âHere, Ms Mendoza, try this pomegranate juice I squeezed myself.â
Xenia poured a glass of juice for Ellinor with a grin and handed it to her, eager for her to have a taste right away Ellinor glanced at the red juice and smiled at Xenia, âThanks for the offer, but I canât have cold drinks right now.â
Not getting what she wanted, Xenia laughed and said, âOh right, cold drinks could upset a girlâs stomach, my bad. Never mind, we have juice without ice in the kitchen. Iâll have someone get it for you.â
With that, Xenia turned and signaled a servant to fetch it from the kitchen.
At this moment, Byran stretched his hand over, âMom, give me the iced juice; I want something cold.â
Xenia paused, looking at her son with an awkward expression. This kid was always complicating things!
The juice was loaded with saffron, she wasnât sure if it would cause boys any harm if they drank it.
Feeling uneasy. Xenia didnât dare take the risk, as her son was her future in the Howard family âUh, Byran, youâre a boy, why are you drinking juice? Donât you see we have important guests? Youâre a big boy now, you should follow in your father and brotherâs footsteps and try some wineâ
Byran actually wanted to try the wine, but he didnât dare!
He snuck a glance at Balfour next to him, but there was no need to ask for an answer, âMom, my brother wonât let me drink. I still have homework to do, so just give me the juice.â
Balfour didnât utter a word, surely Byran wouldnât dare to drink wine Xenia, feeling helpless, had no choice but to hand over the juice to her son while whispering, âDonât drink too much cold stuff, you donât want a stomachache messing up your homework, eat more veggiesâ
Byran was a bit annoyed. âYeah, yeah, I got itâ
Ellinor watched Xeniaâs every move, her mind was already made up Soon, the servant brought over the remaining half jug of pomegranate juice. Xenia poured a glass for Ellinor using a new cup.
âHere you go, Ms. Mendoza, this oneâs at room temperature; now you donât have to worry about it being too cold. Have a taste?â
Ellinor looked at the vibrant pomegranate juice in Xeniaâs hand.
Seeing that Ellinor did not react, Xenia started feeling a bit uneasy, âMs. Mendoza, do you not even like juice? Why donât you give it a try?â
Ellinor stood up to take the juice, âHow could I not like it? Thanks for going through all this trouble for meâ
After seeing her accept the drink, Xenia sighed in relief, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction, âNo need to be so formal! I didnât realize you were our guest at first, and I might have been a bit cold to you.
Consider this juice as my apologyâ
Ellinor was about to take a sip when she heard Xeniaâs last sentence. She put the juice down, âMrs.
Howard, if you say this is an apology, then as a young person, I cannot drink it Just when she was about to reach her goal, Ellinor decided not to drink. Xenia was inwardly anxious but still maintained her polite demeanor.
âMs. Mendoza, why are you afraid to drink it? If you donât, I can only assume youâre still not willing to forgive me!â