Chapter 143: Who cooked dinner tonight?

After Lavinia’s lecture, Liamy and Elinor repeatedly promised they would never let this happen again.

Only then did the matter of the game finally come to an end. Lavinia glanced at the clock and realized it was already quite late.

“Whoa! It’s this late already? Time to eat dinner—let’s stop talking about the game for now, let’s go.”

Hearing Lavinia’s reminder, Liamy and Elinor finally noticed that the view outside had faded to dusk, and it would soon be night. The two of them had spent the entire afternoon playing games here!

Realizing this, Liamy couldn’t help but marvel at just how addictive this game was. She hadn’t even noticed the time flying by!

But what could she do? The game really was just that much fun.

Thinking about this, Liamy glanced at Elinor, who was cleaning up the table, and found herself remembering their earlier match.

At the same time, a strange feeling welled up in her, as if she had forgotten something important.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Liamy started searching her memory, trying to recall exactly what she’d forgotten.

The more she tried to remember, the more uneasy she felt. The thing she’d forgotten seemed truly important—important enough that she absolutely shouldn’t have wasted an entire afternoon playing games.

As Liamy grew more flustered, and just as she was on the verge of remembering, she felt a sharp blow to her head.

“What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and help! Don’t you see Elinor is already cleaning up? Were you planning on standing there, spacing out and slacking off by yourself?”

Lavinia’s karate chop brought Liamy back to her senses. Seeing Lavinia glaring at her, Liamy rubbed her head and could only start cleaning up together with Elinor.

Naturally, Lavinia didn’t help them clean up—after all, she hadn’t played the game. It was only Liamy and Elinor playing all afternoon.

Thanks to them, Lavinia had spent the whole afternoon reading that book she’d dug out from under the sofa. So there was no reason for Lavinia to help; instead, she took up the task of directing them from the side.

Liamy didn’t have any complaints about this—after all, she and Elinor had just promised Lavinia they wouldn’t make such mistakes again, so she certainly wouldn’t risk provoking her right now.

But as they cleaned, Liamy’s hands gradually stopped moving. She finally remembered what she’d forgotten! She’d wanted to use this opportunity to probe why Elinor harbored hostility towards her! She’d completely forgotten about it!

Remembering this most important thing, Liamy felt a rush of frustration well up inside her. She’d had a whole afternoon to ask! Yet she’d spent it entirely on playing games and completely forgot about it!

Aaaaahhh!!!

Right now, Liamy just felt utterly miserable, wishing she could go back a few hours and give her game-addicted self a good beating to knock some sense into her!

Unfortunately, Liamy had no ability to travel through time, nor had she ever heard of such a power. All she could do was console herself in her imagination.

At the same time, Elinor, who was cleaning up the table, noticed that Liamy had stopped moving for some reason. She looked up in confusion, only to see Liamy wearing a completely regretful expression for no apparent reason.

Elinor felt baffled seeing this and had no idea why Liamy would look that way. She thought back on what had just happened, trying to figure out why Liamy was so regretful.

But as she recalled, Elinor’s expression began to darken as well, soon matching Liamy’s look of regret. It seemed she, too, had forgotten something because of the addictive game.

Seeing both of them stuck in regret and making no move to finish cleaning up, Lavinia delivered two swift karate chops, snapping them out of their reverie.

“Well? Still got time for daydreaming? Hurry up and clean up! What if we’re late for dinner? Are you going to pay for it?!”

Hearing the faint anger in Lavinia’s voice, Liamy and Elinor quickly snapped out of it and finished cleaning up the table at lightning speed.

Only when the table was finally spotless did Lavinia nod in satisfaction, her angry expression vanishing.

“Good, let’s hurry up and eat. I’m starving. Unlike you two, who feasted at noon, I didn’t even get to have lunch!”

With that, Lavinia paid them no more mind and headed straight to the dining table. Liamy and Elinor had nothing more to say and could only follow behind her.

However, as they walked, Elinor kept glancing at Liamy. The more often she looked, the more resolute her gaze became, as if she’d made up her mind about something.

Just as they arrived at the dining hall, Colin came over from the other side.

Seeing the three of them, Colin greeted them as usual, “It’s about time for dinner, isn’t it? Oh, right—who was supposed to make dinner today?”

The moment he said this, all three girls froze in place, their bodies stiffening.

After an awkward silence, both Liamy and Lavinia pointed at Elinor. Elinor, unable to withstand the atmosphere, covered her face with both hands.

“I—I forgot.”

Seeing this, Colin was stunned at first, then gave a helpless smile.

“Well, if you forgot, there’s nothing for it. Let’s eat out tonight.”

But just as he was about to move, the dining room door opened from the inside. Laura and Lant, both dressed in maid uniforms, walked out, looking rather proud as if they’d accomplished something important.

Following right behind them was the delicious aroma of food—the mere smell was enough to make Liamy and the others’ appetites soar.

At Laura and Lant’s invitation, Liamy and the others entered the dining room and saw the feast laid out on the table.

Liamy swallowed and said in surprise, “You—you two made all of this? Your cooking is that good?!”

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Liamy’s question, the smiles on Laura and Lant’s faces froze. Their eyes began to wander.

“Uh, w-well. I mean, yes…we did…at least we helped out a little.”

Laura and Lant’s voices sounded flustered, as if they didn’t know what to say. Liamy and the others, who had been looking forward to the food, were left puzzled.

“I made them.”

At that moment, a voice came from the direction of the table. Looking over, it was Ryan placing a dish onto the table.

“I made all of these. I’m a certified chef, so I can handle some simple, not-too-complex dishes. As for them, though they didn’t help much, they did help carry dishes and clean up a bit.”

After Ryan finished speaking, Laura and Lant bowed their heads in embarrassment. It seemed this feast really had little to do with them.

But Liamy and the others didn’t mind in the least—all they cared about was getting to enjoy the food tonight. Only Colin, after thanking Ryan, also thanked Laura and Lant for their help, nearly moving Laura to tears.

Ryan didn’t say much, only remarking, “This is what a trainee butler should do,” before dragging the two maids away. Their dining table was on the other side, and though Colin said he didn’t mind, Ryan had no intention of dining with Colin and the others—he felt it wouldn’t be appropriate.