Chapter 16: Meeting you guys is suspicious
"I want to drink hot cocoa. How about a can of cocoa cubes?" Elvira thought for a moment and said.
"What a good idea! I didn't think of it. Make a note of it and give it to Mrs. Fitch. We have other important things to do tomorrow," said Darien.
The important thing to do tomorrow is to visit Miss Avella's mother, Mrs. Anna. However, since she is not married yet, she should be called Miss Anna.
Elvira was so excited that she didn't fall asleep until almost dawn.
So did Darien.
"This mattress is uncomfortable." Darien had dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious that he was not used to the new residence and he couldn't sleep on the first night.
"We brought the mattress from the tower," said Sewell.
"That's the pillow problem." Darien punched the pillow under him.
"This pillow is the one you usually use." Sewell sighed softly.
Darien sat cross-legged on the bed, racking his brain to think of the culprit that caused his insomnia. A few strands of his hair swayed left and right as he pondered. Finally, he found the most appropriate reason to lose his temper!
"You must have not told the bedtime story well last night!" Mr. Wizard said in a sonorous and powerful voice.
"Okay, I'll change to another storybook tonight and add a glass of sweet milk and a head massage with lavender essential oil before going to bed," said Sewell.
Darien fell back, hugged the quilt and fell asleep again.
Seville considerately drew the curtains, gently closed the door, and went upstairs to find the little maid assigned to Elvira yesterday.
Elvira didn’t get up either.
It was not until Mrs. Fitch and Fitch returned in the magic carriage early in the morning with a full load that there was finally some movement in the bedroom upstairs.
Darien went downstairs yawning. It was almost lunchtime, so he and Elvira sat at the dining table and only ate half a slice of bread and a fried egg with extra strong bitter coffee.
The espresso was sour and bitter, and even after Darien added four sugar cubes, it still tasted bitter.
The letter requesting a visit had been delivered while Darien was asleep, but Miss Anna's father had not yet replied.
Seville sent a few crows out to gather information this morning. The crows that just came back said that Miss Anna went out for a walk and would go to the nearby forest to hunt rabbits in the afternoon. It would be possible to pretend to meet her by chance.
"Miss Elvira, can you ride a horse?" Darien asked.
"Just call me Elvira. You are my brother now. I can ride a horse and I can shoot arrows." Elvira said proudly.
"Very good, then we will go meet Miss Anna this afternoon. Seville, go and urgently train our little mice to be good horses. We need to go hunting in the afternoon." Darien said.
"Shall we take Pluto? I think we need a hound too," said Sewell.
"Then teach it a lesson too. I don't want it to trip over its legs," said Darien.
"What are you going to do?" Kenneth walked in from outside holding Jenny Pig.
"Going hunting. Your shoes are covered in mud, please don't step on my carpet." Darien said, looking at his feet.
"Hey, we just planted all the seeds in the ground and watered the entire garden. So it's normal not to notice these small details." Kenneth stopped, in a dilemma.
A thin servant came running over and brought him a pair of shoes, and finally rescued him.
Before Kenneth could change his shoes, a grumpy broom whipped his butt off and vigorously swept the stains on the floor.
"This must be intentional! I want to go out and play too!" Kenneth said loudly, covering his butt.
"Okay." Darien nodded. "Let's hunt some rabbit or deer for a snack. Pheasant is fine, but no wild boar. It smells too pungent."
"It's really embarrassing..." Kenneth muttered softly.
Darien glared at him, and the future Thief King quickly tucked his head into his collar.
Jenny Pig ran over to Elvira, climbed onto the chair next to her, and half of her body was lying on the table. She was going to take the candy out of the candy jar.
Darien glanced at her but said nothing. The piglet just loved eating. What was her fault? Kenneth would be the one to pay.
Sewell was out for a while and when he came back it was lunch time. He pushed the food cart into the restaurant and wondered what Mrs. Fitch and Fitch had cooked today.
The debt suspension earned him a few more gold coins, which Seville provided with enough funds for purchases. The food in the tower improved noticeably.
"The appetizer is honeydew melon wrapped in ham. Please enjoy." Sewell brought up small pieces of honeydew melon wrapped in pink ham slices on a white porcelain bone plate.
Darien devoured the appetizer in one gulp; the sweet, crispy melon and salty, smoky ham slices were delicious, but not enough to satisfy his appetite.
Sewell promptly served him a bowl of lobster bisque before he sat down to enjoy lunch with them.
Elvira's table manners were very good, in stark contrast to Kenneth and Jenny Pig who were busy digging next to her. As for Leon, he didn't even show up at the table. The clock didn't really need to eat.
Darien ate chunks of sweet lobster meat from the soup, then some freshly baked soft bread. He was very satisfied with a simple and delicious grilled salmon. After two bites of cabbage and apple salad, he finally got a creamy dessert.
The kitchen of the tower will only produce so many dishes when there are many people. Usually, Mr. Mage can only eat a main course with soup and salad, and then a dessert. When money is tight, he can have salad with snacks, and enough bread.
Darien ate his after-dinner snack and felt so happy that he almost fainted.
Today they were going to meet Elvira's mother, Miss Anna, so the nap was temporarily cancelled. After changing into hunting clothes, they all went to the garden to get familiar with the horses that the mice had turned into.
The best way to bring people closer together is of course to share food.
Sewell brought apples and bread with butter, and Darien took a piece of bread and fed it to the white horse in front of him.
The horse devoured the bread in one gulp and gladly offered his mane to his hand for him to touch.
