Alice in the Land of Steam

This breakfast was tasteless. It was clearly a loving breakfast prepared by Saint Shalia, but no one cared much about the taste. As for what they really cared about, there was no need to say more. In short, you only need to know that Ling Ge was the most uncomfortable person at this table.

On the one hand, there was Saint Xia Liya's meticulous care. She would ask him if the soup was at the right temperature, and then worry that there was too much jam in the pie and it was not to Ling'er's taste. If everyone was not watching, she would even want to wait by the side with a handkerchief and wipe it every time Ling'er took a bite. Their love and sweetness were in line with her imagination of a relationship between a couple.

On the other hand, there was the pressure from everyone's gazes, some of which were accompanied by a considerable degree of subjective emotions. For example, Olvera, while glaring at Lingge, bit off a piece of bread viciously, as if she regarded the poor piece of bread as a young man who was not pitiful at all, and must be executed to vent her hatred; for example, Rolena, she still used very elegant movements to finish the meal on the plate slowly, seemingly not affected by this incident at all, occasionally casting a meaningful gaze, but always making the young man shudder; and Yieta, this guy's eyes were full of longing and desire to explore, as for what she was longing for and what she wanted to explore, the young man no longer wanted to think about it.

Although the expressions of other people were not so emotional, they were not pure either. Some stayed out of it and protected themselves, such as the bartender and Sister Livia; some had playful smiles, as if they were watching a good show, such as the countess and the proprietress; some were indignant and obviously dissatisfied with the result, such as Leticia and the lamb; some were daydreaming, their thoughts drifted to who knows where, such as Alice and Xino; some simply regarded him as a pervert and treated him coldly, there was no need to say who this person was; and some knew nothing and only cared about eating, such as Xie Mi.

The only person who sincerely offered her blessing was Metien. Unfortunately, she was powerless and saw that her brother seemed to have caused public outrage, so she did not dare to stand up and support him. She could only pray silently in her heart, hoping that Lingge would be okay.

Whether it is the rake of White City or the playboy of Motosh, all the amorous characters that appear in emotional stories seem to never have a good ending. Usually, they either die at the hands of a woman or a man.

As for why he was not worried about Saint Shallia? Of course, it was because she did not need to worry. People only bullied the weak and always kept a distance from the strong. Saint Shallia was the strong one. At least for now, she still had absolute power over her sisters. Even the most courageous person, such as a certain alchemist lady, would not dare to set her sights on her.

Saint Shallia's situation was very safe, but Ling'er's was very dangerous, so it was normal for him to be unable to eat. When he felt a faint sense of fullness in his stomach, he looked at the plate in front of him in embarrassment and found that more than half of the food was still left uneaten.

Although there is a possibility that Saint Xia Liya was too happy and made a mistake in the amount, to be honest, that is not important. What is important is that this loving breakfast was made by her to commemorate the most important moment in her life. It has extremely important meaning to the girl, so she must hope that Lingge can finish it, right?

Linger didn't want to disappoint her.

Although he had always played the role of being passive, bearing and being expected, after what happened last night, the young man did have an indescribable sense of responsibility towards the girl beside him. It was different from all the previous feelings, it was deeper and more uneasy. The depth came from the transformation of the personal relationship. Unknowingly, the two sides had a relationship that went beyond friends, close friends, relatives and friends, and even ambiguous people, as if they had skipped many stages at once; the uneasy feeling came from the thinking and confidence in this new relationship. The young man had never tried such a role before, so he was not sure if he could play it well.

The book says that men who start a family and have a career will become mature, as if it is a natural process from cause to effect. As long as you start a family and have a career, you will immediately become mature. But the actual situation is not like this. Everyone needs a period of time to adapt, adjust and change before they can explore the most suitable way for both parties to get along. The tacit understanding between Lingge and Saint Xia Liya as companions and friends is undoubtedly the best, but once this relationship begins to change, can they still be as tacit and self-evident as before?
All of this is still unknown. Even the most confident people dare not guarantee the results, and young people are no exception. But since he has decided to do it, he will want to do his best. Therefore, a good start is undoubtedly the most critical.

Let’s start with this loving breakfast.

Linger sighed silently and decided to do his best to solve this breakfast. He knew that although Saint Xia Liya looked very happy on the surface, she must be very uneasy in her heart. This was the instinct of life and had nothing to do with the girl's feelings towards the young man. He thought that in the face of war, there would always be things he could not do or do well, but in the face of the expectations of the people around him, at least he could give her some encouragement and confidence in this way.

At worst, I can go to Metien afterwards and ask her to prescribe some medicine to strengthen my stomach and help digestion.

That’s what my sister uses!

"Ho, ho, ho!"

Suddenly, a strange sneer came from the table, attracting everyone's attention. Everyone looked over and found that it was Alice who was smiling sinisterly, saying in a gloating tone: "You can't eat anymore? If you can't eat, don't force yourself. Let me share some of the burden for you!"

After saying that, without waiting for the young man's response, she stood up at lightning speed, snatched the last piece of stew in Ling'er's bowl with the silver fork in her hand, put it in her own bowl, and raised her eyebrows at the latter deliberately provocatively, looking like a smug villain.

Everyone was confused by her confusing behavior. They didn't know what to say for a long time. Finally, Avella was the first to react. She exclaimed "Ah", suddenly realized, and then stood up and impatiently snatched the unfinished bread from Lingge's plate. She said proudly: "Alice is right. This is a loving breakfast made by Sister Xiaoxia. Even if you can't eat it, you can't waste it. Let us share it for you, Lingge!"

"It seems very interesting." Rorona, who had already finished her breakfast, put down the handkerchief she used to wipe her lips and smiled slightly: "Then I will help you too, Lingge, but you don't have to thank me too much, okay?"

