Dining Etiquette

In the Magic Kingdom, if one were to trace the origins of most customs or rituals, they would most likely go back to the Royal Court, or even the queen herself.

As the saying goes, "King Chu loved slender waists, and many starved to death in the palace." Although the Queen of the Rose Palace herself would not impose her own preferences on others, her love for desserts was well-known. Many Royal Court would naturally try to cater to her tastes, not only inventing all sorts of dessert-making techniques, but also standardizing a series, even complete sets, of tableware solely for eating desserts.

Ultimately, this kind of dining etiquette spread to the common people of the Kingdom. Through the imitation of the upper class, not only did desserts themselves become the most popular and well-known type of food in the Magic Kingdom, but "the ability to skillfully use dessert utensils" also became a sign of a person's standard of living.

Unfortunately, as a magical girl born into a commoner family, whose family suffered early misfortune and True Form was left with a disability, Ink Lotus clearly did not experience any "high-level Kingdom life" in her early years.

Larkspur had assumed that the woman who invited her to a restaurant like this must have experienced a relatively luxurious lifestyle in the next twenty years of her life, but it seemed that she had just been overthinking things.

"... This is Layering Clamp."

Holding the cutlery, Larkspur demonstrated to Ink Lotus while explaining, "Before cutting the cake with a knife, to prevent the cake layers from overflowing or falling off, we can use Layering Clamp to hold them in place."

"Ah, yes, yes."

Ink Lotus watched the Larkspur's movements very seriously, imitating it step by step like a primary school student. "Okay, I've fixed it."

"Hmm, and then the dinner knife."

Larkspur pointed to five knives lined up on the table. "These knives are the Frostleaf Knife, the Flame Page Knife, the Nut Knife, the Filling Knife, and the Pudding Knife. You can flip them over and look at the blades; the shape and color of the blades should all be different."

"I... I saw it," Ink Lotus stammered in response.

"Okay, then we need to figure out what kind of cake is in front of us. The waiter emphasized when he served us that it's a hazelnut chocolate sweet coffee mousse cake."

Larkspur pointed to the plate in front of her. "So the inside will be mousse and nuts, you understand?"

"Hmm..." Ink Lotus nodded.

"So we'll use the Nut Knife first."

From the five knives, Larkspur selected the one with the silver blade and the longer handle. "The purpose of the Nut Knife is that when it touches a nut in the cake, the blade can use the slightest vibration to cut it directly, ensuring that the nut doesn't sink down with it and thus damage the cake's original structure."

As she spoke, she lightly sliced a small piece from the cake. Then, she set the Nut Knife aside and picked up another dinner knife with a whitish blade:

"This is Frostleaf Knife. Its blade has a cooling effect and is generally used to cut ice cream, mousse, and similar structures. We've already cut the cake, but that's not enough. We need to use the Frostleaf Knife to cut along the original cuts again to cool the mousse and bring out its optimal texture."

"This is Nut Knife, this is Frostleaf Knife..."

Ink Lotus hesitated for a moment, her fingers selecting from the knives, then, following her memory, she took out a silver knife and placed it on the cake...

--"Wait a moment."

Larkspur was also watching Ink Lotus's movements, first sensed that something was wrong. When she noticed the cutlery in Ink Lotus's hand and what she was doing, she immediately tried to stop her, but it was too late.

"Pfft," "Ding--"

A series of strange noises startled diners at another table nearby, who all turned to look.

At this moment, the cake in front of Ink Lotus had been completely crushed in two, and even the Layering Clamp had failed to protect the poor mousse filling inside, which was now completely broken.

As for Ink Lotus herself, she was now looking at Larkspur with a blank and innocent gaze.

"... You've got the wrong thing. This is Butter-Jam Knife, used for spreading jam on bread, not a dinner knife."

Larkspur sighed helplessly, "And you cut the cake at too much of an angle, you practically pressed the butter knife down, so the filling was squeezed out."

She didn't criticize Ink Lotus for this, because in her view, the so-called use of dessert utensils and dining etiquette are not things that normal people need to know. If the other party wants to know, she can explain it; if the other party doesn't want to care, then they can simply pretend it never happened.

