"Lilly, mind you pass me the sugar cubes?" Reed gently said, looking at Lilly amidst the loud but sweet sounds of Keal and Kane arguing about whose horse was faster,
and Nyx and Aria having a conversation, Aria peacefully slandering Nyx, while he kept his frustration in, just to avoid lashing out at the dinner table.
Reed's soft, curly black hair framed his forehead, falling in elegant bangs. With his piercing blue eyes, he encouraged Lilly to do it.
Lilly, hugging a magic fundamentals book, made herself appear as small as she could. Seeing her father's gaze, she reluctantly spoke out, "Y-yes."
She reached out for the bowl with her small, trembling hands, grabbed it, and handed it to her father. As soon as she did, she went back to hugging her book.
Reed, seeing it, gave a pleasant, warm smile.
A while later, as Reed was gently drinking his coffee, he saw Luna step out from the open gate to the garden. With a firm voice, he said,
"Keal, Kane, Aria, please calm yourselves, family dinner is about to start."
Aria, hearing his words, immediately turned toward Luna with a happy smile on her face and said,
"Luna! Come here, sit beside me!"
Luna nodded as she made her way toward Aria, who was overjoyed by her gesture.
Keal and Kane gave a suspicious look toward Luna, as if they were still holding something against her.
We don't get along? No... ah, I get it, hehe. You're both mad that I soaked you with water.
Luna chuckled as she looked at them. It certainly had gotten under their skin by the look on their faces, their mouths agape and eyes wide open.
"Is everything alright? I heard you called Mr. Aux for an examination?" Reed asked as he sipped his coffee.
"Yes, I just got a pretty bad nosebleed and asked for an examination. Thankfully..." Luna stopped herself as she reluctantly lied, "...it was nothing serious, just a regular nosebleed."
"I'm glad," Reed replied.
The table was full to the brim. In the middle sat a turkey, salad, mushroom soup, and as an additive, cucumbers, tomatoes, and pickled cucumbers beside them.
Each person had a large plate, a soup bowl atop it, and one spoon, fork, and knife, knife and spoon on the right, fork on the left of the plate.
Luna looked straight at Reed, for the first time in person since she lost her memory. His clothes caught her curiosity. She frowned and asked,
"What happened to you, Dad?"
Reed's clothes were torn and stained with mud, clear signs of struggle on the ground, sword cuts across his sleeves and shoulder.
"I had a duel with Nyx," Reed calmly replied.
Curious, Luna looked at Nyx, who looked away from her, his clothes clearly new and barely worn.
"Dad, did Nyx lose?" Luna asked with a curious look.
Nyx looked at Luna with betrayal in his eyes, his mouth agape.
"Yes, he did," Reed answered, the corner of his mouth rising up.
Chuckling, Luna added playfully, "As expected." Saying that, she looked at Theo, who was clearly on the edge of bursting, his immaturity showing through.
Looking at Nyx, Luna couldn't help but add inwardly, I don't know why, but it's so fun to tease you, heh.
Exhaling gently, Luna looked around. Nyx was fuming inside as he kept himself barely steady, while a maid poured soup into everyone's bowls.
Aria was gently swinging from side to side with a smile on her face.
Lilly was shyly hugging her book, her face red and hand trembling.
How shy can a person be? Luna couldn't help but ask inwardly.
Keal and Kane were eating soup while dipping slices of bread into it, soup dripping back down to the bowl from the bread.
Reed sat with his broad shoulders, drinking coffee, waiting for everyone to start eating before he would begin.
Luna smiled from ear to ear as she looked down and started eating her soup.
With everyone eating, Reed prayed a prayer for everyone silently, for prosperity to Selitharia, then he started eating.
As minutes went by, Luna finished her soup. Looking up at everyone, a strange warmth appeared in her heart.
She liked it.
Time passed unnoticed. Everyone chatted, discussed politics. Lilly, Keal, and Kane ran around having fun. Everyone had a pleasant time.
Surprisingly, Luna hadn't noticed how fast the time had gone, the sun falling down behind the horizon as night settled in, the moon now relatively high in the sky.
Reed stood up and prayed a prayer, thanking for the meal and prosperity to Selitharia, then gently said,
"That's all. Everyone go back safely to your rooms, and go to sleep." He smiled as he spoke.
Following that, everyone started walking toward the palace doors.
Looking at them from behind, Luna couldn't help but smile warmly.
Even having no memory isn't that bad... having to experience those things again, as if they never happened...
Luna chuckled and rushed after them.