Let's Start A Bakery!

Chapter 45

As I ate, I noticed Lionel taking turns to glare at me and the bread. He only stopped after finally taking a bite of the bread slathered in what looked like cherry jam, and he ended up eating about five slices of bread.

In fact, he wasn't the only one who enjoyed eating it. Rex loved it too, going back for seconds each time he finished his current slice. Of course, he probably had no idea I was the one who made those jams, or else I'm not sure he would have even tried. Even Isaac appeared to enjoy them. Lionel ate the quickest out of all of us, and after setting down his fork, he finally spoke.

"Corvalia, Commander Landon said that you were going to start training with us. Is that true?"

The room went totally silent, all six siblings staring at me with wide eyes. Rex had a look of silent judgment, like he was disgusted at the idea of being near my presence for more than just meal times. Isaac stared at me with a look of horror as if I had just stood up and murdered my whole family with the fork in my hand.

I sent my utensils down and debated on how I should answer.

"Yes, I do plan on joining the knights' training sessions," I said. "But I'm doing it as a way to apologize for what I said about them. I want my apology to be as sincere as possible, so I decided to participate in training in order to experience what a knight has to go through every day as part of their duty."

"You aren't prepared at all though. You're weak, and you aren't used to waking up that early. You have to train on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning, then train again in the afternoon," Lionel scoffed after finishing his sentence. "There is no way you will survive past the first day of training."

Then he stood up and left, the door closing dramatically behind him.

I bet he felt like a main character at that moment. Does he have to be so rude about it?

There was a long awkward silence after he left the room, and I ended up just staring at my plate.

Rex cleared his throat, trying to act as though nothing happened, and for the first time ever, attempted to make small talk.

"The bread with the spread was very good, wasn't it? I'll request the kitchen to make it more often, if you all enjoyed it too."

"The kitchen didn't make the jam," Kai piped up, "Corvalia did."

Another awkward silence occurred, as Rex and Isaac proceeded to stare at both Kai and me.

Rex recovered from his surprise faster, but was still left with nothing to say, so I decided to speak up.

"I've let the kitchen staff take the jams after dinner tonight. We won't be able to finish them fast enough before they spoil, since the jars are already opened."

Everyone gave me a weird look, AGAIN. I was getting tired of weird looks, so I just stood up and excused myself from lunch, since I was finished eating anyways.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering aimlessly around the house and inside the halls, getting familiar with the surroundings, while simultaneously trying to find Molly.

Molly was still nowhere to be seen, but the estate itself was gorgeous. I saw lavishly decorated drawing rooms and seating areas. There was even an entire section of the house dedicated to balls and parties, with its own separate kitchen. The house was so large, I almost got lost twice, and I saw the same painting over and over again because I was walking in circles.

Eventually, I was tired of walking around, and I miraculously made it back to my room.

I should sleep early tonight. I need to wake up early to make it to training tomorrow. Better to be safe than sorry.

I scoured my closets, trying to find a good outfit to wear, and managed to find a cute pair of boots that fit. Of course, they were totally brand new, and untouched. The box was never even opened. I couldn't find a shirt and pants, however. I decided to just improvise by finding a plain dress with no accessories, and a thick pair of leggings.

When I was about to go to bed (I skipped dinner in order to sleep early), I suddenly heard a knock on my door.

I turned, thinking, Maybe it's Molly?

But when I opened the door, Lionel actually stood there with a plate of food in his hands.

The second the door was fully open, Lionel shoved the food into my hands, and placed a fork on top of it.

He looked embarrassed to be there, but then I also noticed he was carrying something else.

"I brought you my old uniform," he explained, while holding it out for me. "You don't have anything to wear, but these should fit you. And I'll come by to wake you up in the morning if you aren't ready."

"I brought you some food too. You'll need the energy for tomorrow."

He handed the clothes to me, then turned and speed walked down the hallway, away from my view.

Well that was interesting.

I hurriedly set down the plate on my desk, and unfolded the clothes to sit on the back of my chair for tomorrow.

As I sat there, eating the food, which also had a slice of bread with apricot jam with it, I was thinking about lunch.

It didn't look like the siblings hated each other yet, with Corvalia as the exception. Their relationship is just very awkward because they've never gotten to know each other. Not to mention, Lady Catherine keeps trying to keep them distant from one another.

There is still a good chance that the bond between siblings can grow stronger. 

Author's Note: 

So this is my current cover right now, 

but I'm thinking of changing the cover to something more original. My prototype design is here, 

It's not totally perfect, so are there any suggestions from the readers? Which design do you prefer, and how can I improve the second design? 

As always, thanks for reading and voting! :D