Chapter 12: I’ve Seen Many People With No One to Take Care of Them, but This is the First Time I’ve Seen Someone Pull Out Their Own Oxygen Tube
“Let’s eat something first, then we can go.”
Peiya didn’t want to keep talking about sad things. Life was getting better, so they should be happy.
“That’s right, I’ll go order.”
Elise took the menu and ordered some main dishes. She chose food that Peiya might like, so when the dishes were served, Elise only took a few small bites.
Noticing something was off, Peiya called a waiter over and quietly gave some instructions.
The waiter didn’t quite understand at first, but when Peiya pushed a shiny silver coin toward him, he immediately understood.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll inform the kitchen right away.”
Back at the table, Elise looked at Peiya with curiosity. Peiya asked,
“What’s wrong? You keep looking at me.”
“Where did you go just now?”
“You’ll know in a moment.”
Peiya smiled mysteriously. After a while, the waiter came back with a dish. He lifted the lid, it was stewed chicken with mushrooms.
But this time, it was different from usual. Peiya had specially asked the chef to add more wild mushrooms and adjust the seasoning based on her instructions.
When the lid was opened, the smell reached Elise. It wasn’t unpleasant at all. In fact, she really liked it.
She had eaten this dish here before, and it didn’t taste like this last time.
So Peiya had gone to order this just for her?
She really…
A warm feeling passed through Elise’s heart, though her calm expression didn’t change much.
She took a bite of the soft, juicy mushrooms. The rich flavor mixed with the soup filled her mouth, stirring her senses and making her eat more without realizing it.
Did this dish have some kind of magic?
Just a moment ago, Elise barely ate anything. Now, she was enjoying the food very much.
Seeing Elise eat happily made Peiya feel happy too. In the past, she had seriously studied cooking. Anna had always been very picky about food.
Even when it looked like Anna was giving Peiya food as a reward, many of those dishes were actually made by Peiya herself.
On the other side, in the Rose Manor, Anna looked at the food in her bowl, which had very little meat, and glared at the servants.
“Why has the food become so bad?”
“Miss… we’ve already tried our best, but when Master Peiya left, ‘he’ didn’t leave behind the recipe…”
“Recipe? What recipe?”
As the young lady, Anna had never paid much attention to her servants. Since she was a child, as long as she complained a little, everything would be given to her.
Back then, she and her younger sister Elise trained with swords in the freezing cold. Elise’s lips trembled from the cold, but she still didn’t stop.
And when Anna saw her like that, she didn’t stop her. Instead, she even asked the servants to help her pretend to be sick so she could skip training.
Even though their parents later found out that Anna skipped lessons, they couldn’t do much. They could only tell the servants not to spoil her next time.
After all, Anna had been spoiled for so long. All she needed to think about was how to avoid effort. But the servants had to think about many things.
Anna always felt her younger sister was foolish. They were the young ladies of the Anthony family, why did she need to work so hard?
Sometimes Anna even wondered if her parents secretly favored Elise. But seeing how strict they were with her sister, she felt reassured.
As expected, Father and Mother still like me more.
Honestly, she couldn’t understand why someone as cold as her sister still attracted so many admirers.
Anna bit her lip, looked at the trembling servants, and angrily said,
“So what exactly is going on? Speak!”
The maids looked at the angry young lady. They had their complaints but didn’t dare to speak.
After all, they couldn’t tell her the truth that the food she used to eat was mostly made by Peiya herself.
That would only make her even more upset.
“Maybe they changed the chef…”
“Then what happened to the old chef? Was it because I didn’t pay her enough?”
Anna said unhappily. She had plenty of money, she didn’t believe she couldn’t keep a chef.
“But your chef was Master Peiya… we don’t even know where ‘he’ is now.”
One of the maids finally couldn’t hold it in and told the truth.
“Then go and bring him back—…wait, who did you say? How could he be my chef?”
“Miss, did you forget? You didn’t like the previous chef’s cooking, so you told Master Peiya to learn how to cook. Up until the day before yesterday, he was still the one cooking for you. And you would give the leftovers to him as a ‘reward’.”
The maid explained everything clearly. At this point, there was no reason to hide it anymore.
They all thought Peiya was a very good person. Kind, able to cook, and good at taking care of the house.
Some of the maids had even been trained by her.
So when they learned that Anna had driven Peiya away, everyone was shocked.
It was like pulling out your own oxygen tube.
But they were only servants. They couldn’t question their master’s decisions. They could only hint at it from time to time.
Anyway, these were all facts. There was nothing wrong with saying them.
Even if they stayed silent, Anna would still take her anger out on them.
So instead of holding it in, they decided to say it directly.
After hearing this, Anna completely lost her appetite.
Why is it always Peiya again? Is it possible I can’t live without her?
“This tastes awful! I’m going out to eat. Take me to the Adventurers’ Restaurant. I’m not eating this trash.”
“Yes, Miss.”
The maids quickly prepared the carriage. Once Anna got dressed, they rushed toward the Adventurers’ Restaurant.
…………………………
Elise was eating the stewed chicken with mushrooms. Before long, she finished the whole plate.
It was really delicious, she even wanted another one.
Peiya took a bite of her dessert, feeling satisfied.
She still couldn’t forget the taste of cream, especially the sweet dessert she had that night.
Some people say the meaning of desserts is this. Life is full of hardship, so why not let yourself be filled with sweetness, even if it’s just for a moment?
“You really like sweets, don’t you?” Elise asked.
“Yeah. You know, in the kind of place I grew up in, I couldn’t eat things like this. When something is rare, it becomes more valuable.”
Peiya answered easily. She didn’t feel the need to hide her past. If someone really wanted to find out, it wouldn’t be hard.
Since she wanted to say goodbye to her past, she should talk about it openly.
“I’m sorry for making you remember those painful things. If you have any problems in the future, just come to me. As long as it’s something I can do, I’ll help. Consider it my way of repaying what I owe you. I hope you won’t refuse.”
“Of course I won’t. If you help me, I’ll only be happy. Why would I refuse?”
Peiya wasn’t someone who liked to hesitate. She usually agreed to things right away.
She could always return the favor later, when the time was right.
“Thank you… You’ve taken such good care of me today…”
Elise smiled softly. Her heart felt as sweet as honey.
During those three years when she was slandered, she didn’t even know how she got through it.
But now she was back.
And she wouldn’t let something like that happen to Peiya again.
At that moment, there was a sudden commotion at the entrance.
“Who dares to reserve my seat?”
Anna looked at the waiter who was trying to explain outside, her anger rising. The waiter felt helpless, how did he end up with such a difficult situation?
Just as things were getting tense, a figure walked over, carrying a faint fragrance. Her voice was cold, but firm and unshakable.
“It was me.”
Elise raised her head and looked straight at her stunned older sister, Anna.