Well, looking at how Cezar is just brimming with sexiness, is a former mercenary, and is a romanceable character in the game, he must have had a lot of women wrapped around his finger before.
“I have quite a colorful past, you know... More importantly, what brings you here?” Cezar asked.
“Ah, I had work-related business here and—” I was about to announce my intention to return to the office, but...
“Prince Cezar, may I speak to you for a moment?” said another young man as he emerged from inside a building behind Cezar. He had the same tanned complexion as Cezar, and the same style of clothes. He had to be from Ethenell as well. When the young man saw me, his eyes opened wide.
Oh? Have I met him before? I wondered.
The young man smiled and stepped forward.
“Why, if it isn’t Lady Katarina Claes. I happen to have just made tea. Won’t you join us for a cup?” He gestured invitingly to the building behind him.
“Hey, Janne,” Cezar began reproachfully, but the young man known as Janne didn’t seem to hear him.
He smoothly guided me along, as I found myself unable to decide on the proper timing to refuse his offer, and so I followed him all the way inside. The next thing I knew, I was sitting at a well-laid table, with tea and various snacks arranged on top. It seemed too welcoming an atmosphere for me to politely say something like “I’m actually working today, so I really must be going.”
Still, I’ve gotta admit, this Janne guy really knows how to do his job. He led me in here so smoothly I couldn’t help but go with the flow. I’ve got to hand it to the servants of Ethenell. In any case, I’ve learned enough about manners to know that it would be rude to excuse myself without partaking at all, especially when it’s a foreign royal who went to all the trouble of preparing this spread. I’ll have a little tea and some snacks, then I’ll head back. I can’t help but be curious about these snacks—especially this one I’ve never seen before.
Janne apparently noticed my glance.
“Those are made in Ethenell, and only rarely sold outside of our kingdom,” he declared.
Introduced to yet another unfamiliar snack, a new rush of enthusiasm surged through me. If possible, I’d like to try every variety. But I’m working today. Hrm...
Sharp-eyed as ever, Janne noticed my hesitation and inquired about it.
“What seems to be the matter?”
“Well, I’d like to try all of them if possible, but the truth is, I’m working today.”
I finally told him the truth about my commitments. But at the same time, I was sure to communicate how much I wanted to eat the snacks arranged in front of me.
“Ah, I see. How thoughtless of me. But as we’ve already prepared these treats, I would really like you to be able to enjoy them. Lady Claes, if you would like, I can inform your workplace of this engagement on behalf of Ethenell,” suggested Janne.
Certainly, if the Ministry were informed that I was accepting the hospitality of foreign dignitaries—royalty, at that—they’d hardly tell me to come back right away. Besides, Raphael was too busy to help me with my Dark Magic training today, so I didn’t have anything in particular scheduled for the morning. Therefore I decided to enthusiastically accept Janne’s suggestion.
“I shall take you up on your kind offer.”
I mean, there’s no way I can pass up this chance—this might be my one chance to try these Ethenell treats!
Next, Janne confirmed that my employer was the Magical Ministry.
“I shall make the proper arrangements,” he said, then left the room.
“Thank you very much,” I called as he ducked out, then returned my gaze to the snacks.
There were several varieties, but none of them looked familiar. I wondered if these were all Ethenell-made snacks that weren’t sold outside the country.
Hmm, since they don’t look familiar, I can’t quite imagine what they’ll taste like. I wonder if this one here, that looks like a gyoza from my past life, is sweet or salty. How about this one that looks like a spring roll?
As I assessed the treats with the utmost seriousness, I heard a sort of sputtering sound and looked up, only to see Cezar—sitting across from me—burst into laughter.
Eh, what? What happened? Did something that funny happen while I wasn’t looking?
“Is something the matter?” I asked as Cezar continued to laugh.
After laughing so hard that he began to tear up, Cezar wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.
“You just looked so funny, staring at those treats with such a serious expression. Those were almost the eyes of a wild animal stalking its prey.” His last lingering chuckles punctuated his explanation. It appeared that nothing had happened—rather, he just laughed because of how funny I looked.
“Did my face really warrant that much laughter?” I said while pouting slightly.
“No, I’m sorry. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been tense since I got here, and the look on your face helped me finally relax,” said Cezar, wiping the tears from his eyes again.
“You’ve been feeling tense?”
He hadn’t looked tense to me when he was handling those young ladies earlier.
“Yeah, though the people around me might not be able to tell, I’ve felt tense. After all, I’ve come to the great Kingdom of Sorcié—in my role as Prince of Ethenell—to study.” After shrugging slightly, Cezar continued, “But when I saw that look on your face, I felt myself relax instantly.”
“My face has the effect of relaxing people... Now that you mention it, one of my superiors at work told me that I reminded him of an old lady working on a farm, and that helped him to relax. Is that how you felt?” Remembering something that Cyrus had told me once while we were working on his vegetable patch, I mentioned it to Cezar, but he responded with a blank stare.
“What exactly did you do to remind him of an old lady working on a farm?” he eventually asked.
“He just said it to me while we were tending a vegetable patch together, so perhaps it was just the way I worked that reminded him of an old lady.”
“You were working on a vegetable patch, and the sight of you working reminded him of an old lady... Pfft, I understand even less now.”
Cezar started to laugh again. Though I didn’t know why, his threshold for laughter seemed to be extremely low at that moment. I patiently waited for him to stop laughing. In the meantime, I observed the treats intently.
“Phew...” Cezar said once his laughter had finally subsided. “Sorry, I guess I got a bit too relaxed. But not just because you said or did funny things, like that story about looking like an old lady on a farm... It’s just that, when I’m around you in particular, I find I can relax, and it’s easy to be myself. So if possible, I’d like you to be yourself too.” Then he grinned.
Hearing that he feels like he can be himself really makes me happy. In that case, perhaps I’ll take him up on his offer and be myself too. After all, the first time we met we spoke to each other without formality, so perhaps this ladylike version of me seems off to him.
“Very well. I shall, then.” Like Cezar, I smiled and relaxed my shoulders. When Cezar saw this, he smiled happily.
Now, time to get down to business.
“May I have some of these treats?” I asked.
For a moment, Cezar looked stunned, but then he smiled broadly.
“Of course, have as many as you like.”
Hooray! Then I’ll enjoy them without reservation. Umm, I guess I’ll start with this one shaped like a gyoza.
“I’ll help myself to one of these.”
Oh, the wrapper is really crispy. But inside, it’s fluffy. Hm? I think there might be some salt in the wrapper. Ah! But the filling is sweet.
“Mmm, delicious.”
The balance between the contrasting saltiness and sweetness was so perfect, I could eat any number of them. That being said, there was no way I was going to pass on my chance to try the other treats.
Next, I’ll try one of these things that looks like a spring roll.
I proceeded to eat the treats laid out in front of me with gusto.
“Ah, those were so delicious,” I said, having wolfed down all of the treats on my plate.