No pressure.

Neville pulled up the files he had prepared before departure and began reviewing them.

After a moment of silence, curiosity got the better of him.

"Why do we have the whole floor to ourselves?" He asked Bryan.

He was expecting him to say that these were just privileges. He should just relax and enjoy the benefits of tagging along.

But it was Grayson who answered.

"I don’t like the noise."

The response was so honest, so unexpectedly simple, that Neville was dumbfounded.

Eventually, he couldn’t help but laugh.

It wasn’t good to laugh at this time, nor was it appropriate either. He tried to restrain his laugh, but he couldn’t stop it. He tried to press a hand over his mouth, but it did little to stop it either.

Grayson’s gaze landed on him, and Neville felt the cold sweat dripping down his back, but he was still snickering.

"Did I say something amusing?"

"N-no." Neville’s voice came out strangled, and he coughed a little. "Sorry, sir. I just—"

"Hm?"

"U-um." Neville’s brain short-circuited. What was the correct answer here? Was there even a correct answer? "N-no?"

Across from him, he saw Bryan covering his face with one hand. His shoulders were shaking too. When Bryan felt Grayson’s gaze on him, he immediately straightened his face as if nothing had happened and clamped his mouth shut.

Grayson’s gaze landed on him again, and he even leaned his back comfortably on the sofa. He didn’t say anything, just staring at him blatantly.

’What’s going on with him?’

[Do I look like I know everything, host? (°△°|||)]

’Still useless.’

Then, he saw the corner of Grayson’s mouth twitch a little.

It might’ve been just a split second, but he was positive that Grayson was laughing at him.

Before the anger rose from within him, Grayson changed his expression.

"Get back to work," Grayson said, turning away. "Both of you."

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

The first few hours passed in productive silence. Grayson had already moved near the windows. Neville caught himself staring and quickly looked away.

Focus, he commanded himself. No matter how attractive he is, he will never be yours.

Around hour three, a soft chime echoed through the suite.

"It’s the dinner service," Bryan announced, rising from his seat. "Did anyone want to order anything?"

GRUUUU

Neville’s stomach chose that exact second to growl out loud.

Bryan raised an eyebrow, and even Grayson turned his head slightly. He didn’t turn around completely, but he definitely heard it.

Kill me, Neville thought. Kill me right now. Throw me into the space!

"I’ll take that as a one-person," Bryan said dryly and tapped at his light brain. "Aurelius has an executive chef on this deck so that you can order anything. Do you have any specific preferences?"

"There’s a proper meal?" Neville repeated with expectations.

"With actual ingredients," Bryan said, nodding. "Perks of executive level."

Before Neville could even rejoice, Grayson spoke.

"The food," He continued. "You won’t like it."

Neville tilted his head and asked, "Why?"

"It’s the same thing in Xylos." He said as if reminding him.

Neville instantly froze in place. If it were the same as Xylos’s food situation, then he absolutely didn’t want any of it!

Then he turned his head to look at Bryan. Bryan met his gaze and said with a serious expression, "It’s still food."

Neville’s expression turned into one of despair. He really couldn’t trust Bryan’s taste.

Grayson watched as Neville resolutely entered the kitchenette in the lounge.

Neville called out and said, "Is there anything you want?" He didn’t even mind their questioning gazes.

"Get me anything with meat," Grayson said as he shrugged. It didn’t matter where Neville would get his ingredients from as long as he could eat something good.

Bryan was speechless during their exchange and felt that the additional money paid for the food reservation had become a waste.

Neville saw his expression and spat with distrust, "You could’ve just boarded the robot with us rather than paying for the food. Either way, I won’t eat that ’chef’s food."

"Come on, it’s just for this short trip. Why would I bring a robot with us?" Bryan complained unhesitatingly.

Neville pointed the pan he just brought out to Bryan with annoyance. "48 hours? You called that a short trip? We will need to eat those ’questionable’ meals for more or less 6 times! If you want to suffer, suffer by yourself."

Bryan pursed his lips and said with a deadpan expression, "Your true colors are showing, Hope."

"It’s good that it’s the only thing that was showing," Neville said, half threatening and grievous. "If you don’t like it, let’s just say it’s the mood of someone hungry."

With that, Neville started heating the pan on the electric stove.

Since he couldn’t exactly show Bryan and Grayson that he was picking ingredients from the air, he had to be a little sneaky and used his backpack as a cover. He even came out for a second, saying that he would need to ask for some meat from the kitchen.

Neville came back with a stainless steel container and empty plates that he really borrowed from the kitchen. Although they were confused why, they had no way of knowing the minds of the people who could afford the executive level.

Neville happily filled the inside of the stainless container with ingredients similar in form to those in Xylos. To avoid suspicions about the difference in ingredients, he decisively made a Baked Pork Potatoes. He could’ve done a bulgogi or a gyoza if he had only found rice in Medea’s Garden at that time.

For now, he was stuck making European and American meals. Maybe he could do some Mexican and Spanish dishes if he found out Grayson’s spice tolerance. Then, they could have a hotpot and some noodles.

Bryan knew about these Baked Pork Potatoes since he had tasted them before. But those were made by a robot, so he didn’t know how big a difference it would make if Neville made it personally.

As soon as he got a spoonful of it, Bryan couldn’t help but say, "Just add me to the meal count when you make some for Mr. Maxwell later."

"I’m not your servant, Mr. Stewart." Neville retorted with an evil smile.