At the scene, Heather maintained her elegant smile. Even if it was a family banquet, she could not let down her guard. Fortunately, it was at least simpler than she anticipated and not as chaotic as Leon led her to believe.
The person who was most unlike how she imagined him to be was Dave. He didn’t act at all like he was nobility, and she could only find it a good thing that Leon hadn’t handed her a few more pages of information, for it seemed like they were chock-full of his subjective biases.
With a smile, she glanced at everyone. Under Dave’s warm-hearted influence, they no longer regarded her with hostility and all put on, at the very least, some measure of kindness.
Despite seeing through them, Leon gave no indication he was aware of their pretense. Of course, Heather could see through them as well, but she was long used to such occasions and didn’t take any of it to heart.
While they ate, the entire table was silent and devoid of any conversation. This also largely differed from her expectations and upon seeing her confusion, Leon pulled out his cell phone and sent her a text.
Knowing what she was thinking, he told her, ‘Don’t look so surprised. My Grandpa is strict about us not talking while we eat.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ she replied, refusing to admit to her own confusion. ‘There’s nothing unusual about that.’ Quickly putting down her phone, she resumed eating.
In the quiet, only the sound of chewing could be heard. Perhaps because they were concerned about their image, everyone was displaying the elegance of nobility and chewing very softly.
When it came to this, she didn’t fare worse than them. She, too, had good breeding, not to mention that silence at the dinner table was more of a local habit and she would never lose to a group of foreigners.
Occasionally, she and Leon would communicate silently with their eyes. Their every interaction was noted by Dave.
The meal lasted a long time. Dave was meticulous about his chewing and, seemingly not wanting to finish before the patriarch of the family, everyone else ate slowly as well.
Under the influence of such an atmosphere, Heather, too, slowed down her speed of eating. Meanwhile, Leon seemed used to such a pace and struggled with it not at all.
On occasion, Dave would cast a glance at her but he did not speak up. There seemed to be a message in his eyes but for now, it remained inscrutable to her. Even Leon seemed confused.
It was only in the silence that she picked up on the imposing atmosphere of the dinner banquet. From her perspective, Leon’s family was even stranger than hers. While the Langston Family used family banquets as a way of appearing outwardly harmonious, his family did not seem like a family at all but rather a group of strangers.
If her family fought in secret, his family went to no lengths at all to hide their discord. Nonetheless, it seemed like Dave was in the know.
The wisdom in his eyes led her to believe that he was in control of the situation. It had to be difficult for an old man to ensure a family’s balanced and healthy survival.
After what felt like half a century, the lengthy mealtime finally ended. As she gently wiped her mouth, she could feel the others glancing at her from time to time.
Not long after they finished eating, the dinner table livened up and people started to chat with those seated next to them. It was only then that she realized what Leon meant when he said the dinner was very ceremonial. Indeed, the time while they ate had been a grave ritual and even now that they were done, their idle chat seemed affected to some degree.
Leaning over, he whispered to her, “Not used to it, are you?” Even he wasn’t used to having such a family after all these years.
“I’m alright.” She didn’t find it too strange since she rarely spoke at her own family dinners, unless Robert spoke to her first.
“Well, I’m glad you don’t mind.” Yet now, he worried that she would find it difficult to adapt, but it seemed he had underestimated her endurance.
“What would I have to mind?” she asked with a smile. Right now, they were conversing in front of Dave and she was deeply afraid that they would say something wrong.
In response, he beamed at her and resisted the urge to peck her cheek. Truly, she was his savior and all-too-worthy of his love.
“Your crow’s feet are showing,” she teased. Sometimes, his thoughts were too obvious and written all over his face.
“Come and take a walk with me later.” He was unable to take the atmosphere anymore and was dying to find an opportunity to drag her out for some fresh air.
While Leon hated this place more than any other occasion he would have to attend, Heather, on the other hand, was a little bit more understanding.
Unlike Leon, she looked at it as a duty and she didn’t feel as conflicted as he did.
Meanwhile, Dave seemed to be keeping an eye on her. Even Leon was starting to notice that he would glance at her from time to time while she conversed with Leon.
Usually fastidious about keeping a healthy lifestyle, Dave had foregone the fruit platter in favor of eyeing them. Unable to take such scrutiny, Leon took the initiative to reach out for a grape, peel it patiently and feed it intimately to her. Since they couldn’t talk carelessly and freely with Dave staring at them, they might as well eat some fruit.
