The salt and pepper chicken wings Yelena had just made were fragrant and crispy, still steaming with heat.
Kate watched Yelena being polite to a maid, but when she greeted Yelena, she was ignored. Kate chugged a large glass of water.
Sylvia looked at the delicious chicken wings and couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
Mira’s cheek twitched slightly. She bowed and thanked, “Thank you for the gracious gift, Lady Yelena. But as a mere maid, how could I…”
“There are no maids today. We’re all friends,” Yelena interrupted with a smile, then turned to look at Aisha.
Aisha grabbed the bottle of seasoning in the middle of the table, which contained the Special Powder.
Then she stood up and said with a dry laugh, “Mira, come and try it. Miss Yelena’s cooking looks great. Let me add some seasoning for you.”
With that, she unscrewed the cap and sprinkled the powder evenly over the food.
Everyone else in the room was now drawn to Aisha’s actions.
But the protagonist of this story, Mira, had her smile freeze.
In those beautiful purple eyes, an emotion beyond pretense appeared for the first time.
A fluctuation mixed with shock and wariness appeared for a moment.
Though she quickly covered it up with her usual gentleness.
“Lady Aisha, you’re too kind. This…”
Kate and Sylvia looked incredulous but chose to continue watching.
Yvette crossed her arms, putting on an expression of watching the drama unfold, but a mocking smile lingered at the corner of her mouth.
Yelena also maintained a natural smile from beginning to end, as if everything happening had nothing to do with her.
She was just a cook who had come to serve the dishes, a cook waiting for the diners to praise her.
But the more she acted like that, the more eerie the atmosphere became.
Mira looked at the chicken wings on the plate; the white powder on them made her pupils contract.
She had no choice but to continue pretending to be elegant, picking up a handkerchief to wipe the corner of her mouth, then said, “I’m truly sorry, Lady Yelena. My stomach hasn’t been well recently; I can’t eat things too greasy.”
“I’ve wasted your kind intentions.”
Still putting on an act. As if.
Fortunately, Yelena had anticipated this. Time for Plan B.
“It’s okay.” Yelena turned and walked into the small kitchen attached to the private room. Moments later, carrying a white porcelain soup tureen, she walked out slowly.
The moment she uncovered the soup tureen, a unique fragrance filled the entire room.
A pot of crystal-clear vegetable soup appeared before everyone.
“Since you can’t eat greasy food, have some soup to settle your stomach~”
Yelena looked around the table at the varied expressions of everyone and explained with a smile, “This is my specially made ‘Sincere Fruit and Vegetable Soup’ for today.”
“It’s said that those with an open heart will gain energy and blessings after drinking it, but those with ulterior motives will feel a piercing burning pain.”
As soon as she said that, Kate and Sylvia’s expressions changed first.
This was no ordinary meal; it was clearly a setup—no, a trial!
Yelena couldn’t be bothered to look at their reactions. She picked up the soup ladle and first served a bowl to Yvette.
“Old rule: new dish, you get the first serving~”
“My little chef is the best~” Yvette hummed, then without hesitation, raised the bowl and drank it all in one go.
The next second, a gentle yet overwhelmingly powerful red flame rose from around her body.
That flame had no actual heat; it was purely an energy fluctuation.
“Tastes good, but a bit bland.” Yvette smacked her lips, the mana around her gradually receding, but she looked radiant.
This was still a scene the two had planned in advance. The only target of all the dishes in this banquet was Mira.
Next, Yelena served a bowl to Anna, who had been quietly sitting in the corner.
“Thank you, Lady Yelena.”
Anna silently took it, and after drinking the soup, her aura became even calmer.
After doing all that, Yelena held the ladle and looked at Kate and Sylvia.
Their faces were pale, and expressions panicked.
“Your turn.” Yelena’s tone was quite calm instead.
“I-I’m not drinking that!” The tsundere mage remained stubborn.
“Who knows what you put in that soup!” Sylvia chimed in.
Aisha finally lost her patience and slammed the table.
“You two, drink it now!”
Her voice rose a few notches, carrying the undeniable authority of a Hero.
Aisha took the lead by example, taking a bowl of soup from Yelena’s hand.
Kate and Sylvia were momentarily intimidated, looking at Aisha’s serious, angry golden eyes.
Then they looked at Yvette, whose aura was imposing, and finally had no choice but to reluctantly take the soup bowls Yelena handed them.
With expressions like they were wearing pain masks, they drank the soup.
However, the anticipated pain did not come; instead, a cool sensation slid down their throats into their stomachs.
A gentle purifying power washed over their entire minds.
“Ugh…”
Kate let out a groan, and her eyes gradually cleared from anger and dissatisfaction.
She shook her head vigorously, as if trying to shake off something dirty.
“W-What was I… thinking just now?”
The same was true for Sylvia; she held her head, her face full of pain and confusion.
“How strange… Why did I hate Lady Yelena so much… Even though she saved us not long ago…”
The negative emotions that Mira had subtly implanted in their minds were now being completely cleansed and purified by the positive emotions of “Calm” and “Happiness” contained in the vegetable soup.
They finally regained their senses.
Meanwhile, Aisha looked at the clear soup in her bowl; the surface reflected her own face.
She knew this was Yelena’s test for her, as well as a transfer of trust.
She looked up and met Yelena’s clear fox-like eyes. There was no scheming in them, only complete openness.
Without hesitation, she drank it all in one go.
A warm energy spread from the depths of her stomach, sweeping away all her recent inner exhaustion, conflicts, and struggles.
As if she had received a Holy Light Baptism, her mood became light.
Alright.
Now, only one person at the table had not yet drunk the soup.
Everyone’s gaze focused on that one person.
The smile on Mira’s face could no longer be maintained.
She could vaguely sense that outside the private room, several subtle and powerful auras had gathered at the main passages.
Her escape route was cut off.
“Miss Mira,” Yelena’s voice sounded as Mira’s heart panicked, “hurry up and eat. It’ll get cold.”
She looked at the bowl of soup, took a deep breath, and was about to come up with another excuse.
But Aisha suddenly stood up.
Without hesitation, she walked straight to Mira’s side and unscrewed the small crystal bottle from before.
She poured it all over Mira’s head!
“Since you’re so reluctant, try this instead.”
The silver-white powder, like moonlight-condensed sand, poured down.
“Aaaaah!!!”
A shrill scream, unlike that of a human, echoed through the entire inn.
The maid outfit on Mira’s body was instantly corroded by a black aura.
Then strange purple magic patterns emerged on her skin, the skin on her back tore open, and a pair of giant bat wings extended!
Her hair also changed from brown to a seductive long purple curls, and two horns that didn’t belong to a human grew from her head.
But her height suddenly shrank, to about a meter forty, much shorter than everyone else present.
A succubus!
Kate and Sylvia, terrified, cowered in the corner.
The good sister they had trusted so deeply, even suspecting Aisha and speaking well of her, was actually this bratty succubus!
“Damn it! You… you bunch of damn small fry!”
Mira began to exhale with Abyssal magic. She knew she had been exposed; if she didn’t run now, there would be no chance.
“Damn fox spirit! You’re as detestable as your cheap mother!”
“In that case, prepare to lewd yourself until you’re exhausted and become a complete Star Slave!!”
“What the hell?! You—do you know my mother?”
Yelena wanted to ask Mira for information about her mother.
But the other party didn’t want to waste words with her.
She suddenly opened her mouth wide, and a cloud of pink smoke burst from her mouth, instantly filling the entire private room.