"Hey Amaria, how are you?" Cassian asked the girl with a smile as they are in the garden.
"I'm doing fine. Why are you here when the sun is still in the middle of the sky?" Amaria asked him as she looked at him.
"I wished to have a walk and besides, having a walk after eating is good." Cassian said to her with a smile.
"I see. But not many usually come out at this time due to the sun. I myself was going to the tea table in the garden." Amaria said to him as she walked.
"Do you mind if we tag along?" Cassian asked as he walked with her as Caitlin trialed behind him.
"I do not mind. It would be good to have someone for conversation, you are quite knowledgeable after all." Amaria said to him as she walked a bit in front of him.
'I am going to be talking to him a few moments after this, I have to compose myself.' Amaria thought to herself as she walked.
Cassian just walked calmly as he trailed after her. After he had eaten breakfast, he talked a bit with the lord and lady, and then met with Leah in the library where they talked. He didn't try to kiss her or anything, as he wanted to gauge her reaction to being close to him.
He could see that she has a blush almost all the time and he could feel her gaze on him while he sat and read a book. And she also tried to be as close to him as she could as she sat beside him with her book in her hands, but he understood that she wasn't even reading it, as she was holding said book upside down.
It was a hilarious situation but he didn't point it out, a bit because of the fun situation and because he was interested in the book he was reading. It was one about alchemy, and he was pretty interested in it due to its ability of transmutation.
However, in this world alchemy isn't as advanced, as people lean more towards magic. Every person is born with a good amount of mana, with people being able to draw mana from around them and increase their own capabilities. Then there are the mages who create cores for themselves.
Magic is much easier and comfortable to use than alchemy, not to mention the fact that they actually need to study the materials to use alchemy effectively. From what he had managed to gather from the book, it was an art which was used in ancient times as well, but lost popularity in the coming eras as many of their knowledge on the subject had been lost.
Due to the wars and other disasters that have occurred from ancient times to the current, the alchemical knowledge that was from the ancient time was lost, with only a few records being made. After that happened, people started to lose interest in it and gave more importance to magic.
And due to this focus on magic, various other utilities like magic tools, weapons, armors, etc were created and magic advanced while alchemy was only studied to keep this branch alive. However, it's more of an obligatory thing than an active interest in the field.
He was however quite happy to get the knowledge about it, as he was quite interested in the subject. However, the book only had some smidgets of knowledge regarding the art of alchemy, as there wasn't many detailed information regarding it, except for the history of its use.
After that he spent some time talking with Leah and he can see that the girl liked talking with him very much and he is happy to see that the girl is so eager to be with him. Despite how he acts, he truly does care about the women he has conquered for himself, and he also likes Leah as well.
The innocence she is showing is something that is rare, that is why he never fully used his abilities on her. He wanted her to love him with her own free will, and his pheromones might have influenced her, in the end it is her decision about whether or not she should fall in love with him or not.
In any case, after he talked with her and spent some time with her, he decided to go for a walk, but not before giving her a kiss on her forehead as she giggled at it and waved him bye before she went on her way. He can probably guess that she is either going to stay in her bed thinking about it, or make a painting about him, considering her age either could happen.
As he thought that he realised that he had reached the tea table which is made of marble and also has a roof as well as he smiled at the thing as he liked the place, as it is a good place to have tea while being surrounded by the flowers and plants. He also saw three maids who had already prepared the tea set.
"Lord Cassian, I wasn't aware that you were going to come with Lady Amaria." The maid in the middle said in surprise.
"Do not worry, I just decided to come with her." Cassian said as he went and sat on a chair while Amaria sat opposite to him.
"Serve him as well." Amaria gave the order as they obeyed.
They placed the tea and snacks as Cassian ate some and was surprised by the taste. He also hadn't seen snacks like this before in his territory.
"This is incredibly tasty. Where did you get it?" Cassian asked her as he ate the rest of the piece.
"It's from the capital. It's of a much higher quality than the ones we have in our territory." Amaria said to him as she ate one.
"I see. I can certainly understand." Cassian said as he gave one piece to Caitlin.
"Is it okay Master?" Caitlin asked him as she looked at the piece in her hand.
"Don't worry about it. I am giving it to you after all." Cassian said to her with a wave of his hand before he started to eat another one.
Amaria had noticed this action of his but she didn't say anything, as most other nobles wouldn't have even thought about giving their own food to their servants. It was something that was extremely rare to be found in the aristocracy.
"Can you tell me where I can buy these types of snacks in the capital? I want to know to make sure that I know in case I ever go there." Cassian said to Amaria with a smile.
"S-Sure. It's not that difficult to find. I'll give you the details of the place after this." Amaria said to him with a stutter at the start.
"Thanks. Have you ever thought about using your dancing to become famous?" Cassian asked her as he had thought about it.
"Why the sudden question regarding that?" Amaria asked in surprise as she looked at him.
"I'm just saying that you are a really good dancer. If you were to use that, then I think it is possible for you to become famous amongst the common folk. After all, not many noble women can dance or ever dance in front of a crowd." Cassian said to her with a smile.
"I do not know. It's unbecoming of a noblewoman to be dancing for others. It's one of the reasons why it's a private affair, or the reason why we only dance for a small time to gain favour and popularity from the people." Amaria said to him as she looked at her cup of tea.
"I suppose that would be how it will be. Well, let's just enjoy this time of leisure, shall we?" Cassian asked as he raised his cup towards her.
Amaria looked at the cup for a few seconds before a smile graced her lips as she also raised her cup.
"We shall, Cassian." Amaria said as they clinked their cups as a satisfying 'tink' sound was produced.
After that they drank their cups and ate their snacks as they made idle talk and enjoyed the time together. It was especially good for Amaria, as she had participated in many other tea parties or breaks with other nobles and they aren't as peaceful or pleasant like this.
If it were males, they would be talking about themselves or their achievements or their house and such. And if it were women, it would become a talk about heirs from other families and about how they are.
It was honestly tiring for her to be participating in such tea breaks as she doesn't have the peace she desired and it was draining to talk about things. But this time, it was a pleasant tea time as they would be talking about mundane things and not about other families or houses, it was a breath of fresh air for her and she is happy that Cassian is the one with whom she is spending this time with.
'Wait a minute. Why did I...' Amaria thought to herself in confusion at her thought process.
She shook her head slightly as she decided to just focus on the current tea time and not think about it as she looked at Cassian as he is smiling and enjoying the snacks and tea.
'Calm down Amaria, just enjoy the tea time.' Amaria thought to herself as she blushed slightly at seeing his face.
'It looks like she is becoming even more comfortable with me and also attracted as well. This will be good. And this is some good tea.' Cassian thought to himself as he smiled as he enjoyed the tea in the calm atmosphere.