Chapter 1225

“Cough, cough.” Vanessa was choked by the spiciness. Although peppers weren’t some rare spices to the royal family, the chefs in the palace seldom added them to their dishes. A little bit of heat was able to whet the appetite, but such a rich spicy aroma was rather choking when they first smelled it.

“It’s so spicy,” Lola commented, furrowing her eyebrows. She took out a handkerchief and passed it to Vanessa before paying the coachman.

“Ladies, you have come at the right time. It seems like Boss Mag is doing something interesting again today,” the coachman said laughingly after taking the money.

“Oh?” Vanessa’s eyes lit up as soon as she heard that, and she got out of the carriage while using the handkerchief to cover her nose and mouth.

The spicy aroma became richer and richer, but after they got used to it, they no longer felt it was unpleasant. Instead, they could sense that this spiciness was different from other peppers’ spiciness. Its fragrance far exceeded its spiciness, which made them feel excited and happy.

However, Vanessa’s gaze was already attracted by that special table set up at the restaurant’s entrance. The black and gold marble table had a hole in the middle, and a weird-looking red soup pot was placed in it. Cut red chilis were floating in the steaming soup, and the spicy fragrance had come from there.

In the center of the red pot was a segregated small pot with thick white soup boiling in it. There were pieces of red tomato and cut greenish-white spring onions floating in it.

Compared to the red pot, the clear soup pot in the center seemed small, just like a baby shivering in the arms of a bulky man.

Many customers were already gathering at the restaurant’s entrance, and they were all looking at the soup pot curiously. They seemed like they, too, had no idea what that was.

Lola squeezed out from the crowd, and stared at that soup pot as she murmured, “Is that a witch’s soup pot?”

That soup pot looked a little frightening, and it was giving out a weird smell.

“Let’s go and find out.” Vanessa had already hopped off the carriage excitedly and walked toward the restaurant.

She had already seen the signboard with the words “Mamy Restaurant” on it. She couldn’t help but feel excited to have finally reached the holy land that she had been pining for so long.

She had already thought it all out. She was going to eat the eggplant with garlic sauce first. That copy of “Vegetarianism” was almost tattered from her constant reading, and she had been eating it uncountable times in her dreams.

Vanessa, who had a veil covering her face, was wearing a plain long cotton skirt with a white cape over it. She looked just like a middle-class young lady, and the cotton clothing that Lola was wearing also didn’t have any palace vibes on it.

“This is ‘hot pot’? I don’t see any fire[1]?”

“Although I don’t see any fire, the smell of it makes my throat feel like it’s on fire.”

“Isn’t that a clear soup pot in the middle of the red soup pot? I sense that pot of soup should taste rather good.”

“Anyway, I am going to eat the roasted duck tonight. I have saved up secretly for it for a whole month, and now I can finally eat it.”

Many customers who came early were discussing the pot’s contents among themselves curiously at a distance. Boss Mag said he was going to demonstrate to them what a hot pot was tonight at the lunch service, so many customers came early for that.

However, after the service staff set up the table and carried that weird soup pot out, there was no further action, so the customers were all wondering what Boss Mag was up to. Could the delicacies be hidden under those red chili peppers?

Vanessa was standing among the crowd quietly as she listened to the conversations around her with bright eyes.

Among the customers, there were company employees who got off from work early to try the new released items; one of them was a fashion boutique owner who had saved up behind his wife’s back to enjoy the food alone; and an independent writer, who contributed to food magazine’s articles, came here for new ideas to write about.

The customers who were all from different backgrounds and species were now gathering together, and discussing Boss Mag’s new item harmoniously, or debating if tofu pudding was best eaten as savory or sweet.

What an unique scene. Vanessa felt as if she had found her kindred souls. There were actually so many people in this world who loved to eat. They could even cross the barriers of species and status to achieve equality.

Lola stood next to Vanessa, and watched the crowd warily, especially the three orcs standing at a short distance away. She had heard the orcs were terrifying chaps who would cook and eat women and children like animals. They might cause harm to the princess if they found out the princess’s identity.

Amy came running back from the magic potion shop next door. She greeted the regular customers who came to the restaurant frequently, and then melodiously called out, “Father, I am back from school!”

“Wow! What a cute elf.” Vanessa’s eyes lit up. She loved elves as they were pretty and elegant. They always felt very approachable.

When she was a young girl, she would always sneak out to look at Princess Irina every time she came to the palace. She had always wished to become a woman as beautiful and elegant as her when she grew up.

And the little girl wearing a magician robe at the restaurant’s entrance had the exact same silver hair and intricate pointed ears. She was knocking at the door and speaking with an adorable voice.

The customers were all smiling at Amy with love and delight. They always felt happy unexplainably after meeting Little Boss… except when they had to watch her eat.

That would have to be the most tortuous thing in the world.

“Amy!” Anna opened the door with a smile.

“Meow!” Ugly Duckling dashed out and jumped straight into Amy’s arms.

“Little Amy, go wash your hands and prepare to eat dinner,” Mag said to Amy as he came out from the kitchen, pushing a multi-layer trolley filled with all sorts of ingredients.

“Okay, okay.” Amy nodded, and then asked Mag, “Father, are we eating hot pot tonight?”

“Yes.” Mag nodded and parked the trolley next to the table at the door. That table also had a red soup pot, but it was much smaller than the one out there. It was just nice for two people.

“Camilla, Connie, the two of you will have your meal here. This is a manual on how to eat the hot pot. I have already put the ingredients in sequence according to the manual. You two just have to follow the instructions and put them in the pot to cook. Take it out immediately when the time is up,” Mag said to Camilla and Connie before taking an electronic clock out, and placed it on the table. “Do you see this button? Press on it and it will start on the countdown. Don’t mix up the timing.”

“Do we still have to do our own cooking?” Camilla frowned slightly. It was already bad enough to ask her to chop the ingredients. She even got to cook her own dinner now. Wasn’t this akin to asking her to poison herself?

She had once cooked a pot of porridge which Caesar had taken one bite of. It was bedridden for the entire month.

[1] Transliteration of hot pot is “fire pot” in Chinese.