bedroom.
"Good morning, Lady Katherine."
The voice snapped Katherine out of her thoughts as she put the book to the side.
"Good morning, Luqing... Oh, and good morning, Miss Meiya."
"Good morning, Lady Katherine."
As Katherine hurried back to her room, Luqing noticed her mom raised her hand for a second.
But seeing her putting it back down and saying nothing, she didn't bother asking why as they both headed to the living room.
---
When everyone was in the dining area, Fredrick and Alex had already finished eating their breakfast.
But seeing Fredrick remaining in his seat, they all remained in their seat, waiting for the other to finish.
After seeing everyone had finished eating, Fredrick suddenly got up from his seat.
Next, the door opened, and a large crowd, including all the soldiers and the maids, walked inside the room.
Even several strangers among the group that entered, whom Alex had never seen before, walked into the room as well.
"Everyone, I have an important announcement to make."
As the room fell into silence, Fredrick cleared his throat before continuing.
"Tomorrow is my 100th year old birthday."
Everyone in the crowd let out a grasp, including Ava, who seemed most shocked by it.
"Sir——"
"I don't want to hear anyone crying or anything. I know my time has come..."
The crowd fell into silence, and the knights and men in suits looked down to the floor in sadness.
Several of the maids on the back were already on the verge of tearing up, with Luqing seemingly most affected.
It took a few moments before the three kids realized what their grandpa meant by the announcement.
The bloodline curse of no one living past 100 was happening right before their eyes for the first time.
Meanwhile, Amelia and Katherine seemed the most calm, as if they knew it was what was coming.
However, the woman sitting closest to Fredrick seemed to be the most affected, as she seemed to be in the dark the whole time.
"What do you mean it's your 100th birthday? I thought you told me you still have several years left!"
"I'm sorry, Ava... I know I shouldn't have lied to you, but I really didn't know how——"
"Shut up! You can't be serious right now! We just met our grandkids, and you're telling me you're leaving tomorrow?"
Ava's face was full of tears, her body collapsing onto Fredrick as she angrily pounded onto his chest.