Chapter 32: Tea Time First!

Chapter 32: Tea Time First!

“Gaia, are you still busy with work? Why not take a break and join me for a cup of afternoon tea?”

Mios kicked open Gaia’s room door without any hesitation. He was probably the only one in the entire Royal Palace who dared to do such a thing.

Beside him, Aierjisi gasped at his rude action, almost losing her mind. After all, he was going to see Lord Gaia, and he kicked the door open so casually! This guy was definitely not ordinary.

“Mios, please don’t kick the door next time. You’ve already broken four doors this month.”

Seeing Mios, Gaia could only sigh helplessly. He had already told him not to kick the doors, but he just wouldn’t listen.

“Oh, I’m sorry; I forgot again! Forgive me! I’ll remember next time.”

Mios scratched his head with an embarrassed smile.

“You say that every time, but you never remember! Well, well, since we’re having afternoon tea, I’m feeling a bit tired from work anyway, so let’s take a small break. Aierjisi, would you like to join us?”

Gaia glanced at the pile of documents on the table, feeling overwhelmed just looking at them. He might as well take a break now.

“Yeah! I heard there would be cookies and cake, so that’s why I’m joining!”

Aierjisi honestly revealed her reason for attending the afternoon tea.

“Pfft, how honest! But that’s just like Ailin; she also loves cookies and cake during afternoon tea.”

Gaia couldn’t help but think of his wife, Ailin. If only he could enjoy afternoon tea with her! Unfortunately, that wish couldn’t be fulfilled right now.

Perhaps after this rescue mission, they could all have a lively afternoon tea together. Yep, that sounds like a great plan!

“After all, every girl has a weakness for past lives, right? Let’s go enjoy our afternoon tea!”

“Yeah, let’s go! The sooner we finish tea, the sooner we can get back to work.”

“Gaia, I must critique your view here! Who goes for afternoon tea to finish work sooner? If you’re going for tea, you better enjoy it!”

Hearing Gaia’s comment, Mios corrected him with a frown.

“Ah, right, right! I forgot; my bad! Afternoon tea must be enjoyed, right?”

Gaia knew his childhood friend had an astonishing fixation on enjoying tea time.

Following Mios, Gaia entered his room.

“What’s this place?”

Aierjisi curiously looked around, this being her first time in such a scenic room.

“This is my room; you’re visiting for the first time, right? Please, have a seat. I’ll make the tea. By the way, we have cookies—do you want sweet or savory?”

Mios gestured for Aierjisi to sit down while he pulled out some cookies, asking which type she preferred.

“Ah, I’ll go with the savory cookies.”

Aierjisi chose the savory ones after a moment’s thought. Since she would also be having cake later, sweet would be better left for the cake.

“Savory, huh? Here you go, catch!”

Mios tossed a cookie from his left hand to her while leisurely making the tea.

“I’m sorry; Mios just loves afternoon tea. I didn’t mean to drag you into this.”

“No worries! By the way, what’s the relationship between Lord Gaia and Mios? I heard they’re childhood friends?”

Taking advantage of Mios stepping out to make tea, Aierjisi struck up a conversation with Gaia.

“Well, yes, we are childhood friends. We’ve known each other since we were young. His family is a long-standing knight family in the palace, so we’ve crossed paths quite often.”

Gaia recounted his long history with Mios to Aierjisi.

“So, Lord Gaia, have you ever thought of proposing to him? Growing up together, surely there’s a strong fondness there?”

Aierjisi unexpectedly blurted out such a juicy question, nearly choking Ake on his own saliva.

“P-Propose? To Mios?”

Gaia looked at Aierjisi with disbelief in his eyes.

“Yeah! Look at Mios; he’s really pretty! Plus, you two are childhood friends. Haven’t you ever thought of confessing or proposing?”

Aierjisi thought that if she had such a pretty childhood friend around all the time, she would’ve proposed ages ago!

“I haven’t. Aierjisi, you might have some misunderstanding about Mios.”

“Huh? What misunderstanding could I possibly have? Is there something about Mios that I don’t know?”

Aierjisi sensed something was off. Could there be more to Mios than she knew?

“Mios may look like a girl, but he’s actually a guy.”

Gaia revealed the shocking truth that left Aierjisi flabbergasted.

“What? He’s a guy? Are you sure about that?”

Aierjisi jumped up from her chair, banging the table, questioning Gaia if he was joking.

“I’m sure; I’ve grown up with him! How could I not know if he’s a guy or a girl? He just loves dressing up like a girl! You’re not the first, nor will you be the last, to mistake him for a girl. Everyone who meets him for the first time thinks the same!”

“Oh… uh… sorry, I got too excited there. My bad.”

After calming down, Aierjisi sat back down. Who would’ve thought that there would be cross-dressing culture even in this fantasy world?

“It’s fine; I understand your reaction.”

Gaia had seen many people react similarly before, so he wasn’t shocked.

“Here’s the tea! This one’s for Aierjisi, this one’s for Gaia, and the last one’s mine. Don’t drink too fast; it’s fresh and hot! I’ll go grab the cake. Be right back!”

Before leaving, Mios reminded them not to burn their mouths.

“Got it, I’m not new to this; no need to remind me!”

“I’ll be careful, I won’t burn myself.”

Aierjisi cautiously picked up her teacup, blew on it a couple of times, and took a sip.

Hmm, how to describe this tea? It had a faint sweetness, probably from sugar. But it didn’t taste bad at all; it was lovely! The flavor had found a perfect balance.

“This is delicious! I’ve never had such good tea before!”