However, seeing that Ink Lotus still seemed a little disappointed, she eventually took half of the cake from her plate and then used a spoon to take some of the broken cake from Ink Lotus's plate.

"It's okay, you can try it. Actually, my half and your half taste no different."

As she said this, she scooped a spoonful from the pile of broken mousse and put it in her mouth. "So-called etiquette may add some spiritual flavor to food beyond the seasoning, but that's all it is, it's not that important."

Larkspur thought that explaining these things would put Ink Lotus at ease, but she found that her act of exchanging half a cake did not seem to brighten Mo He's expression; instead, he looked even more dazed.

"... What's wrong?" That was all she could ask.

"Team leader."

Ink Lotus pointed to the half-cake that Larkspur had given her, her voice carrying a strange emotion. "Just like back then."

"At that time?" Larkspur asked, puzzled.

"That's right, when you left."

Ink Lotus gazed at the Larkspur, her tranquil voice unexpectedly softening. "Give me yours, and then take it away from me."

The Larkspur fell silent.

She realized what Ink Lotus was talking about, but for her, the scene Ink Lotus described was actually closely related to the past that she had wanted to forget, so much so that she was completely unable to respond normally.

"Ah."

After a long pause, she could only reply somewhat stiffly, "Indeed."

"So, Captain, this time, can you tell me the answer seriously?"

Ink Lotus gazed at Larkspur, her eyes filled with an intense, almost overflowing, emotion. "After that, were you happy?"

The Larkspur pursed her lips, unwilling to meet his gaze or say anything more.

For some reason, the two of them suddenly found themselves in an eerie stalemate, which lasted until a vibration came from the Larkspur's handbag.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call."

So Larkspur immediately stood up, without even confirming the caller's identity, and left the table with her bag. "You eat first, I'll be right back."

Ink Lotus was left alone at the dining table.

Before long, the restaurant waiters brought the next dish to the table. They silently cleaned up the mess left by Ink Lotus the cake and placed a copper pot with white steam rising from it, along with several strange metal spheres, on the table.

"Hello, this is your chocolate fondue, and the ingredients for it."

"... Chocolate fondue?" Ink Lotus asked with some curiosity.

"Yes, the way to eat this dish is to put the ingredients in a pot, coat them with melted chocolate, and then take them out to enjoy."

The waiter politely said, "If you'd like to change the flavor of the chocolate, we can do that for you."

"Thank you." Ink Lotus nodded. "I understand."

Clearly, Larkspur's departure had some impact on her, but the various novelties of the restaurant still piqued her curiosity. Influenced by this feeling, she began to investigate the chocolate fondue the waiters had mentioned.

She already knew the pot contained melted chocolate, so what were those metal spheres?

Ink Lotus picked up one of the metal balls and placed it in front of her, looking at it from the left and right. She could vaguely see the seam in the middle of the ball, but it was very indistinct.

She tried to separate the ball, but its structure wouldn't budge. She then tried to twist it open, but still nothing happened. After trying for a long time without success, she began to look for other methods.

Could it be that we'll need to use the tableware next to us?

Once such an idea enters the mind, it becomes unstoppable.

Ink Lotus meticulously examined each piece of tableware, searching among the needles, forks, knives, and boards for anything that might be related to the sphere, until finally, she noticed a dinner knife with a reddish blade.

This appears to be the "Flame Page Knife" the captain mentioned earlier.

Ink Lotus retrieved the relevant information from her memory. At that time, Larkspur had only explained the functions of the Nut Knife and the Frostleaf Knife to her, without mentioning what this dinner knife was actually used for.

Want to give it a try?

Ink Lotus was still pondering the rationale behind this action, but her hands had already moved before her mind could process it.

--"Crunch!"

Half a minute later, when the waiter, drawn by the strange noise, came to the table, all that remained was a metal Refrigeration Orb with several holes poked in it, which was still not opened, and a dinner knife broken in two, still emitting a slight chill.

Of course, there was also a magical girl who was already sweating profusely and was probably the culprit behind the incident, but was trying her best to act nonchalant as she folded paper with a napkin.