When Annalise and Sera made their way to the kitchen, they found Aunt Claire, Mr. Warren, and Garron standing near the entrance in a straight line as if they were waiting on someone. All three of them greeted her with deep bows before Garron nodded towards the inside of the kitchen when he noticed the confusion on her face.
Annalise followed the direction he pointed in and her jaw almost dropped to the ground when her gaze landed on Lord Valerius and Lord Kenric who seemed to be cooking something. And no, it was not a potion or some elixir they were making.
"What's going on here?" She asked the others as she too stopped at the entrance, not being sure if she should go and help them or just let them do their work without any interference.
"The Lords told this servant to leave when I was preparing for the breakfast. It's been nearly an hour and The Lords have since not allowed any of us inside." Aunt Claire answered as she looked in Annalise's direction with a devastated look on her face. It was clear that she was unhappy about her job being snatched away, even if the ones who did it were the Masters of the house.
Annalise gave the old woman a small warm smile as she patted her hand in comfort. That was the only thing she could do for her at the moment.
A familiar presence behind her pulled Annalise's attention to Lord Damien who seemed to have returned from the outside of the castle as he was holding a bunch of fresh vegetables, meat, and other kitchen essentials in his arms.
"The four of you, there's a cart standing outside. Go and get the items. Also, set our breakfast table on the porch." He ordered the servants who immediately moved to complete the tasks.
Annalise too moved forward to help Lord Damien in carrying the items but the Lord just handed her a bunch of the Lotus flower buds that immediately filled her nostrils with their sweet and fresh fragrance.
"You are finally back," Kenric commented as he approached the two of them but unlike what Annalise predicted that he would help his brother carry the items, the man just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and made her follow him.
"You guys gave me the worst job. It's already great enough that I returned with all the items that you asked me to buy." Lord Damien responded to his brother's sarcastic remark as he approached the stone counter in the middle of the kitchen and just dumped all the items he was holding on it.
Annalise tried to go and help the man in arranging everything because it seemed like he had no idea how to do it but she was stopped by Kenric as he made her follow him to where Lord Valerius was still busy with his work.
"Sorry for the late breakfast, but we are almost done." Lord Valerius suddenly spoke as he turned his attention to her for a splitting second before going back to his work. He was taking small-sized steamed stuffed buns out of the steamer and arranging them on a plate. The smell alone made Annalise's stomach growl out loud in protest.
She felt embarrassment descending over her as she hid her face behind the Lotus flower buds. She just wanted to bury herself at the moment and never show her face to the Lords and this feeling only got intensified when she heard Lord Damien and Kenric chuckling.
"Hurry up, brother. Our wife wants the food." Kenric told Valerius before he wrapped his arms around Annalise and pulled her back to rest against his chest as he rested his chin against the crown of her head. "Stop hiding your beautiful face, Little Bird. Though these Lotus buds are pretty and pleasing to the eye, they are still no match to you."
His words only made Annalise blush more and hid behind the lotus buds but then she felt Kenric's hand wrapping over hers as he made her lower her hands so that her face was visible.
"Now that's much better," Damien commented as he walked toward them.
"My Lords..." Annalise wasn't sure what she was going to say as she still felt embarrassed. Besides, the feel of Kenric's chest against her back and his arms wrapped around her wasn't helping her at all.
"You know just how lucky you are, Little Bird? It's almost impossible to make Valerius use his cooking talent. He is such a miser when it comes to using this power of his. But for you, he is finally using his skills." Kenric told her as he took the Lotus Flower Buds from her hands and handed them to Valerius.
Annalise watched Valerius working in silence and she felt a feeling of importance and warmth settling inside her. "Thank you. But My Lord... you don't have to do such works. You are the Lords of the Castle and it won't be right for you to get involved in such works. If there was something specific you wanted to eat, you could have told the servants..."
She trailed off when she noticed the gazes of Lord Damien and Lord Valerius that were trained on her. She could imagine the same look from Lord Kenric too.
"Aren't we allowed to cook in our own kitchen?" Valerius asked as he resumed his work.
"That's not what I meant. It's just... you are the Lords and you should not be doing such choruses on your own..." Annalise started babbling but got stopped when Kenric picked a jelly-like thing from a plate and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Stop thinking too much. The rules of your Grand Duke's mansion don't apply here. For so many years, we have been living on our own with not a single attendant waiting on us. We are used to doing such choruses and we like it that way." Kenric told her as he moved to stand on her side so that he could look into her eyes.
Annalise realized her mistake and immediately nodded her head in understanding. She completely forgot about their lifestyle, all that she remembered was their titles as the Lords.
"The breakfast is ready...!"