Erina Nakiri massaged her temples.
"No, I don't," she admitted, sounding a bit downcast. "So, Renz, what about you? Someone like you must have had plenty of dating experience, right?"
"How on earth did you come to that conclusion?" Renz retorted.
"Then why can you casually spout 'let's date' like some scumbag without even batting an eye?" Erina's voice was laced with suspicion.
"It's the best solution. Your name and mine are on the marriage certificate—can't I date my future wife?" Renz shot back. "To be honest, I never thought I'd be married."
"Before I met you, I'd never even dated once. As for holding hands? That only happened once—on a school field trip in elementary school, when the teacher forced us to do it so we wouldn't get lost."
"So when it comes to showing affection? I'm completely clueless." Renz confessed, laying all his cards on the table. He was good-looking, sure, but he'd managed to stay single for years—a true, iron-willed bachelor.
Both slumped into silence, equally dejected. Headache.
"How are we going to fool them?" Erina scratched her golden hair, clearly on the verge of a breakdown.
"Should we look it up online?"
"You managed to compile an entire child-rearing guide from online research," she continued. "We might as well create a secret manual for showing affection."
"That's an idea," Renz muttered, squinting. The two simultaneously pulled out their phones.
"How to show affection?"
The question was simple. The answers? A dazzling array.
"The simplest way to show affection..." Erina read from the search results aloud, "Drink from the same glass with two straws."
"I'm physiologically opposed to that; I'm a germaphobe," Renz raised his hand. "And don't you think that kind of thing is really tacky?"
"Hey, you're going too far! Are you looking down on me?!" Erina glared, a hint of anger in her voice. "Besides, who wants to drink from the same glass as you? I was just quoting one of the methods they mentioned online."
Renz held up his phone.
"Erina, don't you realize we have a secret weapon?"
"A secret weapon?" she echoed, pausing slightly.
"Hahaha, that's right—a secret weapon!" Renz's lips curled into a smile. "We have kids, don't we? Nothing says 'loving couple' more than doting parents showing off their kids."
"And the best part!" he added. "If we just show off the kids, there's no need for physical contact."
"We can casually show affection that way."
Erina's eyes lit up. "That... actually makes sense."
"Still, even if we don't need much physical contact, we'll need to interact verbally," Renz pointed out, pulling out his phone and letting out a cold scoff.
"Starting today, I'm catching up on romance novels."
"Catching up on novels?" Erina looked bewildered again.
"I never fight a battle I'm not confident in. If we're going to convincingly pretend, then we need to learn," Renz explained.
"Just by copying from novels, we should be able to make it look decent."
In Japan, there were light novels that focused on everyday romantic youth stories. And in his own country, there was a vast variety—from high school romances to stories about married life with children. Many authors wrote realistic, slice-of-life narratives filled with techniques that were worth learning from.
Erina was a little lost. Novels were completely foreign to her. Since childhood, she'd devoted herself entirely to cooking and evaluating food. She'd never read a novel in her life.
"I don't know which Japanese light novels are famous, but the ones high on the bestseller lists should be decent," Renz mused.
"I'll find a few for you to read later. Japan's standards for romance light novels are really high."
He glanced up.
"By the way, how much time do we have before that competition you're judging? Also, tell me about your habits, so I know what pitfalls to avoid."
Erina paused, considering.
"About a month," she replied. "I discussed it with Hisako. The preliminaries will narrow the chefs down to 100, then 32, then 16, 8, 4, and finally 1."
"The champion of the Food Soul Grand Prix will receive a Special Grade Chef license and the championship title."
"There will be four other heavyweight judges joining me, along with sixteen general public judges. I'll primarily be representing the Nakiri family."
"Originally, if I hadn't gone, my cousin Alice Nakiri would have taken my place as a judge."
"Special Grade Chef" and similar titles were clearly major credentials in the culinary world—no wonder so many people competed for them. As for Alice Nakiri... Renz remembered her. Erina had shown him photos and introduced her once. From what Erina had said, their relationship ten years ago was competitive and bland—but judging from her tone, it probably wasn't as simple as Renz had assumed.
In a large family like the Nakiris, things were bound to be complicated. He understood that.
"So, Erina, I'm curious," Renz said. "What's your standing in the culinary world?"
He was a curious guy. When he didn't know something, he asked.
"With my God's Tongue, I suppose I've been at the pinnacle of the culinary world since birth," Erina said nonchalantly.
Being at the top since birth, huh? The "God's Tongue" always sounded mystical, but clearly, there was substance behind it.
"Ten years ago, my cooking skills weren't yet at the Special Grade level. But now? I've acquired the certification."
"Still, even if my cooking hadn't improved, just being a judge with the God's Tongue would've been enough."
She turned to him.
"Renz, I can tell you're still not entirely clear about what the God's Tongue is."
"Let me put it simply: I can decide the fate of a restaurant with a single review."
As Erina's words fell, a powerful aura of confidence radiated from her.
The best reaction would have been for Renz to exclaim, "That's amazing!" and praise her brilliance.
But he decided to ruin the moment.
"Erina, I'm so sorry for making you cook for me."
"And I have to say, the dishes you make are truly delicious."
---
Will Erina Nakiri be able to maintain her confident facade now that Renz has complimented her cooking?
And how will their growing knowledge about "showing affection" shape their fake—or maybe real—relationship moving forward?
---Support with power stones