Angelus Carduus

Chapter 36: Tea Time

"Ah, I thought I was going to be early.." Aelius murmured to himself, walking over and taking a seat opposite her.

"Sorry..did you wait long?" he asked, guilt washed over his face.

Valeria shook her head, "I didn't wait long."

Aelius heaved a sigh of relief after hearing her answer. He waved his hand up and a servant came to his side, holding a teapot. The servant handed it to Aelius and disappeared once again.

Aelius got up from his seat and slowly poured the newly brewed tea into her teacup before pouring his own cup. He placed the teapot down at the centre of the table and sat back down.

He smiled at Valeria and lightly motioned towards her to have some tea or desserts. She muttered thanks and sipped on the tea, careful enough to not burn herself.

It was an earl grey tea. Valeria didn't mind this tea so she continued taking a few more sips before glancing over at Aelius.

His hair was styled differently than it was in the morning. It was usually styled down, almost covering his eyes that sometimes she wondered if he could actually see but now it was styled into a side part style, neatly brushed away from his eyes making him look neat and smart as well.

"Ah..." he suddenly spoke, placing down his teacup and bringing his hand towards his hair, using his fingertips to touch it.

"I thought I should look a bit neater.." he softly answered before gazing over at her, "Does it look bad?"

Valeria shook her head, "No, you look good."

He smiled at her, his cheeks dusted in light pink, "Really? I'm glad."

Valeria felt her heart skipping a beat. She looked back down at her teacup, rubbing the edge of the cup to distract herself.

Aelius placed a dessert on her plate, "Wife, you should try this."

Valeria noticed it was the dessert she has never seen before. Her eyes wandered around the dessert before pointing at it,

"What is this?" she asked.

"Lemon meringue pie. You never seen this before?"

She shook her head, "No."

She took her fork and cut a small piece out of it, putting it into her mouth. The lemon filling was creamy and smooth. It gave a small punch of lemon but the sweetness from it made it bearable and delicious.

"...Tasty." she mumbled, a slight surprise reaction plastered on her face.

She took another bite after another until she finished her slice.

While she ate, Aelius drank his tea, watching her eat. Seeing her eat made him happy. He could feel his hands being slightly sweaty and his heart beating unnaturally fast.

When he saw her finishing up her last slice, he leaned closer and spoke,

"Is it good?"

Valeria nodded almost immediately, "Yes, it's nice."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction, "Alright."

He then placed another slice on her plate which she gratefully accepted, taking a bite out of it. The atmosphere around them was soft and warm, the servants who weren't far from them had pleased smiles plastered.

"Wife, eating this much sugar is alright, right?" Aelius suddenly asked after he realised he had been giving her all sorts of desserts.

He couldn't help it. The way she looked when she ate the desserts were hard to look away from. It reminded him of a small hamster. He wanted to keep taking care of her.