Aron glanced toward the source of the voice, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Yeah, just logged out,” he called back, grabbing his plate.

  Footsteps approached, and soon enough, his wife Mimi appeared in the doorway, arms crossed with a knowing look. “You were in there for quite a time huh, Honey,” she spoke somehow sternly, though there was no real annoyance in her tone, just familiarity.

  Aron chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, well… Things got complicated.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “When do they not?”

  “Fair point.” He grinned, digging into his food.

  She watched him for a moment before sitting across from him. “At least you’re eating right after.”

  “Hey, I’m improving.”

  She smiled. “Hopefully.”

  As Aron was eating with relish, he also tried to look for the remote. Usually it was around the table but he couldn’t see it anywhere somehow.

  Beep

  The television suddenly got turned on, and Aron was a bit confused before he laid his eyes onto the woman.

  Wink

  The wife of him gave a sweet gesture, sticking her tongue out of her mouth. She looked playful Somehow the look that she was giving to him is…

  Gulp

  Whether Aron swallowed the food in his mouth or because of something else, it was hard to say.

  “Woman you are playing with fire, see how I will deal with you after this.”

  Mimi looked confused, and it was also hard to tell whether she was truly confused or not though.

  Aron pointed to the seat beside him with his eyes as he ordered, “Come beside me.”

  Mimi pouted her mouth but still obeyed, sliding into the seat beside him with a playful smirk planted on her face as she sat on. She leaned in close, her shoulder brushing against his as she reached for a piece of food from his plate. “You’re so demanding,” she teased, popping the bite into her mouth. “What happened to the sweet, patient Big Brother Aron I married?”

  Aron couldn’t take his eyes off her for some reason, shaking his head. “Sweet and patient Aron got buried under a mountain of quests, troublesome NPCs, and a guy with a spear who won’t stop nagging me.”

  Mimi tilted her head, her eyes in curiosity. “Guy with a spear? Is it that guy? Sounds like you’ve got more going on in there than usual.”

  “I’d like to say that it's an everyday ration but honestly, having the word ‘like’ in that is kinda wild,” Aron muttered, shoveling another forkful of food into his mouth. He glanced at the TV, which was now playing some kind of news segment about economic things in the country. The flickering screen cast a faint glow over the room, and for a moment, the two of them sat in comfortable silence.

  Mimi rested her head on his shoulder, her voice softening. “If you really don’t like it, then why would you still be there, huh.”

  Aron paused, his fork hovering mid-air. He looked down at her with a realization on his face, “Dang, alright, now you have learned to talk well, yeah.”

  She reached up, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead. “Well, that’s what makes it fun, isn’t it? The mystery, the chaos… the fact that you somehow always manage to come out on top.”

  “Always manage to come out on top is an overestimation, Baby. I’ll just say that I’m barely scraping by.” Aron laughed.

  Mimi grinned, her playful demeanor still on her face. “Barely scraping by is still winning in my book. Besides, you’ve got me to keep you grounded.”

  “Lucky me, yeah.” Aron said dryly. He put another food near his mouth and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. “Being single has its own advantages, then.”

  “Oh, I know,” she replied with a mock-serious nod.

  “But someone’s got to keep you in line. Unlucky me then, hmph.” Mimi pouted her mouth with her arms crossed.

  Aron laughed, the tension in his shoulders easing more as he leaned back in his chair. In this moment, problems faded into the background. Here, he could just rest his brain out, just the simple presence of the woman who somehow always knew how to pull him back to reality.

  Beep Beep Beep

  Aron's phone buzzed on the table, the screen lighting up with an incoming call. He glanced at the name flashing on the display being one of his farm managers.

  “Looks like work,” he muttered, setting his fork down. He shot his wife a quick look, and she just shook her head with a smirk.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Go on, fish boss.”

  He chuckled before answering. “Hello, how is it going there, Bro Benjamin?”

  A slightly frantic voice came through the line. “I’d like to say good Boss, but we’ve got a situation. One of the filtration systems in Pond Three is acting up, and if we don’t fix it soon, we might lose some of the stock.”

  Aron pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright then. How bad is it?”

  “Not catastrophic yet, but if we don’t stabilize it in the next couple of hours, we’re looking at a real problem.”

  “Alright. Call the maintenance guy and get started on checking the backup system. Just keep monitoring it and let me know if things get worse. We still have the backup system, yeah?”

  “Yes, we’ve switched part of the flow to the backup, but I wanted to keep you updated,” Benjamin replied.

  “Other than that, everything else is running smooth. No issues with feed or stock health.”

  “Good to hear,” Aron said, stretching his arm in his chair. “Appreciate the update. Just make sure the guys stay on top of it. I’ll check in later if possible.”

  “Will do, Boss. Oh, and also…”

  “Just wanted to give you an update on the farm. Nothing urgent, but there are a few things you should know.”

  Aron nodded, though Benjamin couldn’t see it naturally. “Alright, shoot.”

