Free Web NovelChapter 282: Odd One Out
Celestina’s voice was calm and composed, carrying not the slightest hint of intimidation or threat, like she was just casually commenting on the situation, but only a fool wouldn’t understand what she was trying to imply.
Great Elder Tobias Drax, who was in no way a fool, also got the message loud and clear. Realizing this was as far as he could press things today, the old fox decided to back down, "Of course, Marquess Balfour. My Drax Family is only concerned with the safety and prosperity of the South-West Province. Since the Balfour Family is willing to include us in this important project, we will naturally not decline."
It was another stark reminder to Lucas about just how important strength was.
The Drax Family was strong enough to struggle for some small advantages here and there when negotiating with the Balfour Family, but once Celestina declared something settled, it was settled.
Tobias knew better than to push his luck, so he relented when pressed by Celestina; as for whether he and the Drax Family would really let all matters concerning the Revitalization Project they took issue with drop, only time would tell.
"Excellent," Count Carlson stood up and clapped his hands, bringing a close to the subject as well as the meeting as a whole; or at least, that was what Lucas thought.
Having captured the hall’s attention, Mathias swiftly announced, "A grand banquet is being prepared for tonight to celebrate this new cooperation between our houses. I do hope all of you will be in attendance."
Hearing the word ’banquet’ again, Lucas’ brow visibly twitched as he wondered just why Count Mathias seemed to enjoy hosting such extravagant events with such frequency.
What’s more, this banquet would likely be even more stuffy, stiff, and uncomfortable compared to the one Lucas had to attend on his first night in Iron Rock.
Just thinking about having to dress in those tight, uncomfortable clothes once more, then spend the entire evening schmoozing with slippery merchants and uptight nobles, Lucas seriously began wondering if he should suddenly ’fall ill’.
And so, the various delegations began filing out of the hall, with Lucas and Allina lagging behind a bit as they gathered together the various documents and papers which they had used during the presentation.
A few minutes later, on their way back to the villa, Lucas couldn’t help grumbling, "Do I really have to go to the party tonight, Master?"
"Well..." Celestina began, but was abruptly cut off.
"Yes," Allina stated unequivocally.
In response, the Master and Disciple pair both turned begrudging looks towards her, but the ever-competent adjutant showed no fear, "I know you both hate these kinds of events, but they’re still necessary, especially if we want to make the Revitalization Project a success."
Watching as both Celestina and Lucas let out sighs, Allina couldn’t help thinking they really were suited for one another.
Deciding to toss out some encouragement, Allina commented, "Since this banquet has been several days in the works, the food tonight should be better than last time."
Pursing his lips when he heard this, Lucas wasn’t sure how much better things could get considering the limited skills of the local chefs and the lack of diversity in available ingredients, but then he suddenly had an idea, "Say, even though we’re technically ’guests’ tonight, we’re also host in a sense, yes?"
This time, both Allina and Celestina turned curious looks towards the young boy walking between them, but upon seeing the twinkle in Lucas’ eyes, they immediately realized he was up to something.
After spending most of the last month together with Lucas, Allina had come to realize that when her new little brother wore this kind of look on his face, whatever he was planning could either be revolutionary, or just completely crazy.
Thinking so, she was about to put a stop to whatever his mischievous plans were, but unfortunately, her Lord was one step faster this time.
"Naturally!" Celestina grinned with interest.
Seemingly wishing for nothing more than the world to plunged into chaos, she even encouraged Lucas, "The Revitalization Project was put together by our side, and this banquet is to foster support for it, so there’s nothing wrong with thinking of ourselves as hosts."
"En, en, that’s right!" Lucas beamed, turning a bright, approving smile to his Master, "In that case, it would only make sense for us to contribute a little something to the preparations for tonight!"
"Indeed!" Celestina agreed wholeheartedly with a hearty laugh, one that Lucas joined her in.
It was now Allina’s turn to let out a long, drawn-out sigh as she massaged her temples, These two really are the perfect Master and Disciple pair. It hasn’t even been 2 months since they met and they’re already scheming together to cause trouble!
