Warm sunlight penetrated the gilded dome, casting kaleidoscopic patterns through the glass onto the pure white, light gauze curtains.
The sleeping princess opened her charming violet eyes. As she rose, her long golden hair, shimmering in the sunlight, cascaded from her shoulders to her front, concealing the exquisite collarbones beneath the girl's fair neck. What greeted her eyes was a luxurious room carrying an aura of antiquity.
The pure white walls and gilded goldware complemented each other perfectly. The flame-red carpet was graceful and magnificent, while the brown wooden furniture and various ancient reliefs inlaid on the walls softened the area of intense color contrast.
A faint scent of wood permeated the air.
Stepping onto the soft cashmere carpet with bare feet, Nakiri Erina went to the window.
She drew back the curtains, and a gentle breeze brushed her cheeks.
The emerald-green fairy tale forest surrounding the White Stone Castle was particularly striking against the backdrop of the blue sky and white clouds. Flags fluttered atop the city walls, where countless armored soldiers were guarding the safety of White Stone City. At the edge of the sea of clouds in the sky, a jungle seemed to appear faintly visible.
The scene of this magical world was like a painted scroll.
A sharp, long cry came from the horizon. A silver-white armored knight, with a tall and mighty posture, rode a giant bird descending from the sky onto the city wall.
The strong wind messed up Nakiri Erina's beautiful hair and simultaneously made it impossible for her to open her eyes. Just as the wind ended and she wanted to lean out to check the details, the large door behind her was suddenly opened.
Two rows of neatly dressed maids filed in.
"Princess, please change your clothes."
"Hisako?" Nakiri Erina looked at the cherry-blossom-haired maid changing her long skirt and asked in surprise.
"Your Highness, you called my name wrong again."
"I am Maid-ko."
The short-haired, capable maid girl, whose face closely resembled Hisako's, spoke earnestly while arranging the long skirt for Nakiri Erina. "You cannot call the ministers by the wrong names when you go out later."
"Ministers?"
"You haven't forgotten even this, have you?"
"Today is the day you inherit the Green Kingdom. The ministers are all waiting for you in the inner city council hall."
"Do you remember now? Then let's go quickly." After putting a gemstone necklace and earrings on Nakiri Erina, Maid-ko hurriedly pushed the incomparably bewildered Nakiri Erina out the door.
Escorted by soldiers, Nakiri Erina strolled along the streets of White Stone City. Every place she passed was accompanied by the praises and exclamations of the White Stone City residents.
Looking at the approaching inner city wall, Nakiri Erina suddenly felt a surge of emotion.
The inner city wall was hung with bright red flags. Every golden gemstone upon it symbolized a king who had made the kingdom prosperous, and the several large, oval white jade gemstones above them were rare treasures gifted by the Queen of the Sea.
At this moment, accompanied by the melodious sound of bells, a deep and resonant voice rang out:
"My child,"
"From the moment you were born,"
"The entire forests of the Green Kingdom whispered this name: Nakiri Erina."
"I watched with pride as you grew day by day, becoming the embodiment of the people's hope."
"At the same time, I know,"
"You will use your powerful talent with caution."
"But, true talent..."
"My child—that stems from a powerful heart."
"The day will come when my life reaches its end."
"And you, shall be crowned King."
The scene jumped, and Nakiri Erina watched as Nakiri Senzaemon kindly placed the crown upon her head.
The crowd gathered outside the inner lining wall immediately erupted in earth-shaking cheers.
"Her Majesty the Queen, I express my sincere respect to you."
"I am the Hurricane Knight, ordered by the old King to protect your safety."
Mo Bai, clad in silver-white knight armor, struck his left chest with his right hand. The giant quail with mixed fur and white feathers beside him also chirped repeatedly.
Looking at the black-haired youth's shining eyes that could reflect the blue sky and white clouds, as well as his sunshine-like warm smile, two blushes flew onto Nakiri Erina's cheeks under his gaze. As if possessed by a ghost, she extended her left hand.
