To Love, Once Again

Chapter 53

Following after Lucien into the kitchen, Sera was met with excited clapping from Grandma Rosie, who covers the pot with a lid and lowers the heat on the stove, bringing the soup inside to a simmer.

"Welcome back, Sera!" The kindest, most loveliest woman Sera had ever met, Grandma Rosie was a short, grey-haired woman, with a heart large enough to mother each child in the orphanage. It had been Grandma Rosie's dearest wish to open up an orphanage, and her and her husband had done the best they could with their home in the slums, taking care of the children in need. Grandma Rosie had never been able to have a child of her own, so she poured that love onto the orphans treating each one like her own. It was her who'd chosen to make a home in the worst part of town, using the funds Grandpa Robin had earned over the course of his career to provide food and shelter. An honest woman, it had taken a lot of cajoling on Sera's part to get Grandma Rosie to call her by name, instead of addressing her as Lady Sera.

Grandma Rosie envelops her in a big, comforting hug, smelling like the bread that she loved to bake. While Grandpa Robin was standoffish and silent, Grandma Rosie was always the shoulder willing to be cried on.

"Hello, Grandma Rosie" Lucien greets the sweet old lady as well, who waves her spoon at him in response.

"Hello, Sir Lucien!" Lucien seems used to the woman's enthusiasm, bowing his head and moving to the corner of the kitchen.

Pulling his glasses out of his shirt pocket, he puts them on, reaching for something on the table before him. The light glances off the sharp blade of a kitchen knife, sized for regular human hands and looking like a small butter knife when held by Lucien.

The memory of what Lucien had just done with the daggers in the castle before was still fresh in Sera's mind. Were there enemies here?

"Lucien, that knife-"

"It's all right." Grandma Rosie interjects, patting her hand.

With a rough scratching noise as a short wooden stool drags itself over the floor, Lucien begins to peel the potatoes in a large tub on the floor, with such precision and speed that the the potato in his hand was almost instantly shed of its skin the moment he grasped it in his hand.

"Oh" This was a new side to Lucien Sera had never seen before. With that dangerous aura that Lucien exudes alone, he could cut someone to pieces, but when he held something as simple as a paring knife? One would think he was about to use if for some new and improved for of torture, not use it for peeling potatoes.

Sera felt foolish for ever thinking that something dangerous was going to happen.

"Don't worry, I was surprised too when he first did that" Grandma Rosie. "He's a man like my husband. He speaks with his actions, doesn't he?" Nodding, she continues

"I don't know where you met this man, but he's a real catch!" She pauses in her stirring and Grandma Rosie winks at Sera beside her.

"Though men like him and my husband seem almost emotionless at times, I think it makes them better lovers," Eyes curving to match her wide smile, Grandma Rosie knows exactly what she's doing, making Sera blush

"They don't express as much, but when they do-" She continues with a dreamy look in her eyes, only to be interrupted by Sera.

"Yes, I know" Sera can feel her ears turning bright red with the direction their conversation was going in.

"Let's just say their depth of emotion, is completely different" Was Grandma Rosie saying this, knowing what it sounded like to Sera? With the way her eyes were dancing with laughter, it seemed she did know exactly what she was doing.