We were in a grand dining hall, the same one used when the nobles from the kingdom came to visit for the planning of the festival. Although this time there was no throne anywhere, and more decorations were placed all throughout the hall.

The chandeliers weren’t changed but wouldn’t be necessary to change them in the first place as they already looked wonderful and intricate. The lamps on the walls, and the multiple chandeliers hanging on the ceiling brought light into the room, along with the opened window letting the sun’s light and the morning breeze enter.

An assorted number of foods were prepared and placed on the table, not only cooked by the chef, but also by the other servants who would also cook whenever a special occasion comes, so more like they were collaborating and didn’t mean the chef’s skills were put to doubt. The dishes were somewhat delicious. But there were some that were actually good. All for my taste that is.

Father was sitting at the corner of the table, the seat of honor. On one side was mother closest to father, then next to her was me, then on my side was Estevan.

All of us were around a couple of feet apart.

On the other side were our guests, along with Eleden. With him nearest to Father and next to him was the princess from another country Lillie and was thus right in front of me. Then lastly was the knight, still wearing his armor. Quite a breach of etiquette actually, but I’m not really that strict, nor do I mind.

Hehe, not like I can do anything. I am but a meek princess, tolerative, and slow to anger. A passive character.

We began our banquet and ate like royals. Gentle and elegant, very neat. Though yeah, a bit boring. Good thing there was a small group of musicians there! At least there’s music making the atmosphere a little livelier. Using the instruments such as the one that’s the same as a violin, a lute, then the one I used in my music lessons.

“What do you think of our traditional dishes?” my mother asked the guests.

“It was pleasantly fascinating, soft and on the sweeter side. Something I’m not used to, but a welcome experience.”

“Oh? Now I am curious about your nation’s cuisines. I have never been to any other nation.”

“If you wish, I can cook a few cuisines from my kingdom.”

“Truly? But I would not dare trouble you.”

“No, it is completely fine. Cooking is a trivial thing.”

My mother chuckled. “If you say so, I will not be holding you back. Feel free to tell me if you want to start cooking.”

Wow a princess who knows how to cook, and quite confident about it….

I can cook by the way. Also I’m good at it… surely even I the princess of this kingdom won’t be behind a foreigner… Hmph!

“Of course, your majesty.”

Princess Lillie shifted her eyes towards me. Her eyes narrowed as she smiled kindly at me.

“Hello, Princess Estelia… I have been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Is that so…?” I said, a little timid. “I have also been curious about you…”

Damn, what should I talk about with her?

“... My eldest brother, Eleden, mentioned you a few times.”

“Gh…” Eledens seemed to almost choke drinking his glass of juice.

“My…” Lillie covered her lips with her hand. “I wonder what those entailed.”

“He was quite enthusiastic talking about you… he would smile ear to ear every time he describes you.”

I saw a little blush on her cheek as Eleden beside her acted stiff. The knight on the other hand seemed unbothered about it. So nothing’s going on, huh. That’s good. Brother’s good to continue with no obstruction.

I’m rooting for him of course.

“Ahem — of course, her highness princess Lillie is a wonderful person. Who would not speak positively about her?”

“Oh my… I’m flattered, Prince Eleden…”

“... Mm.”

I expected they would act more casual, and not like this. But I suppose this was a formal setting so they couldn’t exactly act the way they want.

Should I stop? Naaaaah, this was amusing.

To be honest, it’s a bit hard to tease in this formal place, ugh.

“Ahem.”

As I was thinking on what I should be speaking next with careful consideration, Mother cleared her throat quietly that I was able to hear just enough. I glanced at her and she smiled at me.

Aaaaw, I need to stop? Come on.

Can’t do anything then… And I was just getting started.

I behaved myself and ate my meal slowly like a proper lady. Father then spoke with the princess.

“The festival is days away, so I hope we can keep you entertained until then. Eleden volunteered to manage that part. I assume a tour around the palace would be a start?”

“Yes, father…” Eleden replied.

“That will be remarkably interesting indeed. Oh, would it be all right to see your knights? As one from a kingdom that centered around knighthood, I am curious as to how knights are in another.”

You might as well say you want to check on the capacity and ability of our knights. But of course, Father caught that. She could be sincere, but that still applied. That being said, we should be allies now so no need to be stingy. Besides, Eleden should have seen the capabilities of the knights in Myra first, so better see this as a fair trade.

“Of course. I would be interested what a princess like you would like to say. Which reminds me, you also know swordsmanship?”

“I have been trained since I was young. Truth be told, it was more obligatory than voluntarily. However, I did not train as hard as my other siblings, so I might be a little lacking.”

“You are still better than an average knight, princess.”

The knight suddenly chimed in.

“I may be. But there are people stronger than me. Although, I suppose being able to fight is important than not, especially in our nation that favors knighthood.”

Sounds like a tough place to live compared here where we are pretty casual about stuff. We have more leeway in what we wanted to be. Like Eleden who was a prince, but unable to fight like a knight, but focused himself more on diplomacy.

