Everything was prepared.
Granny Umba was done with preparing the room for Lord Alex.
Alex had also finished preparing the food for their dinner.
Therefore when Granny Umba came to the living hall, she was entranced by the smell of the food that bombarded her nose the moment she came out of the room.
A warm dinner had been prepared on the dining table. Granny Umba saw steaming rice, warm soup, and several types of side dishes laid out.
But the smell that wafted from it caused her to drool inside her closed mouth unconsciously. Fortunately, her mouth was closed or she would have been utterly embarrassed in front of the Lord.
"Enjoy your meal," said Alex when he saw the three arriving near the table.
"Lord Alex, this... I remember that there was no rice stocked in the kitchen then where... did you find the rice from..." It was not just the rice but she suddenly found that most of the ingredients that Alex cooked dishes from were not present in her house.
"I know, but I had those ingredients on me so I used them to cook for everyone." Alex knew the reason for her confusion therefore he explained to her about the Interspatial Ring. Alex even showed her by taking out a bag containing raw rice from his Interspatial Ring.
Surprise and awe were written all over Granny Umba's face while the sisters were calm as they already knew about this.
"Let's eat while the food is hot," Alex said while pulling a chair and sitting on it and gesturing them to do the same.
Sierra and her big sister sat on either side of Alex while Granny Umba sat on the opposite side.
Sierra jumped on the food first and seeing this Granny Umba wanted to admonish her for her bad manners in front of such a distinguished guest but soon she was shocked to see Ciera who always acted calm and disciplined also started eating without any hesitation.
"Granny Umba, please eat first or there won't be anything left for you in the end if you kept delaying," Alex smiled ad said this as he pointed at the other two people on the same table.
Looking at how the girls were eating without any decorum, Granny Umba got curious about the reason behind their behaviour. Her attention was quickly drawn onto the dishes placed in front of her. The smell of the food was too intoxicating and irresistible, maybe this is why the girls acted like they had been hungry for a month or so.
Granny Umba vigorously shook her head as she took a big spoonful of rice into her mouth. And soon she started stuffing her face and joined in the race of eating more food before the other finishes it. It might have looked like bad manners to others, but it didn't look like that at all in Alex's eyes.
Because he knew how rare it was for the commoners in this world to eat food that was this delicious, especially on this island.
It's not that the food the commoners made was not delicious, it's just that the commoners found it difficult to acquire better food ingredient like higher-level Demon Beasts Meat and rare spices that brought the taste of a simple dish to a whole new level.
Even simple commodities like rice were rare and expensive on this island as it was exported from the subcontinent by the merchants making it an expensive staple food and commoners rarely bought it other than on special occasions.
Even though Granny Umba was old she was still dexterous enough to snatch the extra portions of food to eat before the girls. Her favorite was the Demon Beast meat that had been dipped in honey.
As they ate, Alex also told them about the sequence of the war and how and why he unified the island in detail as these things were not that known to many people. He also told them about his life before when he live in the pearl village when Granny Umba asked curiously.
Though they knew that Alex was a commoner like them as it was not any secret and other villagers and soldiers already talk about it, they still felt it unreal when they listened from the mouth of Alex about the very common life that he spent in Pearl village. It was not only him that did the talking but Granny Umba, and the sisters also said a thing or to about their past. All in all, everyone enjoyed dinner fully.
There was not any leftover food at the end of the dinner. While Granny Umba and Ciera cleaned the corner of their mouth with a cloth, Siera gave a satisfying burp as patted her stomach.
"Was it tasty?"
"Yes! It was delicious, Lord Alex" Sierra said with a satisfying grin.
"That's good to hear then...oh, Sierra" Alex said before pointing at his own lips with his eyes directed at her lips.
Sierra tilted her head in puzzlement. She didn't understand it first.
'Um, why is he pointing there with his finger... Don't tell me, he is... No! It can't be... is he really asking me to do that... to kiss him... Maybe he really asking me to kiss him for the food... What should I do?... If he had asked me privately then... should I really do it...' Siera hesitated but soon she taught that her thoughts were ridiculous since she had already given her heart to him then why should she hesitate when Lord Alex himself asked her for to give him a kiss.
She nodded resolutely towards Alex and slowly brought her face forward while also closing her eyes in between and she waited expectantly for the moment.
But even after waiting for a long time, the expected kiss didn't come but just when she was going to open her eyes in doubt, a finger touched the corner of her lips. Siera became electrified. Her lips felt dry, her heart pounded as if hundreds of bunnies were jumping inside of it.
'It's coming!.... It's coming!... It's coming!' Siera thought as she nearly stopped breathing. Her lips even opened in by instinct.
... Nothing like what she had expected happened. The finger she felt near her lips retreated back simply and nothing happened anymore.
This time she had to open eyes to know why he didn't kiss her.
But when she did, Siera only saw Granny Umba glancing at her weirdly, and Ciera who was trying her best not to laugh.
But when she looked back at Alex, she found him... sitting on his chair with his finger still extended out in the air. She saw a grain of rice on top of that finger which Alex flicked on the plate thereafter.
Siera was not stupid, she soon understood that Alex was not asking her to give him a kiss but he was only pointing at the grain of rice stuck near her lips. It was her fault for completely misunderstanding the situation.
How embarrassing!!! She just wanted to die after knowing what she had done.
Not wanting to embarrass her further and ending it before it became awkward, Alex acted as if nothing happened before.