Chapter 680: Lunch in the Garden

Kael found the woman in charge of the kitchen checking the ingredients that had arrived that morning. She stood in front of a long table with a list in one hand, while an assistant sorted vegetables on the other side. When she saw him enter, she stopped checking the supplies and asked if he needed anything.

"I want to have lunch in the garden today. There’ll be four of us, maybe five if my grandmother wants to join us."

"Do you have any preference for lunch, sir?"

"Something we can take out there without having to set up an entire kitchen."

The woman thought for a few seconds and explained that roast meat was already being prepared for the main meal. She could set some aside, add vegetables, bread, and fruit, and bring everything in containers that kept the food warm. She also asked whether he wanted them to set up a table near the pond.

Kael remembered the benches and the small patch of grass beneath the tree.

"A low table will do. We can bring chairs if we need more space."

"I’ll arrange it. What time?"

He looked toward the window. The sun hadn’t reached its highest point yet, and Sylphie was probably talking to Seraphine.

"In an hour."

The woman noted the time and returned to work. Kael left without asking exactly what would be served. That was a decision he could leave to someone who knew the mansion’s kitchen much better than he did.

In the corridor, he encountered Eleonor coming from the library. She was carrying the same book she had been reading during breakfast and seemed surprised to see him near the service wing.

"Are you looking for something?"

"Organizing lunch. We’re eating in the garden."

Eleonor looked at him for a few seconds.

"Under the tree?"

"Yes. You can join us if you’d like."

"I’ll finish some reading first. Perhaps I’ll come by later."

"All right."

Kael was about to continue when she asked:

"Did you find the old drawings?"

"I found two. The garden has changed quite a bit."

"It has. The pond was built long after that tree. There used to be a stone path leading directly to the wall."

"I saw it in the drawing."

Eleonor nodded and headed toward her chambers. Kael returned to the garden, where he found Sylphie near the garden bed marked with the small wooden board.

"Did Seraphine agree?" he asked.

"They both did. He wanted to know if he could bring his book."

"He can bring the book, his cup, and anything else he wants."

"That’s what I told him."

Kael explained that the kitchen would bring lunch in approximately an hour. Sylphie looked at the area beneath the tree and suggested placing the table closer to the path, where the ground was firm and they wouldn’t need to drag chairs across the freshly tended grass.

While they waited, Kael helped clear a few dry leaves from the chosen spot. They didn’t need to disturb the soil in the garden beds. When he finished, he picked up one of the chairs near the pond and carried it over to the tree. Sylphie brought another, and the two tested their positions before deciding the table would be better a little farther to the left.

"You’re putting the chair too close to the trunk," she said.

Kael sat down to test the space.

"I can sit here."

"You can. But anyone walking behind you will have to step around the roots."

He stood and moved the chair a few centimeters.

"Better?"

"Now it is."

Umbra emerged from the shadow cast by the trunk and watched them arranging the space.

"You’re arguing over a chair."

"We’re choosing where to sit," Kael replied.

"I could have settled that."

"You don’t even need a chair."

"That doesn’t mean I can’t have one."

Sylphie pointed to the nearest bench.

"Then choose that one."

Umbra examined the bench before disappearing back into the tree’s shadow.

"Acceptable."

Kael looked at Sylphie.

"We’re being judged by someone who can rest on the floor, the walls, and the ceiling."

"She can complain about all those places, too."

"That’s true."

A little later, two staff members arrived carrying a low table and a basket containing tablecloths and plates. Kael helped them position the table but didn’t need to carry anything heavy. One of the men asked whether they should stay to serve lunch, and Kael replied that they could leave the containers on the table when the food was ready.

"We’ll serve ourselves afterward."

The two accepted his instructions and returned to the mansion.

Kael spread a tablecloth over the table while Sylphie arranged the plates. One of the wooden legs was slightly uneven, and he had to place a flat stone beneath it to keep the table from wobbling.

Sylphie examined the result.

"You found a different use for the pond stones."

"This one doesn’t need to skip."

"Good, because I’d still win."

Kael looked at her.

"You won once."

"Twice, counting the first contest."

"The first one was rigged."

"You never proved that."

Umbra appeared beside the table.

"I can testify that mana was used in the first one."

Sylphie turned toward her.

"Are you switching sides?"

"No. I’m just reminding you that I was chosen to referee the second one."

Kael took the opportunity to add:

"And I won the second one, too."

