Chapter 179: Top Students!
The morning after was a masterpiece of suffocating awkwardness.
At the vast, sunlit dining table of their luxury villa, the silence was broken only by the clinking of silverware and Nyx’s happy crunching as she devoured a large, specially prepared bowl of shadow-kibble.
Ceiling windows cast long golden streaks across the polished marble, but the morning light did little to ease the tension in the air.
Ayra was notably absent, having sent a brief message saying she was too tired from overnight training to join them for breakfast.
The message was so plainly transparent that even Nyx paused mid-bite, tilting her head in silent judgment before returning to her meal.
Lia and Olenna exchanged knowing, amused glances, their lips twitching with suppressed laughter.
Daniel, seated at the head of the table, sipped his coffee with deliberate slowness, a small, satisfied smirk playing on his lips.
The score, he felt, was now well and truly settled.
Lia, the instigator, leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm. "So," she began, her voice dripping with feigned innocence, "how was Ayra’s training last night?"
Daniel nearly choked on his coffee. Olenna, meanwhile, had the grace to at least pretend to be shocked, though the teasing glint in her eyes betrayed her.
"Lia!" she gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. "Such indecent implications!"
Daniel sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You two are insufferable," he muttered, though there was no real heat behind it.