I slowly walked down the stairs from the second floor of the castle. A bit of time had passed since I asked Ceres to inform the others that I will be following in a second. I took my time walking, thinking about the task given to me by the goddess.

“‘Protect him’, she said. What exactly am I supposed to protect him from?” I wanted to ruffle my head so badly but stopped as fixing my hair alone took a considerable amount of time. She gave me an anxiety inducing task.

“Hah! Whatever!” I screamed as I stomped my feet on the ground. I moved the problem in the back of my head as I continued walking towards the lounge.

“You’re finally here. What took you so long?” Alicia said, standing up from the sofa she was sitting on.

After seeing me, Rimu quickly hopped its way towards me. I grabbed him and held him in my arms.

“Well.. You know? I’m a girl so I need some time to prepare," I said, coughing up a random reason for my tardiness.

“You know I’m also a girl right? It doesn’t take me as long to prepare,” She said, narrowing her eyes and gauging the truthfulness of my answer.

Ugh.. You got me there.

“Well…”

*Sigh* She sighed then continued speaking.

“Whatever you did doesn’t matter anymore. Shall we go then?” She asked everyone in the room.

“I guess we should get going now,” Lilia rose from her seat and started walking outside of the room.

There were five of us. Lilia, Alicia, Emir, Rimu, and me. We were supposed to leave like 10 minutes ago but my talk with the goddess unexpectedly took a lot of time.

The carriage that was waiting for us in the front of the castle looked less extravagant compared to the carriage I rode coming here. I’m not really sure why though. Since we have the princess of Ludenburgh and a prince of a different kingdom, I expected that we would use something on the level of that, or even far greater.

Now don’t get me wrong. Despite being less decorated, you can still clearly tell that this carriage is much higher quality compared to the carriages used by regular people.

Unlike last time, instead of a butler, a maid was holding the door of the carriage open. Ceres bowed her head as each of us entered one by one. After a week of staying in the castle, being treated like a nobility still feels new to me.

“So.. Umm… Where are we going?”

I wasn’t really told about the whole plan for this trip.

“Because of a certain someone, we will need to rush to the theater. Hopefully we can make it in time,” Alicia, once again sighed.

This is the first time I’ve seen Alicia this annoyed, or being annoyed in general. Maybe she was really looking forward to this trip. It wasn’t my fault, okay!? The goddess held me in my closet!

“I’m sorry…” Since I can’t really tell them the reason I was late, I just lowered my head and apologized. I didn’t wanna ruin the trip any further so it’s best to fix this problem as soon as possible.

She didn’t respond to my apology during our whole trip. The atmosphere inside the carriage was really awkward. No one was speaking. Alicia and Emir were just staring out of the window. and Lilia looking at me and Alicia. I could tell that she really wanted to break the silence in the carriage, but in the end, she didn’t. As for me, I just continued looking down on the slime on my lap.

We passed a lot of places on the way. We crossed a river through a stone bridge. There was a river flowing through the Kingdom creating a north and south section. We also passed the noble section of the shopping district, and passed a plaza with a huge fountain in the middle. There was a statue on the top of the mountain and two knights on the base of it. I was curious and wanted to ask questions, but I refrained from doing so.

While the reason for this issue is quite childish, it is to some degree. It’s better to just fix it immediately than waiting it out. She might be a child, but in the current situation, I also am. And I’m gonna grow up along with her so it’s best to not sour our relationship.

When we arrived at the theater, one by one, we exited the carriage. The theater itself looks nice. Compared to what others I’ve experienced though, it’s kind of meh. There were a lot of people around it and even more people exiting it. Is the show already over? I really hope not.

When we entered the theater, we were greeted by a sign saying “Full”. Upon seeing this, Alicia quietly went back to the carriage.

“I’m really sorry,” I lowered my head and apologized to Emir and Lilia.

“It’s fine, It says here that there’s still a scheduled show later at night. Let’s just come back later,” Lilia smiled and patted my head.

“It doesn’t really bother me either. Just like Miss Lilia said, let’s just watch the show later,” Emir said after our eyes met.

After hearing their response, I gave them a quick bow and quickly made my way to the carriage. On the way, I found a bush that had multiple colorful flowers.

