• Uriel came up the stairs first followed by mother and father and the maids in waiting. Uriel had on a look of pure bliss, like it was her first time shopping. Well, it technically was, for this world. Mother also had a happy expression on her, but father, well he looked like he had a very bad diarrhea.
"Were you here almost the whole afternoon?" Uriel asked, glancing around the tea house. She picked up a piece of cookie and took a bite without asking.
Her eyes went wide and she chewed carefully, wanting to indulge herself in the taste.
"Mmmmm.. This is good." She commented and passed the plate of cookies towards mother. "Try it."
Mother picked up a piece and ate.
"This is really good. Should I order some for the tea party?" She asked.
"I suggest you order the cookies." Athy suggested. "They are really good with tea."
Mother nodded and told Astrid to go order some.
The Shalit couple came back up to introduce themselves and thanked us for coming. The cookies will be delivered to the Castellan castle on the day of the party and also gave the wines I ordered earlier for father, which made the latter very happy.
We got out of the teahouse and walked around for some time to relish the sight of the city at night. We decided to eat dinner and randomly chose a restaurant and walked in. Our presence instantly attracted the gazes of the people inside the restaurant.
"Y-your Grace, I am the owner of this restaurant, Alaire Whithers, a pleasure to meet you." The owner greeted us instead of the usual servers or ushers.
"Prepare a room for the five of us and two different rooms for the others." I instructed.
The store owner guided us to the second floor where the private rooms were located. We sat round the table comfortably while the servants and knights were guided to other rooms. We looked through the menu and ordered everything we wanted, we also told the owner that the servants and the knights with us are allowed to order everything they want.
The store owner looked at us with wide eyes filled with delight and didn't dare to laze around. He ran to the kitchen to command the cooks himself! With such esteemed guests, he wouldn't dare dally.
Meanwhile, we took our time talking about things in our old language. We are still comfortable in this language and would sometimes talk in it at the castle. The servants or even Sebastiene all thought that we have our own secret code that we use to pass on important messages and would just ignore our weird language. Unlike what they think, we usually were just passing gossip or reminisce about our past life, like what we are doing now.
As we sat there and reminisce about our old lives, the people on the lower ground whispered to each other while constantly taking peeks at the stairs.
"Were those the Castellans?"
"They indeed have come out of their castle, I thought the rumors on the streets were all fake. To actually see them with my own eyes!"
"Did you see how handsome the Archduke was?"
"Her grace, the archduchess, can still hold on to her title as the number one beauty of the kingdom."
"The daughters! Did you see how they looked? In a few more years, they will be taking the title away from their mother!"
"Those noble daughters from the capital won't stand a chance against our young ladies!"
"How are the heavens so cruel? To think that little children are far prettier than me? I feel my confidence shattering."
"Did you see their maids in waiting? They are also pretty." A man said to his friends.
"The black-haired butler looked cool and trustworthy."
"Did you see the blond knight? He seemed kind and he even smiled as passed by!" The women chattered.
"The knights looked really cool wearing their black armors."
The restaurant suddenly turned into a lively place filled with chattering and whispers bout the noble family upstairs.
Soon, the store owner returned with servants following him, each carrying dishes with them. Our table was filled with appetizing dishes and fragrant tea.
The owner and the servants all left the room after putting the food on the table. We continued to eat while laughing and joking, unlike how other nobles show strict silence when eating outside. Athy and I told them what we did while they were shopping, about meeting Miss Bloom and using the Tabby Tea as our gossip information place. Also, we told them about Karciel and father agreed with my cleanup plan for the entire territory.
We finished the food and ordered for some more tea and for the owner to come over.
The owner, who was a bit round, came hurriedly and bowed down. He was sweating and panting a little. He must have run to our room when he heard he was summoned.
"Sir Alaire, did you know that we will drop by your restaurant?" Father asked him casually while holding his glass of wine.
"No, Your grace." He answered in a casual manner too.
"Then, why were you outside? Were you waiting for someone?"
"No, Your grace. I heard that the Castellans were shopping outside and went out to take a peek. I never expected that you will come in and have dinner in my crude restaurant." Said the store owner, his palms turning sweaty from nervousness.
"Crude? I find it only satisfying though?" Father commented casually.
"Thank you, Your grace, but it used to be more lavish before." Said the owner, feeling overwhelmed. "Now, we could only serve to common folks."
"Is there any problem with serving the common folks?" I interrupted him with a casual glance, making the owner nervous.
"N-no, my lady, I only meant that-"
"Spare me the honey glazing. I don't want any discrimination within Westreon. Keep that in mind store owner." Father cut him off.
He bowed nervously and sweat started running down his round face.
"Yes, Your grace."
Father waved at him and he bowed once more before leaving our room.
An hour went by quickly and father finished his wine., we decided to go back to castle and focus on preparing for the tea party.