Chapter 27 – Lunch with the Princess

Nozomu and his group were seated at a table in a small dining room that a servant guided them into. Small was a matter of speaking because he and little Takanari were looking around, completely blown away by the size of that room. The entire lower level of the Guild would fit in there, with enough empty space around.

Taisetsuna took a sip from the glass of water in front of her, and as she was about to say something to the Guild Master, the doors that led them into that room were opened by the old servant who guided them to the Throne Room, and Princess Mere entered, making everyone stand up and bowing at her. As Nozomu stood up again, he didn’t fail to notice that the Princess was wearing a different set of clothes. She was no longer in the shining dress that she was using in the Throne Room, but instead, she was wearing a loose blouse and a skirt that reached her knees, with leather boots till the middle of her legs. 

Her small tiara was the only thing that remained the same, and the Princess smiled as she sat at the edge of the table when she noticed the surprised look on Nozomu’s face. “You look funny. Did something happen in my absence?”

As Nozomu sat again, he made a slight smile, while staring into the Princess’s eyes. “I wasn’t expecting that you arrived wearing such casual clothes, Princess. Would you forgive me if I say it suits you better than that big dress you were wearing previously?”

“I normally wear these kinds of clothes when I am eating, practising with my soldiers or riding horses, and that dress is only to be used in the Throne Room. I will need to change again after lunch to meet the Nobles in the back garden to have some tea with them.” 

“You don’t look so happy with that idea, and I bet it has something to do with the way they were acting in there. Are all the Nobles in the ‘Principality of Khiz’ like that? Are they always so full of themselves and always looking down on others? Because the environment in that room was rather heavy.”

The Princess shrugged while a squad of servants entered the room, pushing wheeled cars with food. “Our Nobles do not differ from the ones in every country in the World. It’s understandable considering that since birth, they were all raised to succeed their parents in ruling their lands. At least the first-born, because the ones that were born after have no chance of getting any title or lands. That’s why most of our country’s army has second and third sons and daughters of Noble families. Well, actually, for the daughters, things are a bit different, because even the third daughter can get married to a Noble first son of another family and gain a title for herself.”

“While the second and third son, as well as the third daughter, have to search for other means of living? Like, becoming an Adventurer, joining the Army, or working in this Castle?”

The Princess nodded, looking rather amused with Nozomu’s interest, “Not only here, but some of them can also work in the four mansions that I have near the borders, and a few choose to work for other Noble families as maids of company for their first-daughter.”

Nozomu asked while leaning back on his chair, leaving space for a maid to serve him, “If what that Royal Guard said is accurate, you don’t have any siblings? I apologize if my questions make you in any way uncomfortable, but I am rather intrigued with society and the classes in this country.”

“It is common knowledge that I don’t have any siblings. My father died before he could have more kids. He was hunting in the forest not too far from here when his group was attacked by a horde of Orcs, and my mother died three years ago, from a weird accident with her carriage when she was visiting a Noble family two hours away from here. The horse tripped on a hole on the road, and the carriage rolled over. When the Guards that were escorting her managed to get to her, it was already too late.”

Nozomu noticed the sadness in the Princess’s voice, even with her trying to sound unaffected by the memories, and he excused himself, “I am really sorry for your loss, Princess. It was not my intention to make you sad, I was just curious.”

“Your curiosity intrigues me, Nozomu. None of this is a secret. I don’t know why you didn’t know it and why you are asking so many questions. Curiosity goes until a certain point, but you sound more… As if you were intrigued… And the way you look at me so seriously, it’s like if you are looking into my soul. When we first met, I felt rather uncomfortable, but not anymore. It’s like… If you truly cared for me and wanted to know me better. I am not used to that. People normally approach me when they want something from me.”

“I can reassure you I don’t have any ill intention, Princess. It’s just… You remind me of someone who was very dear to me and looking at you, it’s as if I am looking at her, with the difference that you are also so different from her with the way you talk and act.”

Taisetsuna gasped and asked, “Who are you talking about, Nozo? I never met anyone that looked like Princess Mere! And how can you possibly remember someone, when you…”

She went immediately silent when she noticed the puzzled look on the Princess, and Nozomu explained, “Some days ago, we were training in an open field at the back of our Orphanage, as we always did ever since we were young. I hit my head on a rock on the floor that was in the middle of the grass, and I lost a lot of blood and all of my memories. I couldn’t even remember my name or Suna. The little I know about the World is from the books the Priest gave me, and I read them all that night. Even with my memory loss, when I look at you, I see someone that meant a lot to me, and I miss her. I am sorry for comparing you with a memory that I don’t even know if it is real because you are for sure a totally different person.”

