That said, she was the type to want to learn every option she had so she—and the rest of the Elders—could make educated decisions early on.
Building slots were limited and, while they seemed to have more than others in their tier, each one of them mattered.
At this, she decided to thicken her face and ask Jonathan, perhaps as they were having their meal.
Before she could invite him, Jonathan turned to them. "Have you had lunch yet?" he asked. "I won’t invite you to my home because you make better food…
"I think it’s better we eat at your base."
"..."
Jonathan did not invite them to lunch. Instead, he invited himself to lunch.
The couple chuckled, planning on doing so anyway, and they happily went back to the base with the guards, ready for a delicious meal.
When they arrived, the food was already prepared and still warm. They set it up in the canteen which had a number of tables. The three of them were naturally in one table, while Jonathan’s guards took another table not far from them.
The food was prepared by the cooks trained in Alterra, and they had many firsts on this meal. Most importantly, this was the first time they’d cook for Miss Althea as well as Lord Jonathan!!
Fortunately, when the head chef Yoyo saw the Lord visited, he had the foresight to know that he’d be having lunch here!
Anyway, the meal this time was a little grander than their daily meals. There was mixed fried rice with mushrooms (harvested from the tunnels of Alterra), as well as three main dishes, a vegetable side dish, and the like.
Jonathan and everyone ate deliciously. Miss Althea and Sir Garan were also nodding a bit, the staff tensely watching from the side finally heaved a breath. As long as those two didn’t dislike it, it meant their standards were at least close to Alterran cuisine!
"Delicious!" Jonathan said, eating another plate after a few minutes of filling himself up. Although he had managed to stock up on a lot of ingredients, Alterran (or Alterran-trained) cooks were just different.
Should he send his own cooks for training?
He looked at Althea in thought. "Is it possible to send my chef to you as well?" he said. "I can make him swear not to commercialize what he learned."
Althea and Garan looked at him and for a moment Jonathan thought he had mispoken.
But then they smiled and nodded and Jonathan felt like he made one of the biggest accomplishments he had yet!
He could already imagine it: Eating food like this every day! Ah, he was already in Elvendell just thinking about it.
"Great!" Jonathan said, thinking this was the greatest perk in this partnership.
By the time dessert arrived, Jonathan and his men were completely satisfied in stomach and in mind.
The dessert this time was a simple fruit punch, but it had milk and other things that tied up the whole thing, creating a lovely and refreshing dessert that was both healthy and sweet.
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