Chapter 40 Miss Verafia’s Afternoon Tea Time
In a exquisitely decorated hotel in Rubiel City, Verafia sat by the wooden dining table, drowsy and yawning. Tapping her pure white, jade-like fingertips against her eyes, she mumbled and took a bite of bread, taking small sips of the sweet milk brought by Ig.
As Verafia was dining, a bard who came at an awkward time was dismissed by the visibly sleepy and impatient Verafia before even finishing a single melody.
Ig, standing by his young lady’s side, felt a sense of schadenfreude but also reminded himself not to provoke this sleepy little phoenix.
After a simple breakfast, Miss Verafia quickly regained her energy and, pulling the young man beside her, entered the streets of Rubiel City.
Since her appointment with Verodia was still the next day, Verafia could continue to drag her attendant around, purchasing necessary materials as per Fernos’s request… though that was just the plan.
Ig continued to carry bags and packages, looking helplessly at his young lady, who was like a lively butterfly.
“Ig, I want this too!”
Verafia raised her sparkling big eyes, extending her delicate, jade-like white fingertips towards the stall, and shouting at the young man.
…
The entire morning of leisure time passed quickly. After noon, Miss Verafia, feeling hungry, wanted to eat again.
Ig spread his hands helplessly, “Young lady, Peka’s afternoon tea shop usually closes at noon. Shall we try another shop?”
“I don’t care, this young lady wants to eat black tea and your desserts! If you can’t even do this, what do I need you as an attendant for!”
Miss Verafia put on a sulky face, acting unreasonably, and started to noisily complain.
Ig, as usual, raised his hands in surrender, admitting defeat to the willful Miss Phoenix.
—
In the afternoon of the spring month, the sunlight was not harsh. Gentle radiance spread across the glass high windows, forming a layer of golden luster. Even during the day, the crystal lamps on the exquisitely carved and decorated dome still cast light, mingling with rays of sunlight to shine on the inlaid solid wood floor.
The exquisite and elegant solid wood furniture reflected a soft glow, adorned with white porcelain tea sets inlaid with bright gold. The rosy and translucent tea juice resembled crimson jade, emanating a mellow fragrance as it produced a light mist.
Red Golden Rose—whether in terms of scale and quality or environment and atmosphere, it was undoubtedly first-class in Rubiel City. Young ladies from noble families would occasionally bring their girlfriends to sit under the soft sunlight, savoring desserts, talking softly, singing poetry, and elegantly sipping warm black tea; or handsome and elegant gentlemen would smile while adding frosting sugar to their beloved ladies, softly recounting glorious past events.
Crude adventurers did not prefer black tea, and commoners worrying about food and clothing naturally found it difficult to use precious silver coins for such leisure.
Therefore, the people who came and went were all elegant and noble.
“Clang!”
The silverware, due to excessive force, made a sound on the plate that once again drowned out the quiet music. However, the girl’s excited voice was even more pleasant than the most beautiful melody.
The black-clothed attendant watching from afar twitched his expression. Seeing the girl’s astonishing beauty and her noble temperament, which was absolutely impossible to imitate, he could only consider her in his heart as a pampered daughter from a noble family who had sneaked out with her attendant.
“Mmm, Ig, this cake is so delicious, much more delicious than what we had at Verodia’s place yesterday!”
As she shouted, the girl grabbed a fork with her slender hand and stuffed the cut pastry into her mouth, biting down with her silver teeth, and then raised her pair of sparkling golden big eyes, shouting excitedly to the young man opposite her, her words slightly muffled.
“Young lady, that’s natural. After all, your gold coins should have some effect…”
Ig’s voice paused. Seeing that the girl seemed to be choking from swallowing too quickly, he pushed the warm black tea with frosting sugar he had just prepared towards the girl with amusement.
Verafia quickly grabbed it, tilted her small face, and gulped it down.
“Mmm, this drink called black tea is also delicious!”
Putting down the half-finished tea set, Verafia wiped the corner of her lips with her slender hand. Her lowered, scorching gold eyes shone with excitement: “Ig, do they have black tea like this where you come from?”
“Young lady, didn’t you say yesterday that you didn’t like black tea at all? Why the sudden change?”
Ig found it amusing. He watched the girl suddenly tilt her sparkling big eyes upwards and handed her a moist wet wipe.
The girl casually used it to wipe her mouth. Without waiting for Ig to reply, she grabbed a cake and stuffed it into her mouth, biting down with her silver teeth.
It seemed that this little phoenix really liked sweet food and black tea. Hmm, she looked so powerful, but she was actually just a child…
“The habit of drinking black tea is popular in the Kingdom only in the Royal Capital and the Eastern Territory. In other places, the tradition is more about drinking flower tea. However, there are still many young ladies like you who like it, so you don’t need to worry.”
Ig said with a smile. Looking at the Miss Phoenix opposite him, a teasing thought suddenly arose.
“However, in our culture, afternoon tea is not drunk like you are doing.”
“Eh, what should it be like?”
Verafia’s actions paused slightly. She swung her slender legs and tilted her small face in confusion, asking.
“First of all, the tea snacks before drinking tea cannot be handled as casually as you do. You should start with the cakes and tea snacks on top. When cutting pastries, the knife should not touch the plates, and the jam should not overflow. When drinking tea, you should pick up the saucer and the teacup together, sipping the tea juice in small mouthfuls, and avoid gulping it down greedily…”
As he spoke, Ig also demonstrated a few movements from memory.
However, Verafia quickly lost interest in Ig’s lecture. The girl pouted her lips and grumbled discontentedly.
“Why are you humans so troublesome? It’s just eating, and you have to be so particular about all sorts of messy things. Isn’t it best to eat whatever you want?”
“Perhaps it is called etiquette. This is a compulsory course for noble children, said to give people dignity and status, earning the admiration of colleagues and monarchs… Yes, and also to make them feel different from the farmers in the fields.”
Ig also laughed, showing that he did not approve of such statements.
“However, young lady, you don’t need to eat so fast. Let me cut the pastry for you.”
“Mm-hmm! Ig, I really didn’t misjudge you… Hey, as expected of my attendant!”
A look of joy appeared on the girl’s exquisite little face, her clear and cheerful voice echoing in mid-air.
Outside the high windows, the warm golden sunlight passed through the tinkling silver bells swaying in the air, gently touching the girl’s delicate, fair skin. Her soft, brilliant golden hair was slightly stirred by the wind.
Looking at the girl’s beautiful smiling face, Ig inexplicably felt a sense of joy. Ig raised his eyes slightly to look at the brilliant golden sunlight outside the window and powerfully cut down with his knife.
