Chapter 8: Making Memories with Friends
“IT’S more crowded than I expected!”
We’d come to the liveliest marketplace in all the Rhuddlan territory. The festival turned out to be much more popular than the guards had described.
Stalls were set up to sell animal costumes—some of them of incredibly high quality. We would have the perfect excuse if anyone caught sight of Prince Adelberd’s cat ears. It’s only the first day, so maybe they’ll be selling full-body costumes after a few more days…
That sounded like it could be a lot of fun, too. Perhaps we could even design a mascot character for the town—someone to greet tourists in one of those full-body costumes. With the Rhuddlan territory being famous for its honey, a bee character would be a smart choice.
I took in all the different festival stalls, my mind occupied with thoughts of animal costumes, when Prince Adelberd’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“A lot of these stalls sell sweets. I’d like to try something that uses that famous Rhuddlan honey.”
“Don’t have too many, Adelberd,” Lady Estellise interjected. “Let’s set a limit to three desserts, okay?”
“Only three…? That isn’t very many. I’ll have to think about it carefully.” Prince Adelberd scrutinized the stalls, deep in thought after Lady Estellise’s request.
Maybe he likes sweets after all.
Prince Adelberd and Siraiya were enemies in the dating sim. It seemed that, since Siraiya liked spicy foods, Prince Adelberd’s palate was the exact opposite of his, too.
“Let Lady Cynthia pick them out for you, Big Brother. It’s her family’s territory, after all.”
“That’s a good point. What do you recommend, Lady Cynthia?”
“Since we’ll be walking around the festival, it’s easiest to eat things that won’t leave you stuck carrying garbage. How does pizza sound?” I suggested. “Pizza with cheese and honey is particularly delicious.”
“All right. Pizza it is.”
Once Prince Adelberd agreed, his personal guard set off for the pizza stall right away. He’d already surveyed the entire festival and memorized the locations of each stall. This personal guard took on any odd jobs assigned to him, leaving the palace guards in charge of our protection.
Every food stall, including the pizza stand, was advertising a discount to any customers dressed in animal costumes. That was probably to encourage as many attendees as possible to dress up for this new event. My family would either cover these discounted items or offer some other kind of benefit to the shopkeepers in exchange. I could sense all the help and the special measures my mother and father offered the townsfolk to make the festival a success.
I was mentally boasting of my parents’ wonderful efforts when Prince Adelberd’s guard returned with six slices of pizza.
“Thank you.”
I tried to take a slice from the guard, but he stopped me, cut a piece from my portion, and stuck it in his mouth. Only after chewing and swallowing the bite did he hold the slice out for me to take.
“You had to test it for poison…?”
Prince Adelberd took his slice as he replied to me. “He would usually wait a bit after trying the first bite, but that would make us stand out in this crowd. I’m glad we get to eat while they’re still hot.”
I see. The strict rules around Prince Adelberd’s food would make it difficult to poison him. Perhaps someone was forced to turn to the limited-time event… or rather, the cursed book to harm him instead.
Of course, that was only one possibility of many. Maybe I really had messed up the progression of the game, causing the prince to sprout cat ears when he wasn’t supposed to. Actually, that would make me the true culprit in this mess…
The pizza stall had been set up in front of the owners’ actual pizza restaurant, which meant our slices came straight from their outdoor oven. I savored the appetizing scent of the dough, then took my first bite, enjoying how the sweet honey tasted when paired with the salty cheese of the pizza.
The others finished their slices just as quickly as I did. But Siraiya still had about half of his left. He didn’t like sweet foods, and he couldn’t eat that much honey in one sitting.
“Is that as far as you can go, Siraiya?” I asked, keeping my voice quiet.
“No… I’ll manage.”
Despite that response, I knew the pizza was too sweet for him. He probably could have finished it with enough time, but I felt bad about making him walk around the festival carrying food he didn’t like.
“You know the Rhuddlan territory is renowned for its honey, but you won’t eat it? What kind of fiancé are you? I love honey!” The bear—Prince Rutherford—boasted of this preference for some reason.
He likes honey? That really fits his costume. Prince Adelberd liked sweets too, so I made up my mind to send them both honey from the Rhuddlan territory after this was all over.
“It doesn’t bother me,” I said. “Everyone is allowed to have their likes and dislikes.”
“But he’s right. I’m a disgraceful fiancé who can’t finish a single slice of pizza served with Rhuddlan honey,” Siraiya pouted.
“If we’re going to be together forever, then I’ll always be around to finish any food you don’t like.” I approached Siraiya, my cheeks already burning hot from what I was about to say. But the prospect of flirting with him was too appealing. “Will you feed the rest to me?”
“…Ngh!”
Siraiya turned bright red. His shoulders lurched, and he bit down on his bottom lip, but he slowly brought the slice of pizza to my mouth. I finished Siraiya’s slice one bite at a time. Once I was done, he smiled shyly and thanked me.
“D-… Disgraceful!”
Prince Rutherford was blushing even more furiously than Siraiya. Maybe he’s a bit too young to see things like this.
Prince Adelberd looked at us with an unconcerned expression, but Lady Estellise was blushing too. We’re flirting so shamelessly; surely it should be easy for her to ask her fiancé to hold hands.
I found her eyes and gave her an encouraging look. “Now it’s your turn!” I mentally cheered. Lady Estellise responded with a firm nod.
“…Adelberd! May we hold…?”
But despite that determination, Lady Estellise barely raised her voice above a whisper. If I hadn’t been paying attention, those words would have blended in with the sounds of the festival going on around us.
Prince Adelberd turned away from her, clearly missing his fiancée’s invitation. I watched as Lady Estellise’s shoulders slumped dramatically.
“Let’s go see what they’re doing over there,” he said. “It looks interesting.”
I followed the prince’s eyes and saw a gathering in an open area of the marketplace. A group of people in animal costumes was playing instruments and dancing.
It’s all right. You can recover from this. I was just about to console Lady Estellise when Prince Adelberd turned back to face her.
“Would you like to hold hands, Estellise?”
Lady Estellise gulped. I was almost as shocked as she was. I really believed Prince Adelberd hadn’t heard her, so I never expected to hear the exact same question come from his mouth.
“I won’t be offended if you say no,” he said. “I’ll respect your choice, but if it’s all right, I’d like us to share more physical contact outside of formal settings. That way, it will be just for the two of us.”
“Adelberd…!”
In the end, we’d worried for nothing. Just as Lady Estellise wanted to be closer to Prince Adelberd, Prince Adelberd wanted to be closer to her.
“Of course… I’d like that very much…!”
She extended her hand. Prince Adelberd took it.
“Estellise… Thank you for this.”
Prince Adelberd had an honest, heartfelt smile—not the usual fake one he maintained for politeness. We let them walk hand-in-hand ahead of us so as not to intrude on their moment. Then I took Siraiya’s hand.
“Shall we join them?”
“Yes.”
Siraiya squeezed my hand back. We headed toward the merry sounds of the musical performance.
We were used to the sort of dancing practiced by nobles in high society, so this commoner form of dance was intriguing and entertaining to us.
Once we were told that anyone could participate, Siraiya and I imitated the dance style. Prince Adelberd and Lady Estellise also enjoyed their first-ever dance just for the two of them, not as a political measure to show the world they were on good terms.
Like any teenage boy, Prince Rutherford was too embarrassed to dance on his own. But I didn’t want the opportunity to go to waste, so when I pulled him into our circle, the prince smiled, even as he danced somewhat stiffly.
Surrounded by strangers, their faces obscured by masks, the five of us danced, sang, and made merry with the townsfolk.