Estevan who’s more brawns than brains, no — he would rather use swords than use his brain in diplomatic and office stuff, I could imagine him agonize when he starts being diplomatic. I mean, look at him now! He has not spoken at all!

While me on the other hand, was useless in summary. Not like it bothered me. I would rather not do anything than do a thing if you get my drip. But of course things didn’t go my way.

“I see. Then feel free to visit the knights training ground if you decide to visit. You can consult Eleden if you need it, he will guide you.”

“Thank you.”

Father nodded his head then shifted his eyes to the knight. “Sir Jaiden, am I correct to assume you’re one of the Exemplar knights?”

“Your majesty, there is no need to add Sir, my name alone is sufficient given that you are a monarch and I merely a knight. But to answer your question, yes. I am the commander of the 7th Legion.”

“Oh? Truly I am thrilled to meet a fellow warrior, a knight who is renowned as one of the best in their nation. The princess surely found herself a dependable guard and escort.”

“It is rare to send one of our royals to another nation for a formal visit. We saw it fitting to send a renowned knight to guard her. No, this might be the first in a long, long while.”

So they don’t normally send royals to other countries — well duh, they’re royals, no one would send an important person for any trivial reason. They normally send an envoy for that kind of stuff.

But I suppose this time was different with the Empire at our doorstep. Honestly, politics never change, world leaders always find a way to fight each other. Well, we were pretty behaved, so it’s the empire that’s a piece of shit. There’s always that one guy… dammit…. I’m not gonna stress on that yet. Not like I can just go there and wipe the floor off their government anyway.

That aside, we did just send a royal to their kingdom of Myra, seems my home tends to do the initiative.

“With the empire acting up at our borders suspiciously, it is time for us to help each other. Showing our trust to each other might make the empire hesitate.”

“Indeed. For centuries they have expanded, and now they are trying to expand to their west after a time of silence. Do their desire for conquest know no end?”

“Hmm. Some leaders want something more I suppose.”

“Are you not like that, your majesty?”

My father smiled as though he was about to laugh.

“My home is rich of history and good people. What else is there to desire beyond our kingdom? Our founders raised this kingdom for peace, not for conquest and destruction. Our kingdom is built upon the foundation of life and peace of humanity.”

“And seeking conquest like the empire goes against that foundation?”

“Yes.”

“I see. For us in Myra, I observed that we always walk in the path of the golden light. We uphold honor and principles of goodness, never to be cruel. Treat our enemies with respect. All so our people would be paragons of everything that is good. Are we different from yours, your majesty?”

Damn that sucks. Paragons of goodness? The golden light? If I lived there, I would feel a little incompatible.

“Perhaps. We strive for the best of humanity, and kind to our allies and friends. And the most important of all, we protect our own people and most of all our family. Is that not the path of the golden light?”

Golden light. From my recollection, they worship someone they call as the Lord of Golden. I learned in my lessons that this light was some sort of symbol. It was clearer for me now what this light meant. A path of good. I had a rough idea before, but this made it a clearer, I did not think much of any other country’s religion since they were of no significance to me.

The knight smiled.

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

Hang on, we are not entirely in this path of the “light,” like what? Hahaha! Sure we have some “light” but we have plenty of “dark”, remember the time when a ruler cut off nobles unnecessary for the future of Wisteria? And what about the part of Allie? The torture and stuff.

Nah, no way there’s a paragon of perfect goodness out there. No way. Those who say that tend to be hypocritical, right? Or am I the one with weird sense of morals here?

But I guess that was where our difference lies. If they were paragons of goodness, then we in Wisteria were in the side of good but willing to dirty our hands to achieve our goals for sake of humanity. Fitting to say we do not have much of a boundary.

But whatever.

So our dining ended after a more casual conversation like the nice spots here in Wisteria, what they the guests would like to do and some casual stuff. Not like I can casually join anyway, I’m not one to chime in this kind of stuff.

***

After that decent meal, the guests were guided to their rooms and sorted out their luggage. As for me, everything went on mostly normal. I’m still with Rogan, my two other servants should be at the usual courtyard where we hung out, as I said where we would meet at this time.

I’m still wearing the dress I wore earlier, no reason to be changing. I’ll only be practicing my spell casting primarily for today. I have a trick I was trying out, well a few of them. Just mastering them further that’s all.

But on my way, about to go outside, by the wall was the knight from Myra, Jaiden was it? He looked like a proper guard there, just a blank face and stern posture.

He noticed me right away and bowed his head when I got closer. How polite.

“Your highness.”

“Sir Jaiden, may I ask as to why you are here? And alone? I expected you would be with your charge.”

“At the moment, she is speaking with Prince Eleden outside.”

“Huh.”

I’m curious as to what they could be talking about. Hehe, let’s see.

What? I’m curious about the love life of my brother.

I slowly went to the peek at a corner and there I saw the pair standing by the pathway.

“Truly, to see such many things is amazing,” said the princess, Lillie.

