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Oblivious to the unpleasant feelings around her, Alicia\'s face beamed with a smile as she watched them pick up a piece of each of the appetizers one after the other, and she almost clapped for joy when she saw the quick surprise that crossed the queen\'s face when she tasted it, before she quickly concealed it with indifference.

It seemed like they had not been expecting it to taste this good, and they were all genuinely surprised by it.

"It is pleasant," Sir Gregory, the richest merchant in the Moon Kingdom, commented with a nod, and she smiled at him when she remembered that Tyra had said she needed him on her side if she wanted the other aristocrats to like her.

"Thank you, my lord. I read that you are allergic to peanuts, so I was extra careful to not add any," she said, and he looked at her in surprise.

"Allergic?" He asked, looking at her curiously.

"Your body gets swollen and your neck, red. It\'s called allergy," Alicia explained, and he nodded. She still could not understand why something as sensitive as that was included in a book for all to see. Weren\'t people in power or businessmen usually very careful and did not let out any of their weaknesses for fear of it being used against them? Or was it because he was too powerful and didn\'t concern himself with things like that? She could not understand anybody here.

p Then again, after such a warning had been passed across to the entire public, she could imagine the punishment that would befall anyone who dared to poison his meal with peanuts, as ignorance would never be tolerated as an excuse.

"That is true. I\'m surprised you took note of such a thing," he said, impressed that she wasn\'t entirely as careless and mannerless as he had been made to believe.

"I hear you also run different food stalls all over the kingdom. You are an important part of this kingdom, so it is only proper that I take note of such important details." Alicia said with a polite bow, and he smiled at her. While Harold tried not to roll his eyes.

"Thank you, my lady, but I don\'t run in food stalls. I own them." Sir Gregory said, trying not to get annoyed.

Alicia was a little confused at first, but when she understood his confusion, she almost laughed, but she ended up giggling.

"I didn\'t mean that. What I meant was that I heard you own and control a lot of food stalls. If you need my secret recipes to make snacks like these so you can sell them and earn more, do well to let you know. With my husband\'s permission, I won\'t hesitate to share them with you for free."

Harold almost snorted. She always surprised him with her manipulative nature. She was indeed smart.

A businessman was always a businessman, no matter the era. His eyes shone when she said that, and he was already beginning to salivate, not at the snacks, but at the money he was going to get from selling snacks like this.

"I will keep that in mind, my lady." Sir Gregory said with a polite smile that Alicia happily returned.

\'One down.\'

The queen looked at Alicia with concealed displeasure as she was taking all the attention on the table as usual.

Soon, the conversations around the table drifted to other things as the king and Damon enquired about the trip of the aristocrats and how their regions were doing.

"Why are you not eating?" Alicia whispered to Harold when she noticed that he had yet to have a taste of any.

"I don\'t want to share the one you kept for everyone else. I still have the ones you packed for me. I would rather have that when we return to our chamber," Harold whispered back to her, even though he knew that everyone could hear what they were saying.

A blush stained her cheeks as she moved away from him while clearing her throat, wondering why he was saying such words to her. She avoided eye contact with him and stuffed her mouth with meatloaf.

Once Alicia noticed that the appetizers were finished, she waved over one of the maids and whispered to her that it was time to serve the main dish, and she politely reminded her that the desserts were to be served after the main dish so that they could take it back with them to their chambers as midnight snacks.

The Queen exchanged a look with Ivan, as they both wondered if this was Harold\'s tactic to win the hearts of the aristocrats. Why was Alicia the one controlling the kitchen maids and what was being served? How did she even learn how to do any of this? More importantly, how come they didn\'t know she was capable of this? They wondered.

Even though he didn\'t like Alicia, he envied the way she was trying to be of help to her husband by winning the hearts of the aristocrats despite her stubbornness. Yet here was his own wife, Ivan mused, as he turned to look at Luciana with disdain when he noticed how well she was eating the last bit of her snack like she didn\'t have a care in the world. His eyes lingered on her, and he knew she was aware that he was watching her, but she didn\'t spare him any glances.

"By the end of the banquet, I would be marrying a new bride," Prince Ivan announced, and silence fell upon the room immediately.

Both the Queen and the King looked at him immediately. His mother felt like snuffing the life out of him with a pillow while he slept. What did she do to deserve a son like this? So careless and stupid.

The silence dragged for a while, with no one saying anything, not even the king.

"You already have a wife, don\'t you?" Damon asked with displeasure, finally breaking the silence.

Ivan turned to glare at Luciana, who was just looking ahead and chewing whatever she had inside her mouth. All eyes were literally on the two, but she didn\'t bother herself with whatever was happening, which made Ivan the more annoyed.

Thankfully, the rest of the meal came at the right time, and the queen finally broke silence and spoke, "Finally we can have something we are used to," the Queen said with a stiff smile, and the meaning of her words was not lost on anyone.

Let\'s enjoy our meal. Anything else that needs to be discussed would be talked about after the meal," the king said, putting an end to the awkwardness as the meals were served.