Camron turned his attention to his friend's hand.
'I know that I shouldn't be surprised. He has a bloodline class too. But woah, those are high-density green ECs and he considers them cheap.'
Camron looked at Alex's facial expression.
'He really isn't bothered by it.' He had a newfound respect for Alex now.
Almost everyone in the hall had shocked expressions.
Camron's father had his eyebrows raised, but for only a few seconds.
"Oliver! Apologize to the young man, now." His father commanded.
"Yes, father. I apologize for my rashness, Sir Alexander."
"I also apologize for my son's impoliteness, you don't need to pay for any damages. Those vases aren't even worth this much. What would people say if they heard that we, in the Avanti manor, had a guest of ours pay for damages."
Alex arched one of his eyebrows.
['Just his rashness and impoliteness? I should castrate this dog. But this is good, this way we don't have to give this dog our money. From their expressions when they saw you bring it out, I think this green EC is worth a lot.'] Al complained.
Alex smiled.
"There's no need to apologize. Since he asked for it, he probably needs it. Here, Oliver is it? You can have these." Alex concluded.
['What!? Hey, it's my money too, you spendthrift... Ahhhhh!'] Al cried.
Alex chuckled at Al's response.
He threw the green ECs at Oliver.
-Chink!
Oliver caught them with wide eyes.
Camron's father looked at Alex now with curiosity. He smiled at him and said;
"Then so be it. Please come and join us for dinner." He ushered.
Alex took a better look at the man this time. He had dirty-brown hair, crew cut, just like Camron's own, his nose, eyes, and ears were just like Camron's. But he had beards and looked older.
Camron who was still standing by Alex's side didn't know if it was a good thing. His father was smiling, at a stranger.
"Well, don't mind if I do," Alex responded. He started walking towards a chair but he paused when he heard the man speak.
"Oh, where are my manners. Let me give you a brief introduction. My name is Lawrence Avanti, father, and leader of this household. These beautiful women by side are my wives."
He used his arms to indicate.
"The first of them being." Lawrence pointed at a beautiful woman by his right-hand side. Her long black hair, draping down shoulders. Upturned protruding green eyes. Thin eyebrows and nose. She had some jewelry on her, a gold necklace filled with tiny diamond-like gems, and matching bracelets. The woman wore a green colored gown that matched her eyes.
"Aaliyah Avanti." His first wife introduced in a stern voice. She had a neutral expression on.
['I have a feeling that she also thinks that I'm not welcome here.'] Alex thought.
['Who cares, she's damn hot! Not as hot as Grace or Camilla though. I hope Lawrence wouldn't mind sharing her with us'] Al teased.
['Shut your f*cking mind up Al.'] Alex demanded.
"And this is my second wife."
He pointed at a woman by his left side. Like her husband, she too, had brown hair, only that hers was the shade of a chestnut. Like the first wife's hair, it flowed down freely to her shoulders. . The only jewelry she had on was a simple silver colored ring on her left hand, with a little red gem on the top. She was just as beautiful as the first wife. The woman wore a cream-colored white dress.
The woman smiled at Alex then said;
"Ivy Avanti, it is nice to meet you, Sir Alexander." Her velvety voice reached his ears.
['At least she seems nice. She looks friendlier than that Aaliyah.'] He thought.
['Very nice.'] Al uttered lewdly.
['Shameless fool.'] Alex fumed.
He ignored Al and gave a nod to Ivy.
"The beautiful woman sitting by my son, Oliver, is my third wife."
This woman too – was also very pretty. Sitting in her red sleeveless gown, her neck was paraded by jewelry, and so were her hands.
"Maya Avanti. I hope you can forgive my son for being rash earlier on." She gave a light smile as she said.
Alex bobbed his head in reply.
"And that angel sitting by my daughter's side is my fourth wife." Lawrence pointed at a woman sitting next to a young lady that looked almost the same as her. The only difference was her hair and the color of their eyes.
This woman looked younger than the other wives, she also had a smaller stature. And black hair. Her hair was longer than that of the other wives. Despite her stature, her disposition carried the airs of maturity with it.
"Alice Avanti." She said nicely and gave Alex a nod.
"I would have loved to introduce my children too, but dinner is getting cold. You'll get to know them as we eat. Come sit down." Lawrence invited.
"Alright."
Camron strolled to Alex side, he guided him to a chair next to one of the ladies that had been silent since his arrival.
"You sit here, and I will sit right next to you." He hinted.
"Sure."
Lawrence snapped his fingers and the maids around brought more food to the long dining table.
