plumnovel Chapter 289: Suit the palate
Chapter 289: Suit the palate
Upon hearing the older lady’s effort to melt the cold ambience surrounding them, as if she was aware to not create any mishap with the de Lara, Joanna offered a smile. Yet in her mind, Joanna digested Aunt Camille’s and Valerie’s words.For noble women who generally moved their hands to handle delicate activities, brewing tea, which involved fire, like she frequently did before she married, was considered to be complicated and dangerous.
However, it was the activity she preferred to do. She even chose to spend more time gardening instead of mingling with nobility in society. Even her father could not stop her from doing such hobbies that she considered to be a handcraft.
"Here is the honey if the tea lacks sweetness. You may add to suit your palate well." Joanna placed a small jar of honey in a position that was reachable for the guests, which was in the middle of the table.
Aunt Camille was the first to take the teacup. As the brim of the cup was brought near her lips, she blew to reduce the temperature of the hot tea before taking a little sip, as taking too much would burn her tongue due to the heat that was still palpable to one’s senses.
"How does it taste, Aunt Camille?" Joanna asked. Her voice was laced with curiosity. Her eyes lit up with genuine anticipation.
The older lady smacked her lips a few times with her brows slightly knitted. "Hmmm... It tastes... great but slightly... bitter," she commented, giving appraisal to the yellowish tea. "I never tasted this tea before. What kind of tea is this, Ann?" Aunt Camille asked, inhaling the aroma of the tea that she found to be foreign.
"What about you, Val?" Joanna threw an inquiry to Valerie instead of answering the questioning lady.
Valerie slightly bent down to sniff the tea that was still on the table, as the fragrance that was carried by the afternoon chill air seemed not strong enough to make her able to describe the character of the tea easily.
Curious about the taste that her mother perceived to be peculiar, Valerie took the cup with one hand and the saucer with her other hand. Putting the surface of the tea near her nose to smell it, Valerie then slowly blew on the tea and carefully placed her lips on the brim of the cup to take a little sip of the hot tea.
With a slight frown, Valerie gulped the tea in her mouth. But not long later, she took another sip despite the crease that was palpable on her forehead.
"You seem to like it, Val?" Joanna uttered, her eyes following every movement that was made by Valerie.
"Well, it tastes peculiar but acceptable to me," Valerie appraised, her gaze on the yellowish liquid that shimmered before her eyes. "Slightly bitter but also refreshing." Moving up her eyes to look at Joanna, she said, "Thanks to the honey you added. It helped to reduce the bitterness, balancing the taste." She smiled warmly before taking another sip.
"What kind of tea is this, if I may know, Ann?" Valerie then asked the same question as her mother’s, which had not yet been answered by Joanna after swallowing the tea she just sipped in her mouth.
"Glad that you like it, Val," Joanna responded with a smile. "It’s a gift from one of Father’s acquaintances who came to visit last month," she began to answer the guests’ inquiry. "We as Terrans mostly never tasted it because it came from the west. We know that aside from art, Crasta Kingdom is blessed with fertile land where so various plants can grow well." Joanna kept speaking while busying herself with putting a tablespoon of honey in an empty cup.
"It was hard to finish the tea since Father and Brother didn’t find it suited their palate." Joanna lightly chuckled as she spoke more. Another tablespoon of honey was just added to the same cup. "I planned to share it with those who are working here, though I am not sure if they would like it. But then you and Aunt Camille came." Joanna smiled, looking at Valerie after she closed the lid of the glass jar of honey that was different from the jar that she offered to the guests and pushed it aside as she finished adding the honey in the cup.
"Since you like it, you may take the tea home," Joanna offered, placing a crafted wooden tea box in the middle of the table, next to where the small jar of honey she offered for the mother and daughter was.
"What about you, Ann? You don’t like it?" Valerie asked, looking at the box while holding the cup that was still emanating heat from the tea she had taken a few sips of.
Smiling, Joanna poured hot water into the cup where two tablespoons of honey were put. "So far, I haven’t found my disliking toward any kind of tea," she replied.
"So, why didn’t you make one for you?" Valerie noticed Joanna. Instead of the tea in the teapot, she added the hot water to the honey that was in the cup. "Why did you give it to us if you didn’t dislike it?" She voiced her wonderment.
Subsequently, Joanna put the pot of hot water back on the stove, where the fire flamed not as strongly as before, as she had taken out some burnt charcoal into a metal container with tongs.
Looking at Valerie, she said, "I can’t in the meantime."
"Why?" Valerie wondered, her head slightly tilting to the side. Curiosity was clear in her soft voice.
Joanna took a momentary silence before saying, "Just in case."
With slightly furrowed brows, Valerie found Joanna placed her hands on her lower abdomen. "Are you...?" Valerie’s voice trailed off.
"I am not sure yet..." Joanna’s voice also trailed off. Looking down at her abdomen where her hands wrapped it, she said, "But I decided to avoid drinking this tea until I am sure about... my condition." Joanna lifted her head only to find Valerie staring at her aghast.
"W-Why?" And she saw Valerie’s lips tremble as she stammered. "What condition did you mean? What’s wrong with the tea?" And then she heard Valerie ask consecutively without skipping a beat in a slightly shaky voice and with a stiff expression.