章節 21: Reason #16: Only Troublesome days ahead (4)

They carried the big jar of nuts to the kitchen and placed it over the kitchen table.

With a loud "Thump!" everyone turns their gaze at them.

"What's that?" Khloe came over to see the giant thing on the table.

"These are all almond nuts, and we are going to make some almond milk with these."

"You can make milk out of nuts?!"

Robbie was surprised after hearing Ivy's plan.

Ivy chuckled, seeing Robbie getting excited to cook.

"hehe, yes, of course, you can. Some people are not good with dairy milk, and they drink almond milk instead. It's the perfect hot drink for cold weather like this. Everyone is feeling pretty cold, so I thought it would be a great idea to serve this on the menu. It's just a concept of demand and supply, hoho."

Ivy covered her mouth as she laughed, feeling proud of her idea.

"Ehh... it sounds like it will taste weird, though. Besides, we're pretty busy preparing food for dinner."

Kourtney gave Ivy an annoying look, as the sisters have been feeling very unhappy with Ivy ever since they knew she was Prince Leon's lover.

"Hmph! That sounds disgusting. I'm sure daddy won't approve of this!"

Kim strongly opposed helping Ivy.

"I just don't want to help you!"

Khloe just went with the flow.

Regardless of whether the three sisters decided to help or not, it did not matter to Ivy as she was the only person who knew how to make it and was already planning to do it alone. However, Ivy wanted to help with Mr. Hensley's business, and it would be a good idea to pass this recipe to his daughters since they are the ones who are mainly in charge of the cooking here.

"Are you sure? I was hoping to share this secret recipe with you because it does not only help with weight loss, but it can also help keep your skin glow. It would be such a pity if we could not preserve the beauty the three of you possess. Just thinking about it makes me feel so sad..."

Ivy covered her face and pretended to shed crocodile tears.

<Weight Loss?!> Kourtney inner voice

<Glowing Skin?!!> Kim inner voice

<Ever Lasting Beauty!!!> Khloe inner voice

As Ivy carefully peeked at the sister's faces, she knew she had captured their interest.

"It's fine," Ivy smiled. "I hate having to bother all of you during your busy time. I can do this on my own, so please don't mind me."

"Wait! Let me help too. I'm almost done anyway." Kourtney said

"Actually, I've already finished my work so I can help you," Kim said

"I want to learn the beauty potion recipe," Khloe said

Ivy looked at them and smiled victoriously.

"oh, how kind of you three, even when you are so busy. Not only are you beautiful on the outside but beautiful on the inside as well. How could any man out there resist you!"

The three daughters slightly blushed after hearing Ivy's statement while Robbie just stood at the side, dumbfounded by Ivy's manipulative act.

As Ivy screened through the kitchen, she couldn't find any sight of Prince Leon anywhere.

"Uhm, do you know where did Leon go?"

"He said he was going to chop some wood at the wood shack. So he'll be back in a short while."

Ever since this morning, after Ivy and Prince Leon had that awkward moment, they couldn't look at each other without feeling nervous about it, and because of that, it made Ivy thought that she might have made the Prince angry again because of how she reacted.

Ivy is currently analyzing and sorting out the complex data that she has received so far, and it's taking a while since it is tough for her brain to focus when the image of Prince Leon's attempt to kiss her keeps popping out.

Ivy blushed and sighed.

Ivy recalls the events where she ignored him, hid from him, pushed him away, and even rejected his kiss - TWICE!

Ivy looked at the ground as she tightened her fist and repented for her actions.

"Hello!!!! Hello!!!!!!!!!!"

Robbie brazenly waves his hands in front of Ivy, trying his best to shake her awake from her daydreaming.

"Huh? yes, hello." Ivy naturally replied after she came back into reality.

"Don't just hello back to me. What were you doing? Your hands stop moving, and you've been standing still, looking into the air for a while now. I've already finish peeling all the almond skins while you were daydreaming."

While Robbie was jumping around making a fuss, Ivy just smiled and patted his head.

"Wow, that's amazing, Robbie. You must be good with your hands."

When Robbie saw Ivy smiled at him again, he began to blushed and felt mesmerized by her smile.

Robbie immediately turns away, hiding his embarrassment from her.

"Just quickly tell me what's the next step."

Ivy then took a big bowl and poured the peeled almonds in. She then took a pestle in her hands and showed them the next step.

