Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Ray noticed his little sister sitting at the table, smiling, kicking her legs and humming a song to herself.
She had short black hair and green colored eyes, just like her mother.
The little girl looked up and grinned even more upon noticing Ray stepping into the dining room. "Big brother!! Good morning!! Did you awaken your powers yet? Are you super strong now?"
Since Ray had his nineteenth birthday yesterday, it was expected for him to awaken a class the next day.
However, this rarely happens to Commoners with simple background, still Emma had been praying really hard for her big brother to awaken his, so that she too would awaken hers once the time was right.
Most times, nobles were the ones given the luxury of awakening a class right after their nineteenth birthday while ninety five percent of commoners won't be awakening theirs.
Only about five percent of them would be able to accomplish this, and right now, Ray was currently among that five percent, and that makes him the first ever adult to awaken a class in this remote village.
In his first life, Ray was viewed as a celebrity in the village.
Yes, many were jealous and others didn't like him, but he never cared about what others thought of him because at the time, all he wanted was to be a member of the elite warrior party.
However, that choice prevented him from protecting those he loved, and Ray wasn't going to make that same mistake twice.
He glanced toward his little sister and nodded with a smile, causing the little girl's eyes to sparkle in surprise as she exclaimed.
"Really??" Emma asked before swiftly turning toward her mother who was equally as surprised as her.
"Mom!! Did you hear that!! Big brother has awakened..." Emma's voice muffled down in the background as Ray focused his attention at the young lady, currently in the kitchen.
He stepped into the kitchen to see Mira standing by the stove.
The young lady was busy setting down a plate of eggs and bread, allowing Ray to have a good look at her long brown hair which was tied back with a ribbon.
It was the same red ribbon he had given her since they were ten, and Mira had been wearing it ever since.
He also noticed her large bull horns and tail which were a trademark of her being a cow-eared demihuman.
Upon getting closer, Mira's cow ears twitched as she senses his presence .
She swiftly turned around to meet his gaze and her lips widened into a smile. "Good morning, Ray. I made your favorite. I hope you're hungry."
Mira said excitedly but Ray's vision began to blur as his heart got struck by Mira's warm smile he had slowly began to forget over the years.
He still couldn't believe she was standing right in front of him.
The first girl he had ever had a crush on.
The first girl he had ever loved.
However, he had never been brave enough to confess his feelings to her.
He had always lied to himself that he wasn't ready to tell her yet, but the real truth was that, he was just too scared of being rejected, hence why he had never approached her to tell her how he felt about her.
In his first life, he promised himself to tell her how he feels once he had accomplished his mission with the elite warrior party, but in the end, she died before he could even achieve his goals, much less return back home.
While he had ventured out of the village to follow his dreams, Ray didn't know that the Baron who owned the village, had forced the residents to pay up a ridiculous amount of tax, knowing full well that no one would be able to do this.
Still, he dragged out a couple of villagers, including Mira, and each of them were tortured to death in front of everyone, as a show of force, and a way to remind everyone of what would happen to them if no one were to do as he had ordered.
This would be happening three months from now, so Ray clenched his fists as he tried his best to suppress his anger.
Mira noticed how quiet Ray was, and so she tilted her head and asked.
"Ray..? Is something....?"
However, before she could completely ask the question she had wanted to ask, Ray swiftly crossed the room in three strides, before grabbing her shoulders and kissing her.
Mira's eyes went wide and she froze as a quiet squeak escaped her throat.
However, Ray didn't stop.
He kissed her deeply and he didn't even care that his mother and sister were still in the dining room which wasn't really far from the kitchen.
He didn't even care that Mira was too shocked to respond either.
All he cared about was that she was here and that's all that mattered to him.
After a while, he pulled back and Mira's face was now bright red.
Her mouth were slightly opened with a surprise look on her face and her ears were still standing straight up.
"R-Ray?! What ...why....I.....?" She stammered but Ray smiled and carefully placed a hand on her left cheek, caressing it with his thumb.
"Mira?"
"Y-yes?"
"There's something I need to tell you. I want us to....."
"Y-yes, me too." Mira interjected with her face still as red as a tomato.
She could barely even wait to hear what Ray had to say but since she could already guess what it would have been, Mira swiftly replied with a shaky smile on her lips.
Ray smiled in return and he couldn't believe what a fool he had been in his first life.
For years, Mira has been feeling the same way as him but since she had been waiting for him to make the first move, Mira had been trying her best to not appear as desperate as she had really been.
Ray wondered why he had been so blinded by his dream of becoming a hero of the kingdom when he should have simply aimed to live a simple life with Mira, his mother and sister.
If this has been his dream all along, things wouldn't had turned out the way it did.