Sylphie crossed her arms.

"You won the second. I won the third."

Umbra remained silent for a few seconds.

"Then you’re tied."

Kael nodded.

"Exactly."

Sylphie looked at the two of them before bursting into laughter.

"All right. We’ll settle it tomorrow."

"No mana," Kael said.

"No mana."

Seraphine appeared on the path before he could negotiate any other conditions. The nameless man followed close behind, carrying his animal book and a small cloth bag. When he noticed the prepared table, he stopped near one of the chairs.

"Are we really eating here?"

"We are," Kael replied. "You can choose where you want to sit."

The man examined the available seats and chose the chair from which he could see his own garden bed. He placed the book on the table but kept the bag near his feet.

Seraphine sat beside him.

"What did you bring?" Sylphie asked.

The man opened the bag and showed her the sheet on which he had been recording changes in the garden bed, along with a small pencil.

"If anything happens, I want to write it down."

Kael looked at the soil they had prepared the previous morning.

"During lunch?"

"It might rain."

Sylphie looked up at the sky, where a few clouds were beginning to approach from the west.

"It might. If it rains, you can write that down."

Satisfied, the man put the sheet away and opened his book to an illustration of a deer. Seraphine showed Kael that he had marked several pages with small pieces of paper.

"He spent much of the morning comparing the animals in the book with the ones that live in the gardens and forests around here."

"Did you find any?"

"Two birds and a fox," the man replied. "But the fox wasn’t in the garden. One of the staff said he saw one near the wall during the night."

Kael nodded.

"They show up around here sometimes."

"Do they eat the flowers?"

"Some plants, perhaps. But they’re usually more interested in finding smaller things to eat."

The man immediately looked toward his garden bed.

Sylphie noticed.

"We don’t need to worry about that right now. If an animal starts disturbing the seeds, the gardener can help us protect the area."

"With a fence?"

"Maybe a low mesh barrier. We’ll decide if it becomes necessary."

He nodded and returned to his book.

The food arrived shortly afterward. The staff brought the roast meat in a covered container, cooked vegetables, freshly baked bread, and a jug of fruit juice. There was also a small platter of cheese and a basket containing pears and plums.

Kael thanked them and waited until the two had returned to the mansion before opening the containers. The smell of roast meat made Umbra appear almost immediately beside the table.

"I knew there was a reason to choose this bench."

Kael picked up a plate.

"You could smell it from here?"

"Yes."

"Impressive."

"Thank you."

Seraphine began serving herself while the man examined the platters. He chose some meat, two pieces of bread, and vegetables. Then he hesitated in front of the fruit.

"You can leave that for later," Seraphine said.

"I know. I’m just thinking about whether I want to try that one."

He pointed to a plum.

Kael picked one up and placed it on his own plate.

"I like them."

"Are they very sweet?"

"Depends on how ripe they are."

The man chose one as well but left it beside his bread. He seemed satisfied that he didn’t have to decide when to eat it.

During the first few minutes, they talked about their visit to the market and the books they had bought. Seraphine said she had found a travel account written by a woman who had visited small northern villages, describing how the residents preserved food during the colder months. Kael recognized the subject immediately.

"I read a similar book while I was resting."

"About the villages near the frozen mountains?"

"Yes. The author described houses built partially underground."

Seraphine opened her own bag and took out the volume.

"This one."

Kael examined the cover.

"It’s the same book."

She smiled.

"Then we can talk about it when I finish."

"We can."

Sylphie looked at the two of them.

"He read almost the entire book in one afternoon."

"It was interesting," Kael replied.

"I know. You didn’t notice when I brought you tea."

"I noticed. I was just finishing a page."

Umbra tilted her head.

"He said that for at least an hour."

Kael decided to concentrate on his lunch.

The nameless man watched the conversation before asking whether he could read that book too after finishing his animal book. Seraphine said he could, as long as he didn’t mind waiting a few days.

"I don’t mind," he replied. "I still have a lot of pages left."

Kael noticed that the thought seemed to please him. The man had spent far too long receiving ready-made answers, ready-made memories, and tasks that had to be completed. Now he had a book he didn’t need to finish that week, a garden bed that hadn’t sprouted yet, and an outing to the city that he could repeat whenever he wanted.

The conversation shifted when Eleonor appeared along the path carrying a small chair.

Kael stood.

"I could have fetched one for you."

