Mr. Lien skillfully steered the topic away from "family conflicts" and back to criticizing the extravagant lifestyles of the nobility, then encouraged everyone to join the discussion.
Throughout it all, Shade and Matilda rarely spoke up, instead whispering to each other. Everyone understood that they were trying to ease their family conflict, but their actual conversation went like this:
"Was there really any need to say that?"
"Mm, probably."
This counted as the maid's small "revenge" against the Outlander for his "improper" conduct at her estate.
And as she watched Shade's slightly embarrassed expression, while feeling that she might have gone a little too far, she also felt that the man before her no longer seemed so distant.
He was no different from ordinary people. He had his own embarrassments and emotions. He was not special at all.
Afterward, the two "priests" in robes organized several more activities for the gathering's participants. Besides sharing their daily lives, they recruited volunteers to help distribute flyers tomorrow, visit elderly people living alone, and organize other group activities.
As a family attending for the first time, "Mr. and Mrs. Holmes" naturally did not volunteer for any of those activities. But both were happy to interact with the others. Matilda's little knitting tricks and experience with growing summer flowers were especially popular with the housewives.
Of course, the gathering also included an exchange and donation session, where different families brought out their unused belongings. At one in the afternoon, as the gathering was nearing its end, Mr. Parsons, who lived on the edge of the Lower District and ran a grocery store, said worriedly:
"No one knows when this strange fog will finally clear. My neighbor is already planning to leave Moon Bay Urban District for a while. But he can stay with relatives