NOVPUBA week flew by in the blink of an eye.
Capital of Hutton, Ichrite.
Boss Cat Restaurant.
According to "Ichrite Food Weekly," this restaurant has a very high rating, with many positive reviews from regular customers.
Because of the high-quality dishes, it has always had a fixed clientele who like to patronize it.
Occasionally, there would be some strange reviews, such as—"Sometimes there’s a beautiful gray-haired young lady in the store. Although she always wears her hair in braids and glasses, the more she does this, the more it makes people think she’s deliberately dressing down to avoid a lot of trouble because she is actually too pretty. She can really eat a lot."
Pranay was reading the reviews.
He was standing behind the bar, holding a magazine in his hand.
Today’s Boss Cat Restaurant had not yet opened for business.
Pranay had wanted to understand the local residents’ opinions of this restaurant, but he didn’t expect to find such a strongly relatable paragraph.
"It’s no wonder she’s our princess, she’s never lost when it comes to beauty,"
Antanas said leisurely, sitting at the bar, sighing.
"No, that’s not right. Talia, as a royal, is extremely disciplined. As far as I recall, she always maintained the strictest dietary principles and training habits and even abstained from sweets. There was one time when I got a box of top-grade sweets, and she was only willing to eat them."
Sinola was still sitting beside Antanas with her eyes closed, tilting her head in confusion.
Only Princess Isatia would goof off like that, always doing whatever she wanted, without any trace of being a princess.
Although the Great Princess lacked talent, her comportment as a princess had always been impeccable. More importantly, since the Second Princess always clung to the Great Princess from a young age, the Great Demon Clan did not take issue with the Second Princess to attack the Great Princess.
"Think about it, after the Second Princess came to the human kingdom, she has become a noble and dignified Duchess. If the Great Princess were to come, wouldn’t she be even more enchanting? It’s impossible for her to degrade herself,"
Antanas responded.
"Indeed,"
The siblings agreed.
Although their colleague, Chef Asina, had told them some of her daily life interacting with Talia,
It seemed like Talia was just lying low, earnestly helping Asina appreciate the food, giving professional guidance, tasting in moderation, and behaving very gracefully.
The three members of the Great Demon Clan chatted leisurely like this.
Suddenly, Antanas thought of something and walked over to one side of the restaurant’s wall on the first floor.
She patted the old wooden wall, then took a paper bag from behind the counter.
"You know, I felt that there was a big empty space here, and yesterday when I was shopping, I came across a painting that had a really good vibe, so I bought it. What do you guys think?"
Antanas took the framed painting out of the half-meter-tall paper bag and hung it in that empty space.
It was a reproduction of a piece of art that had become a hot topic in the last couple of days.
The image depicted three humanoid figures entwined together, exhibiting a twisted and abstract beauty.
Because the painting was heavily promoted by multiple official media of the South Continental Kingdom Union Council, it immediately sparked a new wave of discussion in the art communities of various countries, analyzing its artistic connotations.
Upon seeing this, Pranay almost dropped the magazine in his hands.
He tried his best to control his expression.
"Although I don’t understand this painting, I don’t know why, but when I saw this painting, I felt a very strong sense of familiarity, and I found it very interesting, so I bought it,"
Antanas explained.
She didn’t know if she was using the right words, but as soon as she saw the painting, she had decided to buy it.
She’d always felt that she had no talent for appreciation; whenever she saw great masterpieces that others talked about, she seldom felt a resonance from deep within, simply put, she didn’t understand them. However, when she saw this painting yesterday, not only did others give it high praise, but she also felt it was indescribably good. She even began to doubt if the artistic cells within her had awakened.
"What a coincidence, I feel the same way,"
After scrutinizing the painting for a while, Sinola also sensed the inexplicable déjà vu that Antanas mentioned.
"Right, right!"
Antanas cheered excitedly.
"Brother, what do you think?"
Sinola was convinced that, among the three of them, Pranay had the most artistic insight.
"Ah? Oh, let’s take down this painting for now; I always feel like it might not quite fit the restaurant’s style."
Pranay felt sweat dripping down his back as he squeezed out a small smile and tried to persuade them.
He could only put it delicately.
For now, Pranay could still deceive Sinola and Antanas.
But he wasn’t sure when the King and Duchess Hyperion Talia returned, and the three of them faced this painting hanging in the Boss Cat Restaurant every day, if he could still perfectly pretend to be ignorant while sharing a cell with them.
"Ah..."
Antanas suddenly became very disappointed and looked at the painting, reluctant to take it down.
"How about we still wait for the Cat Boss to come back and let him be the judge?"
Seeing Antanas’s pitiful look, Sinola turned to Pranay and suggested.
"..."
Pranay was at a loss for words.
You want the Cat Boss to evaluate this painting? You must want it dead, right?
Just as Pranay was preparing another reasonable excuse to replace the painting without crushing Antanas’s spirits, the chimes of the Boss Cat Restaurant rang.
A distinctive feature of the Boss Cat Restaurant was its beautifully curved large roof, extending far beyond the walls, with a string of wind chimes hanging under the deep eaves, producing pleasant sounds with every breeze or incoming customer.
The chimes clearly indicated that the restaurant was still closed, meaning someone had returned.
They looked towards the door.
"The three of you, we’re back."
Duchess Hyperion, with Little Black Cat on her head, opened the door and walked in, greeting them.
She smiled and winked at Antanas, as if to tell her the promise had been fulfilled.
All the members of the Great Demon Clan looked toward Duchess Hyperion’s back.
Behind Duchess Hyperion, outside the door, Lanci, who had just gotten off the carriage and was pushing his luggage, was slowly approaching the Boss Cat Restaurant, seemingly arguing with someone.
"I promise you’ll be surprised soon. You have one last chance to guess what I’ve prepared for you."
"Heh, what surprise could you possibly have for me, raspberry jam chocolate mousse?"
"No."
"Vanilla crème brûlée?"
"Also no."
"And you dare say you know me?"
Talia was holding a large box of fried chicken legs, drizzled with honey mustard sauce - crispy on the outside, tender on the inside - occasionally picking up a piece and gently putting it in her mouth, and then chewing while bantering back at Lanci.
With the conversation ongoing, they finally stepped into the Boss Cat Restaurant.
And then, they saw the three members of the Great Demon Clan looking at her.
For a moment, Talia’s words abruptly stopped, her eyes widened, and the chicken leg in her hand dropped to the floor.
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Happy New Year!
Asking one last time for your end-of-month and beginning-of-month votes for 2023!
