The five children gathered around the massive mahogany dining table again, the map of Rowan's expansive farm still spread out, but their attention had shifted entirely to the blank parchment Rowan had placed next to it. He set a jar of ink and a quill near the top of the page.
"Alright, my little strategists," Rowan said, leaning over the table, his arms crossed over his muscular chest. "Our objective is simple: total culinary victory. We need five specific dishes. One for each of your mothers. Dishes that are so devastatingly delicious, so perfectly crafted, that they will be compelled to stay."
He tapped the blank parchment with the quill. "This is our menu. The 'Mothers' Feast.' We'll assign the main course now. I want you to tell me what your mothers love to eat, but more importantly, why they love it. The why is the key to locking them down."
Although Rowan knew some of the women's favorite foods, he wanted to see if his children knew. He had only lived with the woman for a couple of months to a year each. The kids had lived with them for more than 5 years each.
He had to make sure that their tastes in food hadn't changed. Though he doubted that, given the stubbornness they inherently had, no problem in being safe, this would also give him a chance to bond more with the kids.
Lilly, still riding high on the success of the Berry Lemonade, volunteered first. She stood up on her chair, her small frame radiating determination.
"My mother, Artemis, loves anything that is fast, strong, and simple, Daddy! Like her sword moves!"
Rowan nodded, scribbling down the first entry. "Artemis Minos. A swordswoman's palate. Fast, strong, simple. Give me an example, Lilly."
"She loves grilled meat!" Lilly declared. "The fire is strong, and the meat is simple! But she hates anything that takes too long to chew. She says a true warrior needs to fuel up without wasting time."
Rowan nodded. That was the Artemis he knew. A woman who traveled the world to hone her sword. All she liked was roasting up simple dishes on a campfire. She was always on the move, so simple is best.
Darius slammed his hand on the table, instantly siding with his sister's mother. "A lean protein is essential for a fighting force! Minimal preparation, maximum energy density. A perfectly cooked steak, Father! Seared on the outside, red and powerful on the inside!"
Rowan chuckled at this son's antics. He really is a military child at heart. He had a sneaking suspicion that Yue had raised the kid at the barracks and not her house. Steak seems to be something that Darius likes as he remembers that Yue doesn't like fancy steak. Then again, that's not his suggestion for his mother. His turn should be later.
Alexia wrinkled her nose. "Steak is so uninspired, Darius. It lacks complexity."
Darius glared at her. "It's efficient, Alexia! Unlike your mother's overly complicated potions!"
"No fighting, children," Rowan chuckled, placing a heavy hand on both their shoulders. "Both points are valid. Artemis appreciates efficiency, but her true weakness lies in something she believes complements her warrior spirit, but actually softens her resolve. I know exactly what it is."
He leaned in with a scheming grin. "Artemis believes she is a pure creature of the sword, rejecting all worldly comforts. But she grew up on a farm, same like me. She pretends to be a disciplined knight, but deep down, she misses the food of her childhood. And she cannot, cannot resist my... Shepherd's Pie."
He wrote the dish down with a smile.
Lilly tilted her head. "Shepherd's Pie? That's not very fast, Daddy. It takes time."
"Precisely," Rowan explained. "It's the ultimate comfort food. Lamb, slow-cooked in a rich gravy with onions, carrots, and herbs. All from our farm, of course, and then topped with a smooth, cheesy potato mash and baked until golden. It's the opposite of fast. It requires her to sit down, slow down, and feel safe. When she eats it, she stops being the hardened knight and starts being the Artemis I fell in love with. It's what I made before I proposed to her."
Lilly's eyes widened in understanding, a miniature breakthrough. "Wow Father! Are you trying to get your mother to remember that day?"
"Hmm." Rowan acknowledged. "I have to remind her that she had accepted my love that day. That way, she can't run away again."
Lilly thought for a moment and then nodded in understanding. Mother does talk about that day a lot. I now see why she would always eye the restaurants with shepherd's pie but never go in.
Next, it was Alexia's turn to speak for her mother. Alexia pushed her dark hair back, revealing the determined glint in her blue eyes.