Mo Bai was slightly stunned, then immediately bent his waist, kneeled lightly on one knee, and gently supported Nakiri Erina's palm, bringing it closer to his lips.
"I see!"
A sudden shout came from beside her ear, and the illusion blurred instantly.
Returning to reality, Nakiri Erina subconsciously looked at the back of her hand; she could still feel the residual warmth and breath on it.
Nakiri Erina's face turned red from bottom to top at a speed visible to the naked eye. The next moment, she firmly covered her scalding cheeks. "Heavens! What did I just do!"
"A hand-kissing ritual! And I was the one who actively requested it?!"
Nakiri Erina looked through the gaps in her fingers and saw that the expressions of the four people at the same table were not abnormal. How could she not know that she was the only one in this situation?
Gourmet Illusion—the chef only ever provides a framework and character style; the associations of various character appearances are mostly imagined by the diners themselves.
'The appearance is born from the heart'—this phrase is the best description for the characters in a Gourmet Illusion.
In Nakiri Erina's mind right now, there was only incomparable shame and regret.
"It's all the fault of those knight and princess romance novels I read last night!"
If not for that, she wouldn't have suddenly extended her hand as if possessed after getting into character, and Mo Bai in the illusion wouldn't have performed a hand-kissing ritual.
"Are you... alright?" Yukikawa Yukie asked with concern.
"I'm fine."
"Damn it!" After taking several deep breaths, Nakiri Erina no longer covered her face but turned to glare fiercely at Mo Bai down below.
Mo Bai also raised his head at just the right time.
Their gazes intertwined. Nakiri Erina suffered a total defeat and lowered her head in panic.
She would never admit that Mo Bai, wearing silver-white knight armor in that scene, truly made her maiden heart tremble.
Mo Bai: ???
"Am I that scary?" Seeing Nakiri Erina looking like a little white rabbit meeting a big bad wolf, Mo Bai wondered.
"Ugly thing, this handsome one doesn't even want to comment further." Bai Pipi had just acted cheeky when it was miserably thrown into the water pool by Mo Bai. "Gurgle gurgle gurgle~~~"
"Get lost."
Nakiri Senzaemon's evaluation was still ongoing.
"The main body of this set of cuisine is not the pastoral style! But the more supreme—Harmony!!!"
"That White Stone Castle completely integrated the previous several dishes together."
"Appetizer, Soup, Side Dish, Main Dish—the four dishes merged perfectly, evolving into a colorful scroll of a magical world on the tip of the tongue!"
"The Knight and the Princess." Speaking of this, Nakiri Senzaemon paused.
"The deep-fried Mandarin fish cubes retained the fish skin, achieving a level where the skin is glutinous and the meat is crisp. The flavor of the tomato sauce and the icing-on-the-cake effect of the oysters need no further description."
"The true secret weapon is the fish soup!"
"The onion-flavored fish soup contained within the pasta!"
"Who could have imagined that pasta pulled using the ramen method would actually be hollow pasta?!"
"Indeed." Zhang Yu followed up, giving him face.
"'Cuan' (Quick-boil)—originally means to cut and prepare the ingredients, wait for the water to boil over high heat, put in the ingredients, and add seasoning once the water boils again.
In the Jiangnan region of the Hua nation, one often sees the cooking method of putting cooked noodles into noodle soup and 'Cuan'-ing them again to make the flavors of the noodle soup and noodles merge more closely."
"Chef Mo Bai also slightly improved this method, making the hollow pasta suck up the soup full like a dropper."
"After biting open the chewy hollow pasta, the umami storm detonated by the onion-flavored fish soup it absorbed and the sweet and sour tomato sauce colliding in the mouth is like lightning sweeping across the whole body—" Nakiri Senzaemon sighed leisurely. "Even this old man can only marvel at Chef Mo Bai's whimsical ideas."
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