Chapter 163 - Dinner Time
Adeline had invited the guests who had arrived from Aberdeen to have dinner in her quarter. She wanted to give a nice welcome to her sister-in-law and make her feel right at home. And she also wanted to know everything that her brother did back at Aberdeen, how he met Rhea, and how his stay in Aberdeen was.
And she also wanted to share what she had done for the past month, the things that were sharable in front of Rhea and Fenris. She had so much to catch up on with her brother.
Adeline had asked the servants to change her meeting room into a dining room. She would always eat alone in her private chamber and there was no need for a lavish dining hall until today. She wished she had asked her father to turn one of her rooms into a dining hall. But as she had already invited her guests, she settled by turning her meeting room into dining.
She ordered her maids to serve the best dishes of the Palace for the four of them. And she had even asked her Royal Guards to purchase some of the food items from the Golden Street. She wanted her brother to taste the mouthwatering food of the commoners. She felt like she had betrayed Nigel by tasting those food items with those monsters.
When her guests arrived in her quarter she welcomed them very excitedly. "Welcome to my quarter. I am so glad to be hosting tonight's dinner." She gestured them to enter inside the dining room and she couldn't wait to eat and talk and enjoy.
Nigel and Rhea sat on one side of the table and Fenris sat on the other side of the table with a huge grin on his face. Adeline rolled her eyes and sat beside Fenris. And she thought to herself, "I should have asked the servants to place a lot of chairs so that I could choose to stay away from him."
After the four of them were seated in their respective seats, several maids came inside the room carrying trays of varieties of food items and drinks. Then they decorated the table with the food. After the table was set, Hawisa gestured the maids to taste the food that they had brought.
And after the food-tasting was done and after making sure that the food items were good to be served to the Princes and Princesses, Hawisa gestured everyone to leave the room.
Then Hawisa and Osanna served the dinner to Adeline and her guests. When the dinner was served, Hawisa bowed to Adeline and said, "Your Highness, I will be outside. If you need anything then just call for me."
"Sure. Thank you, both of you," Adeline gave a smile and her maids left the room.
Adeline glanced at her guests with a beam on her face and then politely said, "Let's start the dinner then, shall we?"
Everyone nodded while looking at the food items on their plate.
"I hope you like the food," Adeline said with a nervous smile because she had never hosted a dinner before and she couldn't help but worry that her guests might not like what she had asked to be served.
"The food looks as lovely as you, my Princess," Fenris couldn't help but talk like his usual cheesy self even though he had promised himself that he would act like a proper Prince in front of Adeline. Old habits indeed die hard.
Adeline gave a side-eyed look to Fenris as if to warn him to not try anything funny. And Fenris instantly focused his attention on the plate as though he was an obedient child.
She had only invited Fenris because she didn't want to be rude and leave him out. But if he kept on acting like before then she swore that she would kick him out in the middle of the dinner. Then she also stared at her plate which had at least 9 varieties of food items and contemplated what to eat first.
Nigel was fascinated by a few of the food items that he had never seen before. He pointed at the bowl of dumplings and potato fries and then he asked in a complaining voice, "Why wasn't I served these food items ever before? Did you always get special items that I was never served?"
He took a bite of the potato fries and his eyes lit up. Then instantly he narrowed his eyes at Adeline and asked in a low but husky voice, "Did you get special food privilege because you are cute? Or did you bribe the Royal Chef to prepare delicious items only for you?"
Adeline cracked up by that accusation from her brother. And she said while laughing, "Nigel! How can you say that? I asked my guards to buy it from the Golden Street. I had visited the market and tried some food there. I liked it and I thought that you would like them too."
Nigel stuffed his mouth with a lot of fries and closed his eyes as though he was visualizing the taste. And after swallowing he said, "I really like it."
He was about to try out the dumpling as well but he suddenly gave an accusing look to Adeline again and exclaimed, "You visited the Golden Street and had some food without me? How could you?" And then he gave the same dialogue that Adeline had given him earlier during the day, "I thought you were my sister…"
Everyone in the room burst into laughter, even Nigel himself. Adeline almost spurted the food out of her mouth.
After a while, Adeline noticed that Rhea was eating very slowly. And she asked, "Sister, is the food not to your liking?"
Rhea glanced at Adeline and shook her head. "No, no, everything is very tasty." She smiled while looking at her plate and whispered, "It's just that I am not used to eating with the Royalties." She was shy being surrounded by the Princes and Princesses, and she was a newlywed after all.
Rhea was very happy with the hospitality of Adeline though, and said in a grateful voice, "Thank you for inviting us for this lovely dinner."
"And thank you for accepting the invitation." Adeline gave a gentle smile and added, "And there is no need to be shy, sister. All of us are your relatives now." She glanced at the lovely couple in front of her and said, "I have a lot to ask about you and my brother. How did you two meet?"
Adeline raised her shoulders happily.. She was ready to hear the love story of her brother.