SMILE OF VICTORY

WULFRIC glanced at the clock on the wall. It had been almost ten minutes since Aster's mother left them here. He couldn't here any activities from the kitchen. He had a hunch that the two left the house. His guess was that the mother took Aster out so he wouldn't be able to interact with him. 

Was he really that scary? 

For the first time, he suddenly hated having such stinky reputation. If not for all those stupid rumors about him, would Aster's mother be so guarded against him? But then again, it's not as if those rumors were entirely baseless. After all, how could there be smoke without a fire.

Thinking of that, he felt annoyed again. Just where did these feelings of regret come from? Regret was only for the weak. People who couldn't face the things that they've done. But Wulfric had never been one of those people. He never regretted anything he did in his life. Not even the lives that had been shed with his own hands. Because just like he said, regret was only for the weak. And he was the strongest person he knew. 

Wulfric tsked. His patience was at its last thread. If they didn't appear after five more minutes, he would go after them. Even if that would only make scarier in the eyes of Aster's mother. 

Then suddenly, he heard movements in the kitchen. Then soon after, the mother returned followed by Aster pushing a trolley with a tea set and a lot of snacks. Wulfric was a bit surprised. Because he thought that only the mother would be coming back. But nevertheless, he liked this development.

Reas, on the other hand, was feeling the opposite. Because just like Wulfric, he thought that his mother would take Astrid away from here. Who would have thought that she would return with Astrid? He was about to react but his twin glanced at him. He knew that look. Astrid was silently telling him that everything was under control. So, at the end, he could only try to calm himself. And if his brother was giving him that signal, it meant that he already conjured up a plan.

"My apologies for the delay, Your Highness. We're not sure what you like, so we just got a piece of everything," Emmy said.

When she was about to pour tea for the prince, she was stopped by Astrid.

"Let me do it, Mom," Astrid said. How could he let his mother served this guy?

Of course, in Wulfric's mind, this was even better. So, his posture became much more comfortable. Acting like some noble lord waiting to be served by his servant.

Astrid wanted to punch him. But he resisted the urge and just remained expressionless. He silently poured tea for the prince and that bald man sitting next to him.

Wulfric was dissatisfied seeing that Aster also served tea to Edmund. But Edmund being Edmund, happily took the tea and drank it.

"This tea is very delicious!" Edmund said, his expressive brown eyes showing them how much he liked the tea. "Can I ask where you buy it?"

Emmy only smiled. "This tea is grown in our land. If you like it, I can give you a a small box before you and his highness leave."

Edmund smiled happily. "Thank you, Madam."

Wulfric ignored Edmund and just drank the cup of tea. Tasting it, his eyes widened a bit. It was indeed a good tea. He was not really into teas but the smell and taste of this tea was really of top quality. 

As he was drinking, he suddenly smelled a very delicious scent. He looked at the center table in front of him and saw Aster taking off the lid from a round box. He had no doubt that the scent he just smelled was coming from that. Inside the box was a weird looking thing. It was a bunch of small whitish circular shape objects. From the smell, he could tell that those were food. But what kind?

Astrid was satisfied when he saw the undisguised interest in the prince's eyes. The round box was actually a bamboo steamer and what's inside were six meat dumplings. These were left-overs from the breakfast he made this morning. He just heated it up and decided to serve it to the prince. Because he knew that this would attract this guy's attention the best.

The dishes in the Empire were heavily influenced by Western cuisines. So, one could almost not find Chinese dishes in this era. That's why he sprinkled the sleeping drug in these six dumplings.

He was actually concerned at first at the possibility that the drug might not have any effect on the prince. After all, he had an SSS level physique. But then he remembered a certain conversation he had with Uncle Leigh. That was during his and Reas' 18th birthday, when he gave them the box of drugs and poisons.

Astrid asked him that very same question. What if he used one of the drugs on someone with an SSS level physique, would it still have any effect? Uncle Leigh only smiled at him and said, 'Are you doubting my abilities?'. Which roughly translated to – yes, it would still work.

Another reason why he chose this tactic was because the sleeping drug would not leave any adverse effect on the recipient. Most of the drugs in the box Uncle Leigh gave him and Reas weren't really dangerous. What's really dangerous were those poisons. 

So, with that, Astrid no longer hesitated and used the sleeping drug quite generously. 

"What kind of dish is that?" Wulfric asked, not taking his gaze away from the round box. 

"I call it meat dumplings," Astrid simply answered.

Wulfric finally raised his head and looked at Aster. He quickly caught the key word from what the other said. Aster said 'I call', which meant that he was the one who made these so-called meat dumplings. "You can cook?"

Emmy interjected with a gentle laugh. "This child just loves to mess in the kitchen from time to time, Your Highness. I'm the one who made those dumplings," she said it in a tone as if it was nothing. 

When the prince asked that question, those golden eyes seemed to be glowing with more interest than before. She didn't want the prince's interest in Astrid to increase. That's why she interjected.

But even if Wulfric heard what Aster's mother said, his brain already made up its mind that Aster was the one who made these so-called meat dumplings. So, he didn't comment and just pick a piece of dumpling and ate it. 

The savory flavor of the meat exploded in his mouth along with other flavors he couldn't describe. It was so delicious that after eating one, he ate another and another. Until he realized that there's no longer a piece left. 

Everyone looked at him in a daze. As if they couldn't believe that he would be able to finish those six dumplings in just a couple of minutes. 

But he ignored their gazes and just asked Aster directly, "Is there more of these meat dumplings?"

Astrid nodded. "Yes. But it's a bit cold. Can Your Highness wait while I go and heat it up?"

Wulfric didn't even hesitate to say, "Yes."

So, Astrid stood up and walked towards the door of the drawing room. As he went out, Reas who was sitting near the door, noticed the smile that crossed his brother's lips. He knew all too well what that smile was.

That was the smile of victory.