“What else should we worry about?”
“Getting a crowd to gather can be done in a matter of hours, but these stalls couldn’t have been prepared so quickly. Considering how many of them there are and what they sell…this must have taken at least five to six days to set up. That means His Highness set his plan in motion almost a week ago, right after he saw our lord at the banquet. And yet, no rumors of a festival reached my ears at the castle. This leads me to believe he used martial law as a cudgel to get these vendors to prepare in secret.”
This festival was indeed no “little” event, despite what His Highness had called it. If he’d just wanted to congratulate us on our engagement and apologize for Hanna and Ilsa’s behavior, a tea party would have been more than enough. This must have cost so much in both money and labor… Are the standards of a prince just that different from my own?
“I have a bad feeling about this…” Mio said, squeezing her coconut so hard that she crushed it in her hand.
There wasn’t anything else we could do for the time being, so I decided to forget about my worries and enjoy the festival. Mio and I walked around and took a look at each stall. They weren’t all selling food—some had miscellaneous goods commoners often bought, while others sold handmade accessories, stationery, antiques, and even small animals. Even without buying anything, looking around was fun.
There were also stalls where you could join lotteries, play games such as darts or ring toss, challenge muscular shopkeepers to arm wrestling, and even try to grab as many pretty stones as you could with one try. They have so many interesting ideas!
One stall in particular caught my attention. Unlike most of the stalls we’d encountered, each of which had had sizeable lines, this particular vendor wasn’t attracting any attention whatsoever. The sign in front of the stand read Apple Peeling Contest: Seeking Challengers.
“Mio, look! That seems so fun! I’d love to try!” I pleaded, grabbing Mio’s arm to catch her attention. She looked like she was hoping I’d tell her I was joking.
“But it seems like so much fun,” I said, trying to convince her. “It says that they’ll give you tons of apples if you can peel an entire one in one go without the breaking the strip! And it’s only one eiro a try! Even I have that much.”
“No one is doing it, my lady.”
“I certainly wonder why. We should take advantage of this chance while we can!”
“Oh well. If you really want to try it, I won’t stop you,” Mio said while shrugging for some reason.
I beamed, and she forced a smile—only to immediately frown.
“What’s wrong, Mio?”
“Lady Marie… That man behind you might be the prince.”
I turned around in a hurry, but there were so many people around that I couldn’t tell who she was referring to. I’d never seen Luifon Sandalkia Dilts, so I didn’t know what he looked like.
“Where? What is he like?”
“See that stone wall at the back? Next to the door. He has silver hair and a mantle with the crest of the royal knights.”
I tried to focus and, while I did find the wall Mio was talking about, there were so many people that I couldn’t see the door. It was so far away too! I could more or less make out hair colors, but how was I supposed to see a crest on a mantle at this distance?! How could she?!
Apparently, while I was straining my eyes, the prince went through the door—according to Mio, at least. I suggested going after him, but Mio shook her head.
“I only saw his back, so I’m not entirely certain it was him,” Mio said. “It might just be a stranger with the same hair color. Besides, this is a military fortress, so there are plenty of knights bearing the crest of their order.”
“Are you sure? Out of curiosity, though, what’s on the other side of that wall?”
“A coliseum. It was used as an arena long ago, but it’s mostly used for ceremonies nowadays—including the weddings of knights.”
It didn’t necessarily seem like a fun place to visit, but I was a little curious. There seemed to be civilians going through that door, not only knights, so maybe there was something going on there too.
Mio seemed to be thinking the same thing, and she asked a passerby about it.
“They’re holding swordsmanship shows,” the young man answered. “You can even challenge the knights to duels!”
“Mock battles at a festival?” Mio said.
“I think you can win prizes! And it’s a chance to knock those ever-pompous knights down a peg. Those with confidence in their skills are all gathering over there,” the man explained.
“Would you like to take a look, Lady Marie?”
I shook my head. Unlike shops and artistic performances, I had no interest in watching people fight. Violence scared me, and I didn’t see how it could be entertaining. I wouldn’t want to go even if I had to.
I suddenly had a realization. “His Highness is the commander of the knights, isn’t he? Do you think he might be taking part in the fighting?”
“That couldn’t be,” Mio said. “After fifty years of peace, the royal knights are a symbol more than a military power. But still, they would be terribly humiliated if their commander lost a competition to a civilian. Besides, he hates losing.”
Well, he was a prince, anyway. It would’ve been a serious matter if he got hurt.
I thought I might have to go and cheer for him if he was taking part, but if he wasn’t, enjoying the stalls sounded much more preferable than watching a fight. I told Mio as much, and the corners of her mouth lifted.
“Let’s do just that, then. The quality of the items and food here is rather nice, so let’s have ourselves a tour and eat our fill.”
“That sounds nice,” I replied. “In that case, I’ll go try the apple challenge!” Once again, Mio stared at me as though she hoped I was joking.
I walked up to the stall and gave the shopkeeper one copper coin. I noticed Mio looking into the distance and followed her gaze—she was looking at the coliseum again.
“Are you still thinking about the man you saw, Mio?”
“Yes. I have a feeling his frame was slightly different, but silver hair that light is rare.”
“Then it must have been him. It wouldn’t be so strange given the circumstances, don’t you think?”
“Even if it had been him, he must be in the royal viewing box or in the commander’s office—places we can’t visit.”
Despite what she’d just said, her eyes were still on the coliseum. Mio always seemed so calm and composed, but I supposed even she couldn’t ignore a prince.