The golden, fluffy egg completely covered the rice.
At the same time, the mild, sweet flavor of the inexpensive white onions added a rich sweetness to the broth!
Just one simple bite was enough to easily soothe the empty stomach.
Perhaps?
The true meaning of this dish lay in being able to taste the deliciousness of both the 'mother chicken' and the 'baby egg' together.
And the emotional abuse from a beloved family member was the most heartbreaking and helpless thing, which was why Erina had always been unwilling to recall her childhood experiences!
But in this bowl of Oyakodon, she inadvertently thought of her mother:
Nagiri Mana!
…
In fact,
people like Erina have always been rather starved for affection!
Don't be fooled by Alice, who cries and makes a scene over every little thing; especially in the original Autumn Elections, after she lost to Sōma, she even lay on the ground throwing a tantrum!
But whenever Erina encounters any difficulty, she always maintains a cold and stubborn demeanor, never shedding a single tear in front of others!
Therefore, on the surface, Erina certainly gives the impression of being much stronger.
But!
That's not actually the case.
Her heart is more fragile than anyone else's.
It's precisely because she is so fragile that she forces herself to feign strength to disguise herself!
Her childhood experiences also taught her to endure, to hide all her true thoughts, and not expose them to outsiders.
In short, she is indeed a very difficult person to get along with.
However, those who truly know Erina, like Hisako Arato and Sosuke, know that as long as she is given a little love, she is very easily touched.
And she's only a bit tsundere, but deep down, she's very kind and not entirely an unreasonable person!
…
From childhood,
those memories are certainly a bit blurry now.
But for Erina, the sight of her mother, Nagiri Mana, lying in bed, enduring immense pain due to her God Tongue ability, was something she could never forget.
Even after 10 long years had passed, it remained fresh in her memory, and every time she recalled it, she felt even more heartbroken.
Perhaps,
at that time,
seeing her mother in such a state, she understood her own fate, that she might one day become like her.
But what could she do?
As a young child, faced with such a situation, she was helpless.
All she could think of was to be obedient and diligently hone her culinary skills, so that later, when she could create dishes that could conquer the God Tongue, she could solve this problem!
But this world has always been so cruel, and problems would never be resolved easily just because of her thoughts.
Ultimately,
the worst tragedy of the entire Nakiri family,
finally occurred on that dark and stormy night!
Nagiri Mana, unable to bear the pain caused by the God Tongue, chose to run away from home and never returned to Totsuki Academy.
And from then on, Erina's life lacked her mother's companionship, lacking that ocean-like maternal love!
…
Indeed, as the WGO's only Special Executive Officer,
Nagiri Mana was absolutely an extraordinary person, and the pride of the entire Nakiri family!
But for her daughter, Erina, she was not a very good or responsible mother.
Just because she didn't want to escape the fate of starving to death, she could abandon her entire family, abandon her daughter, and run away from home!
Such an act was simply too selfish!
"I don't understand."
"I really don't understand."
"Why…why was she so afraid of death?"
"Is the curse of a God Tongue really that terrifying? Can the symptom of not being able to eat any food truly make life worse than death?"
"Wouldn't accepting the outcome of starving to death with dignity also be a form of release for her?"
"But why did she have to abandon her entire family, why did she have to make everyone else suffer along with her, and why did she cast a heavy psychological shadow over me for a full ten years?"
"Hate!"
"I…I really hate her!"
Under an exceptionally heavy emotional state, the entire steaming bowl of Oyakodon was slowly eaten by Erina.
Immediately after, while savoring the taste of the Oyakodon, her mind continuously recalled bits and pieces of her childhood!
Until finally, Erina's delicate face began to show signs of pain and distress.
…
"Strange."
"Logically speaking,"
"he, Sosuke, shouldn't know about those past events of our Nakiri family, right?"
"Then why did he use a bowl of Oyakodon to awaken Erina's memories that had been sealed in her heart for so many years?"
Beside her, seeing Erina like this, Alice turned her gaze to Sosuke.
It should be known that Nagiri Mana's running away from home back then led to a series of chain reactions, causing the General to forbid the matter from being spread outside.
And at that time, she was still very young and still at Totsuki Academy.
During her interactions with Erina, perhaps because neither of them had many friends, and both came from equally noble backgrounds, their relationship was quite good.
Later, Erina gradually began to dislike the dishes Alice made.
Even now, recalling it makes her very uncomfortable, and she has always held a grudge about it.
Even so, their relationship did not break down because of it!
It wasn't until she went to Northern Europe and she and Erina were separated by distance that the opportunity to play together was gone forever. But Alice still wrote letters every month and sent them to Totsuki Academy.
Initially, she thought Erina would reply when she saw her letters.
As a result, all these years, Erina hadn't sent a single letter back to Northern Europe, not a single word.
This outcome naturally made Alice very angry, thinking that Erina looked down on her, her cousin, and that their little boat of friendship had suddenly capsized!
…
Not long ago,
she transferred to Totsuki Academy.
It was only then, from the General, that she learned that her aunt, Nagiri Mana, had run away from home.
This caused her uncle, Nakiri Azami, to be unable to bear the blow, and he then subjected Erina to isolated education, making Erina's childhood even more unfortunate!
At the same time, he also took measures to cut off her contact with the outside world, which meant:
All the letters she had written at that time had actually been intercepted by Nakiri Azami, and not a single one had reached Erina's hands.
Therefore, she couldn't help but suddenly realize, and she began to feel somewhat ashamed.
After all these years, she had misunderstood Erina, and she felt deep sympathy for Erina's subsequent experiences.
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