After seating herself next to Adam on the left side of the table, they were joined by a curious man by the name of Ben Loew. She hadn't seen him around the grounds of the manor, and Johanna understood that he preferred to lurk below in the vast caverns that were dotted with libraries filled with ancient tomes, and scrolls containing mysterious pieces of information regarding psychic talents and other peculiar events in history; alchemy labs, along with underground aboretums that grew moss, fungus grown in Petri dishes, lichens, and other unique plants that liked the dark.
               Johanna silently vowed that she would eventually travel beneath the manor, as she only had a few times taking the spiral staircase down below to the caverns.

"Thank you kindly, I did not expect such a bountiful, and hearty breakfast to be awaiting us." She addressed Adam in a low, polite voice, so as not to draw attention to herself. In truth, Johanna was famished from the tiring, yet important work she was conducting in the gardens.

       Delicate hands grasped a slice of toast, and she proceeded to butter, and spread jelly upon the warm bread; once finished, she set it aside, her hands only slightly trembling from the sore muscles. Johanna turned her attention to one of the house servants along the far wall and beckoned to one of them.

"My dear friend, will you be a dashing fellow and bring me a cup of lavender tea?" 

Johanna naturally kept her voice low, as it was impolite for a lady to yell, or be excessively loud. It was a skill that forced people to listen, if they wanted to hear what she had to say. After instructing the young maid how to prepare it, she pressed into the waiting hand of the meek servant girl, a ball of rolled lavender in a silken satchel. With that, the girl carried on with her task, and Johanna returned to her breakfast.

          She kept quiet thereafter, waiting patiently for the others to arrive and surely they did. The next one to present themselves was a trivial, young girl, certainly younger than Johanna herself by a few years, entered the dining hall, awarding everyone a polite introduction, a good morning and hello. Suddenly, Johanna recalled her name to be Adrianna, or something of the sort; she continued on with her breakfast of toast, an apple, a croissant and a plentiful amount of scrambled eggs dusted with salt, black pepper, and a special pinch of cayenne pepper as well. Adam had not yet informed them of why exactly they were here, and that is what Johanna wished to hear. She watched the lady with the dark, braided hair, with curious eyes, also, Johanna had not but seen this woman once before in the manor. Her anti-social behavior was not out of spite, or dislike of the people whom inhabited the manor; rather, her seemingly quiet behavior was a mask for observing others, in all politeness of course.
               Ever since Greta became her governess, at the age of 12, Johanna had to learn lessons of etiquette to become a proper, an presentable woman in the future; she even took a liking to needlework as a way to relax her worried mind, and put her hands to work. She finished her meal and placed both knife and fork across the plate and pushed it away. 
           The servant she had called for finally returned to the dining hall carrying a piping hot cup of tea, upon a small, simple silver tray, along with cream and sugar, even a porcelain teapot in case she desired more. The young maid set the tray down gingerly in front of Johanna and removed her empty plate, leaving her to fill her cup of tea. She chose to avoid the cream and sugar, for she favored the plachant taste of lavender on her tongue. Her dark lashes lowered as she looked into her teacup and blew gently upon the steaming liquid, careful not to splatter it on herself. Her attention was suddenly drawn to Ben once more as he mentioned to Adam, what they were all truly doing here. She could only raise an eyebrow in a mused manner.