At first, Heather was confused but she quickly caught on and cooperated. With her faint smile aimed at him, they looked like a loving couple.
All of a sudden, he seemed to develop a fondness for feeding her fruit and busied himself with peeling the skin off the fruit in front of him before holding it up to her. Of course, she wasn’t in the mood for fruit right now and could only stare at him strangely. Did that mean that, in the absence of anything better to do, they could only eat fruit?
Reluctantly, she cooperated. Given the slow pace of dinner, she had already consumed more than what she usually ate and now that she was forced to have some fruit as well, she was starting to wonder if her sole purpose for attending the banquet was to eat.
When she recalled how many appetizers she ate in the buffet area, she decided her assumption was correct.
Meanwhile, Leon seemed to have lost himself completely to what he was doing and was practically trying to shove the fruit platter down her mouth. In truth, she hated grapes, so she plucked the grapes he gave her from her plate and made the decision to stuff them into his mouth.
One by one, she fed them back to him, even saying gently, “Have some more. They’re full of vitamin C.”
Only when he saw her slightly displeased expression did he remember that she actually disliked grapes, and it was no wonder she was trying to return all of the grapes he peeled for her.
Having no other choice, he opened his mouth and swallowed all of her ‘good intentions’. Yet, the more they acted like this, the more Dave picked up on the subtleties of their actions.
After dinner, the hall was filled with elegant music. In the past, the nobles liked to dance to music and now was apparently no different. All of a sudden, Heather got the impression she had returned to medieval times.
Meanwhile, Leon was offering a gentlemanly hand and saying, “May I have this dance, Miss Langston?”
Gladly, she agreed. If the dinner they just had was overly formal, they were much more relaxed now. Out on the dance floor, everyone seemed to have put aside their petty resentments and were dancing together gracefully.
Their duet made her feel like they had returned to school. Standing so suitably close to each other as they danced, they could feel each other’s body heat. It was especially easy to fall in love during these dances.
Currently, his eyes were locked on hers. He enjoyed this moment so much that he didn’t feel like moving away from her for even a second. This segment of the evening was, no doubt, his favorite part of the banquet.
The intensity of his stare made her heart flutter. After all, her hormones were putting her in a trance, even if she knew the person she actually loved was Matthias.
Gradually, his face blurred and she saw Matthias all of a sudden. The fact that she was thinking of Matthias at this moment made her laugh internally at herself.
Nowadays, he was no longer the man he used to be. He did not cling to her and rarely even texted her. On occasion, she would wonder to herself what he was doing. Sometimes, she even thought about taking the initiative to text him but would decide against it in the end.
Sensing that she was lost in her thoughts, Leon pulled her even closer and whispered intimately in her ear, “It’s me, Hat.”
Instantly, she was pulled out of her reverie and back to reality. When she came to her senses, she found that her head was resting against his shoulder and that they were holding each other as they danced.
“I want to rest for a while, Leon.” All of a sudden, Heather felt somewhat tired and only wanted to sit down.
It wasn’t the physical kind of tiredness but rather a psychological one. As they stepped off the dance floor, a pair of eyes watched him closely, making Leon uneasy.
“Are you feeling ill, Hat?” He remembered that she hadn’t rested well these few days and yet had slept for hours today. No doubt, her body was not used to it.
“No.” She shook her head, answering softly and inexplicably gently. Wanting to be alone for a while, she told him, “Don’t worry about me. Go have fun!”
“Nah, I’ll keep you company.” Currently, he only wished to stay by her side and had no interest in socializing with anyone else.
His response hardly surprised her. Given how cautious he was of everyone else, she had known even before making her suggestion that there was no way he would leave her.
LeoLeoLeo
It was as if Leon was a lost child. Clearly, the reason he wanted her at this family banquet was so that she could give him courage.
LeoLeo
Understandingly, she pointed at the seat next to her and indicated for him to sit down. Satisfied, he took the seat.
Leo
“If you’re not feeling well, we can leave.” In truth, he was all too eager to have an excuse to leave.
LeoLeo
Seeing through him at once, she told him, “I doubt your grandfather will approve.” After all, she was aware that Dave was still observing them at this moment.
As if their previous camaraderie had been a dream, Dave was maintaining a distance from them now and was once again surrounded by others.
Just like that, Heather had no idea what he was truly thinking. However, she knew it was a bad idea to leave right now no matter what excuse they had.
Leo
“You don’t have to worry about what my grandpa thinks, Heather,” Leon told her helplessly. He was starting to regret making the situation sound so serious to her.
