CHAPTER 352: LUNCH INVITATION

"Are you two okay?" Zaque asked, his eyebrows furrowing in worry at the sight of the fairy’s and Coco’s red eyes.

"Peachy." Coco responded, voice hoarse from crying.

After yelling at Lala and telling her that she will use her abilities to Coco’s benefit, she ended up crying against the fairy and pouring her heart out.

Upon seeing Coco crying in front of her— when Coco was adamant on putting on a mask, but let herself break down in Lala’s presence— she couldn’t help, but cry along as well, hoping that it would help lessen the pain Coco was feeling.

Fortunately, Coco seemed to be pleased and looked fine after Lala cried with her.

Sure, this kind of dynamic wouldn’t be alright with other people, but for Coco, it was the best outcome at the moment, and she wouldn’t trade this kind of ending to any other outcome out there.

Honestly, for Coco, she would rather have Lala stay with her than let anyone else be close to her.

Why? She has known Lala longer than anyone else in this world, and plus, the fairy knows about the existence of earth— not only that, Lala knows about the other things that Coco talks about most of the time.

In a world that doesn’t know about the existence of Earth or its advancement in technologies, things could get messy real quick if she wasn’t careful.

With Lala by her side, along with Lulu’s assistance here and there, she managed to avoid any situation that would make other people suspicious of her— actually, she already encountered a few who were suspicious of her, but they were not that confrontational about it.

Rather, they were fascinated by Coco’s sudden change in behavior that they decided to sit back and watch.

Not that Coco minded, but she was truly lucky.

"By the way." Zaque spoke up and snapped Coco’s daydreaming, "Sinclair sent a letter, Coco."

The red haired mediator raised an envelope and walked over to Coco’s spot on the bed where she was currently laying down beside Heiren, Lala, and Konoha.

Yes, Coco went back to her room despite looking like an ugly mess after sobbing in the music room.

The husbands didn’t question her about her puffy, red eyes nor her red and running nose, but they were quite attentive in their own way.

Heiren scooted over to the other side of the bed and gave space so Coco could plop down on the mattress, letting her take up as much space as she needed and bury her face on her pillow.

Quizen stopped writing and instead, started humming a random tune to hopefully aid in lightening Coco’s mood.

Who wouldn’t be happy after listening to a cheerful background noise? No one, right? Because even if Quizen was feeling under the weather, all he needed to do is hum a random cheerful song that would make his shoulders dance along with the beat.

Alhai, on the other hand, just stared at Coco.

Well, if they were being honest, what would one expect from a mediator who does not like Coco’s presence and just recently became neutral about her? Go to her bed and offer comfort? Yeah, right.

Despite Coco’s face being buried on her pillows, she could still feel everyone’s eyes on her and somehow, that helped her body relax even just for a little.

"Can you read it for me, please?" Coco asked politely, her voice muffled against the soft white cushions.

"Sure." Zaque hummed, already opening the envelope.

"Let’s see here.." The mediator mumbled, his red eyes drinking in the content of the letter.

Zaque cleared his throat and began reading. "Dear master, it seems that you feel a lot better compared to these past few days."

"To celebrate your victory in that arena, I would love to invite you and everyone inside that house for lunch. I will be sending a carriage in an hour after this letter finds you, you may refuse if you wish to do so—"

"But I already marinated the pork belly." Heiren commented, the edge of his voice tilting into a subtle whine.

"— but please, do give this invitation some thought. However, if you really don’t wish to come, just ignore the coachman, and please do not worry, I will not take it to heart." Zaque read the last bit of the letter, a finality on his tone.

There was silence that soon followed, no one dared to make a noise nor a move, their gazes landing on Coco.

Lala, who was perched on top of Coco’s back, moved before anyone else and walked over to Coco’s right shoulder, her little feet padding against Coco’s shirt.

"You don’t want to go?" Lala asked, quietly and softly.

Coco didn’t answer right away and just kept her face buried onto the pillows.

It took her approximately five seconds before she raised her head and turned her head to the left, her breathing slightly labored from holding her breath for too long.

"Get ready." Coco said, alarming everyone.

"We’re going?" Heiren sat upright on the other side of the bed, his eyebrows furrowing in defiance.

"We’ll just eat lunch with Sinclair and Alithe." Coco mumbled, turning her head to face Heiren. "We can eat the pork belly you marinated for dinner."

"There you have it." Zaque spoke up with three claps and caught everyone’s attention. "Coco said that we will go so all of you need to get yourselves ready— I’m looking at you, Quizen. It usually takes you an hour to get ready."

"What?" Quizen asked, incredulous, but Zaque ignored him.

"Move along." Zaque said, pointing towards the door with a smile. "Coco needs to get ready, too."

The mediators let out a series of grumbling under their breaths except for Alhai and slowly made their way to the door.

"Heiren." Coco called out unexpectedly, making the second husband stop walking. "For the record, I prefer your cooking more than anyone else’s cooking."

Just like that, Heiren’s heart went past his sleeve.