"Do they understand the instructions, to stop and to speed up?" Darien asked.
"Of course, they are all very smart." Sewell nodded.
Elvira was already on the horse and was being led by the horse in circles among the rose bushes.
Kenneth stuffed the apple for the horse into his mouth, but his horse didn't want to pay much attention to him.
A big crow flew in from outside the garden and caaked twice around Seville. Seville stuffed the last piece of bread into the crow's mouth.
"We can set off now. Miss Anna and several gentlemen and ladies are heading to the edge of the forest with some servants," he said.
"How do I look now?" Elvira was a little nervous. She wanted to leave a good impression on her mother.
"You look very heroic and will definitely be a good hunter," said Darien.
"You too." Elvira laughed.
It would seem a bit deliberate to get straight to the point, so they set out from the manor and spent some time looking for prey on the way. Pluto chased out a pheasant hiding in the grass, and Elvira shot an arrow at it, so the colorful pheasant was hung on her saddle like a decoration.
"They're just ahead." Sewell pulled the reins and the horse took a few steps next to Darien's horse.
"Okay." Darien nodded, but had no intention of reminding Elvira.
Elvira had become somewhat excited from the nervousness she had when she first set out. She was a very qualified hunter, and the pheasant just now was just a warm-up. Pluto sniffed the traces left by the prey in the bushes, and she followed behind, waiting for the opportunity.
Closer and closer, Pluto moved quickly through the grass, and then suddenly broke into a run.
A barking sound came from the front, and Elvira chased after it.
Darien and Sewell lagged behind at a leisurely pace, while Kenneth, trailing behind, was still struggling with his horse, trying to prevent it from eating a bush of dark red wild berries.
"Ah, this is my prey." A female voice came from the front.
"My arrow hit it first," Elvira said.
"This is my father's territory. All the prey here belong to us. Who are you?" Catherine looked at Elvira unhappily.
Pluto ran to Elvira's horse with the fox in his mouth, and only the afterimage of his tail could be seen.
"Avra Ferrers." Avra gave the pseudonym she had prepared.
"I've never heard of this name. I'm going to ask my dad to put you all in jail." Catherine glared at Darien and Sevier who were chasing after her.
She thought of them as thieves who had intruded into her territory.
Darien snorted lightly, but didn't intend to argue with this reckless young lady who was much younger than them.
"Katherine," another voice interrupted, "You can't use Daddy as a threat."
"Sister Anna, she stole my fox!" Catherine looked aggrieved and complained to the visitor in a coquettish tone.
Elvira immediately cast her gaze over.
Anna, with blonde hair and blue eyes, was wearing a beautiful violet hunting suit with golden buttons extending from the white lace at the collar to the waistband. Her deerskin boots were shiny and the same color as the leather gloves on her hands. She was as beautiful as a portrait, so beautiful and lifelike.
"Mom..." Elvira murmured absentmindedly.
“Hello, are you new here?” Ana didn’t hear clearly what Avra said, but she felt that the way the girl looked at her was a little strange.
Behind her came several horses and a pack of hunting dogs, and all the people who went out hunting gathered together.
"Yes, we just moved here, to the manor across the river. I'm Sir Ferrers, and this is my sister Elvira. I delivered a letter to your father this morning, hoping to meet some local friends here, but I didn't expect to meet you here first." Darien said.
"I know that manor over there. It has been covered with vines for a long time. I'm Anna Lyons and this is my sister Catherine. No offense, she's just a little too young." Anna said.
"Claude Holden." The tall man behind Anna nodded.
Everyone exchanged names, and except for Catherine who was still concerned about the fox in Pluto's mouth, the atmosphere was much more relaxed than when they first met.
"This forest belongs to the Lyons family. It's usually used as a hunting ground. There are teams patrolling here every day. You probably don't know this since you just moved in." Anna said.
"Yes, we moved here from the south and just packed up the manor yesterday. I'm really sorry that we didn't get permission to come in here," Darien replied.
"I was the one who pestered my brother to come to the edge of the forest to hunt. It was so boring to sit in the carriage all the way here." Elvira pretended to be serious and drew Anna's attention to herself.
"It doesn't matter, you just don't know. Why don't you come to our manor tonight? Father will be happy to meet new friends." Anna said.
"Thank you for your invitation, Miss Lyons. We had been planning to visit you, and this opportunity is really great." Darien said with a smile.
It was still early, so the two teams gathered together to hunt in the forest. The prey they caught would become a delicious meal to entertain their guests tonight.
Elvira moved closer to Ana, not missing any opportunity to strike up a conversation. She tried to restrain herself and appear more reserved, but unfortunately she failed.
Catherine endured it again and again, and finally ran to the front angrily. She felt like a hindrance between the two of them.
Darien wasn't actually very interested in hunting. After Elvira and Anna got together, his eyes started to become bored, and he wandered around casually among the bushes and shade trees.
His figure was watched by another pair of eyes.
Claude thought that the brother and sister who had just moved in were very strange.
They seemed to have sprung from the earth, whereas in the past, if a large caravan loaded with furniture had passed along any of these roads, the news would have spread across the entire territory like wings.
Watching Elvira getting close to his fiancée Anna, Claude felt more and more suspicious.
Once the seeds of doubt are planted, they will spread and grow wildly. He turned his gaze to Darien again, staring at him for a long time with an inquiring purpose.
Suddenly, a cold gaze wrapped around his back like thorns.
Claude turned his head and saw the black-clad butler beside Sir Ferrers giving him a standard smile.
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