This might have been an endearing, or at least amusing sight for Allina, were she not the one who would be responsible for cleaning up whatever mess her master and little brother were about to create.
Still, after many decades of serving as Celestina’s adjutant and advisor, Allina had resigned herself to this role in life and decided to just take whatever came her way in stride.
.....
"Like this, Aunty Sasha?" Christina leaned over and asked.
"En, just like that," Sasha nodded with a smile, complimenting the princess liberally, "You have a real talent for this, Tina. Much more so than a certain other girl your age I know."
Saying so, Sasha glanced back over her shoulder at her daughter who was trying, and failing, to measure out the right amount of flour.
Now, to be fair, Eris had lost her dominant hand and even after over a month of training it was only natural for her to not be as dexterous as before; however, Sasha knew that wasn’t the only reason her daughter was struggling.
Eris, for some reason, seemed completely hopeless when it came to anything related to cooking or baking, no matter how hard Sasha tried to teach her. It was so bad that at one point, when Eris was trying to make a simple soup, she somehow managed to burn a hole right through the bottom of the pot!
For many years, Sasha had wondered where she had gone wrong in educating her daughter; after all, she had been able to pick up cooking rather easily and had become quite deft in the culinary arts.
If she could become so skillful in the kitchen, why couldn’t Eris?
However, glancing over her other shoulder at the other red-head in the room, the one who was sitting in a daze at the table, dusted with flour and with streaks of whipped egg-white still stuck in her hair, Sasha began wondering if perhaps she was the odd one out in the Balfour lineage.
Trying her best not to giggle, Sasha turned back to focus on her assigned task while gently guiding the eager young lady next to her.
It came as quite a surprise to Sasha that the Genius Princess of the Rockwell Kingdom, who had apparently never set foot inside a kitchen before she came to Redwood Town just over a month ago, had so quickly adapted to this domestic pursuit.
Now wearing an apron, with her dyed black hair tied up in a neat ponytail, Christina was expertly folding together flour, milk, melted butter, whipped egg whites, and whipped egg yolks to make a light, airy sponge cake batter.
The fact that a real princess was proving to be far more adept at cooking than her own daughter left Sasha with a somewhat complicated feeling in her heart.
On the one hand, she was happy to be able to share her favourite hobby with someone from the younger generation, while on the other, she was seriously beginning to wonder if Eris would ever be able to exude any kind of feminine charm. freewebnσvel.cøm
Christina was extremely strong, extremely talented, extremely beautiful, extremely noble, and now even seemed to be a natural in the kitchen. On top of that, Sasha had not missed how this young girl occasionally looked at her little nephew.
How could she have missed it? After all, it was the same way Eris tended to look towards Lucas as well.
Having friends and rivals while growing up was a good thing in Sasha’s opinion; her relationship with Anna, for instance, was one she deeply cherished. However, when it came to matters of the heart, things tended to get quite a bit trickier.
Letting out a sigh, Sasha again shifted her gaze towards the source of all this trouble, giving him a light scowl before turning back to focus on her work, This is all Lucas’ fault! He’s been showing off a bit too much recently!
When Lucas had suddenly burst into her room an hour ago and declared that they would be making dessert for tonight’s banquet, Sasha was completely flabbergasted and wasn’t able to collect herself until quite some time later.
It was only after Lucas had dragged her to the kitchen and began issuing instructions to the villa’s staff to prepare ingredients, equipment, and the ovens, that Sasha finally snapped back to her senses, only to find that she wasn’t the only one the young boy had dragged into this half-cocked scheme of his.
Celestina, Allina, Vanessa, Eris, Christina, Audrey, and even Kaden had somehow been roped into Lucas’ dessert plan, none of them even understanding how or why this was happening as the main culprit hadn’t bothered to explain himself.
Still, overwhelmed by Lucas’ enthusiasm, by the time these illustrious individuals figured out just what they were doing, it was already too late for them to escape.
