The Ordinary Royals

The prince smiled as he watched the blond girl gaze with awe at every village and rice paddy they passed by. It seemed as if this was the first time the princess of Kouku had left the confines of the palace.

Sometimes being a royal is really boring. The prince thought as he stretched out his arms. They had been traversing the road to the town of Chikyuu the whole day but the girl had looked on with unmasked amusement at the activities around her. She would give him a death glare every once in a while especially when she would catch him beaming at her. However, her eyes could not hide her delight at what the outside world had presented to her.

It's her first time in Kasai. Is she aware of the death penalty for trespassing? The prince marveled at the strong-willed girl across him. It's not every day that he would meet someone as crazy as him who would defy the laws of their land. I guess she's not anxious about it. I wonder if our fathers were really friends. The princess' words had been bothering him since last night. That sort of thing was very unlikely to happen knowing the history of the four kingdoms. Yes, there was a peace treaty but it didn't mean that one-half of the land was in speaking terms with the other half. Unless they have formally ended their misunderstandings while I'm gone.

"Here we are at last!" Faust announced from behind the boxes. The princess turned around to look at the magnificent arch of the town of Chikyuu as the wagon entered its premises. They went pass the giant fountain where a bunch of kids were playing and entered the busy street of a flea market. They turned right to a narrow alley and stopped in front of a small shop selling herbs and home-made remedies.

"Hello my dear friend, it's been quite a while," the doctor took off the hood of his cloak and saluted an obese man wearing a turban who just came out of the store. As they converse, the prince began unloading the heavy boxes from the wagon.

Faust would surely make a lot of money after selling this amount of herbal ointments and medicines.

The doctor had been secretly trading his wares with a long-time friend in Chikyuu since he was banished from Kasai. The town of Chikyuu was the center of commerce in the kingdom and security was less strict here to allow for free trade.

By the time the prince finished the delivery, the blond girl was nowhere to be found. He immediately left the doctor who was laughing heartily with his customer and searched every stall nearby for the missing princess. He felt relieved when he spotted her at the far end of the street peering with great interest at the trinkets being sold at a jewelry shop.

"Anna, I've been looking for you," he panted heavily. He noticed the object of her fascination. It was a necklace with a three-rose pendant.

"Yoh, have you seen a necklace with a pendant similar to this one but with just a single rose when you found me?" she asked.

"No, I don't remember something like that."

"I must have lost it when I fell down the river. Ren would be very angry." There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.

The prince instantly reached for his pockets only to remember they were empty. What an awful time to be penniless. He sighed to himself.

"There you are you, two! You got me a bit worried." Faust showed up from behind their backs. He was happily patting a heavy bag of coins as payment for his merchandise.

"My friend had asked us to stay overnight in their house as guests. We could continue our journey tomorrow. Oh, by the way, here's your part of the sale, Yoh." The doctor threw him a pouch containing several coins. "You can roam around town but be sure to remember this part of the alley so you can return here safely. Enjoy!" Faust winked at the prince before walking away.

Yoh smiled cheerfully at the doctor's gift, "Thank you Faust!" he blurted out.

"You call your father by his first name?" Anna raised an eyebrow at his sudden lack of respect.

"Er… sometimes. Come!" The prince took her hand and they made their way through the busy flea market.

"Where the hell are you taking me, servant?" the blond girl screamed as she was dragged along.

The boy ignored her protests and stopped in front of a stall selling street food. He ordered two sticks of what appeared to be barbecued lizards' tails from the old woman. "Here, try this," he grinned as he handed her a stick.

"There's no way you're making me eat THAT," the princess wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"It's delicious! It's the specialty in Chikyuu."

"No!"

"Then how about those?" Yoh pointed at the skewered frog legs.

"Definitely not!"

"These ones are good, too." The prince shifted his finger to the display of chicken feet.

"No! Are those even edible?"

Chicken's intestines. Pig's dried blood. Dead seahorse.

"No! No! No! Are you trying to poison me?" The princess was fuming with rage.