'I would be lying if I said that I'm not tempted by the delicacies on this table. The only thing that looks familiar is the roasted chicken and that yellow thing that looks like pasta.'
The aroma from multiple cuisines on the table tempted Alex. He swallowed his saliva.
"Go ahead, help yourself." Lawrence permitted. Everyone resumed eating.
"What would you like to eat Alex?" Camron asked.
['For once I don't feel like punching his throat for asking me a question.']
['Because it includes food. Cheap bastard.'] Al blurted out.
['Is there any way to shut this f*cker up?! Why can't he just ignore my thoughts like you guys do!?']
['Don't let it get to you Alex'] Lex giggled.
['Wait, did you just giggle? F*cking hell.'] Alex cursed.
['That's a lot of cursing. You should tune it down'] Xander reprimanded.
['Haha. The only way to shut me up is to kill me.']
['I will. You redundant excuse of an alter.'] Alex assured.
"Alex… Alex." Camron called out.
"Yes." He snapped back into reality.
"You were frowning your face, is there nothing on the table that you would like to eat?" he asked once more.
"Oh, I'm fine with anything."
"Alright." Camron served Alex a plate of food.
He sighted the chicken lap on his plate. Alex used his hand to pick the chicken lap up.
-Hmmm!
He moaned after sinking his teeth into the chicken's meat. Whilst he was chewing on the meat, he felt that there were a lot of eyes on him.
He stopped chewing and looked at everyone that had their gazes on him.
['Why am I suddenly the center of attention again?']
Lex chuckled and said.
['Where are your manners? There are cutleries beside you, yet you refuse to use them.']
['I prefer to use my hands.']
['I know. But in front of others, you should at least try to look civil. You are not that beast from the slums are you?']
['I... No, I'm not.']
['Then use the cutleries.'] He suggested.
['Uhh. Okay, I will try to.']
The conversation between Alex and Lex lasted for a few seconds.
Alex licked his fingers that were now covered in chicken sauce. He then raised a fork and knife and resumed his, ignoring the fact that all eyes were on him.
"Hahaha." Camron laughed silently.
"Alex." He called out as he gave him a nudged.
"Yeah?"
"What do you think about my elder sister? She's pretty right?"
"Who?" He raised an eyebrow.
"The pretty lady beside you." Camron rolled his eyes and said.
Alex turned to his right and took a quick glance at the girl beside him.
'She looks like Ivy. Her hair is longer and looks thicker than ivy's though.' was what he thought.
"Oh, she's alright." He turned his attention back to his food.
"Hahahaha." Everyone at the dining table laughed out loud. Except for the girl beside Alex.
"This is the first time I've heard someone say that about Arabella." Oliver pointed out.
"That's true." Ivy giggled.
"You must have very high standards, Sir Alexander. My first child could not even make it into your radar." She added.
"That's my mother. And Arabella is the sister I told you about back in the carriage." Camron whispered to Alex.
"She's the late stage disaster realm?"
"Yeah," Camron replied.
He turned to his right once more and carefully observed her. He tried to probe her cultivation, but he couldn't.
She stopped eating and made eye contact with Alex. Unlike the rest of her family members, the color of her eyes was hazel.
"Staring at a person while they eat is rude," Arabella stated, warning Alex to stop.
"Indeed." He stopped looking at her.
Until now, Alex had not noticed the pressure from QI that was in the atmosphere.
['What's going on?'] He pondered.
['Every staff in this room are cultivators. Strong cultivators, they are at least at the early stages of the disaster realm.] Xander relayed.
['I didn't notice.'] Alex observed the whole room.
['They are cultivators. But why is the QI around this place trying to restrain me?']
['Since you ignored Lawrence and gave those ECs to Oliver, the atmosphere has been like that. They have been trying to restrain you.']
['What!? And they are still trying to restrain me.'] He looked at the maids in front of him and frowned his face.
They acted like they didn't notice him looking at them.
['Why didn't it work though?]
['They might be strong cultivators, but they have no bloodline class. They can't possibly restrict us that easily.'] Xander explained.
Alex pondered a bit. What Xander said made things a bit clearer.
'If I don't say anything about it, will they still keep this up?' He thought.
"Don't you think that you've tried enough now?"
Alex who was annoyed at the moment looked at the maids in front of him and hinted.
Everyone stopped feasting and stared at Alex. They looked like they didn't understand what he was saying.
"You all have been trying to restrict me a few minutes after I got here. Don't you know when to give up?" The annoyance in his voice could be heard.