A spoon lifted the creamy mushroom soup, faintly scented with milk, and gently delivered it between soft, moist pink lips. A small mouth closed around it, chewing delicately, followed by a subtle glide along the smooth, slender neck as the entire swallowing motion concluded seamlessly.
Sitting at the dining table, Astrid savored her lunch bite by bite. Her waist-length silvery-white hair cascaded over her shoulders, partially veiling the elegant black dress beneath.
The slender heel of her high heels rested against the porcelain-white floor tiles. The sleek, black-stockinged leg propped atop her knee resembles the other leg of a compass, tracing a gracefully arched semicircle before the gleaming, night-sky-colored toe.
It had been less than ten days until the official opening of the magical device Exhibition. With assistance from students skilled in earth-elemental magic from the Elizabeth Academy of Magic, urban construction in the East District was already mostly completed.