"I just thought you'd like to try out the food of ordinary town's people. You won't get to taste them when you return to the palace."

"That is if I could still return there without being ambushed." Anna muttered under her breath.

Yoh ordered a paper bagful of lizards' tails and paid the thankful old woman.

"Let's walk, princess."

Anna was tired from strolling around but as much as she didn't want to admit it, she had fun that day. She and the servant, Yoh had watched a puppet show being performed near the central fountain, observed a group of old weavers working on the loom to create a beautiful tapestry, played with a bunch of kids - well Yoh did the playing, eaten shaved ice sweetened with syrup, ogled at the ceramics and glass beads displayed on a crafts shop, and laughed at a street mime who was acting as if he had lost his way. They had just finished watching the sunset from the rooftop of an amiable dressmaker and were on their way to the medicine shop where they would be staying for the night.

The princess glanced at the boy walking in front of her with his head resting on his folded arms. He was happily whistling a song she had never heard of. She was beginning to feel a little envious. Ordinary people like him could experience what life had to offer. They were not subject to threats and murders unlike the royalty. They could have a normal quiet and simple life - something she wasn't able to experience until today. Yoh abruptly stopped and scratched his head when they were almost near the shop.

"Amm… princess, you go ahead. I think I lost my pouch. I'll just retrace our steps and look for it."

Anna scoffed, "How irresponsible!" and went inside the medicine store where she was greeted by Faust and their host family.

Yoh returned in time for dinner and was bombarded with questions from the doctor regarding his adventures around town since Anna was disinterested in responding to his queries. When dinner was over, Faust instructed them to sleep ahead as he would be having a drinking session with his old-time buddy downstairs.

"I'm sorry, princess but we three have to share the same place," the boy dusted the pillows that were laid on the single bed. This is the only guest room they have here. Father and I will sleep on the floor. They have mats prepared for us."

Anna who had already changed into her night gown, ignored him and went over the small balcony. There wasn't much to see for the view was being blocked by several houses. Yoh joined her and stared in appreciation at the stars above them.

"I didn't know that such a town existed here. Ren and I would only spend our time in one another's palaces or in the Kouku forest near the river border. We never went to visit towns."

"It's fun, isn't it? When you sometimes forget you have the weight of the kingdom on your shoulders."

"How would you know how heavy a royal's burden is? You are just an ordinary servant," the princess glared at him.

"Er.. you're right, Your Highness." He didn't want to get on her bad side. "Am… by the way, this is for the one you have lost," Yoh took out from his pocket a small box which he handed over to the blond girl.

Anna opened it to reveal the necklace that she had been peering at the jewelry store earlier.

"Great! Now you have wasted your little money on this. Don't blame me for your sudden impoverishment," she scolded him. Nonetheless, the princess wore it on her neck at once.

"Thanks, anyway." she whispered audibly. "When I meet Ren tomorrow, he will reprimand me for losing his engagement gift."

"Ren… Ren… REN, you mean the Prince of Kaminari? You are going to meet him tomorrow?" Yoh asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I told you to take me to your king, didn't I? You worked for King Yuan, how could you not clearly remember his son's name?"

Yoh's jaws dropped. How could he be so stupid? Of course, the princess of Kouku would remember him as a servant at the Kaminari palace for she saw him there during the engagement ball. She was actually referring to the King of Kaminari as 'his' king. He felt like slamming his head on the stone wall a couple of times.

I'm in big trouble. We're in big trouble. If she finds out that she is in Kasai, she'll freak out. If she finds out that I'm from Kasai, she'll freak out even more. She would immediately think that our kingdom is spying on theirs for what could be the main reason why someone from Kasai would be in her engagement ball. Actually, we REALLY are spying on them!

If they find out here that she's a trespasser she would be hanged. If they found out that I have been trespassing to the other two kingdoms, I will be hanged, too.

If I veered her away from the direction of the palace and return to the forest border she'll start suspecting and I can't just leave her to go to Kaminari on her own. What if her parents' murderers were just waiting for her somewhere near?

What do I do? What do I do?