Maybe I can use this to help ease the mood. I said to myself as I picked a handful of them.

Inside was Alicia, staring off into the distance. I slowly went inside the carriage and sat next to her.

“I’m sorry..”

Before I could even say anything though, she went ahead and apologized to me.

But why? Why is she apologizing to me? Were some of the questions that were running through my head.

“No… I- I should be the one apologizing, If it wasn’t for me being late, the trip wouldn’t be ruined like this.”

Technically it wasn’t my fault, but I can’t really say that to her face in this serious moment right?

She looked at me. Her eyes were wet, at the verge of tearing up.

“No.. I-”

“I'm sorry!” I lowered my head while thrusting the handful of flowers towards her. Since I was looking down, I don’t exactly know what her reaction is. Getting beaten by my curiosity, I slightly looked up to take a peak. There, I saw her completely crying. There were no sounds but tears continuously fell from her face.

Why is she crying?!? Did I do something wrong??

“I’m sorry!” I apologized louder as I tried to calm her down. It didn’t work though, her soundless cry now turned into a full on bawl. It’s not working!!

While I was figuring out what to do to calm her down, suddenly, her arms were wrapped around me. She was hugging me. Tightly.

“I’m sorry I started to hate you even if it’s only for a little bit!” She cried out. What a pure child.

I also wanted to tear up, but stopped myself. I can’t be washed by the waves of emotions here. I’m the grown up in this scenario. I returned her hug and rubbed her head.

After a while, her crying turned to sobs. She let go of me and wiped her face with her hands.

“I’m sorry about being late. I didn’t know this trip meant a lot to you,” Once again, I apologized to her. This is entirely the fault of the goddess, not mine.

“It’s alright. I should not have acted like that over that little thing. I’m sorry too,” She said looking at the flowers in her hand, still sobbing here and there.

This child… I wanted to hug her tightly after what she said. I wanted to protect her. She’s so cute!

“Are you done?” Suddenly, a head popped from the door.

“Lilia? Umm.. I think so?”

“Lilia?!” Alicia, realizing what she could look like right now, covered her face with the flowers she was holding.

“Umm.. Lilia?”

“What is it?”

“Can you please call Ceres here for now?”

“Alright,” She said, then quickly disappeared.

*+*

We’re now on the plaza that we passed earlier. Ceres entered the carriage soon after I had her called and quickly cleaned Alicia up. She also cleaned me too as my hair was ruffled and my clothes were crumpled when Alicia was hugging me earlier.

“Isn’t it nice to see Lumina and Alicia be close again?” Lilia who was walking behind us said. I don’t know if she was teasing us or if she genuinely feels that way.

“It is!” Alicia, who was pulling me while holding my hand, replied in a joyful manner.

“Can we take a rest for a bit?”

We were running for quite a while and I was starting to get tired.

“Sure!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Alicia, once again pulled me by my arm and guided me towards a bench.

“You’re too fast..” Emir, who was running behind us, complained.

Come on man, you’re a guy! How can you be so weak?

“You’re a boy Emir, why are you this tired already?”

Oof, took the words out of my mouth.

“I can’t help it! I’m not used to this weather,” He said as he sat on the bench beside him panting.

“Please drink this Your Highness,” Ceres, who was following behind us, offered Emir a glass of water. Where did she get that from? I don’t know.

Emir took the glasses offered to him and drank it all in one go. Slow down, you might choke yourself.

Then he started coughing, choking from the water he’s drinking. Called it. Ceres, took out a handkerchief and wiped Emir’s mouth.

“Th- Thank you,”

“Can you let go of my hand for now Alicia?”

She was holding my hand this entire time. That little quarrel we had earlier seemed to have made our friendship deeper.

“No,” She said in a playful manner.

Come on, my hands are getting sweaty, at least let my hands go from time to time.

“Who is that statue?” Emir, recovered from his tiredness, asked while pointing his finger on the statue in the center of the plaza.

The statue on the top of the fountain that we passed earlier can easily be seen from our current position.

“Umm.. A great-grandfather?” Alicia replied, tilting his head to the side.

