Standing before a giant luxurious restaurant named (Royal island), Rein and I said our goodbyes to uncle Besnick, our usual carriage driver, and looked at each other.
'You're nervous.'
She was nervous for some reason. The one who was going to have dinner with them was me, so there was no reason for her to be nervous.
'Haaa… and you're still excited.'
She was worried that something would happen to me or to the food, depending on the situation.
Something could happen to the royal family too and as this was the greatest restaurant owned by empress Madeleine, the food was definitely questionable.
Well, I had no plan to at least disappoint their expectations… or the food, hopefully.
'Haaa… you have tasted it too, no? Can you blame me?'
There was only one person in this world that was the best cook for me. And she wasn't in this world anymore.
Her cooking was just too out of the world that even if I knew this person was called the best cook on the continent, her cooking couldn't just reach that level of divinity.
'It's not. I know better than anyone, maybe. Still, I believe in those great acting skills of yours. I believe you will be just fine.'
'Then wish me luck, darling…'
Taking a deep breath and squeezing her hand thrice, I let go of it and we walked towards the grand gates of the best restaurant.
This was a place few could actually afford, so mostly only rich people could ever set foot here.
And most of them were gourmets from all over the continent.
It was a special place situated near the imperial palace, so its splendor was even more amazing.
But, on this special day, just like every year, this place was closed to the general public. Which included even the kings of other nations.
The emperor himself, with the three empresses, dined here on the first day of the winter festival.
The place was closed and heavily guarded, like right now, and the procedures to follow, even after receiving an invitation from his majesty himself, were strict.
The strong, high-ranking knights covered in full-body solid armor first checked us, made us sign some written documents, and only then led Rein and me to different rooms.
The one emperor invited was me and Rein was my date for today, which was mostly how things went in this society, so even though she was allowed the entrance, she couldn't be in the same hall as them.
'Which we already knew was going to happen…'
So, after that long, almost half-hour inspection and stuff, I was standing before one of the most amazing gates I had ever seen on the top floor of the restaurant.
"Haaa…"
It was time for dinner, so I didn't hesitate and nodded at the mages beside the jewel-covered gate.
-Ooooooooooong!
They were stoic as they imbued the gate with their dense Mana, and it slowly opened.
'Let's… see.'
I was expecting some kind of announcement and stuff. Seeing the four of them eating with noble manners, maybe empress Madeleine making the dinner herself. But unlike my expectations, only the thinking that empress Madeleine was making something was true.
Aside from that…
"Hahaha. That was a funny one." Emperor was laughing?
"Let me finish, dear. There is more~. So, Sophie was playing suddenly and there was this big doll…" Empress Aina, the calm gorgeous pure elf, was laughing while holding a knife.
"Med? Is it ready yet…? My little tummy is roaring…" The way empress Vera, the royal advisor, said those words seemed unreal.
She was spread out on the table when the gates opened, and I saw them. While just behind her, there was a tornado of fire.
"Almost done, almost done. Just two minutes!"
Empress Madeleine was wearing an apron but unlike dad, this one was red, something that matched her orangish hair.
There was a pan in her hand and a tornado of flames on this pan… and she was controlling those flames masterfully.
'The title of best on the continent is at least true…'
This was a friendly family image, nothing like what I had imagined. Or nothing like the stereotypical royal family where the emperor is old or stoic, empresses have some dark internal conflicts going on, or they want their children to be the next successors of the throne.
No, well, instead of something like that, this scene reminded me of my own family… something I do not want to believe, so I will just ignore this.
"Oh~! That young child is here!" Empress Vera was the first to shout and break their attention. Not that they didn't know I was here.
They just ignored the small presence and were immersed in their conversations. She had nothing to do right now, so she was naturally the first to shout.
"Oh, hoho. Come, young Axion. Take a seat. She will be done in a minute."
"She said that three minutes before too…" Empress Vera mumbled with a hungry, powerless expression. She quite certainly was starving.
"No really! I have to try my best today! We have a special guest, you see!"
The tornado of flames died down as if they weren't anything and she put the pan with a big piece of green-colored meat down.
Was this for real or some kind of play…?
It was a question, but I respectfully bowed and treated them in proper manners before sitting down. Maybe it was some kind of test or something-
"It's not some kind of test, little boy. It might be weird, but just try to relax for today."
