Chapter 101: 101. Gloomy morning

"Is Riki asleep?" asked Selene.

It had only been twenty minutes since Selene and Sean left Riki’s room.

Sean was already asleep in his room, while Selene felt restless, waiting for Liz to arrive.

Liz sat down next to Selene, smiled slightly, and said, "He fell fast asleep after listening to my stories."

"Did you ask him about Ellaine?" asked Selene.

Liz nodded, "Yes. He said he was surprised when she suddenly kissed him. I believe in Riki, he won’t leave me. But if he ever leaves me while I’m still building my career, I don’t mind. Maybe we’re just not meant to be together. Besides, he can understand me too. Do you think I’m being selfish?"

Liz turned to Selene, her eyes glistening. Selene hugged Liz tightly, rubbing her back to calm her down.

"I don’t have any love stories to advise you on, because I don’t know much about love or relationships. However, in my opinion, you’re not selfish, and besides, Riki can understand that. Riki himself is always busy; he doesn’t have time to date. If you two were in a relationship now, it would fall apart because you’re both busy, rarely see each other, and so on. It would definitely be very difficult, and you’d end up breaking up... Not dating while building a career is the right thing to do. But—"

Selene gently pushed Liz’s shoulder after saying "but," then continued her words.

"...You know that you two might grow further apart after this, right? Not only could Riki be taken away, but you yourself could also be taken away by someone else. If that happens, let’s just leave everything to fate."

Liz became even sadder after hearing Selene’s words, and she cried uncontrollably because she was emotional at that moment.

Selene hugged Liz again, patting her back gently.

"It’s okay... it’s fine. If you two aren’t meant to be together, it’s not the end of the world, okay?" Selene said again, this time successfully calming Liz down.

Liz let go of Selene’s embrace and took the tissue Selene handed her.

"Thank you, you’re right. If Riki isn’t meant for me, I’ll definitely find someone better than him, right? For sure, I’ll focus on my career for now. I won’t disappoint you guys who have supported me."

Selene chuckled, then nodded, "That’s my girl! You don’t need to overthink it, just live your life as usual. You have to prove that you can stand on your own two feet."

Liz nodded, "By the way, I’m sleepy."

"Let’s sleep together—oh, you haven’t put on your skincare yet? Wash your face first."

"I already washed my face!"

"Liar, you’re still wearing makeup, right? Why are you still this beautiful?"

"I really did wash my face, gosh."

***

[You can drink the healing potion now, master]

Riki stared at the system screen in front of him with a flat, annoyed expression.

"Too late."

[Are you sure you don’t want to drink it?]

Riki snorted, then took a low-level healing potion from his nightstand drawer.

Although he already felt better and refreshed, because he had slept too much, some parts of his body still ached.

After drinking the potion, he felt his body become lighter. There was no more pain or numbness.

Riki got out of bed, took a shower, and then soaked in warm water to relax his body.

Because the weather was indeed unpredictable, that morning, at five o’clock, heavy rain poured down on the entire city.

While soaking in warm water mixed with a special bath bomb that had the properties of removing toxins from the body and moisturizing the skin, Riki could see the heavy rain from the large window in his bathroom.

Riki’s bathroom was on the second floor, so no one could peek in while he bathed, even though he opened the window wide.

The soothing sound of the rain made him feel relaxed.

"Master!"

Riki almost screamed when he saw Twaila appear in the form of a small fairy with large butterfly wings.

"You—why are you peeping on me while I’m bathing! Go peep on Jake instead!" shouted Riki, trying to cover his body with thick foam from the bath bomb. The theme of the bath bomb was quite unique, namely fairy floss, or cotton candy. So, the thick foam covering Riki’s body was colorful.

"Jake is still sleeping."

"What if he was taking a shower, would you peek at him? You perverted fairy!"

"I’m not a perverted fairy! I just came because I was worried about you, master. We’re busy today, and you were sick last night," said Twaila, sitting on the window.

Twaila and Riki were quite far apart, but they could communicate well because they could telepathize.

"Don’t worry, I’m completely healed. It was just a common illness, a fever because I was thinking too much."

"In that case, I’ll pick you up later, master. Let me drive for you."

