Chapter 505

Old Mrs. Horton finished her sentence and paused, looking at Keira.

Keira nodded. Mysterious was the right word. It was so mysterious that no one could find the family; it was as if it wasn’t even on Earth.

She waited quietly for old Mrs. Horton to speak and then heard the latter say, “In fact, I don’t know much about the South family. Although I was in Oceanion when I was young, I heard about a Lady South who came over to Clance. She was gentle and dignified, extremely educated and well-mannered. She was possibly a little younger than I was.”

Lady South was slightly younger than old Mrs. Horton? Thinking about the age and remembering what Rebecca’s father had said about the senior family member, Keira wondered if Lady South could be her grandmother.

Keira continued to listen attentively.

Old Mrs. Horton said, “At that time, Lady South’s reputation had even spread to Oceanion. Out of curiosity, like many other girls, I went to Clance to see her. Indeed, Lady South was as knowledgeable and talented as the rumors said, almost like a royal princess… As you know, Crera is a special place. These prestigious and large families seem very powerful, but they are actually the nouveau riche. At that time, the Horton family was just getting established, and we old folks all had a bit of the parvenu air about us. But Lady South was different. She was like…”

Old Mrs. Horton paused again as if uncertain how to describe her.

Suddenly, she said, “You must have heard of the old aristocrats’ elegance in history, haven’t you?”

Keira and Lewis immediately nodded.

Old Mrs. Horton smiled. “Speaking of the literary world and the temperament of the prestigious families in that world, the young masters and ladies were all born with a noble air, which is an indescribable charm. That’s the kind of feeling Lady South gave me. She was elegant and noble; mentioning money in front of her seemed gauche. I haven’t seen anyone else like her to this day.”

Keira was stunned, unable to imagine what her grandmother, as described by old Mrs. Horton, looked like. However, Rebecca’s father had never forgotten the lady’s temperament; it must have had its unique charm.

As Keira thought of this, she asked again, “Where did she come from?”

Old Mrs. Horton smiled, “What a question you’ve asked. Lady South, of course, came from the South family. At that time, we were all speculating about what kind of family could raise such a distinguished daughter. We were always trying to find out her background. We only knew she had come from abroad, but where exactly the family was, we had no idea. There were even people who doubted she was a true lady from a prestigious family, and they followed her, only to find that Lady South’s way of living was so particular and luxuriously grandiose that it was beyond our imagination…”

Keira asked, “For example?”

Old Mrs. Horton chuckled. “Take, for example, the most ordinary dish in her everyday meals called ‘Silver Sprouts Stuffed with Meat.’ Do you know how it’s made?”

As a professional chef, Keira had, of course, heard of this dish, which was a royal dish in the palace. She nodded and explained to Lewis, “It requires hollowing out the center of every bean sprout and stuffing it with strands of ham, then frying and mixing them cold.”

Lewis said, “You would need at least a hundred bean sprouts for a meal, right? Is each one like that? Is it even possible to make?”

Keira coughed slightly. “I tried it once when I was bored. The sprouts are very brittle and break easily if you apply too much force, and the ham is very soft and difficult to stuff inside, but it’s not impossible… It took me six hours, and I succeeded with twenty sprouts.”

Lewis asked, “How much is twenty sprouts?”

Keira paused briefly. “A spoonful.”

Lewis was speechless. He couldn’t help himself and blurted out, “Who would eat such a dish just for the sake of it?”

Old Mrs. Horton chuckled. “You see? Even in a household like ours these days, there wouldn’t be a person in the kitchen dedicated solely to making this dish. But Lady South’s chefs formed a team. There were about twenty of them, cooking just for Lady South, and making this dish was just one person’s job. The cold dish is crisp, and Lady South would have it almost every few days. Moreover, this dish is just one of her everyday dishes. There’s also a soup called ‘Flying Dragon Soup,’ which involves a type of bird that is now a protected species, so you can’t eat it anymore. But back in the day, because she liked it, her family would always get some game. Also, because Lady South liked the sliver of meat in the duck tongue, her menu included a dish called ‘Hundred-Flavor Duck Tongue’ every other day, which literally meant tongues from a hundred ducks… You should know during my youth, our way of life in Crera was still meager. Who could afford to eat like that?”

Keira was astounded. “Even the queens in the ancient palaces weren’t that extravagant, right?”

“Exactly,” laughed old Mrs. Horton. “So when we learned that Lady South lived like this, we finally understood how her demeanor was cultivated.”

Keira’s mouth twitched.

Old Mrs. Horton then continued. “The key is, paparazzi discovered all these things. She never flaunted her family’s wealth in public, as if all that luxury was just part of her everyday life. She has never looked down on anyone; such a character is something I have never seen.”

Upon hearing this, Keira began to understand why old Mrs. Horton was so impressed.

She inquired, “What happened then?”

She then suddenly paused. “Have you ever met her husband?”

Since she was referred to as Lady South and her mother was called Jodie South, did that mean Lady South’s husband had the surname South?

At this question, old Mrs. Horton gave a wry smile and shook her head. “I don’t know. Her mystery partly lies in this: everyone knew she was Lady South, and they knew her daughter had the surname South, but no one had seen her husband or even knew her first name. During her stay in Crera, she enlightened us. Then, one day, there was a big fire, and just like that, Lady South disappeared with the flames in Clance. As for her daughter… your mother, she also vanished. It was only recently that I came to realize that your mother was indeed the daughter of Lady South back then.”

Keira took a deep breath.

Old Mrs. Horton smiled again. “Back then, we were all curious about whose wife could be raised so lavishly. It seemed that her family didn’t run any business, yet money was spent like running water as if it were inexhaustible.”

Old Mrs. Horton looked at her. “Until later, we heard a legend about her.”

“What legend?”