“It’s the little queen!” she shouted joyfully. “She really is the same size as me!”
“Somebody’s in trouble,” I muttered.
I didn’t know who this little girl was, but I knew there was probably someone who was supposed to be keeping an eye on her to prevent this exact scenario. The best that person could hope for was a scolding at this point. An incredulous look spread across King Savla Doma’s face; he clearly had no idea how or why this child was in the room.
Before anyone else moved, the little girl made a break for it—and by ‘it’ I mean me. She headed straight for me. I saw Ringo reach for his sword, but before he could even touch it, I made it clear he wasn’t to interfere.
“Do not try to stop that girl. Let Doma handle it.” I gave the instruction to everyone in Team Apple, but it seemed Ringo was the only one who needed it. Chaos ensued.
“Princess Sherin!”
“Where is her nanny?”
“How did she get all the way here?”
“Who’s responsible for this?”
“Someone stop her!”
“This is a disaster!”
“Princess!”
“Your Highness!”
“Sherin, come here this instant!”
That last shout was from King Doma. The rest of the advisors in the room simply moved their mouths before their bodies, but Princess Sherin was undeterred. She ignored even the king, who was presumably her father, and ran right up to me with a huge smile on her face.
“Wow! Your eyes are so pretty! They twinkle like stars! You’re so cute!” she proudly declared.
Now this was a person with refined taste. If I’d heard Lilac was nearby, I’d have disobeyed my parents to come see her too. This girl was a kindred spirit. A connoisseur of the adorable. Not only that, but she was pretty darn cute herself. Her blonde hair was styled into ringlets, and her plump cheeks were a bit red with exertion. The smile she wore was especially charming. I was actually quite thrilled to meet her. Unfortunately, to King Doma and his people, this was an unprecedented disaster.
With delicate and refined movements, I diffused the tension of the situation. “My, aren’t you an adorable princess. Pardon the late introduction, I am Lilac Grimwood, the so-called ‘little queen’ of the forest. It’s a genuine pleasure to meet you.”
Hearing the polite introduction stirred some sort of realization in the child, and she straightened her posture. “I-I’m Sherin Doma, f-first princess of Doma. P-Pleased to meet you.”
She made an awkward curtsy as she stumbled through her introduction. Were they trying to kill me with an overdose of cuteness? I wouldn’t put it past them. Princess Sherin was clearly blushing now, and her body nearly trembled, but she was the very picture of charm. Even though she was so young, she and I were very close to the same height, so I didn’t need to stoop to get on her eye level. In other words, I had a front row seat to the adorable display.
Ah, I want to dote on her. I want to give her plush toys and watch her squee over how cute they are. Then she’ll hug them close with a blush on her cheeks. I’m so happy just thinking about it. Is this what they call maternal instinct? This body has some pretty powerful urges, but I’m usually able to resist them...
In a swift motion, I pulled out my tablet. I searched through the menu for a moment, and found exactly what I wanted. It felt like anything I wanted—except a way to check in on my family—just showed up in the menu with an appropriate cost attached as soon as I thought of it. In this case, I was remotely creating an item in the Unseen Realm, imbuing it with effects, and transferring it to my inventory, but the tablet helped me visualize it. Once the item in question was in my inventory, I immediately pulled it out. I’d practiced imbuing items with effects in the Unseen Realm, so I tried to add a little bonus to this one. It seemed to have worked.
Princess Sherin’s eyes went wide as soon as she saw the thing in my arms. The item I produced was a teddy bear, inspired by the Sprigrizzly. It was wearing a helmet and armor and holding a sword, but the equipment was all soft and plush, just like the bear itself. It also had a little red cape, so it looked like a fantasy hero. It was nearly half my size, which made it perfect for hugging. Needless to say, that made it half Princess Sherin’s size as well. It was imbued with effects designed to protect the person holding it, but it was restricted to “cute girls” only. Like the sword, I supposed it was up to the bear if the girl holding it was cute or not. If anyone else tried to pick it up, they’d quickly regret it.
It had a barrier to protect the holder from attacks, and effects to prevent diseases and nullify poison. The best part was that in the event the person holding it was frightened, it would summon a “Sprigrizzly Hero” to defend them. This special monster could not only protect them from enemies, but reassure them during thunderstorms and the like. She’d never need to be frightened of anything ever again. When she grew up and had children of her own, she could pass it along to them. Actually, to be honest, this was a better gift than the sword.
Maybe I just wouldn’t mention everything it did.
“An armed bear?” Princess Sherin asked innocently.
“No way!” I protested. “Not like one of those nasty bear monsters! Look! He’s got a sword and a cape! He’s a hero! A hero bear!”
I had to correct that little misunderstanding quickly. No way would I ever make an armed bear plush, those things were scary, not cute at all. I suppose it was an understandable error, though. After all, this small child had likely never seen a real armed bear up close. She had no way of knowing what they really looked like. At best, she’d probably seen an illustration or two in a book. I graciously forgave the oversight, since I was so magnanimous.
“It’s so cute.” Princess Sherin was enthralled by the plush toy, just as planned. She looked pretty cute herself, staring at my little hero bear.
“As a gesture of goodwill and friendship, I’m giving this little hero to you. As long as you’re holding it, you’ll be protected from anything that might try to hurt you.”