Riki furrowed his brow, "You can drive?"

"I even have a driver’s license now! So, I’ll pick you up later, okay? I’m leaving now, master!"

Twaila disappeared with a loud poof that Riki could hear clearly.

Riki smiled happily. Twaila’s presence lifted his spirits. Riki liked cute things and cute people. Like little children, pets... and Twaila, who was clearly cute in the form of a little fairy, especially when she flew around.

After taking a bath, Riki put on a white bathrobe and boxer shorts, then left his room.

Since it was raining heavily that morning, Riki wanted something warm to eat or drink.

"Good morning, Mr. Riki!"

From outside, he could see the gardener who always came to the mansion every morning and evening.

Riki came out of the kitchen and greeted the man.

He was a man whose house was located in a small neighborhood nearby. Although he looked simple, he was a professional gardener. He usually went to the homes of wealthy people to take care of their gardens.

Especially for Riki’s mansion, the man was happy to come every day. Whether it was to water the plants, fertilize them, arrange the garden, or apply pesticides.

Riki had told the man not to come every morning and evening, especially when it was raining like that morning.

"Why did you come again? It’s raining right now," asked Riki.

"I just wanted to make sure the plants here were okay, sir. Then... I heard from your servant that you were sick, so— please accept this, sir, I beg you."

Riki smiled broadly.

He was touched by the food the man had brought. Steamed pumpkin that was still warm.

"You know that I grow several types of pumpkin behind my house, right? I harvested some, and my wife steamed some pumpkin to share with you. It’s not a luxurious meal for you, but—"

"What are you saying? This is more than enough. I really like pumpkin. I’ll make something delicious with this. Thank you, Mr. Ryan."

The man called Ryan gave Riki another plastic bag.

"Please take this too, sir. It’s just potatoes, but I guarantee you’ll like them," said the man, then he quickly left, afraid that Riki would scold him for giving too much.

However, Riki just smiled.

Ryan was a sincere and simple man. Even though he didn’t have much money, he always gave what he had to the people around him.

A good man.

Riki took Ryan’s gifts to the kitchen and closed the door.

He put the steamed pumpkin and potatoes on the table, then prepared the other ingredients.

Riki was going to make potato donuts and pumpkin pie. He wasn’t in the mood for heavy food, such as meat. That morning, he wanted to have donuts and pie for breakfast.

In just an hour, everything was done. Riki felt satisfied seeing the cakes he made cooked perfectly. All that was left was to glaze the donuts.

[Your first mission today is to help bury your gardener]

Riki furrowed his brow, "Wait a minute, Ryan just left, he’s not dead—"

"MR. RIKI! RYAN HAD AN ACCIDENT!!" a butler came into the kitchen breathlessly.

"What? You’re lying, right? He just gave me some pumpkins and potatoes..."

"He also gave us some at the security post, sir, but then we heard about the accident. Ryan and his wife died, and now they’ve been rushed to the hospital. The funeral will be held this morning," said the butler.

Riki couldn’t even lift his hand at that moment. He wasn’t particularly close to Ryan. But Ryan was a good person.

"You help them at the hospital first, I’ll tell my assistant that I’m clearing my schedule for today," said Riki.

The butler replied, "Yes, sir!"

Riki’s legs felt like jelly as soon as the butler left.

[You cannot control birth and death, master]

[That good family was indeed destined to die. It can’t be helped, even if you knew they were going to die beforehand]

[Calm yourself, and face everything with fortitude]

Riki took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. He did this several times until he felt calm.

Only then did he call Jake.

"Jake, can I clear my schedule this morning—please? Then clear it until noon... my gardener passed away, Jake! What? You’re coming too— wait!"

Riki clicked his tongue in annoyance. Jake had decided on his own. But it was Riki’s fault too, because he had always handed over all his work to Jake and Twaila for the past few days. Now there was only work that couldn’t be delegated.

[The funeral will be over quickly, boss. It’ll be done by ten o’clock, don’t worry. You can still work.]

The adult world is a professional world. Riki couldn’t even mourn comfortably.

Even though he was his boss.

That peaceful morning turned into a gloomy one.

Two good people had left this cruel world.