Chapter 272: Meeting Mr. Drake

Chapter 272: Chapter 272: Meeting Mr. Drake

The ham was delicious. Tender and flavorful, its subtle, creamy aroma perfectly complemented the rich, savory taste of the meat. It instantly revived Vivian Lowell’s previously poor appetite. The only downside was the meager portion. After just a few slices, she had finished it all.

"Not enough?" Julian Faulkner noticed Vivian’s lingering cravings and smiled gently. "That’s all there is, unfortunately. I didn’t expect you to like it so much.

"But don’t worry, we’ll be here for a few more days. Since you enjoy it, you’ll definitely have another chance to eat it, right?"

Iberian Ham wasn’t from Gallia, but from the Hesperian Peninsula in Southern Vespera—a place renowned for its breathtaking scenery and pristine environment. It was only natural that such a beautiful place would produce such exquisite food.

"Mmh... it’s fine if there’s no more," Vivian said, taking a few bites of her yogurt ice cream followed by a piece of beef tartare. "I’m pretty full now. Today was exhausting. I think I’ll just scroll on my phone for a bit and then go to sleep."

"Alright, get some rest." Julian was as gentle as always. After speaking, he walked over to the window and pulled down the blinds so she could use her phone in peace.

Vivian scrolled through her phone for a while. Just as she was feeling drowsy and about to lock the screen, a notification popped up. It was from a legal content creator she followed who frequently analyzed case studies. The uploader was currently "holding class," discussing another hypothetical scenario involving a John Doe.

Seeing this "teacher’s" name, Vivian froze for a moment before something clicked in her mind. She tugged at Julian, who was working beside her, and asked, "Is everything going smoothly with Rachel and Felix Faulkner?

"Do you think Rachel will turn against us if she finds out we never actually planned to help her and were just using her?"

Julian shook his head. It wasn’t that he believed Rachel wouldn’t turn on them; rather, he knew that even if she did, she was completely powerless to do anything about it. Her becoming a tainted witness had fired the opening shot in their battle against Felix Faulkner! Throughout this entire ordeal, Rachel had done nothing but step forward. All the hard work of gathering evidence had been shouldered by Julian.

"Yeah, you’re right. That puts my mind at ease." Vivian yawned. With a great weight lifted off her chest, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

She slept soundly until dawn.

When Vivian woke up the next morning, she shifted her body and reached out, intending to hug the sleeping Julian beside her. However, when she opened her eyes, she found that he was gone.

She wondered where he was.

Her sleepiness vanished almost instantly. Just as she sat up to check if he was washing up in the bathroom, she heard the door open.

Was someone coming in? Vivian immediately went on high alert, but she soon recognized the footsteps entering the room. They were incredibly familiar. It was obviously Julian!

Had he actually gone out this early in the morning?

As she marveled at this, she saw Julian walk in holding a vase. It was a simple, rustic wooden vase, and inside it sat a vibrant bouquet of lavender. The lavender was incredibly fragrant, and the moment he stepped inside, the entire room filled with its rich scent.

"Good morning, my dear Vivian. I prepared these flowers just for you. They are Provencia’s most famous lavender." Julian smiled sincerely, his eyes brimming with warmth. He walked over to her side, placed the vase on the nightstand, and gently cupped her face in his hands. He tilted her head up slightly and planted a soft, tender kiss on her cheek.

Bathed in the morning sunlight, the kiss felt exceptionally gentle. A pleasant, tingling sensation washed over Vivian, and she naturally wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Julian had a narrow waist, and as her face pressed against his abdomen, she could feel the distinct, firm ridges of his abdominal muscles.

To her slight surprise, his usual faint cologne scent was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was only the faint, lingering fragrance of laundry detergent on his clothes. It was incredibly subtle. If Vivian hadn’t personally bought the laundry detergent used by the Faulkner family and known exactly what it smelled like, she probably wouldn’t have even noticed it.

"Why did you stop wearing cologne?" Vivian looked up, meeting his gaze.

"That cologne contains musk," Julian explained. "Even though the concentration is very low, I figured it’s better if you aren’t exposed to heavy fragrances and strong chemicals. So, I stopped using it.

"Alright, Vivian, let’s get up first. We can head down to the town later and check out the lavender exhibition, okay?"

"Okay." Vivian nodded and climbed out of bed.

In the hotel restaurant.

By the time Vivian headed downstairs, Grandma Faulkner was already seated. Ms. Shaw was bustling about, fetching various foods and pouring milk.

"Have a seat, Ms. Shaw. Let me help you," Eleanor Rhodes offered, immediately stepping forward when she saw the older woman busy.

Ms. Shaw quickly set her tray down on the table. "Oh, Miss Rhodes, there’s no need! Just leave these things to me.

