Chapter 449: Buffet House Zenith Style

Aliyah didn’t say anything right away, but Julius suspected that she knew something. Perhaps, she recognized who Cain and Freya were. It wouldn’t be too surprising, considering that she was the wife of the next duke. Cain and Freya had also mentioned they knew Derek’s grandparents, but he didn’t know if that extended to his other family.

If she knew, he was curious about why she kept quiet about that information. The only explanation he could think of was that she wanted to respect Cain and Freya’s wishes to be discreet.

Or maybe, she didn’t know who either of them was and was just a little suspicious about their true identities. Julius didn’t really know for sure.

It was nice to see that his friends were getting along well with both Cain and Freya, though.

“Are you guys hungry? We are going to eat dinner soon. You are more than welcome to join us,” Derek offered.

Cain’s eyes brightened, and he chuckled. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. I am starving. Plus, I am a little curious what kind of food House Zenith feeds their own people.”

Derek smiled and waved at them. “Then come on in, we have other people coming as well, but we will make room for you.”

Julius was a little interested when he heard that there would be other people at dinner as well. His interest didn’t go unnoticed either. Lily must have spotted it, and she gave him a little nudge before he could even ask.

“It is supposed to be a small dinner party. It’s mainly for Derek’s cousins, who just arrived in the capital as well. I think he is trying to bring us with him so he doesn’t have to suffer alone,” Lily said conspiratorially.

“Cousins?” Julius asked with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah, I haven’t met them yet, but apparently they are an ‘acquired taste’. Oh yeah, and they are twins. Their names are Cyrus and Christina. There should be their parents attending as well, but I am not sure who else will be joining,” Lily replied with a shrug.

Julius nodded as he took this new information in. “Is Derek’s father or grandfather going to be there?” He asked.

She shook her head. “No, they are busy with other things. But they should be here by the time the tournament begins. Likely in the next couple of days, though.”

Julius shrugged and followed the rest of them deeper into the estate. While he was curious about meeting Derek’s other family, he didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. To be fair, he believed that his perception had changed when he began to meet so many powerful people that he had become a little bit numb to the awe of them.

He was thrown off guard when he saw Aliyah slow down to walk next to him. He looked on curiously as she placed a barrier around them.

“I never got the chance to thank you,” she said wistfully.

He frowned. “For what?”

“For saving Derek,” she said while glancing at her son with doting eyes.

Julius chuckled and shook his head. “You don’t ever have to thank me for doing that. He’s my friend, I am not just going to let someone kill him in front of me.”

She laughed sardonically. “He said you would say that.”

“Who? Derek?” He asked her.

She ignored his question and looked him dead in the eye. “House Zenith owes you a great favor. If you need anything, please let us know and we will take care of it. We pay our debts,” she said passionately.

He laughed awkwardly. “I will keep that in mind,” he said to her with a grateful nod.

***

Julius stood there with an awkward look on his face. When Lily and Derek had explained the dinner event, Julius hadn’t been expecting something this elaborate and grandiose.

“Is this normal?” He asked Lily quietly.

Lily gave him an apologetic smile. “Not really, I didn’t know Lady Aliyah was going this far either,” she said to him as they looked at the extensive spread in front of them.

The dining room was more akin to a massive ballroom, and it wasn’t just a table or two. But it was a huge buffet style. Dozens of tables where staff and chefs were preparing various dishes on spotless silver plateware. It was luxurious and entirely over the top, but Julius couldn’t help but admit that it looked absolutely delicious.

He took a deep sniff and hummed brightly when the alluring smell of food tickled his nose. He usually didn’t like things like this, but since there was obviously so much fantastic food around, he couldn’t have been happier.

There were a good number of people as well. Apparently, it wasn’t just Derek’s cousins and other families attending. There were around a couple of dozen other people here as well. He didn’t know who they all were, but Julius could surmise that they held some importance.

Their expensive-looking clothing indicated as much. He tried not to feel too out of place with his own clothes. They might not have the embellishments or formal look to them, but they were, without a doubt, of high quality.

Furthermore, it wasn’t like he had the time to think about his outfit too much. He had much more important things to focus on. Things like trying the food in front of his face.

He didn’t even wait for the others to give him the go-ahead and quickly beelined for the nearest table. He heard Lily call out something to him, but he didn’t hear it. His entire attention was on the food and nothing else.

He swerved in between some of the other people, grabbed a plate, and stood in front of one of the staff members who was in the middle of handstretching some noodles.

As he waited, he looked over to his friends. While he had run off, Lily hadn’t followed like he expected. Instead, she had gone over to Derek and the others. They all appeared to be meeting these cousins.

At least, those whom Julius assumed were the cousins. He was pretty confident, though, considering these two young teens looked almost identical. Both had the same blonde hair as Derek, but had much softer features than Derek. They each sported a pair of dark blue eyes that shimmered in certain lighting, and if not for being different genders, they would have looked close to identical.

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He felt Cain and Freya walk up behind him as he received his food. He bowed gratefully toward the chef before he turned back to them.

“This is quite the feast,” Cain said excitedly through a mouthful of food. It would appear that Julius wasn’t the only person who attacked the food stations at first sight.

“Yeah, the food is amazing,” Freya added. Not even she was able to resist, and she had been similarly attracted to the food. Julius nodded and took a bite of the handmade noodles. They were covered in some kind of savory and sweet sauce.

He let out a surprised moan of pleasure as the flavors attacked his tongue. The texture of the noodles was sublime, with just the right amount of bounciness. The sauce only accentuated their texture.

He closed his eyes as he let out a satisfied groan and swallowed. However, he opened his eyes in astonishment when he sensed Cain’s utensil spear his plate.

The audacity…

There was nothing Julius could do. Cain was much too fast for him to do anything; he could only watch as his food was stolen right underneath his nose. He looked at Cain with a look of disbelief and betrayal.