“That’s one of the heroes and the founder of the Kingdom, Richard Leo Ludenburgh,” Lilia, who was standing behind us, answered.

“Is Alicia a descendant of a hero then?!”

“She is.”

WAHHH! The big shots that have gathered around me have gotten even bigger!

“Shall we go then?”

What do you mean shall we go? Why are you treating it like nothing after dropping a bombshell on me?

Alicia stood up and quickly started pulling me again before waiting for any of our answers. Where are we even going?

We continued running around the plaza, checking every stall we came into.

“Come little girls!” A lady called to us.

“How about checking out these accessories that I’m selling?”

Curious about what she’s talking about, we walked towards her stall.

“Wow! Isn’t this cute?” Alicia took a crescent moon shaped hair ornament with a star on the inside and placed it near my head. It had a golden color. “This looks perfect on you!” She said enthusiastically.

“It sure does!” Added the lady selling the ornaments. “Now how about picking one for your friend too?”

From her suggestion, I took a look at the hair ornaments she was selling. There were a lot of varieties, having different colors, shapes, and sizes.

“How about this one?” After picking for a while, I picked up a blue, rose-shaped hair pin and placed it near her hair. This one looks good on her. The blue compliments her blond hair

“What do you think about this one?” I asked Alicia, asking for her opinion.

“It's cute too!”

“How about we buy something for the others as well?”

“That might be a good idea!” Alicia responded.

Once again we started looking for accessories that we think the others would like. The lady was also selling other accessories such as brooch pins.

“How about this one?” I picked up a brooch that looked like a snowflake. “Don’t you think this is perfect for Emir?”

Why you ask? Well, he came from a snowy Kingdom. What do you mean that’s it? Do I need other reasons to pick this for him? None, so shush.

“I think so too,” Alicia agreed to my statement. See?

“What are you two doing?” Emir, finally catching up, looked at the accessories in our hands.

“Stand still,” I ordered him and stuck the pin in his collar. See? Perfect right?

“Th- Thank you.” He said while looking at the snowflake pin on his collar.

“How about this one for Lilia?” This time, it was Alicia who suggested something. She picked up a hairpin that had an orchid-looking flower design. This was all metal by the way, and it was pretty small.

“Yes, I think that suits her well too.” I replied.

Seeing that Emir was still standing there, admiring the pin that we gave him, I decided to call for him for help.

“Emir, can you help us look for an accessory that might suit Ceres?”

“Uh? Sure.” He sounded confused at first but decided to help.

“How about this one?” Emir picked up a hair pin that has a moon shaped design at the end.

“That doesn’t suit her at all.” I immediately denied his suggestion.

“It really does not,” Added Alicia.

Emir, seeing our reactions, returned the hair pin to its original position.

Now that I think about it, isn’t Ceres already wearing a hair pin?

“Hey Alicia.”

“Hmm?”

“Isn’t Ceres already wearing a hair pin?”

“Hmm. I think she is.”

“Then I think rather than a hair pin, we should pick a pin for her too.”

“Let’s do that then!”

Scanning the available pins the lady was selling, a certain brooch took my interest. It looked like a small branch that had a couple leaves in them. I think this might be a good one for Ceres. I grabbed it and asked the three for confirmation.

“What do you two think about this?”

“If you think it’s fine then it should be good right?” Emir, didn’t really give me anything that could help me.

“I think she’ll like it,” Alicia hesitantly gave her thought.

“I guess we'll be taking this then.”

“Excuse me. We would like to buy these 5.” Alicia, without any hesitation, asked the price for the two hair ornaments in her hands.

Now that I’ve realized it, we don’t have any money with us.

“Do you have any money with you Alicia?” I whispered in her ears.

“Ah.”

So you don't..

“I think father gave some to Lilia?” She looked at me nervously.

“What are you three doing?” Lilia, still carrying Rimu in her arms, asked us three.

“Lilia, did Father give you.. Umm.. The money for this trip?” Alicia asked Lilia.

“Yes he did.”

After her reply, I can feel the sense of relief Alicia was feeling.

“So we wanted to buy these for everyone..”

“But you don’t have any money?” Lilia finished my sentence.

