"Sorry to keep you waiting... Why are you still kneeling?" Mo Bai looked dumbfounded at Miyamoto Yayako, who was still kneeling in the small courtyard. "Quick, get up."
Mo Bai hurriedly helped Miyamoto Yayako up.
"Have you agreed?" Miyamoto Yayako's scorching gaze made Mo Bai's hair stand on end.
"You're a Gourmet Investigator. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to be a bodyguard for an idler like me? It wouldn't sound good if word got out, right?" Mo Bai tested the waters carefully, trying to refuse politely without provoking a beating.
"I am no longer a Gourmet Investigator." Miyamoto Yayako's eyes were piercing.
"But a great beauty like you accompanying an eighteen-year-old boy... people will gossip, won't they?"
"The relationship between a lord and his retainer is entirely proper; why fear the slander of outsiders?" Miyamoto Yayako remained steadfast, her eyes burning without a hint of wavering. "Moreover, I trust Highness Mo Bai."
Mo Bai, at a loss for words, stared blankly at Miyamoto Yayako. Was this girl really dead set on being his guard, disregarding her own reputation entirely?
You trust me, but the key is that I don't even trust myself.
Noticing his gaze tending to slide towards a certain deep valley in obedience to the law of universal gravitation, Mo Bai hurriedly turned his head.
"Investigator Miyamoto..." Mo Bai sighed and unleashed his ultimate move. "I am just an amateur chef who hasn't been certified by the IGO."
"If you really have a need, I can ask Wang Yao for a favor. If he steps in to clear up the misunderstanding, wouldn't it be wonderful for you to continue being a Gourmet Investigator?"
"No! Highness Mo Bai, you simply do not realize your own value!"
Hearing Miyamoto Yayako's words, Mo Bai was startled.
He thought of Wang Yao's parting words. Could it be that this girl really saw something?
"At eighteen, you already possess a complete 'Culinary Heart' with extreme inclusivity. If you practice your culinary arts diligently and have good luck, you could become the youngest Special-Grade Chef in the Far East."
"The current record for the youngest Special-Grade Chef in the Far East is held by Lord Dōjima Gin at 28."
"This also signifies that you are the existence most likely to become the second Qilin-level Chef in the Far East."
Sweat! So she was talking about that.
Mo Bai had scared himself for nothing.
"Oh."
"'Oh'?" Mo Bai's nonchalant reply made Miyamoto Yayako very anxious. "No, no, no, Highness Mo Bai, you don't understand at all."
"When that time comes, your status in the Far East culinary world will be beneath only one person and above ten thousand."
"At that time, all the resources of the Far East will tilt towards you. If you advance further to become a Qilin-level Chef..."
"You could even command the entire Far East."
"I don't care about my status in the Far East culinary world." In Mo Bai's view, the Far East culinary world was merely a stepping stone; its limit was, at best, Qilin-level recipes.
His original intention for cooking remained unchanged—to make a meal that would satisfy that young girl (?) who appeared on the snowy night.
However, as his culinary skills improved, the more he delved into the art, the more he discovered his own limitations.
It was so now, and he feared it would be even more so in the future.
Although it seemed a bit out of reach right now, whether for the sake of culinary arts or sentiment, heading to the ancient and mysterious Hua nation continent would eventually be inevitable.
Heh, she should understand my meaning now, right?
Whether interpreted as leaving or as having no ambition, there was nothing wrong with it.
This polite refusal! It's in the bag!
Mo Bai did not know that his clever remarks caused Miyamoto Yayako to suddenly lose her reason, and even made her choose a stubborn path of no return.
Otherwise, he would definitely have beaten himself to death.
Told you to fcking act cool! Told you to fcking refuse politely!
Miyamoto Yayako's violet pupils dilated, and the sentence "I don't care about my status in the Far East culinary world" echoed incessantly in her ears.
Her mind suffered a shock!
How domineering! How proud! How... pretentious were those words!