"My mother is a witch obsessed with concoctions and magic. She doesn't eat for sustenance; she eats to test her research results. Her meals must be as complex and visually stimulating as her potions."
She then pauses and makes a disgusted look. It seems like whatever Nexia was feeding her, Alexia didn't want to taste again.
"She often makes these disgusting, glowing green soups, but when she's trying to relax, she seeks dishes that offer a spectrum of flavor and texture, things that feel like a puzzle," Alexia continued, trying to sound as mature as her mother. "She loves things that are simultaneously hot and cold, or savory and sweet."
Darius scoffed. "Tch, sounds like she can't make up her mind."
"It's about balance, Darius! The perfect equilibrium of elemental forces!" Alexia shot back, clearly insulted. "The only dish that consistently makes her lower her guard is one that engages all her senses at once."
Rowan nodded slowly, tapping the quill against his lip. "Engaging all her senses huh…..I remember. She loves the feeling of heat mixing with sharp, fresh ingredients. I'll fight fire with fire... and mint."
He wrote down: Spicy Lamb Tagine with Mint-Citrus Couscous.
It was a dish that throws abundant spices, meat, and herbs straight at all your senses. It was something he had enjoyed in his previous life and hadn't made it since.
"The Tagine is rich, warm, and deeply spiced…like her darker magic. It's full of dried fruits from my orchards. But the couscous is light, fluffy, cold, and bursts with lemon and mint. The combination is a vibrant conflict on a plate. It'll make her want to analyze every flavor, keeping her busy and distracted while I keep her trapped."
Alexia's serious face broke into a delighted, analytical smile. "The perfect trap, Father. She'll be too busy analyzing the ingredients to realize she's trapped!"
"My mother is a serious scholar and accountant. She values consistency, predictability, and high nutritional yield per minute of preparation. She mostly eats plain oatmeal because it's 'efficient.'"
Alex clearly doesn't seem to enjoy oats. He seems to have a serious distaste for it. This kingdom doesn't have rich diets like some of its neighbors do. Only nobles and the rich can afford to have a variety transported in.
Lina might be an accountant but she is barely considered middle class. She can't afford those finer things in life. At least he doesn't have to eat Nexia's concoctions like Alexia does.
Rowan wrote 'Lina Gray: Efficiency, Predictability, Nutritional Yield.' He remembered Lina's endless quest for optimization.
"She always carries a ledger and calculates the cost of dinner. If a dish is expensive or time-consuming, she feels guilt," Alex mumbled, rubbing his temples as if anticipating a spreadsheet. "But... she has one weakness. It's illogical, it's expensive, and it requires maximum effort. She never makes it, but she always stares at it on the menu."
"What is it, son?" Rowan asked gently.
"Mushroom and Truffle Risotto," Alex confessed, the words almost a painful admission of extravagance. "She says it's too much money for too little return, but she loves the smell of truffles. She says it smells like 'boundless profit.'"
This finally caught Rowan by surprise. He remembered that Lina would always complain about his dishes using too many precious ingredients or him taking too long to make them.
Though she still ate them with delight, she would always sigh afterwards, trying to calculate how much it would cost to buy or sell the same ingredients or meals. It's not that she's greedy but her family was quite poor. Bottom of the epasentry poor. It's her own hard work at the public schools, studying her butt off that got her a good job.
Rowan threw his head back and laughed. "Boundless profit! That's my Lina! The ultimate conflict. The efficient woman craving the most inefficient, most costly dish in the kingdom! Perfect!"
He scribbled the dish down. "I'll make it from scratch. The rice, the chicken stock, the rich forest mushrooms, and the truffle oil I've been saving. I'll stand there and stir it for a full hour, letting the aroma permeate the entire house. She'll be so infuriated by the waste of time, yet so desperate for the taste, that she won't be able to leave."
"I'll have to make a trip into the forest and get the mushrooms myself. I might need to buy more truffle oil from town. I have to experiment a little to make sure I get it right."
Alex looked up at his father, a hint of awe in his usually tired eyes.
"My mother is a great military officer! She requires high-energy, morale-boosting meals! Her diet is currently 80% dried rations and 20% questionable stew from a field kitchen!"
