The stars blanketed the sky, and the moonlight bathed the wooden bridge in a shimmering silver glow. The creek reflected the bonfire on its bank, and a midsummer night's breeze blew in from the distant mountains, carrying the unique scent of fresh grass.
The lobster Cyril grilled were fresh and delicious. Vivienne and Bianca each received a lobster claw bigger than their faces.
Bianca had been sulking and refused to eat at first, but she ultimately couldn't resist the temptation of good food and picked up her knife and fork. To stop everyone from laughing at her, she pointed at the lobster and offered a self-important explanation.
"I'm the one who found this lobster, so I get the most credit."
Caspian laughed heartily and patted Bianca's head. "Grandpa saw you. You jumped right into that huge mud pit without a second thought. Very brave of you."
"Of course," Bianca said, tilting her head up, but her eyes couldn't help but dart toward Vivienne.
At that moment, Vivienne was holding a plate and lounging in a wicker chair, staring blankly into the night. If you hadn't experienced it yourself, who would believe that such a beautiful night was merely a backdrop for some story?
So, was everyone here just a puppet in the plot?
"Ugh, this accursed loneliness," she sighed dramatically, extending her plate to the side. "Cyril, peel some more crawfish for me."
Cyril glanced at the mountain of shells next to her and handed her a newly peeled plate of crawfish meat. "You should eat less. You'll get a stomachache."
This was her fifth plate. He'd never peeled so many crawfish in his life.
Vivienne looked up at him with an innocent expression, then pressed her lips to the dish and devoured the crawfish one by one.. She finished the entire plate in less than a minute.
Mmm, summer crawfish were just so plump.
Cyril was speechless.
"Vivienne," Caspian said, seeing that Vivienne was deliberately teasing Cyril. He shot her a helpless glare.
Vivienne silently put down her plate, turned, and grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth. "I'm full."
Cyril nodded and turned to clear the shells from the table. Caspian saw this and gave Cedric a look. Cedric understood immediately and stepped forward to take over for Cyril.
"Mr. Cyril, let me get that."
Vivienne inexplicably shivered. How could a grown person call a kid 'brother'? Suddenly, her eyes lit up as a joke popped into her head. Cyril was basically a kid brother, wasn't he?
Vivienne relaxed. "Cyril, have some water."
Cyril's eyelid twitched. He took the cup with a calm expression, wondering if the water was poisoned.
"Good, good! That's more like it!" Caspian was greatly pleased. He turned to Bianca. "Bianca, you too. From now on, you're not to be rude to Cyril. You should treat him as one of the family, understand?"
Bianca was clearly unhappy, but Caspian was so rarely this cheerful that she didn't want to spoil his mood. She could only mumble an agreement.
It was all Vivienne's fault. She couldn't believe Vivienne was so spineless, cozying up to Cyril right after their fight.
"Hmph!" Bianca threw down her fork and glared fiercely at Vivienne.
She expected Vivienne to be provoked and glare back, but the traitor didn't react at all. Resting her chin in her hand, she stared at Cyril with shining eyes. The moment his cup was empty, she refilled it, fawning over him relentlessly.

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