A 'Thanksgiving' Picnic

In a large clearing surrounded by shrubs and trees, a sizeable piece of baby cornflower colored cloth was spread out onto the grassy ground speckled with yellowed leaves.

On the piece of blue cloth sat four youngsters surrounded by mouthwatering delicacies.

A sudden gust of autumn wind blew forward, lifting the leaves from the floor and spinning them around in a gentle dance. The branches of the sparse trees waved, showering an ocean of harvest colors.

"Puahahaha… Are you serious?" Eyrie wiped away some droplets of water from the corners of her eyes. She had laughed to the point of tears.

Fei, who sat next to her, furrowed her eyebrows. She paused her fork that was reaching out for a serving of potato.

Nothing seemed funny, yet Eyrie was laughing and crying controllably… does this indicate that she has some sort of illness? She searched through her brain to find the correct term.

"… Pseudobulbar affect?"

"Pfft��!" Carol coughed, choking on the tea she was drinking. Everyone else looked on in a puzzled silence … Pseudobulbar affect?

Carlos, Carol, Eyrie, and Fei were having a picnic organized by courtesy of Eyrie and the head chef.

It was the day before Thanksgiving.

Once Eyrie learned that it was a holiday, she decided to drag everyone out to the courtyard and have a picnic since once tomorrow rolled around, none of them would have the time to celebrate together.

After all, there were all sorts of annoying obstacles, such as school and conferences. Also, she thought that it would be an excellent way to improve the relationships between the four of them.

The first person to agree was Carlos, who was just as excited as his eldest sister. Seeing that her Master agreed, Fei, who was guarding him, naturally decided as well.

The only person unenthusiastic about the picnic and did not want to go was Carol. However, Carlos forcefully pulled her along anyway, and as a brother con*, she couldn't fight against her brother's charms and finally relented.

During the picnic, Eyrie and Carlos had been doing most of the talking, with Carol and Fei being bystanders who ate food as the other two spoke.

However, just now, Fei had been part of the conversation for once. She was asking for advice on how to make Master happy. The mutant talked about her Wing Chun teacher's instructions and about the note she gave to Carlos.

She thought it would be an excellent opportunity to ask this question and seek the opinions of the people close to her Master, his family.

However, Eyrie had shown a reaction that was out of her expectations. Fei thought that Eyrie would gently nod her head and tell her the answer like she always did. However, she had reacted with the Pseudobulbar affect, worrying Fei to a great extent.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

The eldest miss of the Rochester house shook her head, trying to stifle her laughter with her hands. How inelegant, she criticized herself. "No, nothing's wrong." She looked at Fei straight in the eye.

"You're saying that your martial arts teacher told you to write a note to Carlos, and so you told Carlos to be happy?"

"… Well, yes, I did."

Eyrie rolled her eyes. "And so it worked, didn't it? Then why are you asking me how to make your Master happy?"

As she said so, she couldn't help but sneak a few suspicious glances at Carol, who did not seem surprised in the slightest to hear of the news.

And like she had guessed, Carol had long known about what her little brother's bodyguard did. Although she felt what happened was indeed a little strange, it wasn't strange enough to laugh so boisterously about, was it?

Just as Eyrie was suspicious of her, she was similarly wary of her older sister.

In truth, the reason that Eyrie had laughed to the point of tears was because of her knowledge of social norms that had far surpassed those of her siblings.

Who would straight up tell a person: Be happy?

Winning people over isn't that easy. Only stupid people would think that this is sincere and be satisfied.

But as she looked at her two siblings that sat shooting her strange looks, she understood that both of them were idiots in their own rights.

It is evident that Carol was very wary of the new mutant when Fei first came into the household. But as time moved on, even though she didn't exactly like her, there wasn't too much hatred in her eyes when she looked at Fei.

Eyrie had been very confused when she first noticed her sister's abrupt changes. But now that she looked at it, perhaps it was because of the note that Fei had written.

Anyone with eyes—maybe except for Fei—could tell that Carol loved her little brother immensely. And with a person that seemed sincere in her efforts to make Carlos happy, how could she hate such a person?

True that. Fei wasn't an insincere person; she just didn't know how to be. Sometimes it was a little funny to see her decisions.

Eyrie placed her teacup on the mini table that was set up.

"Speaking of which, how do you like the food today? I especially told the chef to prepare turkey after hearing about the traditions of 'Thanksgiving.'"

Hearing the question, Fei was also curious. She waited for her Master's answer.

Noticing her intentions, Eyrie immediately added, "Fei, you tell me your opinions first."

Fei lifted her eyebrows in surprise before answering without a pause in between, "The food is edible, just like how it always is."

"…"