#25 The Garden

He came back and told us that lunch was ready.

That got me even nervous. Is my eating etiquette proper enough? Ah, I should have practiced my table manners before coming here.

"...da. ...manda? Amanda!"

I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize Eric was calling me. He shook my shoulder to jolt me back to reality.

"Y-yes!?"

He blinked rapidly on my reaction, then let out a "pft" sound before bursting into a laugh. That was an expression unknown to me, leaving me dumbfounded.

Did he always laugh like that?

I looked around the room and realized his mother wasn't there. The door was opened too. Crap, how long did I space out? I'm making them wait!

"What are you laughing for? You should have called me sooner if you knew I spaced out."

I quickly stood up and left the room. Eric was crouching to the floor, holding his stomach while laughing.

"Hahaha! I wanted to see your reaction but… Pft! It's just too funny!"

He laughed until tears came out from his eyes and lost his voice. Well, at least that was better than having my eardrums broken by his laugh.

I stood at the door and waited until he calmed down. My initial plan was heading to the dining room first but I didn't know the route.

Argh, how irritating!

Eric wiped his tears when he could finally breathe normally. I frowned at the smug he had on his face before he closed the door behind us.

"Let's go, she's waiting."

We arrived at a door unfamiliar to me. I was expecting to see the one I saw during the video call last time but it seemed different. Maybe that was a dining room for guests? Then, this should be slightly smaller since it's for family only?

Suddenly, the door opened by itself. I glanced at Eric and saw a remote control in his hand. Seriously, just how many automated doors are there in this estate? I bet the bathroom door is automated too.

...And I was right on the dot!

I had the sudden urge to use the bathroom so a maid led me the way. She pressed a button on the remote control and the door opened, revealing multiple toilet stalls.

That was not all, there were more automated doors.

There was a switch outside of every stall. To enter either one of them, you would need to press the switch and the doors would open.

The Frederick estate really left me dumbfounded. The entire area amused me.

I quickly finished what I came to do and left after washing my hands. The maid was waiting for me outside. She accompanied me back to the dining room.

When I entered, the size of the room was almost the size of two bedrooms. It's more like a hall than a room to me. It looked more spacious than the one my class went last time.

Well, I'm not one to judge since I did not experience it physically.

There were paintings in frames hanging up along the wall. A long table was placed in the middle of the room, without any furniture nearby, leaving the area comfortable to move around freely.

Eric's mother sat on the end of the table while both of us sat beside her. One on her left and the other on her right.

"Feels like in a royal palace," I blurted out my thoughts unintentionally, which resulted in the woman's attention.

"Has Amanda visited a royal palace before?"

"Eh, no. Just in storybooks."

Fortunately, the smell of food distracted my thoughts. My gaze shifted to those delicious dishes that were served on the table. The quantity was as much as last night's dinner but it's balanced. Well, at least they're not just lobsters or crabs.

Eric's mother placed some meat on my plate when I picked up my utensils. I thanked her and she just smiled in response. It was quite an awkward moment because usually the younger should be the one serving the elder but this time was the other way round.

I thought it was just a sign that I could take however much food I want but that didn't seem like it. She kept adding more food onto my plate the moment I took my last bite of food. It was as if she didn't want my plate to be empty.

At first, I did not put much thought into it and just accepted her kindness blindly. I was in a tough spot for refusal and went with the flow until my stomach could handle no more. It was so full like it could burst anytime.

I finally gathered my courage and decided to voice out before another meat came to my yet-to-be-empty plate.

"Thank you but I'm full already. Hehe." I laughed a little after saying that to prevent them thinking of me as someone rude.

Eric's mother widened her eyes in amusement and chuckled.

"You sure have quite the appetite, don't you?"

She stopped giving me any more food to let me finish up what was left on my plate and took the remaining dish for herself.

"I've been giving you extras and you've only said you're full now. How did you fit so much in that tummy of yours?"

Well, by force, of course.

