Chapter 13

[AUTHOR'S P.O.V]

Heric had just finished with his mission and was now arriving at the Poffice Guild to sell the diamonds and fur from the monster he fought.

He smiled as he handed the items to Angela, computed his earnings, and paid him his prize. The boy thanked her, but he was given a letter before departing.

"For us?"

"Yes," she said, nodding.

"From who?" he inquired, gently grabbing the letter from her and scanning it.

It had a very opulent appearance. The letter appeared to be made of gold paper and smelled heavenly, as if someone had sprayed perfume on it.

"From the palace," she responded.

"F-from the palace?! The royal family?!" he exclaimed, stunned.

Receiving a letter from the Royal Family is extremely unusual, and everyone in the kingdom hopes to receive one! To netizens, it felt like being successfully recognized.

Angela nodded softly, "Yes."

"Are we in trouble?" Heric wondered.

"If you were, they would have sent the guards to exile you instead of writing you a letter."

He hastily thanked her before running out the door. He couldn't wait to tell his friends about the good news.

[YUMI'S P.O.V]

I was in my kitchen, peacefully preparing snacks for the boys and myself with Minjoon. If you consider hamburgers and French fries to be snacks, the snacks we considered are more like our brunch.

The others were out collecting fruits and seasonings, so we wouldn't have to go to the market. The herbs and fruits we needed were in season, and picking a bunch for ourselves was substantially cheaper. We don't have to spend any money because it's free!

They returned minutes later, and Minjoon and I had our food cooked and ready at the same moment!

The boys returned with a basket full of green mangoes, peaches, berries, mushrooms, and herbs that they had dug up.

Every single fruit appeared to be ripe and tasty. It was the ideal day for making cold smoothies and fruit salads for later snacking.

Minjoon was doubtful of the mushrooms they brought back as we scanned these fruits and herbs. He inspected them rapidly, not daring to touch one, and winced in revulsion at their true nature.

He inquired, "Where did you get these mushrooms?"

"In the forest where we got the other ingredients, where else?" Yejoon responded.

"Well, these mushrooms you brought home are poisonous," he informed him.

I went over to investigate the mushrooms they brought back with my familiar, and Art quickly recognized what kind of mushrooms they were, and she shrieked in fear.

These mushrooms appear to be quite poisonous. Any living being can be killed with a single bite. Those in charge of these mushrooms cleansed their hands completely right away, not wanting to die in a horrible way in the game.

We have our delicious brunch in the backyard after we tidy up the fruits and seasonings in a container. The sun was blazing, yet it was not at all humid. The searing sun was mingled with a cool breeze, which was refreshing on our skin thanks to the wind.

All of a sudden, Heric ran inside the house and reached the living room in haste, surprising everyone within.

"Yumi!" he exclaimed. When I turned around and saw him out of breath, I figured he had run for his life back to the cabin once his mission was completed. But I was perplexed by why he did it.

"Are you okay?" I asked, a little concerned.

"Letter!" he exclaimed simply as he reached the letter to me while catching his breath and approaching our table tiredly. He sat down next to Jaeseong, and the boy gave him some water to drink.

"Oh my god, that was a workout," he exhaled tiredly.

"I've never received a letter in this game before," I remarked, examining it from front to back.

"Same, just open it. It's from the palace," he remarked after drinking water.

"Oh wow, from the pa—from the palace?" I yelled in shock.

Yes, it is a big deal, and yes, I was getting nervous! Who would have guessed that my first letter in this game would be from the Royal Family? What a privilege!

"Palace? The royal family?" asked Joseph with an excited grin on his face, Heric nodded.

The actual question, though, was why we had received a letter from the Royal Family. I doubt it's a notification of our expulsion because we haven't done anything wrong or unlawful.

Even though I knew our backgrounds were clean of criminal activity, I was nonetheless apprehensive.

The others were perplexed as to why we had received a letter from royalty, and there was only one way to find out.

I carefully opened the envelope, as if it were a Christmas gift, to save the wrapper for the next Christmas, and carefully removed the paper inside.

Even the interior paper was lovely. It was robust, had flower images engraved on it, and smelled wonderful.

The letter stated,

"Greetings to Prico and Fneir's Saviors! We write to you to express our gratitude for saving our most precious creatures on the land. We invite you all to join us for our Afternoon Tea at 1 p.m. We hope for your arrival, From The King and Queen of Houndlet Kingdom."

I read aloud for everyone to hear, and when I finished, the audience oohed with delight. A tranquil and elegant afternoon tea inside the castle with the king and queen sounded intriguing.

This was our first meeting with the King and Queen, and despite our excitement, we were all scared. It's the royal family we’re talking about here. The ruler of the Houndlet Kingdom

The time is 12 p.m., according to my wristwatch. We were given an hour to get ready. We didn't have much time to prepare, and we were still unsure what to do.

What shall we put on? Should it be fancy? Will our hunting gear seem presentable? Should we prepare a present now that we've been invited? But what are we going to provide them? What are they even interested in? More importantly, what do they lack that we could provide?

We all agreed to keep our hunting gear as long as it was clean and presentable. Then we cleaned ourselves up.

When visiting the royalty, it is essential to dress formally. You don't want to make a negative first impression, especially when it comes to the Royal Family.

During this hour, I undergo one of the most stressful situations I've ever experienced.

There were now five minutes until the designated time. The boys, Angela, and I were now standing in front of the Houndlet Kingdom Palace's entry gates.

My heart raced nervously as I stood in front of the castle, a few meters away. For the first time in forever, I’ve felt this anxious inside the game.

"Are you guys ready?" I worriedly questioned.

"No," Heric said nervously.

