THE dining room was just as exquisite as the other rooms in the mansion. Its tastefully decorated walls featured subtle touches of luxury, such as fine wood paneling and discreet gold accents. Soft ambient lighting created a warm and inviting atmosphere, enhancing the room’s serene ambiance.

A long, impeccably crafted wooden table sits at the center, complemented by plush upholstered chairs that offer comfort without compromising style. The table was adorned with sleek white dishes, shiny silver utensils, and clear glass cups, creating an atmosphere of understated luxury.

The servants were lined up on the side, ready to deliver the dinner prepared for this evening.

The duke was sitting at the head of the table. Thomas was sitting on his right while Cassius was sitting on his left. Nicol was supposed to sit beside his father, but he insisted on sitting beside Astrid. So the kid ended up sitting between Astrid and Cassius. Which forced Ellis to sit beside Thomas.

After all, it would be weird if there were four people on the left side, while there’s only one on the right. So, to balance it out, Ellis had no choice but to sit beside Thomas. Aside from the previous reason, she felt like it would be too insulting to the eldest son of the duke if she was to sit beside Astrid. It’s like silently saying, ‘no, I don’t want to sit with you’.

Even if that’s how she really felt, she still had to fake appearances.

Inwardly, Ellis really wanted to let out a deep sigh. When Astrid told her that the duke invited them to have dinner here, her first thought was ‘do we have to?’. But even if no one answered her, the answer was already pretty obvious. There’s no way they could just ignore an invitation from a duke.

Besides, it was quite obvious that Astrid didn’t want to eat dinner here and was mostly forced by the circumstance. If she showed that she’d also rather not be here at all, it might affect Astrid’s mentality and the other might be unable to show such calmness as he was showing now.

And so, they ended up having dinner here under such circumstance.

Soon, the servants brought in the appetizer, which was seared scallops on a bed of micro greens with a citrus vinaigrette. As expected of a ducal household staff, even if this was not the main house, the food was still extremely good.

Since this dinner was already unavoidable, Astrid decided to just enjoy the food.

“Is the food to your liking?” Casey asked with a smile.

“Yes, it’s quite delicious,” Astrid answered honestly.

Ellis also said the same thing.

“That’s good,” Casey said, with an expression as if relieved. Then he turned to his nephew. “Did you see that, Nikki? Your Brother Aster is eating his vegetables without complaining. You should do the same.”

Nicol, who was just about to put the greens on his plate to the side and pretend it wasn’t there, stopped his movements. He glanced at his Brother Aster just in time to see the other eating those unpalatable vegetables. The other also glanced at him. Brother Aster smiled. He seemed to be encouraging him to do the same.

He pouted and wanted to grumble that it’s not really tasty. But he didn’t want to appear like a picky eater in front of Brother Aster. So, he held his breath and, with a heart full of determination, he ate the vegetables in front of him.

Despite the bad taste filling his mouth, he did his best to swallow them all. When he was done, he looked back at Brother Aster. His expression was like saying ‘please praise me!’.

Astrid almost chuckled at the sight. He didn’t fail the kid and silently mouthed, ‘Good job.’

This small interaction did not escape Thomas. He raised his brow, feeling a bit astonished. Because he knew for a fact how hard it was to make his son eat vegetables. And yet this young man did it with just a smile? What kind of sorcery was this?

He shook his head at his own absurd thoughts. This all just boiled down to the fact that his son liked the young man too much.

After the appetizer, next was the soup course. Seeing the lobster bisque being served, Astrid only now realized that they would be having a full course meal. Was this the norm in noble households? Anyway, with this, it only meant that this dinner would be much longer than he expected.

“So, Aster, do you have another series being released after [The Great War]?” Casey asked, starting another topic. “Nikki and I really enjoy watching that show, by the way. You’re really great in it.”

Nicol nodded enthusiastically, as if to agree.

“Thank you,” Astrid said. “I don’t have an upcoming series, but there’s a movie that will be released next month.”

“Really? I will definitely watch it!” Nicol quickly said.

Astrid chuckled at the kid’s enthusiastic response. “Then you have my advance gratitude.”

“That’s great. It will just be in time for the release of the Chrome Collection. It will be a good publicity for you and the movie,” Casey said, then turned to Ellis. “I will ask someone from EMMA to coordinate with you, so the release of the magazine photoshoot will align with the release of the movie.”

This slightly surprised Ellis. She didn’t expect such a level of consideration from the other. But then again, this family had shown their favorability towards Astrid quite a number of times already. So, this probably shouldn’t come off as a surprise.

She was uncertain whether the current situation was favorable. However, when weighed against the prince’s affection for Astrid and the possibility of their future as a couple, she realized that no other concern could be more troubling.

So, she readily agreed with Cassius’ suggestion. “That would be great, thank you, Lord Cassius.”

The dinner continued on peacefully and ended without much problem. But Astrid couldn’t help but notice that throughout the whole dinner, the duke remained silent and didn’t say a single word. Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

As if he was seriously pondering over something. And that greatly worried Astrid.

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