“Indeed, amidst the hard journey, you can find several interesting new sceneries.”

“I cannot wait to look around this kingdom, your home. Like our tour when you visited, except this time, you will be the one guiding me.” she chuckled. “I’m surprised that you volunteered.”

“Of course I would. I’m confident I’ll be a decent company to you. Foremost, I want it.”

The princess smiled. “I’m relieved though.”

Eleden reached out and grasped her hand. “I hope I will truly be a good company.”

“To be honest Eleden, your presence with me is good enough company.”

Brother giggled. “That’s great to hear, but I still want you to enjoy the experience here.”

“Of course. Let us have fun together, especially at the festival. I hope we can go out in public peacefully.”

“Looks like we’ll be going incognito again?”

“Looks like it.” she giggled.

Hey! What the! I intend to go incognito with Lucious! Stop ripping us off! What’s up with royals sneaking out and some shit.

“By the way, I recall your sister mentioning that you talked about me.”

“... Yes I did.”

“So they know about our…?”

“Yes…”

“I see… that’s alright though. Not like I can bear to hide my feelings.”

I retracted back and turned to the knight. I half expected he would not let something like this happen. That part where my brother and the princess get all giggly.

“You know about their relationship?”

“I was accompanying them when the prince, your brother, visited Myra. Their forming bond was too apparent to be missed.”

“And you’re fine letting this happen?”

“I do not see why I would rationally go against it. She is forming a bond with a prince of an allied kingdom, which will be beneficial for the kingdom, and yours too.”

Hm? Did I just catch something there? It’s kinda weird that someone would just include the word “rationally” there. Also accompanying them when brother was there, so maybe him and the princess were close to some extent? Hmmmm. Hmmm…?

Yeah, I’m not going to ask anything about that.

“I understand…… I don’t want to disturb them.”

I looked towards the other pathway, thinking where I should go through. They just had to have a sweet time in the direction I’m going.

“May I speak freely, princess?”

I returned my eyes to Jaiden.

“…You may.”

“You are quite a unique individual, aren’t you, Princess Estelia?”

“What do you mean…?”

“I mean your appearance. You are too unique and beautiful that I am in shock that moment I saw you.”

“Eh? Um…” I blushed; he was surprisingly being too direct. I even heard Rogan let out a faint whistle behind me. Shut it Rogan!

“My apologies if my words troubled you. But… princess Lillie, and other princesses in our kingdom were praised as the most beautiful, they may be the most beautiful women our entire people have ever seen. And then when I saw you, I had this feeling… your presence felt so unique, as if you stand out in this world, as if you originally are not from here but from somewhere beyond. It is hard to explain this feeling, and a foolish one, my apologies, please forget it.”

What the hell? I should keep my distance from this guy. He almost hit a homerun, what’s up with him? To say something so accurate… Nah, what sort of sorcery is this? Lot of weird people in this world of magic — wait no, there are a lot of weird people in my old world too.

Well, I do stand out like intensely, and this guy just felt something exaggerated. Intuition? Nah, that’s kind of bullshit. I believe intuition comes when you’re feeling paranoid, like how you’re in a bad place and have a bad feeling about it. But this was not intuition.

So rather than intuition, it should be more like he was pretty vocal about his deep feelings. I mean, I do stand out so much… so what he felt should be what other should feel when they see me first time.

If he’s this vocally honest, if he had feelings for that princess, shouldn’t he have confessed or something? Or perhaps he had already, and he just got rejected. Oof.

In any case, got to get out of here, just had a shiver from this guy’s words of me being from a place beyond this world. I mean, he’s technically not wrong…? I’m both goddess and from another world… and I’m a goddess… Yup I just said it twice.

“Mm, yes… okay. Then, see you later, Sir Jaiden, I need to be somewhere else.”

He nodded.

I went the opposite way and rerouted myself. When I was far enough, I spoke to Rogan.

“Sir Rogan, is that how you felt the moment you saw me?”

He raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

“What Sir Jaiden said, about me standing out in this world, like I’m not from here?”

“Oh that? Hmmm…” He placed his hand on his chin. “I guess something like that.”

“What? Why?”

“Princess, honestly. You are too bright, sort of say. Like a sun shining brightly in this world, a sun walking among us. And existence so unique and special that should not be found in this world. So it’s to be expected anyone who sees you the first time would feel that way, and apparently some are pretty vocal about it — Jaiden’s the one I’m talking about. I guess he’s weirded out by it.”

“Now that stings, Sir Rogan, being weirded out because of me.”

He chuckled. “Oh no, it’s more weirded out in a good way.”

“... So… that’s how people see me, huh?”

“Indeed. You are incredibly special.”

He said as he looked me in the eyes and with a sincere voice. I instantly awkwardly looked away. And then he followed when he realized what he had just said.

“Ahem…” he cleared his throat. “Sorry, shouldn’t have said something like that.”

“N-No… think nothing of it. You only answered my question.”

You basically admitted you guys see me as some sort of anomaly! But whatever…