New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 129: TRIPLE SHOCK— TAKE IT EASY ON THEM, ARISTIA

Chapter 129: TRIPLE SHOCK— TAKE IT EASY ON THEM, ARISTIA

Aristia stepped forward with a large wrapped object. It was so big that the adults were wondering what it was.

"For great grandmother and great grandfather," she said simply.

It was one gift? Was the thought in all the adults’ minds. They were surprised and all the more curious, waiting to see what it would be.

Roxanne raised her eyebrows curiously as she unwrapped the gift.

"It’s a painting." Zender stated his observation as the gift was slowly unveiled.

Everyone wondered what type of painting it would be. Especially Roxanne. She had a high expectation for paintings, but even if it wasn’t satisfactory, it was still a gift from her adorable great granddaughter. She appreciated the gesture a lot and would still keep the paintings with her other collections of highly esteemed art pieces.

However, when the painting was finally fully unveiled and the light fell on it...

Gasp!

It wasn’t one person that was left stunned.

"This is..." Roxanne’s eyes widened and she lost her composure for a moment. She couldn’t complete her words. She tried to cover her mouth with her palm but stopped herself as she didn’t want to risk the precious painting falling.

It was a painting of Roxanne and Zender. In the painting, Roxanne was in the garden, surrounded by flowers. The sun was taking on an orange golden hue and the sky was painted in orange as the sun was setting. It created a beautiful scene.

Roxanne in the painting was looking at someone a little distance away with a smile clearly filled with so much love that even Roxanne herself was filled with surprise as she stared at the painting as she wasn’t even aware of the intensity of affection in her gaze.

A squirrel was holding a fruit with both hands on a tree in the background and some birds flew above her.

Roxanne’s gaze trailed towards the direction she was looking at in the painting to see Zender. He seemed to be approaching her, his eyes equally, if not more, filled with love and affection as he looked at her with a warm, gentle gaze.

Two butterflies fluttered in the air between the couple, adding even more to the beauty of the painting.

It was a painting, but it was able to fully express the emotions and the atmosphere. It looked realistic yet magical.

Roxanne was so enraptured by the scene her hands slowly caressed the painting with a lost look in her eyes. What made her so stunned was that she was young in the painting, at the same time the scene seemed familiar. It was as if she had been transported back in time.

Her eyes unwillingly left the painting to look at Aristia’s little form. "W-who painted this?" She rephrased her question. "D-did you paint this?" The old matriarch surprisingly stuttered.

"I did. I heard great grandmother likes to paint so I thought you’d equally appreciate paintings." Aristia replied.

The intensity of emotions in Roxanne’s eyes showed her just how much Roxanne appreciated paintings. Especially the one before her.

Roxanne slowly nodded. Her eyes welled up with tears of joy as she held the painting carefully in her hands like it was some very delicate artwork.

"Oh, Tia, this is exquisite! Thank you so much," she whispered, her voice filled with heartfelt emotion.

Zender, too, was deeply moved by the painting. He carefully examined them, again and again, like his eyes couldn’t drink in enough of the scene. "Thank you, Tia. This is... truly remarkable. I will cherish it always," he said, his voice filled with happiness and pride. This was his great granddaughter.

Roxanne handed the painting to her husband and took out her handkerchief. She used it to dab the tears on her cheeks.

She was feeling so affected because of her passion for paintings. And this painting... how could she not admire it? How could she not be overwhelmed with emotions at the sight of it? The painting was able to very clearly portray the emotions of the characters. It was so detailed it felt real, like the moment had truly been captured and not just drawn. Such talent... how was this possible?

Her gaze on Aristia changed and Roxanne developed a sense of respect and admiration for her great grandchild.

Aristia smiled back. The scene that she had painted happened the day before. She had come across her grandparents in the garden and that excessively sweet scene had painted itself in her memory.

She rarely painted except on rare occasions when she was inspired to do so. The beauty of that moment had prompted her to bring it to life on paper so that it wouldn’t be lost. She decided to make the painting her gift to them.

However, she added a twist. She painted them young in the picture. She had seen the couple’s picture when they were young and decided to paint them young.

[Though my skills have gotten rusty.] She repeated again in her head. It had been quite a while she had really painted.

The other adults who had long been forgotten were surprised. They looked at Wilson and Catherine who also looked shocked. Then the couple’s faces suddenly relaxed as if they had thought of a perfect explanation for it.

Wilson and Catherine recalled the drawings and sketches Aristia had made. They were even more convinced that she had a talent for painting when they remembered the drawings she had made for the story book she made for Alaric.

Catherine smiled widely, "Tia seems to have inherited grandma’s talent in painting."

Aristia held back the urge to raise her eyebrows. [Inherited? Nope. That’s my gift. I can’t remember if original Aristia was said to have such talent though.]

"That seems to be the case." Grandma Claire Anton chuckled and addressed Roxanne. "Finally Mother, someone in the family can paint just like you."