Wait… So she was aware that she has been giving me more than I could take and still did it despite knowing that? That sounded just like Eric.

Jeez. Like mother, like son.

I just laughed off a little in response to her teasing. I wiped my mouth with a tissue provided after taking my last bite of food. When I lifted my head, there were two smug faces looking at me. Eric avoided my gaze when I shot a glare at him.

It did not take long before the two of them finished their meals. We returned to the room as soon as the maids collected our empty plates.

I took my bag to leave and Eric accompanied me out after I'd contacted Alice.

"Have you informed your driver?"

"Yeah, she's on the way now."

While we were on our way out, the garden caught my eyes so I stopped by to enjoy the flowers for a little since Eric didn't seem to mind.

They were all foreign to me since I only had roses back at my place. The yellow one was attractive to me so I went to get a closer look.

These are beautiful. I wonder if mother would allow the gardeners to plant these if I asked?

"Do you like them?" I jolted when a voice came from behind. "I have the seeds."

I hummed in response and then realized something.

Don't usually the gardeners who keep the seeds? How does he have them?

"Were you the one who planted these flowers?"

"Well, kinda," he crouched down beside me, "With the help of our gardeners, of course."

No matter whose help he got from, it was still surprising that a Frederick's young master would do this kind of thing. That really amused me.

Curiosity killed the cat and my mouth ran on it's own to ask him more about it. He was willing to tell me so it wasn't that much of a problem.

Eric told me that gardening was a hobby he just picked up recently. I, too, just started taking a liking to flowers recently. What a coincidence.

'This can be a good gossip topic,' I smirked at my own thought.

"Don't you dare start a gossip topic about this at school."

What? Did he read my mind?

I was disappointed by his disapproval. "Fine, I won't," I promised and let out a deep sigh. 

Sigh, just when I thought I could contribute a topic for the class.

"Let's go, Alice should be arriving soon."

"Ah, wait a minute." Eric said and went to a storage room nearby. He returned with a small bag in his hand and put it in my small palms.

He understood my confused face and told me, "These are the seeds for those. You can take them."

"Eh? But I don't do gardening..."

"It's fine. Your gardeners must be bored from planting the same flowers. You can have a change of scenery to look at too."

I glanced at the flowers I was looking at earlier and thought, 'Well, it might be great to see different flowers in my garden once in a while too.'

I gladly accepted it with a smile. After all, he went out of his way to take these for me, how can I possibly refuse after knowing how much effort he spent?

The always complaining, energy saver and a young master of the Fredericks that was granted the name Eric, was doing something different. This is so rare!

Just then, the sound of a car engine sounded from afar. Looks like Alice had just arrived.

Eric opened the gates for me and the moment I entered the car, an expected question came from Alice.

"Miss, may I know what is in your hand?"

"Sunflower seeds."

"Seeds…?"

I nodded and stuck my hand out of the window. My free hand waved in the air to Eric, "See ya at school!"

Eric returned a wave as Alice drove off.

"Alice, do I need to get permission from mother to plant these?"

Her eyes widened when I asked, "Pardon?" I repeated my sentence to clear her doubt she had in her ears.

"I don't think so. But you might want to inform Miss Andrea about it so she wouldn't question why you are doing the gardeners' job."

I wonder if Eric needed to get permission from his mother, or at least inform her about it?

"Me? My mother doesn't even know I spent time in the garden."

Eric replied instantly when I asked him through text. I asked if he needed to gain permission from the elders to plant but it seems like it wasn't necessary either.

I left my room to inform Andrea. She groaned in annoyance and opened her room door after I knocked. Her eyes were half opened with a messy bedhead.

Was she napping?

"Andrea, I'll be doing some gardening tomorrow morning. With the help from our gardeners, of course."

"Do what you want," she replied and glared at me, "Don't disturb me when I'm sleeping." she slammed her door closed, leaving me confused by her actions.

Was she throwing a tantrum? Childish.