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He could already imagine the lecture.
Mum pushed away her plate. She’d left a few bites since she said a person shouldn’t scrape their plate clean. Only peasants and poor people did that. Or those with no self-control.
“Oh, that was delicious. I’m so full.” Aunty pushed hers back while Natalie chased a last bean around her plate.
Rainier pretended to be done too. As usual, no one said a word or asked why he ate less than any of them. The servants didn’t say a word either since their job was to clean up and not comment on the eating habits of royalty.
They brought a platter of little cookies with cacao syrup drizzled on top. They had smaller plates to set them on, and Natalie immediately took four. Rainier tried not to stare at her glowing complexion and rosy cheeks which seemed to brighten with delight when she tasted the cacao. Where did the food go? How did she eat more than Aunty and stay so skinny? She didn’t have the puffy cheeks and neck like Addy.
He forced away thoughts of Addy as Betty’s hand hovered over the plate. “Oh, I really shouldn’t, but they look so good.” Natalie rolled her eyes.
Rainier desperately wanted one, but he didn’t dare let his eyes linger in case Mum noticed.
“Don’t look at the food like that. It’s like watching a dog salivate over something.”
He sipped on his water to give his hands something to do. Mum kept hers folded in her lap as if thoughts of cookies or anything with sugar never crossed her mind. She had perfect self-control. She was also lucky to stay skinny.
“They’re so good, it should be against the law,” said Betty.
Mum never said a word about her sister being plump or that she lacked self-control. She brought up the price of silk and said she might have to find a new provider because the current guy hadn’t had a good selection in a while, and his prices were ridiculous. Betty hummed along in agreement as she ate another cookie.
“There’s a guy on the coast with cheaper prices, and he always has the best colors,” said Betty. “I’ll get you in contact with him. He’ll probably even give you a discount if you buy enough. Rainier, last time I bought from him, he had gold. You should get a gold coat to match your eyes.”
“Maybe I will.” He didn’t care about having a coat to match his eyes or silk colors in general. The tailor who made his clothes picked those and took care of everything because Rainier had no patience for it.
“Rainier, you should come riding with me,” said Natalie.
She’d talk his ear off and try to get him to go to the sweet shop with her.
“I already went earlier,” he fibbed. He’d taken a carriage to see Felix and bring him back. "I'm good."
“I’m going to have a quick lie-down,” said Mum. “At three, we can all go.”
Rainier would have to go then. Damn it. “Me too.”
“Mother, let’s go walk in the gardens,” said Natalie.
“I just ate all of that food,” said Betty. "The last thing I feel like doing is a bunch of walking."
“Fine. I’ll go by myself.” Natalie shoved in another cookie. “I’ll see you later, Aunty.”
“Try not to fall in a glass rose bush."
“That wasone time!”
Rainier finally managed to escape his family and the tempting cookies. The misery in his never-full gut lessened a bit as he headed upstairs. He liked living on the top floor because even though the stairs were tiring, plenty of physical activity was supposed to keep a person from getting chubby. He passed the floor where he used to run through the halls with Addy at night when everyone else was in bed.
If she were still alive, he could probably run faster than her since he was tall now. He didn’t bother running at night since it wasn’t enjoyable, and he’d only done it then because Addy didn’t want to be alone.
She shouldn’t have died alone.
When he entered his sitting room, he saw Felix had left the tray on the table in front of the couch, and he’d eaten nearly everything on it. That was good since no Kitten of his was ever going to go hungry.
He heard a laugh from his bedroom as he entered the short hall. When he peeked in, he saw Felix toss a bell ball across the floor. Its tinkling grew louder when Inky batted it with his paws and chased it across the beige cloth carpet.
Cats could sense stuff that people couldn’t. If Inky liked Felix, that was a good sign, not that Rainier had been suspicious of his new pet.
“Bring it back, Inky.”
