Loreana looked in shock as Crystal stood at the gate with a smile. But what made her even more ashamed was Luna, who was also there, standing with her eyes wide in incomprehension. It was as if she had just seen a chicken eat its own egg, and her wide-open mouth was enough to fit one.
As Anom looked and appreciated the cute maid's cute reaction, he felt an intense gaze directed at him from nearby.
Loreana was staring at him with blame in her gaze, showing an expression of having been wronged. She really never thought that he would play her like that. Forget about her dignity as a mother; even her identity as the perfect and unblemished Madam went down the drain due to him.
"Come here, Luna." Anom waved to the cute maid while saying, "Meet my new girlfriend. Oh, you can't call her Madam anymore, though. Call her big sister instead."
"Really?" Luna's expression calmed as Crystal explained the situation to her in brief. A sweet smile appearing on her angelic visage, Luna ran towards Anom and spoke cheerfully, "That's so great! Now, Missy, I, and Madam can all be with you, big brother."
Her heart-meltingly cute expression placed a smile on everyone's faces before Crystal spoke.
"What did he just say, Luna?" she asked. "You can't call us the same way anymore."
"But, Missy…" Luna hesitated, as she was not sure how to suddenly change how she'd been calling them all those years.
"It's alright." Anom pulled her towards him and patted her head before saying, "You'll get used to it."
He pointed his chin towards Loreana and said, "Try it out."
Luna hesitated for a moment, but she still obeyed Anom's words.
Gathering her courage, she finally called out, "Big… Big sister Loreana!"
"Me too! Call me that too!" Crystal seemed to find it interesting as she came closer and demanded that Luna address her similarly.
"Big sis Crystal!" This time, it was much easier for her to accept it, as she and Crystal had basically been like real sisters since their childhood.
"So cute." Crystal joyfully grabbed the cute maid into her arms and hugged her tightly. She then sighed. "You know, Luna?" she asked. "I have always wanted to have you call me that. But the thought of you getting bullied by the servants for standing out made me hesitate." Crystal seemed to have thought of their childhood as she said, "Then I slowly got used to it as I realized it didn't matter how you addressed me. For me, you were always my sister." She then smiled. "But now it matters. And it makes me happy to hear you call me that."
Anom smiled as he watched the interaction of the two girls, who shared a bond that went deeper than that of real siblings. He found that sometimes, entering a new relationship can alter many of your existing ones in ways you could have never imagined.
Meanwhile, Loreana was feeling so ashamed after Luna addressed her as "big sister" that she hid her head in Anom's arms.
Anom chuckled as he hugged her head. "You'll get used to it, too, Loreana." He paused before speaking. "This is your family now."
Hearing the familiar term felt a bit unrealized for the present self, who, except for her daughter, had no one else to call family.
For everyone else, she was a part of the Safaira family, but for her, that was only in name. It was something she undertook to fulfill her responsibilities.
Hearing his words, she suddenly found a feeling buried deep within her that hadn't surfaced for a long time. It was the warmth she had only felt when she was with her parents, or similar to the time she spent with Lady Faustina and Uncle Benny.
Her eyes turned misty before a few precious pearls couldn't help but slip out of them.
"Hey…" Anom looked at her in alarm, as he didn't immediately understand the reason for her tears. Tears had always been something he found bothersome. All along, he had found situations like this to be annoying, like when they happened in shows or movies. Now that it was happening to his own woman, he found it even more annoying, as it made him feel incensed. He wanted to know the reason for her to cry, and he wanted to erase that reason from existence before it caused it again!
Suddenly, his brain finally worked as he asked, "Are you missing Lady Faustina and Uncle Benny?"
Loreana sniffed lightly to control her tears before nodding.
"Don't worry," he said in an assuring tone. "As soon as we are done with our current problem, I'll do my best to find them."
"No…" But Loreana instinctively refused. "It has nothing to do with you," she said. "I'm the one who should bear that respon-"
"Enough!" Anom suddenly raised his voice slightly, interrupting Loreana. "Do you think that I will simply allow you to go and search for them all by yourself?" he asked. "What do you think of the relationship we have just committed ourselves to?"
The girls were startled at his reaction. Although he didn't put on an angry expression, the girls could feel that he was upset.
Loreana was the one who was most affected, as she was the one being reprimanded. But she was not angry, nor did she feel hurt by his words. She just felt guilty.
She had also realized that her words had directly disregarded the essence of the feelings that Anom had expressed for her.
"I'm sorry." She lowered her head slightly as guilt was written all over her face.
Anom saw her reaction and couldn't help but sigh. He said, "I don't want to act bossy or something, but you have to understand that as my woman, you have every right to trouble me with your troubles." He gave her a deep look and asked, "Do you hear me?"
Loreana nodded instantly as a light smile also appeared on her beautiful face. She wiped her eyes before turning towards the two girls, who were too mesmerized by Anom's dominant style.
"You hear that too, right?" she asked them. "You can trouble him all you want."
"Well, he better be ready then." Crystal got out of her reverie and replied with a toothy smile. Luna also nodded as she looked at Anom adoringly.
Suddenly, Crystal said in a playful tone, "Mom~, seeing you being so intimate with Anom is really making me jealous!" She then looked at the cute maid and asked, "Right, Luna?"
Luna blanked for a moment before understanding her big sister's intentions to tease Loreana and hurriedly nodding.
"Oh?" Loreana blushed a little at first but quickly steadied herself before she replied with a snort, "I already warned you earlier." Placing her arms around his neck, she declared, "Now, it's too late already."
Crystal pouted as she failed in her attempt to tease her mother, but she was also happy that she had finally accepted their new reality.
Anom was the same; he was glad that Loreana had finally acknowledged their relationship, which was anything but normal.
That said, although he was happy to have the proud Loreana back, he was still not going to let her strut around in front of him like that.
He put on a frown before he asked, "That's it?"
"Huh?" Loreana looked at him in obvious confusion. "What do you mean?"
Anom pointed at her hands, which were wrapped around his neck. "Aren't you going to continue?" he asked. "This position is meant to initiate a kiss, you know?"
"I- I…" Loreana was flustered as her previous confident demeanor went poof.
"It looks like I have to make the effort myself." Anom sighed.
"No… MFF… mm…" Before Loreana could refuse, Anom, like usual, caught her quickly and smothered her with a kiss.
It was meant to be a quick lesson, but Anom got so engrossed that he only came to when Loreana patted his shoulder.
"Had enough?" he asked while smirking at the mature beauty who was panting hard on his chest.
"You… are shameless."
"Well, that had been only for my benefit till now." He shrugged.
They fell silent and continued to enjoy the warm hug while listening to each other's heartbeats, when…
"Anom!" Crystal pinched his shoulder before saying, "Now I'm really jealous!" She complained.
Pointing to herself and Luna, she asked, "Have you called us here to just enjoy your romantic episode?"
"What can I do?" He sighed. "Both you, mother and daughter, are just too irresistible."
With one reply, he placated Crystal and made her blush.
"Me… What about me, big brother?" Luna showed a hopeful expression as she asked.
"Of course, my Luna is still the best!"
No one had any objections to his comment, as she was just that cute and innocent.
"Alright, then." Anom clapped twice to get their attention before speaking, "Let's get back to the topic I called you here for."
Seeing the ladies look at him, he continued with a smile, "Let's go and meet your eldest sister."