Princess Umizu gracefully extended her hand and calmly took the sweet pie from Ling'er's plate. The pie was filled with nuts, raisins, dried blackberries, and sweet and sour jam. It was her favorite pastry.

"I want meat, I want meat!" As a pure carnivore, Leticia was obviously not satisfied with the meat intake this morning, so she took away all the meat that Linger could not finish, including grilled sausages and smoked ham. Countess Nevill saw her granddaughter's picky eating behavior, raised her eyebrows slightly, and simply took away the remaining half of the vegetable salad on Linger's plate and put it in front of Leticia, saying to her with a bitter face: "It's wrong to be picky about food, just eat it all."

"Then I too..."

While everyone was not paying attention, Yieta tiptoed and took away Lingge's cheese mashed potatoes. The rich cheese and salty mashed potatoes mixed together reminded Miss Angel of a classic delicacy from her hometown, her favorite Saria Chestnut, and it seemed to evoke some sad emotions. However, because the young man didn't like sweets, this dish was hardly touched. It might be a bit difficult for her to finish it alone. "Have you finally reached the point where you need help from others even for eating, you guy?" Bai Ye crossed his arms and frowned. He wanted to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to curse a few more words and vent his unhappy emotions, but he was suddenly looked at by a pair of eyes. She choked for a moment, and gave up this dangerous idea after a while. While curling her lips, she took the last two apples from the young man's fruit platter: "Don't get me wrong, I just think that you, a pervert, don't deserve such good food. Let me enjoy it."

Is personal attack necessary?
The corner of Ling'er's mouth twitched.

"Then I'll come and taste Xiao Xia's cooking~" Even though she already had it in front of her, the proprietress still took Ling's stewed peas under this pretext.

"I'm giving you a gift to congratulate you. Consider this as your reward." The bartender took it upon herself to share the cream of mushroom soup that Lingge couldn't finish.

"I want some snacks!" Xie Mi shouted, and forcibly took away Ling'er's dessert, a few pieces of vanilla cake and a small plate of cookies.

Is this some special blessing ceremony? Metien watched this scene with bright eyes. To be honest, she didn't quite understand their practice, but since everyone was doing it and Sister Xiaoxia didn't object, it should be reasonable, right? So she symbolically took the dry cheese from her brother's plate and planned to eat it with her own white bread. She also gave a piece to Sister Livia. Although the latter was a little amused, she still accepted the kindness.

Shino had not wanted to get involved, because she didn't eat much, and the food on her plate was enough, so there was no need to snatch Ling's. But others didn't think so, especially Avra, who kept staring at Shino with burning eyes, as if urging her to make a choice as soon as possible. Unable to bear such a burning gaze, the young knight finally compromised, gave the young man an apologetic smile, and took the last bit of food on his plate, a portion of onion rings, as a side dish.

Thanks to everyone's "joint efforts", the loving breakfast carefully prepared by Saint Xia Liya was not in vain. Although Lingge did not eat it all, the generous eldest sister did not seem to care and completely indulged her younger sisters' behavior. Only the young man was still staring at the empty plate with mixed feelings.

Anyway, this should be considered a good thing...right?

Ling Ge's mood was a little complicated, but he didn't want to be discovered by others, so he remained calm, gently put down the tableware in his hand, wiped his lips with a tissue, and said calmly: "I'm full."

He stood up and said, "It's almost time for class. I'll go to school to get ready. You guys should finish eating and come over. Avra ​​and Alice, remember not to be late."

The two girls he named subconsciously shrank their necks and didn't dare to talk back.

"Then I will..."

Saint Xia Liya wanted to say, "Then I will stay and clean the table and wash the dishes before going to class." To be honest, she also felt that she needed some time to adjust her mood. After all, children's perception ability is much sharper than that of adults. What if they suddenly asked her during class, "Why are you so happy today, Teacher Saint Xia Liya?" How should she answer? If she concealed it, it was not what a teacher should do. If she answered truthfully, she would be a little shy.

While she was daydreaming, Lingge hesitated for a moment, then suddenly lowered his head and said to her, "Saint Xia Liya, come with me? I... have something to tell you."

The table was silent for a moment. Saint Xia Liya was obviously a little surprised. She didn't expect Ling Ge to take the initiative to invite her. However, her expression soon calmed down and she nodded gently: "Yes."

The shepherdess entrusted the task of clearing the table and dishes to the proprietress. She also comforted the lamb, who insisted on following her even though he had not finished his breakfast yet, and left it at the inn. Then she apologized to the young man who had been waiting for a long time. The latter waved his hand to indicate that he didn't mind. The two walked side by side and soon left the inn.

I don't know why, they usually act together many times, everyone is used to it, but this time, it gives people a different feeling. Some people looked melancholy, some were lost in thought, and some were eager to try and catch up, but in the end, this idea was soon cruelly broken, because the proprietress put her hands together, tilted her head, and gave them an ultimatum with a smile: "Everyone, today's breakfast is a lot and tastes delicious, right? This is a loving breakfast that Xiao Xia specially prepared for everyone. Since she is so considerate, shouldn't you respond well? So——"

Her eyes gleamed, and she bared her sinister fangs. "Don't leave in a hurry after breakfast. Stay and help me clear the table and wash the dishes. I really need your help, so I hope no one will sneak away. Remember, no one is allowed to leave. No one is allowed to leave!"

The last sentence was spoken almost with gritted teeth, word by word, coupled with that gentle and kind smile, it was actually chilling.

"Uh……"

The girls shivered and agreed. No one dared to refuse, not even the Countess and Sister Livia. (End of this chapter)