Chapter 258: A Special Dinner
Since Carle and his family had already arrived, and it was almost dinnertime, Armand had no reason not to invite them to stay. Seeing there was still time to prepare, he quickly asked the old butler to tell the kitchen to make extra portions for the guests.
For Carle and Armand themselves, there wasn’t any pressure. They were both the type who didn’t like being overly formal. They didn’t care about strict etiquette between host and guest. It was just like having a casual meal with a good friend.
But even though they didn’t mind, the chefs in Armand’s estate felt a huge amount of pressure. The moment they heard Carle was staying for dinner, they all got extremely nervous.
Not without reason, Carle’s family ran one of the top culinary businesses in the country. His father, while now focused more on business, used to be one of the capital’s most renowned master chefs. His grandfather even cooked for the former emperor. That legacy and skill were no joke.
Even though Carle was now a knight, the cooking talent passed down in his family didn’t fade. Just from the fact that he personally handled all the desserts at the last knights’ banquet, you could tell he still had serious skills.
So, now the chefs at Armand’s estate were basically cooking dinner in front of a potential future leader in the culinary world, no wonder they were panicking.
Of course, that was mostly self-imposed pressure. Carle himself didn’t really care about stuff like that.
As long as the food was filling and edible, that was good enough for him. He actually disliked overly fancy dishes that looked too pretty to eat. He thought they missed the point of food entirely.
His wife, Melian, had a similar mindset. For her, convenience was king, "time is money," after all. She never bothered with overly complicated meals.
That said, if rich people were willing to pay for beautiful but impractical food, Carle could still make it. Sometimes, Melian would have him prepare gorgeous, artistic meals just to sell them, and they always sold like crazy.
Their family already had more than enough money, but if it made his wife happy, Carle would happily keep doing it.
While the rest of the kitchen was working like mad under pressure, there was one peaceful little corner.
Evelia stood at her dedicated stove, quietly making a special meal for Armand.
Following a book’s recommendation, she prepared several nutritious, easy-to-digest soups. The book also strongly emphasized the benefits of tomato sauce, so this time her dishes looked even redder than usual, as if she really intended to give Armand a serious “boost.”
Finally, amid the clatter of kitchen work, dinner was ready.
Even though the old butler was well aware of Carle and Armand’s close friendship, he still treated Carle as a distinguished guest. After all, etiquette mattered. He cleaned and prepared the dining hall thoroughly and invited Carle, Melian, and Salana to dine.
As Salana’s friend, Rachel was invited as well.
But since Evelia was still technically just a maid, and was busy with Armand’s personal meal, the butler didn’t invite her to sit at the table. Instead, he instructed her to serve Armand his dish and then wait to see how Carle reacted. Depending on that, they might allow her to join the meal.
But at this moment, everyone’s attention was completely drawn to one thing. The bright red “thing” sitting in front of Armand.
...It looked like something straight out of hell.
Rachel couldn’t help thinking that to herself as she stared at the plate.
Even though she’d seen Evelia’s terrifying cooking many times. Even though she’d nearly met Death himself after being force-fed one of Evelia’s meals. It still shocked her every time.
That said, watching other people’s reactions could be pretty fun, too.
When Rachel noticed the weird expressions on Carle and the others’ faces, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Only Armand’s helpless sigh made Rachel feel a bit bad for him.
That poor man, to be able to tolerate something like this, he must’ve really been through a lot.
“...Pardon me, Miss Evelia, but may I ask... what exactly is this... that you made?”
Carle glanced at the very normal-looking dishes in front of his wife and daughter, then looked at the strange, hard-to-describe ones in front of Armand. He couldn’t help but feel a little confused.
Was this some kind of special food Armand needed to eat while recovering from his illness?
But no matter how he smelled it, it just reeked of tomato sauce. Was the tomato sauce being used to cover up something?
“Ah—Mr. Carle, these are all…”
Evelia respectfully started explaining the names of the dishes, though they all looked pretty much the same because of the overwhelming amount of tomato sauce she used.
Carle, being someone who understood the medicinal uses of food, raised his eyebrows more and more as he listened to Evelia list the ingredients.
…These were all tonic dishes?
Carle immediately knew what those were meant for.
In theory, it made sense, Armand had just woken up and needed something nourishing for his weak body.
But…
…All of these dishes were aimed at boosting the certain area of the body.
Carle thought about it for a second and seemed to understand.
So… they’d already reached that stage of their relationship?
Looks like he had underestimated the guy. Young people these days sure move fast. He’d just been watching Armand act all distant a moment ago, but now it looked like it was all just an act.
Thinking this, Carle gave his wife Melian a look.
After being married for so many years, Melian instantly got what he meant. With a smile, she stood up and walked over to Evelia.
“My, Miss Evelia! It’s been so long, do you still remember me?”
“Yes, hello, Mrs. Melian.”
“You do remember me! I’m so glad. It’s really been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve just been so busy with work that I haven’t had time to visit. How have you been? Getting along well with Mr. Armand?”
As she chatted, Melian gently pulled Evelia to sit beside her. Out of nowhere, she pulled out a ring-sizer and casually slipped it onto Evelia’s finger.
“I’ve been getting along very well with Mr. Armand. Um… what are you doing?”
Seeing the little metal loop around her finger, Evelia wasn’t uncomfortable, just a bit confused.
“Oh, this? It’s because I thought your hands are so beautiful, Miss Evelia. I wanted to take some measurements and use them as a model for our designs.”
“…Is that so?”
Evelia didn’t completely understand, but since Armand didn’t say anything against it, she figured it must be okay.
Melian worked quickly. In just a few minutes, she had finished measuring Evelia’s entire hand. But as she had said before, she only really cared about the size of Evelia’s middle finger. So she measured the rest a bit casually, but carefully wrote down the middle finger’s size in a little notebook she’d pulled out from who-knows-where.
After thinking for a moment, she also wrote down the ring finger measurement, just in case.
“All done, Miss Evelia! Thanks so much for your help. Once we finish the product, we’ll definitely have Mr. Armand bring it to you. Just wait for the surprise!”
As she said this, Melian happily moved Evelia to a new seat, right beside Armand.
The old butler quickly understood Melian’s intention and immediately had the staff prepare another full place setting for Evelia.
And just like that, Evelia, somewhat dazed and confused, was left sitting at the table, sharing dinner with Armand and the others.
Meanwhile, Melian, now holding Evelia’s exact measurements, slyly gave Carle a high-five under the table, signaling that today’s mission was a success.
At the dinner table, probably the only person truly focused on enjoying the food… was little Salana, the only real child among them.