“Well, I don’t know if I should be happy about remembering you of someone you cared so much about, or if I should feel insulted for being compared to a fuzzy memory! I guess the only thing that’s left for me to do is to talk some more with you so that you can see I am completely different and you gain some fresh memories. Surprisingly, I feel quite at ease with you, and that is new to me. Of course, I can’t possibly treat you so casually with other people nearby, because I can’t show any kind of favouritism, especially since you are not a Noble. Even if you were one, I couldn’t, because you would easily become the target of a lot of envy.”

Nozomu asked as he ate, “You mean, intrigues and games of power in the court to gain an advantage over the other families? Like, more health, more trust from you so that they could advise you in certain matters, and win your favour if one day they decided to present you an idea that would grant them more health, lands, or prestige?”

“For someone that has recently lost their memories, you are very quick with your judgement, Nozomu. Yes, I was talking about that, in a more veiled way. A court is a difficult place, and with so many Nobles around and their big egos, there are days that I would rather be in the army again than to be seated on my throne. Being the ruling Princess is not an easy task.”

Nozomu glanced at the Princess as he was munching. “Your words led me to believe that we could treat each other more casually if we were alone or behind closed doors. I already offered you my friendship. Are you saying that you will accept it?”

The Princess smirked as she took a piece of meat with her fork. “Yes, I think I am. If you put in that offer Taisetsuna, I wouldn’t mind gaining two friends that don’t aim at using me for any hidden agenda.”

Taisetsuna vigorously nodded. “It would honour me to be considered your friend, Princess Mere!”

Nozomu made a slight frown, and he pretended to be thinking about the Princess’ words, “I hope you don’t intend to use my friendship to ask me to teach your cooks how to make pizza or chocolates for free because I intend to gain some money from teaching them. There is also the matter of a license for other cooks, because other Cities might want to buy those two products, and it would be far easier if every City had a Guild or an Inn with a cook that knew how to make them.”

The Princess laughed, visibly amused by Nozomu's lack of shame, “Ahahah! You really have a Merchant’s mind, Nozomu! Yes, I think we can reach an agreement regarding my cooks without using our recent friendship to grant me any kind of advantage. I can also call my scribe after lunch so that we can sign a license agreement that will be sent to every City in this country with a description of your products and your share of the sales. Of course, you will need to travel to those Cities to teach the cooks, but I bet you won’t mind doing that, considering that you aim to save money to apply to the Academy of Adventurers. I can’t forget that I must include in the license agreement the description of the side effects for Beast-kind so that no one gets angry and accuses you or me of poisoning them.”

Takanari asked, with a trembling voice, “Princess… What about me? What shall I do now? Go get my parents? Or…”

“Yes, my cute little friend, but first we finish lunch, then you go with me, Taisetsuna and the Guild Master to the back garden for some tea while Nozomu goes teach my cooks because I want to eat a big pizza tomorrow at lunch. Or Taisetsuna can go with him to be sure he doesn’t cause a mess in my kitchen and my cooks slice him into pieces and serve him as dinner.”

The Princess winked at the puzzled Taisetsuna, “Unless you want to go with us and get annoyed with those Nobles and distract me. Perhaps you could punch one of them if they get too frisky with me because some of the older sons in that group are always trying to court me as if I would choose one of those empty heads for a husband! Oops, no one tells I said this! Most Noble families get angry when someone says their first sons are dumb, even if they really are!”

Taisetsuna muffled her laughter. “Pfft!… I would be more than happy to accompany you, Princess Mere. I wouldn’t also mind punching someone that gets too close. That fat Noble was just a warm-up, and I didn’t do any exercise today.”

“That’s the spirit! You have two good ones here, Guild Master. I bet it was your idea for them to apply to the Academy of Adventurers. You want to offer them a place at your Guild when they graduate, don’t you?”

“Of course I want them to join! I already told them I could lend them half the money they would need, but the rest should be on them, and judging by the success of Nozomu’s food, very soon they won’t even need my help, they can apply with their own money!”

The Princess raised her cup and everyone joined her for a toast, “Then, may they enter and learn so that they can make both of us proud!”