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THEIR appetizer was crab salad canape.  Astrid was surprised to discover that the taste was pretty good.  He had his doubts when he discovered that the dinner was made by Cassius.  But if the taste of this appetizer was to go by, then the rest of this dinner would definitely be more than enough to satisfy all of them.

Crabs were pretty rare delicacy.  Any seafood for that matter that originated from the ancient earth were expensive as hell.  Even though their family could afford it, Astrid still only used it as an ingredient whenever there\'s a special occasion.  Why would he waste money when he could easily find substitute for those ingredients?  Like the local marine life of their planet for example.

Anyway, it\'s probably no loss for Cassius to serve them this dish.  It would definitely not make dent on his wealth.  So, Astrid just happily ate.  After all, good food should always be enjoyed. 

He glanced at Cassius and Nicole who were sitting in front of him and Reas, then at Thomas Grimaldi who was sitting at the head of the table.  He already wasn\'t expecting the duke to be here.  So, it wasn\'t a surprised not seeing him.  But where was Thomas\' partner?  Could she/he possibly unable to make it here?  That\'s probably most likely the case. 

"What do you think of the food?" Cassius asked.

Astrid had to raise his head and answer because he knew Reas wouldn\'t bother.  "It\'s very good.  The young master said that it was Lord Cassius who made this dinner.  Then compliments to you, my lord.  Because this is truly good."

Cassius smiled at his praise.  "Thank you.  But as much as I want to say that\'s it\'s all me, I wouldn\'t be able to do it without the help of my maids.  The food won\'t taste as good without their help."

At the mention of the maids, Astrid glanced at the three women was standing in a straight line on the side.  As if they were just waiting for an order from their master.  Then he realized that the three were actually AI robots.

It\'s not just because they all looked identical, except for the length of their hair.  One had a pixie cut, the other had shoulder length hair, and the last one had waist length hair.  That\'s probably why he had not noticed that the three actually had the same face.  But the thing that gave them away as not human was their eyes.  They were just blank.  With only one color and no irises.

Astrid took back his gaze.  He kind of felt uncomfortable looking at the maids.  Probably because they were robots and really didn\'t have a mind of their own.  Which was easy to be taken advantage of.  He had no doubt that there were people in this era who does that.  After all, no matter the time, there\'s always a pervert lying about.

"How was your stay so far at the capital?" Cassius then asked. 

"Thankfully, nothing of the sort that happened on our first day here has happened again," Astrid simply answered.

"Well, I assure you, incidents like that seldom happens."

Cassius didn\'t lie when he said that.  With General Schwartz around looking over the capital, there\'s hardly been any major crime occurring.  That event with the hostage taker was just a rare occurrence.  But the military would surely take into account the mistake they had made during that incident and made sure that it never happened again.  They would be stricter especially since that incident accidentally involved a member of the Grimaldi family.

Soon, it was time for the main course. The maids served fillet mignon with porcini mushroom and compound butter.  The maids also served them each a glass of red wine, of course, excluding Nicole.

Astrid could tell that the wine the maids poured for them was actually pretty expensive.  It just had that rich scent that only those old wines had.  It wouldn\'t probably hurt to drink a sip.  After all, any kind of steak was always good with a glass of wine.

He cut into his fillet mignon and saw that it was medium rare.  He didn\'t mind since fillet mignons should be fully enjoyed rare.  Eating a bite, he was satisfied with the flavor. 

He then drank a sip on his glass of red wine.  Just as he thought, the flavor of the fillet mignon became much richer because of the wine. 

"By the way, are the two of you ready for school?" Cassius asked.  And then as if realizing that he had asked that question out of nowhere, he followed, "My apologies if I kind of looked into your information.  But rest assured, it was only general information.  I didn\'t look into anything else.  It was only so I could know your contact information."

Astrid already expected that.  But it was good to hear that Cassius really did not search that deep into their identities.  Now he felt a bit more relieved.

"It\'s fine, my lord.  We are ready as every new incoming student should be," Astrid answered amiably.

"Which school are the two of you plan to attend?" Thomas Grimaldi then asked.

It was the first time since dinner started that Thomas spoke and showed interest.  Astrid thought that the other just didn\'t like speaking while eating. 

"I\'m going to attend Redwood Academy of Performing Arts while my brother is going to the Imperial Military Academy," he answered.

Thomas was a bit surprised hearing that.  These twins were really like night and day – one wanting to be an actor and the other, a soldier.  Well, if he thought about it, those professions probably suited them.

With Astrid\'s face, he could easily become one of those popular artists that people of the Empire fawned over.  And Andreas, if he remembered correctly, he was the one who subdued the hostage taker.  Saving someone when no one else dared to try, he definitely had what it took to be a soldier of the Empire.

"If the two of you ever encountered a problem you can\'t fix by yourselves, don\'t hesitate to contact Casey.  And we will do our best to help you," he said before cutting off a bite from his fillet mignon.

"Oh no, please, there\'s really no need," Astrid said.

"Just accept it, dear.  Think of it as a small thanks for saving our Nikki," Cassius said.  "And we won\'t take \'no\' for an answer."

"Yes, Brother Aster should agree," Nicole suddenly interjected.  "If someone tries to bully you, Brother Aster can just call Uncle.  And then Uncle and Dad will make them pay."

"A little bloodthirsty, aren\'t we?" Cassius said in a teasing tone while wiping the corner of Nicole\'s mouth that had sauce.  "But this little nephew of mine has a point."

Astrid glanced first at his brother who also glanced at him.  Both of them could read each other\'s thoughts.  Something along the lines of, \'we should just agree so we can leave here as soon as possible\'.

"Then, we shall do so," Astrid said to Cassius and Thomas with a smile on his face.  At least to show that he and his brother both agreed very much on this offer.

Finally, after that conversation, the dinner flew smoothly.  Almost 20 minutes later, the dinner was finally over.