"Wait, how do I look?" Minjoon inquired of Jiwoo, who stood next to him.

"You look good; now let's go!" he said.

"We have no choice," I said.

We showed the letter we received to the guards from the Royal Family to be allowed to enter the castle grounds. With the sound of the gates opening mixed with my beating heart, I realize that the time has really come.

There was no backing out, now that we had entered and walked past the royal guards. Walking towards the gigantic castle, we walked on the path through the beautiful flower garden.

Every step we took, we could feel our hearts beating anxiously. But with every step we took, we couldn’t help but admire how beautiful the front garden was.

As we approached the castle, it stood tall and majestic, and we were terrified by it. However, we stood bravely, our backs straight and heads held high.

We are, after all, in the presence of royalty.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! You must be the travelers that our royal highness invited, yes?"

A person standing on the top of the staircase welcomed us. His appearance astounded me. He had long gray hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was incredibly attractive, despite appearing to be in his 50s.

My buddies expected me to be the leader for this trip, and I completely forgot I was in charge. Heric observed that I was at a loss for words when they heard me quiet, so he decided to speak up for the group.

"U-uhm, yes sir," he responded, bowing. "I'm Heric Freeman; to my left is Angela York; to my right is Yumi Mizukasa; and behind us are our other teammates; it's a pleasure to meet you, and it's an honor to be here, sir."

"It is an honor to meet you travelers; my name is Don Smith, the royal family's head butler."

Heric bowed slightly as the butler bowed at them.

"Please follow me as I take you to the balcony. The King and Queen are delighted to meet you all."

It only took a single step inside for the gorgeous and sumptuous interior of the front entryway to steal our breath away.

Above the ceiling, the chandelier glistened brightly. The light shining down from above made everything look like a dazzling, luxurious utopia.

I knew we were in another universe full of fantasies. But entering felt like I was being swept into another realm—a Disney fairytale world.

We were led up the massive stairwell and through the sumptuous corridors. The carpet on the path we followed muffled every step we took, and it kept us stunned everywhere we looked. We were all in admiration.

Being inside a castle for the first time did not disappoint, and everything looked precisely as I expected.

We got to the balcony outside after a few seconds of traveling through a long corridor.

"Please wait here; the King and Queen will arrive shortly; you may sit while you wait," the butler said before entering the castle.

The balcony, like the interior, was gorgeously wide, with a one-of-a-kind view of the side garden. I've never seen such a perfect setting for a tranquil event as afternoon tea.

"Let's sit," I said uneasily, and we all did.

We were only a few minutes away from meeting the King and Queen of this kingdom. It's as tense as being in the presence of the Queen of England or the Emperor of Japan. Just thinking about it makes me more nervous than I already am.

"My heart can't stop palpitating; I'm so nervous," expressed Seungjae as he sat on the golden chair.

Even the royal seats are intimidating. With just one scratch of this, you'll be out a million yen. Because of this, I was a little hesitant to sit on it.

I don't own a diamond or two; therefore, repairing any damage will be impossible. With all of these problems racing through my mind, I doubt I'll be able to fully enjoy this minor occasion.

I let out a sigh. I despise overthinking.

It wasn't long until the Queen and King arrived. With their royal attire, their aura was extremely potent. They looked like Isekai anime characters; both were quite attractive.

When we saw them enter the balcony, we all jolted up and bowed. They bowed as they made their way to their seats.

"Thank you so much for accepting our invitation, young hunters! We are honored to meet such brave and strong hunters like you all!" exclaimed the Queen.

"Thank you for inviting us, your highnesses; it is truly an honor to be here and have afternoon tea with you," I bowed, garnering a giggle from them.

"When we received a message from Dymaster, we were very thankful and thrilled to find hunters who are willing to save magical and rare creatures in our village," the King said.

"D-dymaster?" I repeated, perplexed.

"My Familiar."

Suddenly, the King's familiar, a long dragon, emerged from the King's behind. We were taken aback by its frightening aspect.

"Dymaster discovered you and your hunt-mates while patrolling for hunters who hunt rare creatures like those you had saved, and he decided to follow you around just to be prepared whenever the creatures you were with felt unsafe, but to his surprise, you actually saved them," the King continued, followed by the Dragon, who bowed.

Something in me became sentimental.

I wouldn't have been able to identify Prico and Fneir during the time I gathered the ingredients and saved them from trouble if the boys hadn't been so persistent with my fruit dessert.

Those malicious hunters would have gotten away with their crime if it hadn't been for their persistence. Prico and Fneir would have died by now, and our meeting would have been impossible.

It was incredibly annoying at the time, but looking back, I'm glad these boys were tenacious.

"May we ask for your name?" asked the Queen.

I've always been horrible at introducing myself, and I always avoid making eye contact. It would be inappropriate for me to do the same to the Royal Highnesses in this situation.

I mustered the guts to look them in the eyes and keep eye contact. I did so with a smile and pride in my voice.

"My name is Yumi Mizukasa, your highness," I said as I bowed and shifted to the next person alongside me, as if passing the baton.

When Heric realized it was his turn to introduce himself, he panicked a little, but he performed well and gave the baton to the next person alongside him.

Until the last huntsman, everyone had their opportunity to introduce themselves. The queen huffed with delight.

"It is an honor to meet you all; my name is Aurora Pastel, and my husband's name is Schmmok Pastel."

"Now that we've finished our introductions, shall we begin our afternoon tea?" the King asked.

We finally sat down and started feasting on our snack. As we ate with the Royal Highnesses, we were nervous. Anyone in our situation would have felt the same way.

Nonetheless, I tried to ignore the tension within and simply enjoy the moment.