"...Could the quality be off?"
"Or was it damaged somehow?"
"No, no, no, that's not the issue." March 7th shook her head furiously.
"I mean, what do you use it for?"
"Based on all my years of watching dramas, you only use it to massage your arms, waist, and back, right?"
"That has to be it, doesn't it?"
"Mm... If that is what you wish to believe, then let it be so." Hysilens answered calmly.
Kryudera also smiled as she looked at the two of them.
"Do you take Duke Jianqi for a child?"
"At our age, we ought to have married and had children several times over by now."
"Uh... haha... all right." March 7th scratched her head sheepishly, realizing that really was true.
"The food's almost ready. Let's head back and eat together, okay? Don't sit out here, it's freezing." She tried to change the subject.
Hysilens looked tranquil, as though their earlier conversation had been nothing more than an insignificant interlude.
She gave a gentle nod.
"Very well. The ocean current carried by the wind has reached its peak."
She turned first and headed lightly along the gravel path they had come from, toward the brightly lit banquet grounds by the bonfire.
Kryudera nodded and slowly followed.
When the four returned to the clearing, the banquet atmosphere had indeed reached its peak.
Mydei's handling of the Crystal Ore Crabs had reached perfection.
After blanching, chilling, high-frequency vibration cleaning, and a series of subsequent dissections and separations as exquisite as an artistic performance, those once-ferocious bugs had long been transformed beyond recognition.
The amber, translucent Crab Crystal Marrow, trembling like premium aspic, had been sliced into sashimi as thin as cicada wings and laid atop crushed ice that gave off a frosty mist.
Tender green sprigs of rosemary