Chapter 167 | When Good Becomes Bad

Chapter 167: 167 | When Good Becomes Bad

Selene also stepped out. Her silver-white hair was neatly brushed and fell over her shoulders in a smooth cascade. Her pale skin was clean and fresh. Her white eyes were aimed at the floor.

She did not look at Dexter.

Not once.

Her ears, however, were a shade of pink that closely matched Lyra’s.

She walked past him quietly, pretending very hard that the last twelve hours had not happened.

Dexter watched her go.

’Well. This is going to be a fun breakfast.’

He walked to the dining table and sat down.

Four people. Four bowls of glowing, golden rice. Three women who were all, for various reasons, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else at the table.

The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Dexter picked up his spoon.

"Eat up," he said. "It’s good."

No one responded.

At that moment, Mira’s seemed to have noticed something as the three of them sat down.

She looked up at Selene and then her gaze shifted to Lyra.

Lyra’s ears were red and she was actively trying g nit to look up.

Then Mira looked at Dexter.

Dexter was calmly and his expression was neutral.

Mira’s crimson eyes narrowed.

"What happened between the three of you?" Mira suddenly asked projecting the question to her surface thought.

The question landed on the table like a brick.

Lyra was startled and she immediately dove into her food like it was the most important thing in the world.

Selene didn’t say anything either. She glanced briefly at Mira, and Dexter could have sworn he saw the faintest trace of a smirk on Selene’s lips before it vanished.

But Mira had seen it too.

Mira’s brows furrowed even more as her crimson gaze sharpened, zeroing in on Selene. She had caught that smirk. She knew what it meant. Selene knew something she didn’t, and she was quietly amused about it.

’Did something really happen?’

Mira was beginning to feel slightly annoyed without knowing why as Selene’s behavior irritated her.

She turned her sharp gaze on Dexter.

"What happened?"

Dexter shrugged. "It was just a misunderstanding. That’s all."

Mira stared at him, waiting for elaboration but Dexter gave non and simply resumed eating.

Mira’s eye twitched.

She held her glare for a full five seconds, but Dexter didn’t crack.

Mira snorted.

"Hmph. Fine. Keep your secrets to yourself."

She conjured her Spectral Arms. The translucent orange limbs materialized behind her shoulders, reached for her spoon, and resumed feeding herself.

The rest of the meal passed and it was incredibly awkward.

They finished eating.

Dexter collected the bowls and carried them to the sink.

---

"Knock. Knock."

A sharp double-knock echoed from the front gate.

Dexter’s Enhanced Hearing activated automatically and he filtered the surrounding sounds and listened for a heart beat and he immediately knew who it was.

He dried his hands, walked to the front door, and opened the gate.

Tessa stood on the other side.

She was smiling softly like a kid who had just been given a lollipop.

She wore a simple blue dress with a white apron, and she was holding a large transparent bag filled with empty thermo food containers.

"Good morning!" she said brightly, her green eyes sparkling. Then she grinned very mischievously.

As she tilted her head letting her hair bounce to the side.

"Hope I didn’t disturb anything." Her voice was innocent but it was obvious she was thinking of another thing.

Dexter looked at the mischievous sparkle in her eyes before lightly flicking her forehead.

"Quit it, brat."

"Ow!"

She rubbed her forehead while pouting but her grin returned instantly.

Dexter gestured at the bag of containers. "I assume these are what you wanted me to use."

Tessa nodded rapidly, her curly hair bouncing with each movement. "Yep! Hen- Dad said to bring them over so you can fill them up. He’s already cleared a shelf in the display case for your meals."

Dexter took the bag from her. The containers were clean, sturdy, and came with temperature scaling effect.

"Alright," he said, glancing back at the house. "I should be done before nine or ten."

Tessa blinked. "That fast?"

"It’s just a Grade One meal. Won’t take long."

Tessa’s nodded.

"Alright," she said, rocking on her heels. "I’ll be looking forward to it."

But she didn’t leave.

Dexter waited. She continued standing there, her green eyes fixed on him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you need something else?"

Tessa clasped her hands behind her back and rocked forward onto her toes. "Can I watch you cook?"

Dexter was slightly taken aback by the request. Then he smiled, reached out, and gently pushed her forehead with his palm, tilting her back a step.

"No."

He closed the gate.

Tessa stood on the other side, pouting through the iron bars with the wounded expression of a puppy that had been denied a treat.

"Wicked."

Dexter waved a hand over his shoulder without turning around and walked back inside.

---

He found Mira in the living room.

She had wheeled herself to the window with her Spectral Arms.

Even though the window was now boarded up,she still sat there.

But she wasn’t cultivating.

She was staring at him as he came in.

Her expression was indifferent but sharp.

"I assume that was Tessa," she said.

Dexter paused. "Yeah. How did you know?"

Mira’s lips curled into a cold sneer. She didn’t answer.

He decided not to press the issue.

"Right," he said, walking past her toward the kitchen. "I’ll be busy cooking, so let me know if you need anything."

Mira said nothing. She simply turned her head back toward the window and closed her eyes.

As Dexter left, Mira opened her eyes as she muttered.

’Interesting.’

---

Dexter placed the containers on the kitchen counter and stood there for a moment, thinking.

The challenge ahead of him was not cooking. Cooking was easy, the challenge was the opposite of cooking.

He had to make his food worse.

As a Great Grandmaster Foodsmith, his natural cooking ability produced Grade Two meals at minimum, even when using ordinary ingredients. The mana infusion happened automatically. His techniques were so refined, that every dish he touched inevitably absorbed and channeled mana beyond the Grade One threshold.

To produce a Grade One meal, he would have to intentionally suppress his skill.

It was, in a strange way, harder than cooking at full power.