"I know. I found this one on the veranda."

She placed the chair near the table and examined the spot they had chosen.

"You’ve settled in the same place where we used to eat during the summer."

Kael looked around.

"Here?"

"Almost. The table used to be closer to the wall, back when the tree was still small."

Sylphie pulled a plate toward her.

"Kael found the old garden drawings."

"He told me."

Eleonor served herself some vegetables and continued:

"When you were little, you liked eating here because you could leave the table and run over to the pond."

"The pond didn’t exist in that drawing."

"Not this one. There was a smaller reservoir used for irrigation. We later turned it into the pond you know."

Kael tried to remember but couldn’t find a clear image of the place.

"I must have spent more time here than I thought."

"You did."

Eleonor didn’t seem interested in turning it into a long story. She began eating, and when Seraphine asked about the tree, she explained that she had chosen the species for the shade it would provide and its resistance to the region’s climate. The gardener at the time had recommended another species that grew faster but required more care.

"It took a few years to grow large enough," Eleonor said. "In the meantime, we used a fabric canopy near the path."

Kael looked up at the branches above them.

"So it took quite a while to solve the heat problem."

"It did solve it. And it’s still working."

Sylphie smiled.

"We planted seeds here yesterday, too. Kael is trying to find out whether they’ll come up tomorrow."

"I’m not trying to find that out."

"You went to check before breakfast."

"To see whether they needed water."

Eleonor took a sip of juice.

"It’s good to check. Just don’t dig to look for the seeds."

Kael looked at his grandmother.

"I wasn’t going to do that."

Umbra answered from beneath the bench:

"Yet."

By the time they finished eating, clouds had covered much of the sky. The wind grew a little cooler, and Sylphie gathered the empty plates while Kael put the lids back on the containers.

The first drops began to fall as the nameless man finished putting his book away.

He immediately raised his head.

"It’s raining."

Seraphine looked at the sky.

"It is."

The man opened his bag, took out his sheet, and wrote the observation beneath that day’s date. Then he examined the soil in his own garden bed, where small dark patches were beginning to appear.

"Do I need to do anything?"

Sylphie approached the edge of the path and assessed how hard it was raining.

"Not for now. If it rains too heavily, we can check whether the water is draining properly. But we don’t need to disturb the seeds."

Kael carried the containers beneath the nearest shelter. Eleonor stood with her own plate, while Seraphine helped gather the tablecloth. They didn’t need to run. The rain gradually grew heavier, giving the staff time to come and collect the lunch things and everyone time to settle on the veranda overlooking the garden.

The nameless man remained near the railing, watching the rain fall on the board marking his garden bed.

Kael approached.

"The sign is holding firm."

"I saw."

"Worried?"

"A little. But Sylphie said I don’t need to do anything."

"Then we can wait."

The man nodded and put his sheet away.

A little later, Seraphine called him inside. She had found a comfortable spot near the window where the two of them could continue reading while watching the rain. He went over to her, placed his book on the table, and sat down.

Eleonor said goodbye and returned to the library. Umbra chose to remain on the veranda, where the shadow of the roof allowed her to watch the garden without having to move away from Kael.

Sylphie leaned against the railing beside him.

"Did you enjoy lunch?"

"I did."

"We can eat here again when it’s sunny."

Kael watched the rain fall on the garden beds. The watering can they had used that morning was stored in the shed, and the freshly prepared soil was beginning to darken evenly.

"We can. But next time, I want to choose dessert."

Sylphie looked at him.

"Didn’t you like the fruit?"

"I did. I just want to choose."

"All right. What would you like?"

Kael thought of the sweets from the bakery.

"Maybe that fruit tart we bought on our first outing."

"You said it had too much sugar."

"I said it had a lot of sugar. I didn’t say I didn’t like it."

Sylphie laughed and rested her head on his shoulder.

Kael remained on the veranda until the rain eased. When the sky began to clear, he returned to the garden only to check whether water had collected near the beds. The soil was damp, but none of them had flooded. He adjusted a leaf that had become caught on the small wooden board and returned to Sylphie.

"Everything’s fine," he reported.

"I saw."

Kael sat beside her and looked at the part of the garden he could see from the veranda. The next morning, he would check the soil again before deciding whether it needed watering. Seraphine would probably continue reading her book, and the nameless man would have another observation to add to his sheet.

For now, though, the rain had already done its part.