…This is a problem. I need to keep the dainty princess act up, but I’m starving. Determined, I only let myself open my mouth a tiny bit and nibbled cautiously at a veggie.
This was hard. I was utterly ravenous, but if I gave in to the growling in my stomach, the knights would be appalled. My hunger gnawed at me, and I granted myself a slightly bigger bite next time.
Alnair, sitting in front of me, excitedly spoke up. “Lady Serafina, thank you very much for giving us those special healing potions meant for the royal family yesterday! Their effects were every bit as incredible as one might expect! I feel as though I’ve lived my whole life just to thank you in this moment, so now I can die without regrets!”
Okay, that was a lot, but the captains did describe Sirius as a “monster” and “a man able to work forever without break,” so I supposed he and the other knights were prone to exaggeration. Healing potions had the same effect no matter who made them, but it was nice to hear the captains appreciated them.
“They’re just ordinary healing potions you could find anywhere, but I’m glad you like them,” I replied with a smile.
Hadar frantically shook his head. “O-ordinary potions you could find anywhere?! Not at all! Your potions are one of a kind! I’ve used many healing potions in my line of work, but I’ve never experienced any even remotely as powerful as yours!”
“Hadar is right! My guts were in knots, and I had a terrible fever that made me feel like I was burning up with every breath! Then I drank your healing potion and even the air itself tasted delicious! It was like I was breathing a wind straight from heaven!” Alnair balled his hands into fists as he spoke. He was exaggerating again, obviously, but his appreciation was genuine, at least.
I let the captains go on for a while, but eventually Sirius frowned and said, “You all talk too much.” He was probably annoyed by the stories about how soft he was on me. This was all news to me, however—and juicy news at that—so I ignored his grumbling and let the captains keep going.
That was when my stomach grumbled noisily.
“Ack?!”
The captains sitting across from me didn’t seem to hear, but Sirius, who sat right next to me, definitely noticed. He glanced at my hands and said, “You’re not eating much.”
“Y-yes I am! I’m eating lots!” In truth, I was eating less than an eighth of what I really wanted, but I couldn’t let the captains think the Great Saint, whom they so respected, scarfed down food like an animal.
Sirius grinned. “Serafina, when you’re invited to a dinner, there are two things you must not do: Be picky with your food and leave food uneaten. Take as much as you can to show what a fine, respectable lady you are.”
“Huh?!” Before I could respond, the four captains gasped at once. They leapt to their feet to protest.
“C-Captain Sirius, there’s no way she could eat all this food!”
“She’s as dainty as a spirit! Her stomach has to be tiny!”
“I’m sure any food would taste great in her presence, but not even I could eat all of this!”
“I thought you were supposed to be soft when it came to her?! How can you ask for something so unreasonable?!”
Sirius let the complaints wash over him. When the captains finished, he said, “I have been in charge of Serafina’s education ever since she was young and have a duty to make her a respectable young lady, that is all. But I would also hate to see the food the four of you spent three days working hard to gather go to waste.”
A single thought streaked through the minds of all four captains: Yeah right! There’s no way you care the slightest bit about us! Wisely, they chose not to voice this particular thought. Instead, they wordlessly resumed their seats and began to eat. They must’ve been trying to help me, since Sirius told me to leave no food behind.
Thanks to the healthy captains and their equally healthy appetites, plate after plate cleared. I watched in amazement. From my side, Sirius muttered, “Finally. Some peace and quiet.”
I wondered if he’d spoken up just to make the captains stop talking, but then he rose and brought over my favorite dishes. Silencing the captains may have been a happy byproduct, but Sirius truly did want to give me a chance to eat my fill. The captains were so focused on their own food that none of them noticed me, so I could finally eat as much as I wanted.
“It’s all so delicious! You can tell everyone selected the ingredients with care,” I said between bites.
Sirius smiled in response.
I shoveled food into my mouth until I suddenly found a green ririko fruit speared on my fork. These curious fruits could change from green to red. Usually one would pick and cook them while green, but I found the green ones too sour, so I only ate the red ones.
I stiffened, not sure what to do. Sirius leaned close, opened his mouth, and ate the ririko fruit right off my fork.
“Huh?!” I exclaimed, but the four captains drowned my shock with their own.
“Huuuh?! D-did he just…?!”
“Did Captain Sirius eat off Lady Serafina’s fork?!”
“Is that even allowed?!”
“What’s going on?!”
The captains stopped and stared. Heat flushed into my face, but Sirius didn’t seem affected in the slightest. “Not bad. You lot picked some decent ingredients, but what’s with the looks? Serafina was feeling full, so I ate a little for her. I’m only being soft on her like you all asked me to. Is that a problem?”
“…No,” the captains said as one. They seemed to have more to say, but none of them were brave enough to speak up, agreeing meekly with Sirius instead.
Sirius nodded before turning his attention to my red face. He brushed my hair out of my eyes and smiled kindly. “It looks like their attention has returned to you; it’ll be tough to eat more now. How about it? Do you feel satisfied, Serafina?”
Between this sudden kindness and the way he’d eaten directly off my fork, my chest was so tight it could burst. I wondered at the feeling. It was almost like the satisfaction of eating a filling meal, so I figured I must be full and nodded.
“I see,” he said, and patted my head.
The captains finally noticed the stack of empty plates beside me. It was far less than what I usually consumed to refill my mana, but for an ordinary lady, it would suffice. The captains rejoiced.
“I-I can’t believe Lady Serafina ate so much of our food!”
“It was worth holing up in the forest for three whole days!”
Their joy was infectious. I smiled. “Thank you for inviting me today. The food was delicious.”
“No, thank you for coming!”
And just like that, with everyone smiling, the dinner came to an end.
Later that night, when I was alone in my room, hunger dug at my stomach, so I called for a maid and had her sneak me a late-night meal. I chowed down, feeling keenly that I really hadn’t eaten enough that day.
…But if that were the case, why did I nod at Sirius when he asked if I felt full?
My hands froze above my plate, and I cocked my head to the side. Unable to find an answer, I gazed out the window to watch the moon cutting through the thick dark of night. For a while, I simply took in its majesty. Then I murmured, “…The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”
I was only commenting on the moon’s beauty—but its radiance did bring to mind a certain gray-haired royal guard captain of mine.