When the boy's lips parted to speak that deafening line, causing goosebumps to rise all over her body, she understood.
The boy's distant gaze was not looking at the ceiling; that sharp, falcon-like gaze filled with vibrant ambition was staring at the entire sky!
What his heart held was not the Far East culinary world, but the entire world!
In a trance, Miyamoto Yayako saw Mo Bai's figure growing taller and taller...
Her vision solidified from its scattered state, and a lively highlight appeared in Miyamoto Yayako's pupils.
Rebellious?
No!
This is the heart of a king!
"Highness Mo Bai's future is bound to be immeasurable!" Mo Bai's words ignited the flame within Miyamoto Yayako's heart as a martial artist.
Miyamoto Yayako's scorching gaze added a few more degrees of heat, startling Mo Bai once again.
No matter how you look at it, she's misunderstood, right!
"Holy crap! What did she twist my metaphor of 'leaving the Far East eventually' into?!"
"Since Highness Mo Bai has such ambition to look at the world, naturally, Miyamoto Yayako cannot fall behind."
"Miyamoto Yayako implores Highness Mo Bai to accept her as a retainer."
"From now on, I am at Your Highness's command!"
Fierce Tiger Descending the Mountain Style—Dogeza!
"Black... ah pui!" Mo Bai, whose eyes were nearly blinded by that certain something, wore a terrified expression.
"When did I ever say I wanted to look at the world?"
"You have to be responsible for your words, understand?"
Mo Bai could no longer suppress his desire to retort, and the little tea table in his heart spiraled into the sky!
"Girl, your imagination is seriously toxic!!!"
"666! Mo Bai's brilliant plan settles the world, earning a bodyguard and adding a retainer!" Little Bai began frantically spamming '666' for Mo Bai's surplus of wise operations.
"Awooo!" The Little White Dragon, shifting between spiritual and physical forms, was also instigated by Little Bai and drilled out of Mo Bai's chest.
"This is a Food Spirit!?" Seeing the Little White Dragon poking out of Mo Bai's chest, Miyamoto Yayako felt a rush of hot blood to her head, trembling all over.
Fortune came too suddenly; Miyamoto Yayako felt as if she had fallen into the clouds.
Those acknowledged by Food Spirits have been heroes surpassing the favored children of heaven since ancient times!
The rarer the Food Spirit, the more it reflects the hero's aptitude.
And what Mo Bai possessed was actually—a Dragon-species Food Spirit!
If her impulse earlier stemmed from a martial artist's instinct, the appearance of the Little White Dragon now made her completely confirm that Mo Bai would definitely dominate the world stage in the future.
Seeing Miyamoto Yayako so excited by the Little White Dragon that she completely lost control of herself, Mo Bai shouted that things were bad.
Shoving the Little White Dragon back into his body, Mo Bai hurriedly explained.
"No, listen to my explanation..."
"No need to explain! Miyamoto Yayako is willing to follow Your Highness for a lifetime, to go through fire and water without hesitation!"
"Is this woman scared crazy?" Seeing Miyamoto Yayako trembling all over, her face flushed red, and her blood pressure visibly rising to an extreme limit, Mo Bai couldn't help but feel afraid.
"Investigator Miyamoto, get up first!" Mo Bai hurriedly reached out to support her.
"I won't get up unless Your Highness agrees!"
Damn! Are you a child!?
"Get up first!"
"I won't!"
After a few tugs of war, Miyamoto Yayako's suit finally couldn't withstand Mo Bai's inhuman brute force.
With a ripping sound, Mo Bai tore off a large piece involving the sleeve, taking the white shirt underneath with it.
"..." Miyamoto Yayako, hurriedly covering her towering parts, and Mo Bai, holding the torn clothing, locked eyes, both seeing the dumbfounded expression on the other's face.
Neither of them noticed that the courtyard gate had been opened.
"Lecher!"
Mo Bai suddenly felt a vicious wind rapidly approaching from behind, and a white high heel gradually enlarged in his peripheral vision!
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