“Yes..” I mean, I knew that they had the money somewhere. There's no way that they’ll plan a trip without giving us any money.

“These kids..” She sighed. “So? How much is it?”

Upon hearing Lilia, the lady started calculating the price of the things we bought.

“Let’s see.. It’s originally 1 gold coin each, but since you were a good customer, I’ll give it to you for 5 large silver each.”

The money here works as follows: There are four types of coins, bronze, silver, gold, and royal coins. Bronze and silver coins also have two different types, a big one and a small one. This is for making coins easier to carry.

1 large bronze coin is equivalent to 10 small bronze coins.

1 large silver coin is equivalent to 10 small silver coins.

100 bronze coins is equivalent to 1 small silver coin.

100 small silver coins is equivalent to 1 gold coin.

100 gold coins is equivalent to 1 Royal coin.

If we’re to say that 1 small bronze is equivalent to 1 yen on earth then this hair ornament costs about 5000 yen each, half from its original prince of 10000 yen.

For a hair ornament, that price is extremely expensive, even at 50% off.

“I’m not sure if we should be ta-”

“We’ll take it then.” Alicia immediately decided.

WHAT!? Are you serious? I don’t know what the regular prices for hair ornaments are in this world, but I doubt that it can reach the price that she was saying.

“Aren’t you completely ripping us off?”

“What in the world do you mean Madam? I’m already giving you the product half its original price.”

“1 silver,” Lilia placed one small silver on the table.

“Are you serious? I won’t be able to earn anything if I sell it for that low. 4 large silvers.”

“You’re already earning more than enough. 2 silvers.” Lilia placed another silver coin on the table.

“I have a family to feed so I can’t afford to sell it to you that low. 3 Large Silvers.”

“You probably don’t have a family the size of a whole town. 3 silvers.”

Lilia continued haggling until they reached an agreement, 8 silvers each which totals to 4 large and 5 small silver coins.

“Lilia, this is for you,” I handed her the hairpin I picked for her.

“Thank you,” She thanked me and then patted my head. Since Lilia doesn’t really use a hair pin, she stuck the hairpin on her collar.

“And this one's for you Ceres,” I placed the pin we bought on her palm.

“Thank you,” She placed her hand on her chest and bowed.

Oh why the tree branch and leaves design for her pin? I’m not really sure either. It just felt like the right thing to choose.

*+*

After taking a lunch break in one of the restaurants in the shopping district, we continued walking around the Kingdom.

“The food was good but it wasn’t as tasty as the food in the castle,” Alicia, who was once again holding my hand, shared his thoughts.

I do agree with her opinion though. The food that we ate earlier was average compared to the food Charles, the head chef in the castle, cooks. It’s like comparing a cat to a tiger.

I sometimes take a look at Emir who is now carrying Rimu. He said he wanted to try holding him. And at times, I catch him looking at my, and Alicia's hand. I think I know what Alicia’s playing here. She’s asserting her dominance by showing off our closeness to Emir.

She’s clearly saying that there’s no space for you here. I feel sorry for him but I must not do and say anything. I must follow lady Alice’s lead.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at a building in the distance. It was large and really white. Compared to the building surrounding it, it completely stands out. It would even be much harder to not notice it.

“That? That’s the adventurer’s guild,” Lilia explained.

“Adventurer’s guild? Like the one where you do tasks and they pay you for it?!” I excitedly asked.

“Yes.. How’d you know?”

I learned it from games of course! Not only that, it’s almost always showcased in fantasy light novels, mangas, and animes. Of course I can’t tell her that so I just ended up lying once again.

“Well I’ve read it in a book in the castle. Can we go inside?”

“Why do you want to go there? It’s not like there’s something special to see there.”

“I want to see what people are doing here in the kingdom!” I reasoned with her.

“But..”

“I also wanna go!” Alicia and Emir yelled at the same time.

“There is no adventurer's guild in Frelvia. I’m curious as to what this association exactly does,” Emir added.

“I’ve heard from some staff in the castle that they used to be adventurers. I want to know what it’s like to be an adventurer,” Alicia also voiced her reasoning.

“But it’s really not a place for children.”