"Yue Ling: Morale, Fuel, Discipline," Rowan wrote, trying to keep a straight face. He remembered Yue Ling's food philosophy: if it runs, kill it, cook it fast, and eat it.
"She loves food that requires action! She hates soups or anything that requires sitting politely. She likes to tear things apart!" Darius declared, punching the air.
Rowan smiled. He knew this one. Yue Ling, for all her military rigor, was secretly a messy, tactile eater who loved the satisfaction of a job well done, even if that job was deboning her dinner.
"We need a meal that requires maximum engagement, but is also a celebration of victory," Rowan said, writing the dish: Sticky Glazed BBQ Beef Ribs with Cornbread.
"These ribs are slow-smoked for hours to make them fall-off-the-bone tender. Then, they're slathered in my own secret blend of sticky, sweet, and smoky sauce. She can't eat these with a knife and fork. She has to use her hands. She has to get messy. She has to fight them. The cornbread is a sweet, humble side. The greatest reward after a tough battle."
Darius's eyes were blazing. He licked his lips at the sound of this meal. He would make sure his father gives him some samples later.
Finally, it was Lucia's turn, the small, silver-haired daughter of the vampire heiress, Cheryl Ichor Von Bloodsworth. She sat quietly, taking a delicate sip of her Berry Lemonade before speaking in her slow, careful cadence.
"My mother is... very fast. And she likes things that are... cool. And red."
Rowan wrote: 'Cheryl Ichor Von Bloodsworth: Cool, Red, Fast.' This was the trickiest one. Vampires were an enigma. Also, he really liked writing down her whole name. It is a pretty cool name. Cheryl loves her name, and so do I. She would always announce her full name to new people or when entering a place.
"She doesn't like hot, heavy foods," Lucia continued. "She says they make her 'slow and sleepy.' She likes to drink things that are red and fresh. But sometimes... she eats a lot of things that look like... like Raspberry Coulis."
Rowan frowned. Raspberry Coulis was a fancy, sweet sauce, usually used as a dessert garnish. It was hardly a main course. "Just the sauce, little one?"
It was probably because the sauce is a little blood-like.
"Yes, Daddy," Lucia confirmed, nodding. "And she loves the smell of old, aged wood. And cheese."
Rowan rubbed his chin. This was a complete contradiction: a powerful vampire heiress who craved fast, cool food, but also Raspberry Coulis, aged wood, and cheese. He suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Cheryl's family, the Bloodsworths, were notoriously traditional, practically living artifacts. They valued history and aristocracy.
"I have it," Rowan declared, a slow, cunning smile spreading across his face. "We won't give her a main dish. We'll give her an experience that she can consume at her own pace, a piece of aristocratic nostalgia."
He wrote: Aged Gouda and Charcuterie Board with Fresh Raspberry Coulis, accompanied by an Iced Blood Orange Tea.
"The Iced Blood Orange Tea is cold and red. It addresses her need for 'fast and cool.' The raspberry coulis, as Lucia said, is her secret sweet weakness. But the Gouda will be the centerpiece. I've been aging a block of Gouda in my cellar for five years. It's incredibly rare, expensive, and smells exactly like the old, dusty furniture in her family manor. It's the taste of home and status, not sustenance."
The entire thing is a perfect representation of the noble vampire theme. Elegant, classy, aged and red. Perfect for Cheryl who wears gothic dresses of black and red from an ancient age. Rowan prided himself on creativity, so this was perfect.
Lucia's ruby eyes glowed. "Mommy likes being a princess."
Rowan beamed. "Exactly. We appeal to the princess."
The final menu was set:
Artemis Minos- Shepherd's Pie
Nexia Lunecroft - Spicy Lamb Tagine with Mint-Citrus Couscous
Lina Gray - Mushroom and Truffle Risotto
Yue Ling - Sticky Glazed BBQ Pork Ribs with Cornbread
Cheryl IchorVon Bloodsworth - Aged Gouda & Charcuterie with Raspberry Coulis
...
Now all that was left was to experiment with the dishes and do some practice runs. He would also have to make sure he had everything available on the farm. If not, he would go buy. A trip to town would be fun for the kids too.
And with that, the plan was set. All that was left was hunting down the ladies and bringing them here.