After bathing and changing into black pajamas, Kallen went downstairs to the dining room.
Maids were setting out tableware on the expensive long dining table, which was grand and imposing yet utterly impractical.
Kallen sat at the head of the table. Soon, exquisite dishes were brought before him one after another. There were not many, but each had taken considerable effort, and one glance told him they were not things he liked eating.
Kallen had always been dissatisfied with the skills of Allen Manor's hereditary chef, but he had never considered changing the manor's eating habits. After all, he did not live here permanently.
Besides, the food here was like the Ancient Castle itself. Much of the time, it was not meant to taste good or be comfortable to live in, but purely to look good.
Although a pair of silver chopsticks lay beside his hand, Kallen picked up his knife and fork instead and focused on the steak before him. He cut off a piece, put it in his mouth, chewed, then cut another and repeated the process.
If all the painstaking effort the chef had poured into this steak were removed, it would probably taste better.
Kallen left the red wine untouched and picked up his spoon to try the beet soup instead. The soup tasted surprisingly good.
Then he went back to eating the beef.
"How does it taste?" Eunice walked in carrying a fruit platter she had arranged herself. Rather than putting it in front of Kallen, however, she deliberately set it a little farther away, knowing her fiancé did not like eating fruit during meals.
Kallen answered, "I've always thought the purpose of Vien cuisine was to awaken people's desire for ingredients' natural flavors."
"Hehe."
Eunice laughed. She was delighted to hear Kallen criticize Vien