*Clink* *Clink* *Clank* *Clunk*
The sound of cutleries hitting plates in the calm dining hall was neither soft nor loud. Any softer, and it would be difficult to hear, and any louder, it would have been annoying.
It was subtle enough that it created a symphony particular to a restaurant, one that set the atmosphere into a tone that made it easier to work up an appetite.
At one of the tables covered with a white embroidered tablecloth, Grace paused her movements, and after taking a look around, watched Alex bring a portion of his food to his mouth.
He raised his eyes to look at her, and asked with a smile:
"It is no bad, right?"
Grace raised her eyebrows, and nodded slowly, the image of Leyna eating with gusto on the side falling in her eyes:
"Indeed, it is not bad. But tell me, since when did you become a vegetarian?"
Alex swallowed the content of his mouth, and he explained, without pausing the movements of the hands holding the cutleries:
"Well, mom, you see, you already have a carnivorous eldest son who eats people without spitting any bone. Really, brrr…"
He suppressed a shiver, as if beset with a sudden chill only he could feel, before he looked at his mother, and exhorted her:
"Mom, you need to ask Michael. What the heck do they eat in the military? And now, he went on and joined a secret department. What will become of him if he continues like that? Why make himself suffer like that? If he doesn't learn to enjoy life, one day, his own children will be afraid of him. They will prefer their favorite uncle Alex."
Leyna almost choked, as she suppressed a laugh. She looked at Alex's earnest face, then stole a glance at Grace's calm, interested appearance, before she returned her attention to the plate in front of her, at least her visual attention.
Alex was not done yet. He continued, his momentum uninterrupted, waving his fork for good measure:
"Then you've got your second son. Tut, tut, tut…"
Alex shook his head as he tutted, and Leyna found herself swept in by his nonsense despite herself:
"What about Raphael-Sigmund?"
Alex looked at the dark-haired woman with appreciation for the participation. He nodded in acknowledgement, then continued:
"Raphael, that guy, didn't choose wrong by becoming a politician. An omnivorous smiling tiger. He is capable of eating anything, selling people with a smile while making them count the money for him. A true personification of insidiousness wrapped in a package of elegance. Sigh, mom, it is for you that I'm doing this."
Grace took a sip of her wine, and looked at her youngest son with amusement deep under her calm green lakes:
"A carnivore, an omnivore, then a herbivore. Should I thank you for helping me complete the triangle?"
Alex casually waved his hand:
"Of course not. That is what I must do as your son. I can't have you suffer from a bout of obsessive compulsive disorder. Thankfully, while those two unreliable sons of yours are away, you still have me to care about you."
Alex paused to feed himself, and Leyna took the opportunity to insert the question that came to her mind:
"Don't you have any fear? Aren't you afraid of anyone telling your brothers what you think about them later?"
Alex sneered, and finished working through the food in his mouth, before voicing with disdain:
"Ha! As if I'm afraid of them. So what if you tell them?"
Leyna raised her eyebrows at the bravodo, while under Grace's smiling eyes, Alex used his fork to show around and continue:
"I would not be surprised if there were any of those guys spies around right now. But what can they do to me if I hide behind mom? Huh?"
Leyna opened her mouth, but it took her a moment to work through her speechlessness. Her feeling culminated in one word which she spat out:
"Shameless! If you can't stand up to them, where do you get the guts to speak badly about your brothers?"
But Alex scoffed, and raised his head like a peacock:
"I've got mom to hold up the sky for me. Why should I make myself suffer? I'm not like those two who don't want to be pampered."
Leyna expression fluctuated, as she struggle to decide whether she should feel amused or she should feel frustrated. She opened and closed her mouth multiple times without managing to speak a word.
Grace shook her head with a smile, and raised her hand to call a waiter, before she turned back to the kids:
"Alright, Leyna, don't take what he said to heart. He just wants me to stop eating too much meat. He is indeed doing it for my own good."
Leyna turned to Grace in surprise, before she looked at Alex. The latter showed no reaction, as if it was not about him that his mother was speaking. He swallowed the last bit of food on his plate, and leaned back to make its descent smoother.
Leyna opened her mouth, then closed it, but this time with a smile at the corner of her mouth as she shook her head.
The waiter arrived to take the empty plates on the tables and replace them with the dessert. Alex immediately started digging in, while Grace observed the new item.
Nevertheless, when she spoke again in a calm tone, her words managed to make the proud young man at the table choke:
"Still, Alex, you are right when you alluded to my age. I'm not getting any younger. When are planning to take over the family business? After all, don't forget you are the main heir of Arland Lenner, thus, of Arland Group."
"Cough– cough– cough– cough– Prospective main heir, mom… Prospective main heir…"
After managing to correct his mother in-between his coughing feats, Alex finally took the water at the side and flushed down what had almost gotten into the wrong tract. He breathed in deeply, and ignoring the soft laughter coming from the only other woman at the table, looked at his mother to explain with an exhale, while 'helplessly' spreading his hands:
"I have yet to open the box from the old man, so, I'm not really the heir yet."