The maids in the castle seemed determined to serve me tea, but I told them I couldn’t drink it. Really, there were certain types of tea we could drink, but I wasn’t sure what the stuff they wanted to serve was made from. Think of it like an allergy—sometimes people who are allergic to nuts won’t eat chocolate because there are nuts being chopped in the same factory, and the chocolate might be contaminated. Avoiding an international incident by drinking tea that might be harmful was probably the best idea.
I ended up giving them some of the cherry rose tea I’d grabbed in the Unseen Realm instead. Since it was technically fruit, I could drink it just fine. I use that phrase, “technically fruit,” a lot.
As it turned out, if I made a fruit in the Unseen Realm, then brought it back with me, I could eat it no problem. Even if I did something crazy like make fruit with the same properties as bread dough (which I totally did), or one with insides like an egg (also did that), they still counted as fruit as far as our Sprigian stomachs were concerned. I was such a little cheater.
Anyway, I was just sitting there, minding my own business, when Ringo got bored.
“It’s taking them an awfully long time to decide something so simple. Should I go check on them, Your Majesty?”
“I’m sure they’re fine with me building a wall, so they’re probably arguing over something else. Like whether they’re going to ask for lumber or not.”
I thought my discussion with Ringo was over, but a few minutes later—
“Your Majesty, if I may, surely there’s no harm in simply checking in,” he insisted. “Would you give me permission?”
“Okay, go check on them, but be polite. I don’t want you to cause any trouble. Come right back when you’re done, even if the meeting isn’t over yet.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
He left with a bow.
I turned to the others. “If any of the rest of you are bored, you can have a turn when Ringo gets back.”
“Ringo just asked to leave because he didn’t want you to catch him staring at you.”
“Pomme, that’s mean,” Mela objected.
“It’s the truth, though,” said Pomme. “He’s so hopeless.”
“What do you mean, staring at me?” I said. “He needs to watch me as a guard, doesn’t he?”
Pomme snickered. “Yeah, I’m sure he’d be the first to notice anyone attacking your breasts or legs.”
“Pomme,” Mela scolded her, “he’s not even here to defend himself.”
“That’s his own fault. He needs to learn some self-control. Oh, and he should probably aim for someone in his league.”
“W-well, you and he don’t really get along, and as for me, I, uh, um—”
Mela’s blushing face was so cute. Wait, did she like Ringo, then? More importantly, did Ringo like me? I was going to have to get together with them for some serious girl talk... Later, though. For now, I needed to put a stop to this before someone’s feelings get hurt.
“That’s enough, Pomme,” I told her. “This isn’t the place to discuss such things. I’ll arrange some time to talk things over with you and Mela privately later. There are many things I wish to ask you about.”
“Uh, sure, Your Majesty.”
Oh wow, is that the rare blushing Pomme I see over there? I’m definitely saving this replay. Maybe just a few stills of her blushing. On second thought, the way she fidgets is something else, I gotta keep the video version.
After that, I sat and enjoyed my tea in silence for a while, but eventually worry crept in. Ringo hadn’t returned.
“Don’t you think Ringo is taking too long?” Mela asked nervously, fidgeting in place. “If he just went straight there and back, he should have returned by now, right?”
“He probably shot his mouth off again,” Pomme scoffed. “He’s terribly rude to everyone but you, Your Majesty.”
Mela pouted. “He’s not that bad.”
I checked my tablet. There was a map of the places we’d been in the palace, and I could see Ringo’s position on it.
“It says he’s in the hall near the conference room. He seems to be staying in the same spot though. Why isn’t he on the way back here?” I wondered aloud.
“Shall we investigate, Your Highness?” said Mela.
“No, I have a bad feeling about this. Stay here until I call for you.”
With those instructions, I deployed my wings and flew through the halls of the palace as fast as they could carry me. The layout of the palace was tricky, but I had a map, so I didn’t get lost. When I finally caught up, I was totally horrified by what I saw.
First of all, there was blood splattered all over the place. If that wasn’t bad enough, there were mangled human body parts scattered around as well. Ringo had his sword out, locked in battle with a human. Looking behind them, there seemed to be two groups of humans fighting each other as well, though I couldn’t tell them apart from one another. More importantly, it looked like the guy Ringo was fighting was about to win. The weapon in his hands was a strange color, and it gave off the same vibes as the Unseen Realm.
I remembered Redimir’s old stories about weapons that could end the lives of those intertwined with that world. My body moved before I had a chance to think.
Luckily, everything around me was effectively in super slow motion thanks to my wings. Faster than instantly, I put myself in between Ringo and the person attacking him. I reached out toward the strange sword and I pinched the slow-moving blade between my thumb and forefinger, stopping it completely. It all happened so fast, I didn’t realize it until I was right in his face, but the guy attacking Ringo was none other than Lord Sexual Harassment himself. I’d thought he was supposed to be locked up. He did smell like he’d been kept somewhere dank for a while, actually... Yuck, he reeked pretty bad.
I took the chance to admonish Ringo a little for getting into trouble.