"Once the almonds are soaked and peeled, just take the pestle and crush the nuts into a pulp. When you are crushing the nuts, gradually add water into the bowl, and you will see the water slowly changes its color like milk."

"Am I doing it right?" Robbie showed Ivy his progress in crushing the almonds.

"Ah Robbie, you'll need to crush the almonds a lot finer than that. Let me show you."

Ivy instinctively held Robbie's hand and leaned her face next to him so that she could show him precisely how the almonds should be crushed, and she was totally not being mindful of how much she was pressing against his back.

As Robbie felt her soft body leaning against him and her breath next to his face, he unconsciously blushed.

<she smells nice.> Robbie's inner thoughts.

While everyone followed Ivy's instruction and was progressing well, Prince Leon entered the kitchen from the back door with the firewoods that he chopped. As soon as he got close to the kitchen table and saw Ivy and Robbie in a couple-like position, something went "Click" within him. It was like the sound of a door that holds a dangerous beast that had just been opened.

"What are you two doing?" Prince Leon asked with a cold-blooded face.

Once the three ladies saw Prince Leon, they immediately stop what they were doing and ran over to him.

"kyaa!" Kim yelled. "You're back. We missed you so much." She says as she held his arms.

"Let go, Kim! Let a real women like me comfort you instead." Kourtney hugs him by the shoulder.

"Hehe..." Khloe just hugs him by the waist, happy to see Prince Leon return.

When Ivy saw Prince Leon drench in the rain with dirt on his face, she instantly rushes towards him with her handkerchief.

"Leon, why are you all wet? Why didn't you wear your coat when you went outside? You'll get sick."

While she tries to wipe the dirt on his face, the Prince grabs her hand and asks her the same question again.

"What were you doing?"

"huh? I'm just teaching them how to make almond milk. We want to serve it on the menu before dinner, so we are all doing it together."

Ivy answered his question honestly while she was puzzled on why the Prince was getting angry.

When Prince Leon looked over the table a little closer and saw the crushed almonds' bowls, he tried to calm down after understanding the situation. But after seeing the scene of Ivy and Robbie in that position, it made him very unpleasant.

Ivy could tell that Prince Leon was in a bad mood again, and even if she didn't know the cause, she already decided that she would act like a proper lover to him.

"Ok, come on, girls, we need to finish this before dinner comes. Let go of him and let's get back to work."

Though they resisted for a while, they went back to work and continued to mash the almonds.

While Prince Leon left them to place firewood in the kitchen corner, Ivy took a clean towel and waited for him.

"Leon, Sit."

Ivy took a chair with her and ordered Prince Leon to sit down.

The Prince was pouting, but he still obediently followed her orders.

Once the Prince sat down, Ivy helped him dried his hair, and there was an awkward silence between them.

When Ivy saw the Prince pout, she guessed he could still be angry from this morning's events.

"I've been thinking about us," Ivy says as she starts breaking the ice.

The Prince just turned and looked at her, surprised to know that she had been thinking about their relationship.

"I realize I haven't been a good lover to you. I know that even though this is a trial period and I'm still figuring out my feelings for you, but I should at least try my best and be a proper lover to you."

Then she covered his head with the towel and gently held his head to her chest like a ball.

"I'm still very shy about doing lover things, so I hope you'll bear with me until I'm ready."

And while his face was covered under the towel, she kissed him on the lips with the cloth in between.

Even though the Prince could not see her face, the moment he felt something small and soft touching his lips, his eyebrows immediately rose while his eyes widened in surprise.

"Ivy, did you just?" He asked, wanting to be sure

"This. This is... this is the best I can do for now! So stop being angry about this morning already!"

Ivy immediately ran up to the bedroom, as she could feel her face was so hot, and her heart was beating so fast that she could faint at any moment.

After Ivy leaves Prince Leon, he sits there, stupefied for a while with the towel over his head.

Then he burst out a laugh, "Ahahahahah!"

He laughed so much and so hard that his stomach was about to cringe.

"Ahahahaha," he laughs while he covers his face that was blush in hot red.

"Ahhhh... I feel like my heart is bursting. How much cuter can you be?"

He removed the cloth and held his head up. He then faced the ceiling and raised his hands towards the bedroom they reside, imagining her within his grasp.

"I'm so happy that you are making an effort for me."

Then he pulled his hands to his lips and remembered the soft sensation that she left behind and happily smiled, "I guess this can keep me waiting for you, just a little while longer."

***************