“What an unusual smell... What’d you make there, Emma?” The king, who had only just arrived, was drawn to the smell of the curry that Melsa and Emma had made.
“Oh, Your Majesty!”
Unlike the other students, Emma and her family had finished setting up their tent and finished making dinner by themselves, so they realized the king had arrived. Emma and Melsa both quickly bowed.
“Are you quite all right, Emma?” Prince Edward, who was behind the king, came running with worry for Emma. He hadn’t seen her since the Minato doppelgänger incident, so it was only natural.
“I’m so sorry you had to see me like that, Your Highness. But I’m doing just fine now! See?” Emma felt bad that the prince had worried about her for so long, especially since she’d been skipping school all that time. She rolled up her left sleeve past her bicep and flexed to show off just how very healthy she was feeling.
“Nngh... J-Just, try not to push yourself.” The prince averted his eyes, clearly flustered by Emma’s pose. Her slender arms that looked like they could break at the slightest touch, coupled with her smooth, pale skin was enough to send his heart beating like crazy.
“Hey, Your Highness? Did you know the softness of a girl’s upper arms matches the softness of her breasts?”
The prince hadn’t wanted to remember this, but the little tidbit of information Arthur had gleefully imparted to him a few years back suddenly rose into the front of his mind.
The same...softness...as...her breasts...
It was the legendary secret that senior boys passed down to their juniors at school as though it were the truth.
Emma misunderstood the prince’s expression and pouted. “I know it might look like nothing to you guys since you’re always working out, but I’m still plenty strong!”
“Oh? Well, why don’t I check for myself?” The king decided to tease his son a little after seeing how flustered he’d gotten. Considering the king had attended the same academy, he could clearly see what the prince was thinking about and had to suppress a laugh.
“Y-You can’t!” The prince panicked and stopped the king as he reached out to touch Emma’s bicep.
“Huh? I mean, I don’t really mind...” Emma was not resistant to the idea of the rugged, muscular silver fox of a king touching her in the slightest.
“He just can’t! Really, it’s too much, Emma! Please, put your sleeve back down!” The prince shouted, his face bright red. He’d grabbed his father’s arm to stop him, as the king was having too good of a time to stop by that point. Seeing how desperately the prince was reacting, Emma realized she had forgotten something very important.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Your Highness. I wasn’t even thinking...” Joshua had told her that letting someone rest their head on her lap was a major faux pas. Based on the prince’s expression, showing one’s biceps, and especially touching them, might have had similar implications in this world. And for her to allow the king himself to do it... She might have been arrested for a total lapse of judgment. I should be okay, though, right? Like, he didn’t actually do it, so I’m just barely squeaking by, right? Emma was paying extra close attention to the knights standing on guard as she lowered her sleeve.
“Ah, such is youth...” the king said as he scratched his beard, grinning at the bittersweet feelings his son was showing.
“Your Majesty, I ask that you keep your jokes in check. I don’t know if I would be able to hold back against anyone touching Emma’s upper arm like that. Not even the king himself.” Count Stewart, the ever fervent daughter doter, said from behind the king in a low, threatening voice.
“Whoa!” Even a well-seasoned and well-known warrior like the king hadn’t noticed the count sneak up on him. What was more, Leonard was gripping the legendary hammer he was fond of using during his monster hunts as well.
“Er, I’m sorry.” While royalty shouldn’t apologize easily, the king did it the moment he saw the count’s face. From one daughter doter to the other, he understood the count’s feelings all too well.
“Arven, calm yourself!” At the same time, when the king turned toward the sound of the count’s wife’s voice, he saw the acting lord of Pallas aiming an arrow at his head, pulling his bow taut.
“So this kingdom tolerates sexual harassment from our king?! I won’t let you lay a single finger on my beloved niece!” The infamously niece-brained Arven Stewart looked more serious than ever. It was a truly explosive situation. If he moved even an inch, the arrow would fire right into the king’s head. The royal knights were at a loss for how to act when...
“Oh, Uncle Arven!” Just as Arven was seconds away from committing actual treason, Emma pointed up at the sky and shouted at him.
“My goodness!” When Arven looked where Emma was pointing, he immediately switched his aim from the king’s head up to the sky and fired.
“Here goes!” William and George suddenly ran into the forest.
“Huh? Wha? What’s going on? What’s happening?!” The king didn’t even have a moment to ask whether he was just being threatened before the Stewart family all sprang into action.
“Darling! Arven!”
“Leave it to me!”
“I’m on it!”
Leonard ran to the carriage to get the largest pot they had, Arven ran to draw water from the well, and Emma and Melsa started counting time while retrieving carving knives and a cutting board.
“Huh? Emma?”
“Sorry, Your Highness! I need to get through!”
“Whoa!”
Arven poured the water he’d fetched into the pot Leonard had prepared.
“Thirty-five, thirty-six...”
“Wh-What’s going on? What happened all of a—”
“George, William! We’re running out of time!”
“Sorry! We got snared by the trees and it held us up!”
Leonard’s shout drowned out the sound of the king’s bewilderment. The two brothers came running out of the forest at a ridiculous speed.
“Wh-Huh?! Huuuh?!” When the king followed where Leonard was looking, he saw George heading toward them, dragging a massive bird by its tail feathers. Meanwhile, William was riding atop it, frantically plucking it.
“Wha?! Holy...!”
“Forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine...” As soon as George neared the pot, the whole family joined William in his plucking. “Fifty-six, fifty-seven...”
“All right, it’s all clean!” William said, raising his hand.
“Everyone, get back!” Melsa said, as she picked up a cleaver and swung it down with a bang. She didn’t hesitate for even a second as she severed the bird’s neck in a single chop.
“Eep!”
“Aagh!”
“Yeeagh!”