I think this is the best time to use one of my skills. You know. The skill I discovered upon coming to this world. Yup, my cuteness. I’ve actually been practicing in front of the mirror when I have nothing to do so I think I improved its effects to some level.

”Can we really not go?” I lowered my head but still looked at her. What I’m doing right now is most commonly known as the “puppy dog eyes”. It was really effective to people on Earth.

“Uuww…. But It’s dangerous..”

I think we’re almost there, just a little bit more push.

“You’re here on our side. There’s also Ceres guarding us,” I pointed out the maid that was silently walking behind us all this time. I don’t exactly know how good she is at fighting, but I hope she does. We didn’t have anyone guarding us except for Lilia and her so isn’t it normal to assume that she’s a bit trained?

“Alright..” Lilia finally gave in. It worked! Cuteness is amazing!

With that, we went our way towards the adventurer’s guild. We’re still currently far enough that we can’t see what it actually looks like. There are two possibilities in my mind. It can either be: one, clean and orderly; or two, dirty and rowdy. I really hope it’s the former. Well, judging from what I can see from this distance, I can say that it’s probably closer to the former.

When we reached the adventurer’s guild, there were two knights guarding at the door. The outside looked really clean and orderly. It was also really big. Why did Lilia exactly not want us to go to this place?

Inside, there were a lot of people carrying different kinds of weapons. Some spears, some shields, and some carried bows, but most of them were carrying some sort of sword in their hip.

There was an area where there was more concentration of people, in front of a large board with a lot of papers stuck into it. Lilia, who was in our front, continued walking deeper into the building.

There, we arrived at a desk where someone that looked like a clerk was stationed.

“Welcome to the main branch of the adventurer’s guild. What can I do for you?” She greeted us with a joyful smile.

“It’s been a while, Sandra,” Lilia greeted the woman at the desk. She was wearing glasses, her brown hair tied into a twin tail, a buttoned-up shirt, a small green cape that only reached into her arms with golden embroidery at its tips, and a red ribbon on her neck.

“Miss Lilia! It has been a while,” She lowered her head when she greeted Lilia.

“What have you come here for today?” She asked.

“Well, these children wanted to see what an adventurer’s guild looks like.”

The clerk on the table looked at us and gave us a smile.

“Since they don’t know anything about the adventurer’s guild and adventuring in general, how about giving them a quick lesson about those?”

“Sure thing!” She said and walked out from the desk she was manning and went to us.

“Come children, let us move to somewhere more comfortable.

“Is it fine for you to leave the desk?” I asked.

“It’s fine. The busy part of the days are over. Also there are other clerks like me. I’m sure they can handle this themselves,” She smiled at me. This woman is so gentle.

She guided us deeper into the building. We passed a lot of doors but stopped at a single one. I couldn’t really tell the difference between the doors. The only thing differentiating them was the small sign in the center of the door saying “Resting Area”. Should we really be here? I don’t know. It wasn't us that came here in the first place.

“Is it fine for us to come to this area?” Lilia, asked the question I had in mind.

“Oh it’s fine. Nobody uses this room anyways.”

She opened the door and revealed a quite spacious area. The temperature inside was cool. I don’t know how they’re doing it; I couldn’t see any air conditioners in the room. Maybe it’s another doing of what people call magic in this world.

“Take a seat at the table for now. I’ll be preparing what I need.”

The four of us sat on the round table in the corner of the room. Ceres did not, she was just standing behind me.

“How about taking a seat Ceres? I haven't seen you sit the whole day.”

“Thank you for your kind consideration, but I can not do that,” She lowered her head. Being a maid sure is tough.

At the corner of the room, Sandra, the receptionist at the front desk, was preparing tea for us. She prepared 4 and placed it in front of us. Sadly, no tea for Ceres. She also placed a plate of biscuits in the center. Yeah, no biscuits for her either.

“Please wait another moment. I’m gonna need to prepare more things,” She said then left the room.

“Woah,” Emir let out a yelp. Rimu, who was sitting in his lap, suddenly jumped towards me. What are you doing? At least tell me too.

After a while, Sandra returned into the room with a book in hand, and some sort of card in the other.