The emperor was the one saying that, so I was even more unsure of what to do. He was a weird guy, after all.
"I will try my very best to follow those words, your majesty."
I will try. That's the best I can do in this situation anyway.
"Hahaha. Alright." His answer was short, ambiguous, and, just like him, weird.
So, I just waited in the room as I looked over the splendid room and these four people.
They were at least not acting. And if they were, I was definitely falling for it.
It was a weird situation, so I couldn't do much and just look at the cooking process, look at their expressions, and hear their family stories… which was a personal thing and there was no way I was going to leak this information.
I signed a Mana contract after all…
Anyway, they were interesting.
"So, Sophie goes to Mr. Martial and says there's this big fight going on in the west wing and he runs without thinking, only to find two squirrels fighting~."
"Poor Mart. She sure has become mischievous."
The two of them were most certainly talking about the third and youngest princess, who is rumored to have special powers.
She certainly sounded interesting if even they were talking about her with such cheerful expressions.
"Bell is still the same, though. Aside from studies and chocolates, there seems to be nothing that interests her."
Now, this was the talk about the second princess Isabella, the one who loves the chocolates from the branch manager of the adventurers association.
"Haaa. That girl is still young. She will find more interest by the time she enters the academy."
Right. Two imperial princes and this second princess were going to be in the academy at the same time as all of us.
But I was going to see them at tonight's ball anyway, so it was going to be fun seeing the future highest powers of the empire.
"Vera? Anything new with Charles and Claud?"
She was laying her head on the table and didn't lift while answering.
"Nah. Both are the same. One is traveling around while the other one just reads and trains. They are no fun, hump! They don't care about their mama."
She looked upset. But still, her alluring anger seemed attractive.
Emperor sighed at her behavior and didn't say anything more, the food was ready too.
"Alright then!"
There were tens of attractive-looking delicacies served on the round table and some special ones made just for the people present there.
There was some kind of weird soup and fish for empress Vera, a salad and a piece of tofu-like thing but different from that basic thing, this one looked just like meat stake; a whole red chicken for the emperor, spicy just from the looks, and there were things for me and Rein too.
Like, for me, it was a weird burger with a red bun, green meat, blue vegetables, and silver sauce.
For Rein, though, it was something that looked… lavish?
Well, everything on this table was top-class. From the looks to the…
"Please. Have a bite. Tell me how you like it, the young owner of some of the greatest food chains~."
She was the chef right now, and there were great expectations on her pretty face.
The thing before me, however unique it was, looked delicious. But before I started eating by myself…
"Celes," I called out to my partner to join me for this special dinner.
"Apologies for my rude behavior but my fam-"
"Wow~! Another crystal butterfly!"
That was empress Vera. And she was so excited that she stood up straight in her chair.
"Wow… this creature. This one is special, too."
And that was empress Aina. The surprise on her cute, small face and those wide, blue eyes were also astonishing.
"You also have a crystal butterfly as familiar? Doesn't that mean there are seven people with a crystal butterfly familiar now?"
Empress Madeleine was surprised, but not as much as them. She was more interested in hearing my review of her food, so her eyes were telling me to eat.
I really didn't want to cause trouble, but it was inevitable to a certain point, so having Celes out was a good choice.
"Hoh? Aurora. You were right! He does have a partner like you."
And as soon as the emperor said that to his hand, with a bright light blinding the room, a biiiiiig butterfly came out of his hand.
A golden butterfly with a wingspan of almost one meter came out and hovered behind him. And after a moment, it shrunk down into a normal butterfly size and sat down before him.
The butterfly with crystal-like golden wings and a golden body looked at me Celes, who had a pure white body and blue crystal wings.
This was my first time seeing another crystal butterfly and this one certainly looked cool!
'Will Celes grow that big too?'
She might. Her primary growth depended on my growth, so it was most certainly possible.
[[ You two… ]]
I was almost lost in my thoughts when I heard this new, mature voice in my mind.
It was similar to how Celes talked with me, but this voice was not hers.
[[ How are you alive? ]]
"What…?"
Was it a question or some kind of joke? Why were we alive? We were alive because we wanted to survive, meet my family, gain strength, and not die.
That was the best basic answer to that question from our perspective. But I knew we can't say that. Celes felt it from me too, so she didn't say anything.
The question was strange… and so were the reactions of the four of them to this question.
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