"You go ahead and sit down. What would you like to eat? They have a great selection of bread here, and cheese too!"

"Cheese?" Eleanor blinked and glanced toward the food display. Sure enough, she spotted a massive spread of cheese, alongside steaks and lamb chops.

She had heard that foreigners ate a lot of meat for breakfast, along with burgers and fries. As a true native of Aethelburg, Eleanor was used to a light morning meal consisting mostly of soy milk, deep-fried dough sticks, and steamed buns. She truly couldn’t comprehend foreign dietary habits.

Looking at the spread before her, she pondered for a moment before deciding. "I’ll just have some bread, but no baguettes. And just regular cheese is fine. Definitely no blue cheese!"

Blue cheese! Just thinking about it gave Eleanor the creeps. It was absolutely mind-boggling to her that the Gallian Royal Family actually enjoyed eating such a thing!

The "blue" in blue cheese was essentially just a byproduct of mold. Sure, Graystone’s stinky tofu went through a somewhat similar process during production... but Eleanor still couldn’t stomach it. It tasted far too bizarre!

And then there was canned surstr?mming! She strongly suspected that the foreigner who invented that fermented fish had never tried Veridia’s pickled vegetables. When it came to appetizing foods that paired well with a meal, traditional jar-pickled vegetables were infinitely better than that foul-smelling canned fish!

Eleanor grumbled internally for quite some time. It wasn’t until Vivian had already smeared cheese on her bread and taken a bite that she noticed her friend staring blankly at her own piece of bread.

"Eleanor?" Vivian called out.

Eleanor snapped out of her daze. Her eyes darted to a small wedge of blue cheese nearby, and her mouth twitched in disgust.

After breakfast, the group headed into town.

Every year from June to August, when the lavender in Provencia was in full bloom, the town hosted a bustling market selling all sorts of goods. Today, Vivian had come specifically to shop. The weather was perfect—blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and the omnipresent scent of lavender. Vivian felt as if her heart was adrift in a sea of flowers; it was incredibly relaxing.

The town was packed with people. As soon as Vivian arrived at the market, she spotted bundles of fresh lavender laid out on the ground. They were astonishingly cheap, costing only 2 Euros each! They looked almost identical to the ones Julian had given her that morning.

"Did you come out here early this morning to buy that lavender for me?" Vivian asked.

Julian shook his head. "No, the hotel announced that they were giving away a free bouquet to all current guests. I just went down to pick it up and put it on your nightstand."

So it was a complimentary gift from the hotel. That made sense. Compared to their exorbitant room rates, a 2-Euro bouquet of lavender was virtually nothing.

As they strolled hand in hand, they came across a pastry section. Most of the baked goods here were made with lavender—lavender-flavored croissants, horn rolls, baguettes, and more. You could even see the tiny lavender seeds baked right into the dough! Vivian was still quite full from breakfast and didn’t have much of an appetite, but she enjoyed browsing the stalls just to soak in the lively atmosphere.

As they continued walking, an elderly foreign man carrying an enormous bundle of lavender suddenly approached their group. He began handing out a free bouquet to everyone! Vivian accepted one and thanked the old man in Gallian. She was just about to joke to Julian that anyone who paid 2 Euros for flowers right upon arrival must be a fool when they could get them for free, but then...

A familiar figure emerged from nearby.

"Vivian, there you are!"

The person speaking was Mr. Drake.

He was also holding some lavender, along with several small gift boxes whose contents were a mystery. He walked over, his face lighting up with pleasant surprise.

"I just arrived last night! Since you mentioned you were coming here to look around, I remembered I had a few old friends in the area, so I decided to drop by.

"I didn’t expect to run into you here! What a coincidence! Oh, Vivian... it looks like you already have some lavender. I was hoping to give you the ones I’m holding."

Vivian was astonished to see Mr. Drake here. They really did seem bound by a strange fate!

"That’s quite alright, Mr. Drake! Lavender has a very long shelf life and can be kept at home for days. You can easily keep yours to display in your own room!"

Mr. Drake had no choice but to concede. Since Vivian already had a bouquet, his gift would have to wait! He seemed to have traveled here all by himself again. Concerned for the safety of an elderly man traveling solo, Vivian invited him to join their group.

The lavender town wasn’t particularly large. After browsing the food stalls and buying a few bottles of lavender essential oil, Vivian had seen just about everything.

Julian suggested they head to a nearby manor to rest for a while. "It’s an estate I purchased abroad. It primarily operates as a winery and falls under the umbrella of a Faulkner Group subsidiary. I haven’t actually been here much myself.

"Since we’re in the area today, we might as well go take a look."