No one in the family could paint as well as Roxanne. While Roxanne wasn’t necessarily disappointed, she had wished that someone in her family would possess the talent and ability. That was also part of the reason why she was glad that Aristia could paint as well as she had done.

"No," Roxanne shook her head. "This is far better than anything I can ever paint." Roxanne acknowledged that the painting surpassed hers.

Lauren and the others watched with wide smiles as their great-grandparents expressed their appreciation for the gifts.

Thankfully, none of them expressed jealousy or dissatisfaction.

"Thank you, all of you," Roxanne said, wiping away her tears again. Zender put the painting down at the side together with the other gifts. "This has been the most wonderful surprise. We are truly blessed to have such thoughtful great-grandchildren."

Zender nodded in agreement, a warm smile spreading across his face. "Indeed, we are," he said, his voice filled with pride.

"Come all of you, my sweet great-grandchildren." Roxanne beckoned them and as the children came forward, she embraced them all.

Watching them, Vasily smiled. She looked up at her husband only to find Ross also looking at her with a small smile. She smiled wordlessly and turned back to the children, her hand subconsciously caressing her stomach.

After the little embrace shared between Roxanne and her great grandchildren, the family finally paid attention to the table with snacks and teapots on it.

On top of the three layer cake were the words ’Happy anniversary’ written on them.

"Cut the cake, great grandma and great grandpa." Alaric said. He couldn’t wait to eat the cake his sister had baked!

The old couple held the knife at the same time, with Zender’s hand on top of Roxanne’s. He wrapped his hand around hers and together they cut the cake.

Everyone held a plate in their hands containing a slice of the cake.

"It tastes different." Alistair’s brows furrowed in surprise when she tasted the different layers of the cake.

"Yes," Lauren explained. "The upper layer is vanilla, the middle is strawberry and the lower is chocolate. Tia and I baked the cake."

She sounded proud and smug explaining to them, forgetting how she had hesitated at first.

Some of the adults were surprised until they remembered almost immediately that Catherine used the kitchen and her daughter was said to do so.

"I like the vanilla." Vasily had come to stand beside Aristia at some point. She held her plate in her hand, "The strawberry is also good. The chocolate too."

"Hehe," Aristia chuckled. Vasily obviously couldn’t choose a favourite.

The drinks were served.

But...

"This isn’t tea." Rulia took a sip and furrowed her brows.

"The teapots contain tea and lemonade. That is lemonade." Aristia explained, pointing to each. Rulia had poured from the teapot containing lemonade. The lemonade was cool because of the temperature of the north.

"Lemonade? Isn’t that one of the drinks served at The Vanilla Courtyard?" Alistair’s brows knitted in confusion.

Could they have gotten it from The Vanilla Courtyard? No. That wasn’t possible. It took three days from the Capital to the Hemsworth Fief.

"The Vanilla Courtyard? Wouldn’t that be that restaurant that opened not long ago in the capital? Last I saw it, it was still in the process of being built." Roxanne said.

She had seen it during the Kingdom’s anniversary banquet which all nobles were required to attend. She had heard that it had been very popular and that it was constantly frequented by not only commoners, but also aristocracy. She hadn’t gotten a chance to see it though as she hadn’t been to the capital since then, but she had heard more than enough about it.

"Aunt is correct," Aristia said, confirming Alistair’s words about the lemonade being one of the drinks served in her restaurant.

"How did you get the recipe then?" Maxim asked.

No one disclosed the recipes used in the Vanilla Courtyard, hence no one could get it. Rumour had it that the people working in the restaurant were tight-lipped. Especially those working in the kitchen.

Investigation showed it wasn’t just a rumour; those folks wouldn’t open their mouths to disclose a thing.

Thinking of that and seeing Aristia with a drink made by only the restaurant, Alistair turned to Aristia with stars in her eyes.

"You found the recipe?" She asked, her smile widening. She could finally get her hands on the recipes of The Vanilla Courtyard! Later, she would think about how Aristia had gotten the recipe in the first place. Right now, she had to make sure of that fact first.

However, she stopped when Aristia shook her head in disagreement. Everyone became confused. If Aristia hadn’t found the recipe, how else would she know how to make it?

"I already have the recipe because... I made it." Aristia smiled calmly and answered Maxim’s earlier question.

[Yes, I ’made’ it. Any recipe I use is made by me. There’s no other way to explain it without sounding like a crazy child.]

It wasn’t surprising to her when the hall became absolutely silent that one would be able to hear a pin drop.

They all stared at her in shock for the third time today. Well, everyone who had no idea of her identity.

Aristia caught her parents gaze and smiled at them. They smiled back at her reassuringly. Aristia had told Wilson’s side of the family her secret as she was closer to them. However, the original Aristia was closer to Catherine’s side of the family.

She turned back to them with a business smile just like she had given Vasily, and introduced, "Hello, I’m AE. Forgive me for the late introduction."

"...!"

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