That night, my brothers returned home from their jobs at the castle.
“Lottie!” they exclaimed in unison as they walked through the front door and saw me.
“Hi, Rudith, Otis,” I said.
As soon as I greeted them, Rudith picked me up in his arms and spun me round and round in a full-body display of his excitement. The gesture pleased me, even if I was starting to get dizzy.
“You’re going to make Lottie dizzy, brother,” Otis chided.
Rudith tutted his tongue in response. “Oh, you haven’t heard, Otis? Lottie’s stronger than you now.”
“Regardless, she is a lady and should be treated as such,” Otis coolly countered.
“Fine.” Rudith put me back on solid ground without further argument.
“Uh, I’m happy to see you too...” I stammered. “But you spun me around too much...”
As Rudith guffawed, I began to recover from the dizziness and got a good look at my brothers. Of course, Rudith had found me in Zille pretty recently, so it hadn’t been long since I’d last seen him. On the other hand, the last time I’d seen Otis—my second-oldest brother—had been before my engagement was broken. Even though I hadn’t seen him since regaining my memories, nostalgia swelled within me at the sight of him.
“It’s great to see you, Otis. I’m sorry if I worried you,” I said.
“I’ve never been more relieved to see you, Lottie.” Otis Cocoriara flashed a smile. He was nineteen—one year younger than Rudith and three years older than me. His hair color matched mine, but he had our father’s build. He stood ten centimeters taller than Rudith at 186, and his clothes were near bursting from having to contain his muscles. It wasn’t like he was training every day either. He only occasionally trained with the guards in lieu of working out. Those muscles were all genetics. In truth, he was a calm and compassionate person who hated conflict. If push came to shove, he’d sooner fight in court than with his fists. He was in his element working as a secretary in the castle. Even though he always clocked in early in the morning, it wasn’t uncommon for him to not return until after midnight. I suspected work had kept him there last night as well. If only the castle workers could unionize... I’m worried you’re going to work yourself to death, Otis.
“Right. Let me introduce everyone to you,” I said.
“Wonderful,” Otis replied.
With me, I had Tarte, L’lyeh, Cocoa, Luna, Lina, and Mio. In addition to them, Kent and Frey had arrived with my brothers, apparently having joined the knights’ training today. They both looked exhausted but fulfilled.
“I am Tarte, her apprentice. Nice to meet you!”
“I’ve heard about you, little apprentice,” Otis said. “I haven’t seen many Cait Sith in my life, so this is a great surprise. Thanks for helping Lottie out.”
“Meowster always treats me wonderfurly.”
The rest of the group followed Tarte’s cue and introduced themselves to Otis.
On our way to the dining room, I asked Kent and Frey, “Did you join the knights’ training?”
“Yes. I even had a training match against Lord Rudith!” Kent answered.
“The Farblume Order of Knights has such energy about them!” Frey chimed in, her eyes glinting with the same spirit as Kent’s. “I challenged myself to defeat a hundred knights in a row!”
“A hundred?! How much stamina do you have...?” I was terror-stricken until I realized that we’d fought more monsters than that consecutively during our hunts.
“Sharon, we finally get to eat it tonight, right? I’ve been dreaming about this...!” Kent said longingly.
“Me too,” Frey said.
“That’s right. I’ve asked the head chef to prepare them tonight. Bring your appetites to dinner,” I said, earning a cheer and pumped fist from each of them. Remembering how delicious the normal peaches of Arcadia had been, I felt my mouth water at the thought of peaches that were going to be even tastier than those.
Otis’s curiosity must have been piqued because he asked, “What’s ‘it’? I can guess it’s some sort of delicacy.”
I grinned triumphantly. “Something I brought back from my adventures. Something incredibly delicious.”
For hors d’oeuvres that evening, we were served cut peaches and a salad with peach slices and peach dressing, the peaches shimmering like dewdrops atop the fresh greens.
“I would have loved to open with something elaborate, but I first wanted to enjoy these peaches as they are,” the head chef said, alluding to incredible dishes later in the evening.
“You brought these for us, Lottie?” father asked, gazing at me with surprise. “I’ve never seen a peach this succulent and fragrant. These, too, are spoils of your adventures?”
My mother’s and brothers’ eyes were focused on me too. With no intention of lying to my family about this, I nodded. “These are Giant Peaches we were given special permission to buy. I wanted to eat them together with you, so none of us have tried them yet...and we’re dying to. Why don’t we just enjoy them for now?”
“Indeed, let’s all enjoy Lottie’s wonderful gift.” Father reached for a piece of peach, and we all followed suit with our forks.
Finally...I can taste the Giant Peaches! My dream was to travel this world and see all its majestic views, but tasting all the delicious food it had to offer was becoming another passion of mine. When I poked my fork into a piece, the tines slid in without any resistance, the peach’s aroma bursting forth. As the smell rushed through my nose, I began trembling in anticipation. My body and soul were begging to taste the peach and taste it now. One bite, and the flavor of the peach coursed through me from head to toe. Just placing the piece on my tongue made me feel like I’d turned into a Giant Peach myself. What’s going to happen to me when I swallow it?! I had to, of course. I gulped down the delicious morsel and could feel its juices seeping into my bones. After just one bite, all of my thoughts were occupied by the peach. So gooooood. I could only sit there in awe that such a delicious thing could exist. I would have eaten more, but my body was still relishing the first bite and refused to move. I wanted more, but I couldn’t reach for it. It was a strange sensation.
All of us seemed to be in a similar trance until L’lyeh said, “We need to eat more!” and snapped us out of it.
“Right. Let’s eat,” I agreed.
“It was so delicious I didn’t know what to say...” Tarte purred.
As L’lyeh reached for her second bite, we all did the same.
“I could eat a castleful of these peaches...!” I said.
At the end of the night, our Giant Peach dinner party was a huge success.
The next day, I went to the castle chaperoned by my parents and guarded by Rudith...which made me more nervous than going alone, for some reason.
“Brother, you need to stay calm no matter what Prince Ignacia says,” I reminded him. “Today, you’re acting as a bodyguard—”
“I got it! I’m going to protect my little sister. That’s it,” Rudith said.
“Okay...” I sighed. He doesn’t got it.
After walking down a long hallway, we were shown to a spacious meeting room. I was expecting to wait there for the prince and his party to arrive, but we walked in to find Ignacia already there, the king and queen with him.
“Good to see you, Charlotte,” His Majesty, King Vilhelm, greeted me.
“Your Majesty,” I replied. “You look well.”
“Dammit. Why do I have to apologize...?” Ignacia grumbled under his breath, and I decided to ignore it. The queen, seated beside him, looked like she was already completely over her son’s attitude.