The problem was, how was I going to get him to find out?
I could just drag him over and show it to him, but I figured it would be far more exciting for him if he discovered the field himself. With that in mind, I decided to organize some sort of event so that Mirach could “stumble upon” the Galle Gold Leaf on his own.
“I’m going to have him over for a tea party!” I exclaimed. “I can also take the chance to test how much Mirach knows about the Galle Gold Leaf.”
Since I kept coming up with ways of quizzing Mirach, I decided to have him come to my garden the next day.
I had a garden table and chairs with parasols set up under a large tree, and I was sitting on one of them while waiting for Mirach to arrive. I was smiling to myself, imagining how surprised he’d be when he noticed the Galle Gold Leaf, when I suddenly heard his voice call out from behind me.
“Princess Serafina, you summoned me?”
When I turned my head, I saw him running toward me. Grinning ear to ear, I stood up and pointed to his seat with one hand.
“Take a seat here, Mirach,” I declared. “Let’s have a tea party.”
“A tea party?” His expression immediately shifted to confusion. “Just you and me, Princess Serafina? What on earth is going on here?”
But I just smiled innocently at him in return.
“Heh heh. It’s going to be such a fun tea party.”
As soon as Mirach took his seat, the lady-in-waiting I’d had on standby approached and started preparing the tea. With absolutely no hints, my first little test had already begun.
The tea we were about to drink contained Galle Gold Leaf. I wondered if Mirach would notice. As I watched, my heart racing in my chest, he picked up the cup and brought it to his lips without even glancing at the tea.
“Thank you. This tea tastes especially delicious because I ran here,” Mirach said as he downed the whole cup in one go.
Huh? That’s not how you’re supposed to drink tea at a tea party, I thought.
Since he’d gulped it all down at once, it appeared that Mirach had no idea that he was drinking tea made from Galle Gold Leaf.
Aha! I remembered that Mirach mentioned the Galle Gold Leaf was stolen before he was born. It was highly possible he had no idea what the herb even tasted like. With that being the case, it seemed that I wouldn’t have any choice but to drop some hints for him.
Just when that thought crossed my mind, I saw Lukbar from the First Knight Brigade heading straight in our direction, which was an incredibly odd sight. The only reason Lukbar would come to my garden…would be to see me, right? Oh, but Lukbar and Mirach hailed from the same village, didn’t they? My eyes sparkled with delight, a new plan forming in my mind.
“Princess Serafina, may I have a moment of your time?” Lukbar bowed politely after he came to a stop a few paces in front of me.
I couldn’t have asked for better timing, even if I planned it myself.
I happily let out a quiet giggle. Now that he was here, Lukbar could take part in my little quiz as well.
“Why, certainly, Lukbar,” I replied. “We were just having a tea party, so why don’t you take a seat?”
“U-uh… A tea party, you say?”
Given that the knights usually saw the royal family as lieges that needed protection, Lukbar probably never imagined I’d invite him to tea. He looked around, clearly confused, but as soon as he realized the man I was sitting with was Mirach, he froze in place.
“M-Mirach? What in the blazes are you doing? Sitting in front of a princess such as Her Highness is an utterly disgraceful act for a member of the royal guard!”
“I’m doing this at her request.”
Lukbar widened his eyes at Mirach’s calm response, and then, after a moment of hesitation, he seemed to make up his mind. With determination, he pushed the chair aside and squatted down on his heels in the empty space instead.
“Huh?” As I watched Lukbar kneel neatly on the ground, both knees aligned, I couldn’t help but wonder what on earth he was doing.
Just at that moment, Scheat, Fackt, and Miaplacidus also arrived. Drat… While these three were always fun to be around, they weren’t from Galle Village, so they weren’t welcome at my Galle Gold Leaf quiz session.
Apparently, my mental message didn’t make it through because they all walked over to me and looked down at Lukbar in anger.
“Hey, you! Don’t come near our princess!”
“You despise the Royal Red Shield, don’t you? Go away!!”
“If you’re even the slightest bit rude to her, I’ll pound you into the ground!”
Oh dear, my usually valiant knights were acting more like hotheaded little boys.
“Lukbar is being perfectly polite,” I retorted. “You, my own knights, are the ones who are being unruly.”
Hearing that, my knights frowned in disgust and began berating Lukbar once more.
“You…? Polite? Just how much of a show are you putting on for the princess?”
“Hah! You’re nothing but a loser! You may act tough on the outside, but you’re all sweetness and flattery when the royal family are around!”
“I hate brownnosers like you most of all!”
It was obvious that Lukbar was someone these three had major issues with. They never spoke ill of anyone, but here they were, acting so terribly hostile. Well, they had gotten into a fight with him the other day that had resulted in them being relieved of their guard duties and forced to train endlessly, so maybe some of that resentment lingered. But still…