Chapter 18
Just as Erina was lightly closing her beautiful eyes, preparing to submerge herself completely into an ocean of pure decadence—
The main door of the restaurant was suddenly pushed open with a loud bang!
"How wonderful!!"
"Erina!"
"My dear, darling cousin!"
"You really are too much, aren't you!"
"How dare you sneak out behind my back to taste delicious food all by yourself!"
"And how dare you sneak out behind my back to meet Mineo-kun in the real world!?"
"Erina, don't you feel like you owe me a very good explanation?"
"And Mineo-kun!! Do you not have a single word you want to say to me???"
The door stood wide open, and there stood Alice, her arms folded tightly across her chest.
Her beautiful eyes, usually as clear as water, were currently flashing with a murderous glint!
She glared sharply at the "traitorous pair" sitting at the dining table.
Meeting in the real world, huh!
A date, huh!
You think I, Alice, am that easy to fool, do you!
Great job, Mineo!
Great job, Erina!
This Second Young Lady was truly fooled by you two with flying colors....
Hearing that sudden voice and seeing the familiar figure standing in the doorway, Erina felt as if her entire world had come crashing down!
Reflexively, she bolted upright from her chair.
Erina stammered, her voice trembling:
"A... Alice?"
"You... How did you get here!"
"H-How did you know I was here...."
"Why am I here?"
"Erina!"
"My dear cousin!"
Alice let out a cold, sharp smile.
"If I hadn't followed you, how would I have known what 'good' things you were doing behind my back!?"
"Meeting in the real world! Tsk, tsk!"
"A date!!"
"This is the first time I've realized that my Tsundere cousin, the great God's Tongue, actually possessed such courage!"
"It turns out you're quite the bold one, aren't you!"
"Alice... y-you've got it all wrong!"
"I... I only accepted Mineo-kun's invitation to come... come taste his cooking!"
"That's right... because he invited me... that's... that's why I came!"
"D-Don't you dare misunderstand!"
"Don't misunderstand?"
"If I remember correctly, Erina, weren't you supposed to have several tasting duties scheduled for today?"
"Canceling all your tasks and dumping your own work onto Hisako!"
"Then running off all alone to a restaurant in the middle of a remote forest, even dressing up this beautifully.... are all these things also just a 'misunderstanding'!?"
Alice walked forward with a graceful yet predatory stride, closing the distance step by step.
She spoke to Erina, her voice tight:
"The matter of you hiding this from me will be discussed later!"
"Right now, I want to talk to Mineo-kun first!"
Alice gritted her teeth so hard it sounded as if she might actually break them.
Her beautiful eyes locked onto Mineo with a piercing gaze.
But a second later, Alice suddenly flashed an incredibly sweet smile.
"Mineo-kun!"
Alice spoke in a soft voice so sugary it could give someone diabetes.
"Did the feeling of going on a date with my cousin feel very pleasant?"
"Why didn't you tell me sooner that you had already arrived in Japan!?"
"Is it that I, Alice, am really not as attractive as Erina?"
"I feel as if I've been completely neglected by someone...."
"Does Mineo-kun hate me that much....?"
Compared to Erina, who was currently a nervous wreck, Mineo's emotions remained remarkably stable.
"Alice, you've really misunderstood!"
"I... I only wanted to invite you both to my restaurant to eat separately!"
"My restaurant has a rule: it will only serve one guest at a time...."
"Actually, I was planning to invite you to come tomorrow for dinner...."
The smile on Alice's face vanished without a trace.
Her expression darkened, and she spoke each word with cold precision:
"Why do I feel like Mineo-kun's words are still just a big bluff!"
"Only serving one guest at a time?"
"Then why wasn't I the one you invited first? Why did you invite Erina instead!?"
"Am I, Alice, really not as special as Erina?"
Gritting her teeth, Alice sat down directly in the chair next to Erina.
"Today, I must eat here!"
"Mineo-kun, you don't intend to kick me out personally, do you?"
"...."
The Dimensional Restaurant managed by Mineo did indeed have a rule: it could only host one guest at a time.
Since both Erina and Alice had reached a chat frequency of 10,000 messages, they each had the right to eat at the restaurant ten times.
However, if two people ate at the restaurant at the same time, it wasn't strictly forbidden—but it would consume double the amount of their meal coupons.
Meaning, if two people dined together for a single session, the total amount of dining rights consumed would be four.
Of course, there was a third way to solve this problem.
That is, if the guest could become the Lady of the House at the Dimensional Restaurant, then she could eat at the restaurant anytime, anywhere!
Looking at the tense Young Lady and the fuming Second Young Lady before him, Mineo suddenly had a mischievous thought.
What if I put in a little effort to find two lady bosses for my restaurant?
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