Chapter 434: BY YOUR FULL NAME

“I’m already eating,” Neoma said after she just had a spoonful of steamed rice. She was now enjoying the food that Ruto prepared for her while talking to him using a communication device. “We can talk while I eat, right? I’ll kill you if you hang up.”

Ruto, who was on the other end of the line, chuckled.

She was momentarily frozen.

Dammit… Ruto’s voice sounds sexier now!

It was deeper, huskier, manlier…

“I want to see you, Ruto,” she insisted. “I want to match your voice with your face.”

She clicked her tongue, then she stabbed an innocent piece of grilled pork using her fork and dipped it in the ssamjang that Ruto made for her. “I’m patient,” she said stubbornly. “If I wasn’t patient, do you think I’ll be talking to you like this after you rejected all my calls? Plus, you didn’t even let me in your dreams.”

…..

“Of course, I am.”

“Gosh,” she complained, even though just the mention of her favorite dessert was enough for her to cave.

Well, in the first place, she couldn’t really get mad at Ruto for not responding to her calls all this time. After all, she knew he was always working hard for her. It wasn’t his fault that he had a lot of restrictions he had for having the memories of his first life intact.

“Do you think a tiramisu cake is enough to bribe me?” she asked teasingly.

A Bank Crest was the equivalent of a credit card in this world.

“I don’t want you to blame me if you go bankrupt, Ruto.”

Wow, someone was confident about their wealth, huh?

To be fair, she heard Ruto’s family was a big deal on the East Continent.

Plus, Chef Morton Stroganoff was her father’s Executive Chef. It was a job that pays a lot, but aside from that, the Stroganoffs also had a chain of famous restaurants all over the continent. And as far as she knew, the Stroganoffs also supplied food ingredients to the noblest households in the empire.

They’re rich RICH.

And…

Ruto was the sole heir to both House Solfrid and House Stroganoff.

Oh, RUTO is rich RICH.

“Yes, since I’m a material girl,” she admitted unapologetically. “My dream is to become a lady of leisure after all of this is over. And although I’m already financially stable myself, I don’t mind getting spoiled by someone who’s also the same.”

He laughed softly.

“Nah, your mother doesn’t like me.”

“To be fair, my father doesn’t like any boys around me.”

“She’s wrong, though. If I have you wrapped around my finger, you should have been in front of me the moment I asked you to.”

Okay, he had a point…

She couldn’t refute his words, so she just put a piece of braised baby potato in her mouth.

She almost choked on her baby potato.

Wait, I can’t die because of baby potatoes this time!

She immediately grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down, then she scolded Ruto. “Hey, I’m eating- be careful with your words! I don’t want to have another embarrassing cause of death!”

He just laughed it off.

His laugh sounded nice, so her irritation easily disappeared.

Gosh, why am I such a sucker for this punk?

“Yeah,” she said, finishing her bowl of rice first before speaking again. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed your cooking.”

“I won’t let you hear the words you want to hear from me as a punishment for ghosting me.”

“I’m glad you know that,” she said, then she stuffed her face with the delicious side dishes. “So, what are you up to now? Don’t even think about lying, Ruston Stroganoff.”

She just laughed, then she finished the remaining grilled meat on the plate.

“What kind of deal?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Did you cause it?” 𝘰𝑣𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

She raised an eyebrow. “Did you hatch the egg?”

She let out a sigh while shaking her head.

Tteokbokki and Crimson are acting like brats again, huh?

“Okay, I’ll deal with them after my meal,” she said. “But why did you wake up Tteokbokki instead of waiting for the egg to hatch naturally?”

Oh, right.

I’ve been complacent recently.

Ruto continued with his report.

She knitted her eyebrows. “The match will be delayed for two weeks? But that’s when the classes are supposed to begin, Ruto.”>

“But why do you want the match to be delayed for two weeks?”

“Ruto, why are you doing god’s work again?”

She wasn’t even surprised that Ruto already knew about Calyx Dalton.

At this point, she was already used to him knowing the things happening around her. The only question she had was why did he have to shoulder everything?

“Not literally- it’s just a meme,” she said, then she changed the topic. “Ruto, this is my fight with Calyx Dalton. I already know that he’s a crow, and I also know that I can deal with him. I appreciate that you’re doing god’s work for me, but I don’t like it when you do things that I can manage on my own. I feel like you’re underestimating me.”

Ruto said gently.

“But I really want to fight Calyx Dalton,” she said stubbornly. “I have a personal grudge against him.”

“Well, I said that I wanted to fight Calyx Dalton. But to be honest, Duke Quinzel is looking for him, too. It’s not like I can stop His Grace after he personally heard the crow psycho threaten Hanna.”

Ruto sounded as stubborn as her.

“You should really tell your mother that you’re not wrapped around my finger, Ruston Stroganoff.”

“I’ll call you by your full name until I see your face again.”

“I’m not upset just because I wanted to fight Calyx Dalton,” she said. “I’m upset because I feel like you don’t care about yourself as much as you care about me. You always put your life in danger, Ruston Stroganoff.”

“Well, that’s exactly how I feel, too- I also want to protect you because you’re one of my people, Ruston Stroganoff.”

She bit her lower lip to stop herself from smiling.

Ruto was obviously trying to pacify her by “selling” himself to her.

Gosh, he’s so cute.

Okay, that almost made her salivate.

Since she was tall for her age, she wanted someone taller than her.

“Ruston Stroganoff, I don’t want a whole body photo unless you’re sending me a life-size cardboard cutout of yourself,” she said. “Just send me a picture of your face. I want to see your face, okay?”

“Yes, I’m still upset with you, Ruston Stroganoff.”

That made her smile.

She knew that Ruto wouldn’t do what he just said, but she was satisfied with the fact that he felt guilty for stressing her out.

“Keep feeling that way until the day you can apologize to me in person, Ruston Stroganoff.”

<“What can I do for you to at least stop calling me by my full name, hmm?”

She couldn’t see his face, but she could imagine him giving her puppy dog eyes by just listening to how he talked in a cute tone.

“Well, maybe if you call me every day, I can forgive you little by little.”

She heard a loud explosion in the background, almost making her heart drop to the floor.

“Are you alright?”

Why did she have a feeling that those “annoying pests” were human beings?

Is he seriously fighting while talking to me?!

Ruto said gently.

“Hey, take care,” Neoma said, still worried even though she knew Ruto was strong enough to protect herself. “Hurry and come back to me soon, Ruston Stroganoff.”

…..

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