"This is your nameplate. Please take it and sit at the designated table."
Huh...it looks like it got passed by.
Catalina smoothed away a bunch of loose hair in front of her forehead and looked at the white crystal chandelier hanging in the center of the main hall. The light was brilliant, like thousands of stars in the night sky.
Different from the dragon pit and tiger den she imagined, the basement is well ventilated, and the light pink patterned walls are quite high-end. The peaceful fragrance of rose petals floated in the air, but there was never a trace of blood.
The guests were seated in an orderly manner, and ladies holding folding fans and gentlemen holding canes could be seen everywhere. People were polite and whispered, and there was no harsh noise.
Folding fans are standard accessories for ladies. Catalina's etiquette teacher once taught her the use of the folding fan and the hidden meanings expressed by different movements, but Catalina only remembered that placing it on the right cheek means "yes" and placing it on the left cheek means "no" , the rest has been returned to the teacher by her.
Where is the kitchen?
There were about ten waiters in the lobby, and they all passed through a corridor with an open door, and a sign saying "Non-staff members please enter" was hung next to it.
This should be the direction leading to the kitchen, where Burke Orton must be locked up.
Catalina did not dare to stay and watch for too long, and quickly walked to the seat corresponding to the nameplate.
"Hello, beautiful lady."
The man sitting next to her was wearing a blue and gold double-breasted gown, a full-face metal mask in the shape of a lion, and pince-nez on the mask. He was holding a white oak cane inlaid with sapphires and beautifully carved.
"Are you... talking about me?"
The girl looked around and finally confirmed that the other person was talking to her.
"Of course. Don't be nervous, it's just a pleasantries, it's still early before the food is served."
"Can you see through it?"
She knew that one could temporarily gain psychic vision by using the "Eye" secret text or an extraordinary secret treasure. There were also some gifted people with innate psychic vision. Unfortunately, most of these people's endings were not good.
"No, no, no, you misunderstood, Miss. A person's beauty does not come from appearance, but from the soul. And the eyes are the windows of the soul. From your eyes, I can see the rain and dew in spring, the flowers in midsummer, and the flowers in autumn." wheat fields and the first snow in winter. I think there must be a beautiful heart beneath the mask."
A "beautiful heart" that eats people?
"You are so good at talking."
Katarina laughed awkwardly in agreement. If you don't consider the scene, this sentence is still a bit of a disgusting compliment, but now it only makes her scalp tingle.
While the two were talking, a waiter was already pushing the dining cart to serve food. A shiny metal dinner cover covered the food inside, giving it an air of mystery and horror.
How could it be so fast? I thought……
The girl felt as if nails had suddenly grown out of the seat. For a moment, she was worried that when she opened the dining cover, she would find a bloody human head with a hideous face.
Click. The dinner cover was lifted, and on top of the broken ice was an octopus with its tentacles cut off.
Well, at least not human...
Catalina calmed her breathing for a while. She had to stay calm now, not to arouse suspicion, and find an opportunity to go to the kitchen as soon as possible.
"Ah ha - octopus with thin claws, it seems I haven't eaten it for a long time." The lion-faced man patted his palms lightly and smiled.
The waiter poured seasoning oil on the tentacles, but the tentacles that had left the body of the octopus were still struggling and twisting painfully on the ice, which made Catalina feel really uncomfortable.
"Miss?" The man stood up, picked up a tentacle with a public fork and knife, and asked Catalina diligently.
"Ah, no -" looking at the tentacles still squirming in front of her, Catalina waved her hands quickly, "Sorry, I'm... allergic to seafood."
"What a pity, then I won't be polite."
The man opened the movable mouth of the lion mask and pushed the tentacles into his mouth. The tentacles struggled on his delicate mustache before being completely chewed into his mouth. After chewing for a long time, he boasted again:
"Do you know? The key point of eating this dish is - 'chewing'. Since the octopus's nervous system is still functioning, you need to bite off the tentacles before swallowing when eating, otherwise the suction cups will stick to your stomach. Throat, it may even make you suffocate.”
"Have a good appetite..." Catalina managed to squeeze out a sentence through her teeth.
She didn't want to look at the head of the octopus on the plate, nor did she want to look at the lion-faced man, so she could only stare down at the bone china plate in front of her, pretending to be in a daze.
"I know a marine biologist from the Royal Society, and he told me that the octopus's sense of pain is ten times greater than that of humans." The man smiled and poked the octopus that had lost its arms and legs with a fork, observing its painful twists, "and it is more painful than humans." Humans have twice as many limbs, so it must be in pain now."
Katarina resisted the urge to insert the sword into the fancy and ugly lion mask and asked softly:
"I don't quite understand. Do you think this is... interesting?"
"why not?"
The man smiled casually, and seemed to suddenly understand something. He raised his little finger to cover his face and laughed:
"Oh, oh - I'm sorry, miss, you are not that kind of...'animal protectionist', are you?"
"what is that?"
"A group of hypocritical people who think that livestock need to be given dignity similar to humans." The man waved his hands in front of his nose, as if he was enjoying some absurd joke, "Holy Spirit! Can you imagine? We can't even Stop exploiting and murdering your fellow humans in broad daylight and pretending to care about the happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy of these animals."
"...I'm sorry, just describing them is enough to make me feel off-putting. You are not this kind of person, are you, miss?"
