"This is my daughter Klara, Annabelle, Lori, and Myrtle, Your Highness," Marquis Milot smiled broadly as he introduced his daughters to the esteemed guests. "Tonight, they will serve you and provide everything you need."
"Your Highness." All the girls curtseyed in unison, then turned to the young lords and greeted them with their sweet voice. "My lords..."
"My name is Klara, I am 23 years old, Your Highness. It's an honor to serve you," said the first girl, with a long fiery mane and a narrow face. She was the least beautiful of all the sisters, but she looked graceful and calm.
"And I am Annabelle, Your Highness. I just turned 22," said the second girl. She looked a lot like her mother, Lady Milot. Both had long wavy black hair, like a raven. She looked rather intelligent.
"I am Lori. I am pleased to serve you, Your Highness. I am now 20 years old," said the third one.
She was a tall girl with sexy curves and reddish locks. When she spoke, she turned to Mars and smiled seductively. She was obviously the prettiest one among her sisters.
Emmelyn felt like she wanted to punch Lori for being so coquettish to her husband-to-be. However, she managed to hold back and only let out a massive eye-roll and coughed.
"Ahh... all my sisters have introduced themselves. Now is my turn. My name is Myrtle, from the flower... I am now 18-years old. We feel so blessed that Your Highness and my lords decided to stop by our humble abode. We quickly went to work and cook some dishes for you. We hope you will enjoy them," said Myrtle, the youngest daughter.
"Those are my daughters, Your Highness," Marquiss Milot said with a smile. He then turned to his wife. "And this is my wife."
"Your Highness," Lady Milot curtseyed again. "My name is Seroja Milot."
After the introduction from the Milots, now it was time for Mars to formally introduce his companions.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Lord and Lady Milot. I am traveling with a few friends. This one is Lord Aldrich Winter, and that one is Lord Edgar Chaucer, and the man standing next to him is Lord Gewen Athibaud."
The three 'men' nodded toward the girls. Emmelyn coughed again when she saw the girls held their breaths at the sight of Gewen.
Like, seriously... If they knew Gewen would only play them like a fiddle and break their hearts first thing in the morning, they wouldn't be this excited to see him, Emmelyn thought to herself.
"All right, let's eat now," said Marquis Milot joyfully.
Everyone took their seats at the massive dining table. Then, Lady Milot motioned to her daughters to start preparing food.
The Milot girls immediately disappeared behind the door and returned not long after with trays filled with dish after dish.
They served all kinds of meat, fruits, bread, cakes, and many other dishes, paired with a very good wine from the Marquis' collection.
They ate a sumptuous dinner with Marquis Milot and his wife, served by his lovely daughters.
Emmelyn actually felt suspicious that these young women might not really cook the dishes themselves, as boasted by their father.
The girls could just bring the food prepared by the cooks and claimed that they did all the work, couldn't they? All to gain favor from the crown prince and his generals.
Emmelyn would do the same thing if she were in their shoes. She couldn't cook even if her life depended on it. She could only roast hunted animals, and that was it.
But, if she needed to deceive a potential husband into thinking that she was a homely woman who could cook, she would do it in a heartbeat.
"This meat is marinated with our special herbs and recipe, Your Highness. Please try it," said Lori, the most coquettish daughter, smiling so sweetly to Mars. "I hope you like it."
Mars took some meat and cut a big chunk from it. After he tasted the flavor, he nodded in satisfaction. "This is good. Thank you."
"If Your Highness really like it, we will be happy to prepare them for you tomorrow so you can have food for the trip to Glendale," she said again. Her face was beaming in happiness.
"Thank you, but I don't think we will need it," the crown prince waved his hand. "We plan to hunt our food on the way. It's good for exercise and fun to do."
He glanced at Emmelyn who was sitting next to him. Emmelyn didn't pay attention to him. After she saw the meat on the plate, she quickly devoured it.
"Ahh.. Lord Aldrich seems to eat so fast. Be careful not to choke on your food," Gewen commented. He knew Emmelyn was pregnant and that explained her big appetite.
However, he still liked teasing her about it. It was good to get back at the person responsible for pranking him and making him question his own skills as a womanizer.
"Lord Gewen is very attentive," Klara, smiled sweetly. She poured wine into his cup and fluttered her lashes in the process. Gewen mouthed his thank you and took the cup.
He was not interested in Klara, but Lori, the prettiest one. However, it was obvious that Lori set her eyes on the crown prince.
Feeling annoyed, Gewen decided not to fool around in Havertown and just finish his food and got ready for rest.
Edgar was quiet, like always. He only talked a little with Mars about their travel plans tomorrow and nodded whenever the girls asked if he would like more wine.
The Milot girls really tried hard to impress, but unfortunately, the male guests were not into them.
Mars had the love of his life in the same room, Lord Aldrich was not into women, Edgar cared more about getting his sleep, and Gewen was annoyed that the girl that he was interested in seemed to only target the prince.
When Marquis Milot saw that none of his daughters could get prey, he became visibly upset.
The middle-aged man offered the guests to join him to drink wine after dinner, but unfortunately, they all declined politely.
"It's time for us to rest now," Mars said as he rose from his seat. Everyone else stopped eating when he ended his meal, as per their custom. He turned to the Marquis and his wife and nodded. "Thank you for the dinner. It was really nice."
"You're welcome, Your Highness. It's an honor for us," the couple replied.
"My daughters will prepare your bed and your chamber for you," Lady Milot curtseyed and then motioned her daughters to walk their guests to their chambers.
"No need to do that. We are fine on our own," Mars said. "We just need to sleep."
"Oh, no. We insist, Your Highness. That's the least we could do, to ensure you will have a good rest. My daughters will make your beds, prepare the lights, and turn down the curtains for you."
The Milots pretended not to hear the objection, and the girls quickly walked out of the dining room to assist the men to their chambers.
One girl would provide a 'turn down' service for each man. With this arrangement, Marquis Milot hoped that the men wouldn't hesitate to take in his daughters to warm their beds.
They didn't have to worry about being judged by their travel companions. Ha. It was a perfect setup.
At this point, Emmelyn had started feeling annoyed. She got Myrtle to provide the 'turn down' service in her chamber. It looked like they chose Myrtle for her since 'Lord Aldrich' looked like he was the youngest of the men.
They set Mars up with Lori because she was the sexiest, thinking she would have a higher chance of sleeping with the prince.
While Klara and Annabelle probably flipped a coin to decide on whether they would take Gewen or Edgar.
Emmelyn chuckled and walked faster to catch up with the prince. When she got closer, she leaned in and whispered to his ear.
"Do you think Gewen will sleep with one of the girls tonight?" Emmelyn asked Mars. "I will bet ten gold coins that he will."
Mars pursed his lips. Emmelyn chose the easy answer. Of course, Gewen would sleep with one of the girls. They obviously wanted to throw themselves at him, and Gewen was not a dumb cat who would refuse free fish.
So, of course, Emmelyn would win the bet easily!