My Adorable Daughter Can't Be A Villainess - Chapter 15 - Family Dinner (2)

When Eric reached the door, he hesitated for a few moments.

Was this really okay? Was I pushing things too far? And wasn’t I acting out of character as Eric?

Eric was a stoic man who never allowed anyone to reach beyond the shells he kept around himself.

However, the more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it felt.

He was supposed to heal the wounds Eric had caused.

To break the boundaries separating him from his family.

And for that, he shouldn’t hesitate.

Knock, Knock.

After a brief pause, the door opened and a smiling Charlotte greeted him. “Good evening, Uncle Eric.”

Eric smiled back as he asked, “Did I make you two wait?” 

Even though the dinner invitation had come from Chloe (at least according to what Maylie said), it never once occurred to him that the two of them would be eating alone.

As Eric stepped inside, Charlotte spoke, “Not at all. The dinner was served just now.”

Eric couldn’t respond right away. His eyes were drawn to the lady sitting at the table.

Chloe’s blue eyes were turned toward the window. Bathed in silvery moonlight, she looked more like an angel than a human. Her composure, her grace, her silver hair… it took his breath away.

Charlotte glanced between the two adults before she called out, “Mom, Uncle Eric is here.”

Chloe, who had been doing her best to remain nonchalant, turned first to her daughter before her gaze finally landed on the man she never wanted to meet.

But fate was such a cruel beast.

“Sorry to you, but I can’t stand to greet you properly.”

Eric resigned with a sigh, feeling the thorns in her voice, then pulled a chair out and urged Charlotte to sit down.

“It’s best for your health to have you sit down,” he said before taking a seat beside Charlotte, with Chloe across from them.

Charlotte could tell there was some sort of tension between the two– mostly from her mother’s side. But she had learned through tough experiences how bad it would be to meddle in adults’ affairs.

That’s why she instead suggested and offered to serve him food, “Do you want to have some, Uncle Eric?”

Eric smiled gently at Charlotte and shook his head. “I can do it by myself. Thank you, Charlotte.”

He scooped some soup for himself and then served the other two as well.

Chloe’s stoic face remained unchanged, but deep inside, she was slightly surprised.

The young master of the Blackwood family– one of those arrogant few who blatantly broke academy rules to bring a personal aide, even paying a monthly fine for the privilege.

Someone who had never eaten food without being served to him. Someone who had depended on that aide for even trivial things like tying his shoes… 

Yes, Chloe was surprised to see it.

“Please, go on ahead,” he told Charlotte as Eric placed a piece of bread on her plate, followed by stew and green vegetables.

Charlotte nearly drooled at the variety of food and the rich aroma rising from it.

Eric filled his own plate with the same dishes, but when it came to Chloe, he deliberately gave her something different.

Chloe frowned at the seasoned meat on her plate. It looked nothing as exciting as what they were eating. It was paired with a mountain of fiber-rich vegetables.

She looked up from the plate, complaint written all over her face.

“Recovery-friendly food,” he said lightly, as if he could read her mind.

Chloe wanted to frown, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her reaction. Instead, she calmly picked up the knife.

Slicing the meat, she took a bite and was met with an unsurprising taste. It was bland.

“Mm… this is sooo good. So many flavors are erupting in my mouth.”

As if to rub salt into her wounded taste buds, her daughter informed her what a delicious meal she was having.

Eric told her with a smile, “I specifically told the chef to make the food a little spicy, just as you like.”

Charlotte blinked in surprise. “How did you know that I like extra spicy food?”

Eric chuckled lightly. “Just guessed. Your mother used to like it spicy as well.”

CLANG!

The fork in Chloe’s hand nearly slipped at those words.

‘This bastard…’ she nearly growled in frustration. He remembered exactly what she liked, yet he had purposely had the cook prepare the blandest food in existence for her.

Charlotte enjoyed the dinner, while Chloe somehow managed to chew whatever was presented to her.

Eric watched them both, a soft smile lifting the corners of his lips.

There were so many misunderstandings he needed to clear. So many things he needed to ask forgiveness for. But at this moment, he was content with how things were.

….

The night had fully settled over the mansion, wrapping it in a deep, watchful silence.

Oil lamps burned in the distant halls, and even the wind seemed careful not to disturb the stillness.

From somewhere beyond the walls, nocturnal creatures hooted softly, their calls echoing through the dark.

It felt as though the entire estate was holding its breath beneath the night sky.

Just then, a figure faintly disturbed the shadow cast by the backside wall of the mansion.

Their feet landed gently on the grass, not making so much as a sound.

They glanced around, their black cloak making them impossible to identify; even their gender was hard to discern.

The intruder carefully listened for any movement. Thankfully, the absence of soldiers and servants made it easy to cross the backyard and leap up onto the ledge of the first floor.

They remained low, not wanting to be seen by the soldiers patrolling outside the mansion.

Their body moved like a cat: silent, precise, never slipping, even though the ledge was hardly half an arm’s length wide.

The intruder continued along until they reached a certain window where a lamp glowed inside, providing enough illumination for them to see the people sleeping in the room.

Two women, almost identical except for their age.

The person grinned, lips splitting into a malicious smile as they pulled a knife from their pocket and slowly opened the window.

With quiet steps, they moved toward the older woman, the knife raised high, ready to pierce her heart and end the game once and for all.

However, before their hands could descend…

“Are you sure about that?”

The intruder flinched and turned toward the man who had entered the room using the same window.

In the next instant, the intruder’s hand was seized by the very woman he had assumed to be asleep.

Chloe’s eyes were deathly cold as she said, “Quite the nasty thing you’re waving around a child.”

In an instant, all the quiet effort the ambusher had put into remaining unseen felt utterly useless.

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