  “First, the new batch of fingerlings we got last week are settling in well. No signs of stress or disease, and they’re feeding normally. Looks like the supplier came through this time.”

  “Praise to God yes,” Aron said, a small smile tugging at his lips. “What else?”

  “We’ve got a couple of buyers interested in the larger stock from Pond 5. They’re offering a decent price, but they want to inspect the fish before committing. I told them we’d set something up for next week, but I wanted to run it by you first.”

  Aron tapped his fingers on the table, considering. “Yeah, that’s fine. Let’s get them in on Tuesday. I’ll be there to handle it.”

  “Got it. Oh, and one more thing, the equipment upgrade we talked about last month? The supplier finally got back to me with a quote. It’s a bit higher than we budgeted, but they’re throwing in a maintenance package for the first year.”

  Aron sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Of course it’s higher. What’s the calculation?”

  Benjamin rattled off the number, and Aron looked winced. “Welp, it is what it is. Alright, let me think about it. I’ll get back to you by tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good. That’s all I’ve got for now. How’s everything on your end?”

  Aron glanced at Mimi, who was watching him with a curious expression. “Same as always. Complicated.”

  Benjamin chuckled. “Isn’t it always? Alright, that’s it for now I think. Call me if you need anything.”

  “Will do. Thanks for the work.”

  Aron hung up and set the phone down, letting out a somewhat satisfied breath. Mimi raised an eyebrow. “Everything okay at the farm?”

  “Yeah, just business as usual,” Aron said.

  “New fish are doing well, potential buyers are sniffing around, and of course, the equipment upgrade is going to cost an arm and a leg.”

  Mimi smiled, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “Sounds like you’ve got your hands full.”

  “It’s for you and the family.” Aron replied with a wry grin.

  Mimi flushed a little hearing what he said.

  “But hey, at least it’s not another pump failure. Small victories, right?” Aron continued.

  Mimi laughed softly. “Right. Speaking of victories, are you done for the night?”

  “I think I’m done for tonight,” he said, standing up and stretching after looking at the clock. “Let’s just… enjoy the quiet for a bit… Well maybe not so quiet after all.”

  Mimi’s smile widened, and she stood as well, wrapping her arms around him. “I like the sound of that.”

  All the things in his hands were still waiting for him to sight his eyes upon. For now, though, he let himself feast his eyes onto something more interesting.

  …

  Time passed slowly.and after a while, they lay there in comfortable silence, the sound of their breathing syncing as the room grew darker. Mimi’s fingers traced idle patterns on his chest, her touch light and soothing. Aron closed his eyes, letting the warmth of her presence wash over him.

  “You know,” Mimi said after a while, her voice barely above a whisper, “just wanna remind you to not overwork yourself…. After all, looking after our bodies is our obligation, right.”

  Aron opened his eyes, glancing down at her. “I know,” he said quietly.

  Mimi propped herself up on one elbow, looking at him with a mix of affection and exasperation. “Let’s go somewhere fun, just walking in the park, supermarket or mall sounds fun too, don’t even have to buy anything…”

  Aron reached up, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “Yeah, we can do that tomorrow.”

  She smiled, leaning down to kiss him softly. “Don’t you forget it.”

  The kiss lingered, gentle and unhurried, a quiet affirmation of the bond they shared. When they finally pulled apart, Mimi settled back against his chest, her breathing steady and calm. Aron held her close, his mind drifting.

  The last thing he remembered before drifting off was the faint sound of Mimi’s breathing, steady and reassuring, and the soft glow of the moonlight filtering through the curtains.

  …

  Early in the morning, before the ray of sunlight even pass through the gaps of the curtains, Aron and Mimi had woken up. It was their daily schedule to wake up early in the morning and start their activities

  Mimi had gone to the wet areas, multitasking herself by making food while also looking after the clothes that had been washed from the washing machine.

  While for Aron himself, he had been in his working room, looking at the paperwork that needed his attention. Especially regarding the report sent by Benjamin yesterday, he needed to at least make sure that everything was going smoothly and all.

  After all, he was the owner of that farm. He needed to make sure that no mishaps happen because of his mistakes. That was why he had made a simple system, where it would be very easy to monitor while also having much less bureaucracy inside of it.

  “Thankfully I made the working system myself, huh. Can’t imagine the workflow if I let someone else do it and made a mess out of it.”

  Even though the system looked simple, it was very effective and efficient, without having the need for him to go into the location of the company itself to monitor and all. He very much maximized the use of technology, as he believed that technology was there to be benefited. Not to be used as a means to maximize formality just like a certain group of people.

  Unfortunately, in the area where he lived, many people had this kind of working environment going on in their place. That was why Aron systemized his company himself so that everything functions efficiently. He very much appreciated time, and understood that time couldn’t be bought back.

  Time passed slowly until finally Aron went to the game cubicle, and became Morality Mortalized again.