The Princess Who Wants a Friend

Yellow cream spilled from the taiyaki lying on the ground.

Princess Benelia blinked once, then again, as though she could somehow pretend the whole thing hadn't happened. Finally, she gave a rueful smile.

“You don't look like a man who just happened to turn up in an alley.”

That was what I wanted to say.

The situation was absurd, but she was a princess of the Esteban Empire. Courtesy still mattered. I bent to offer the proper greeting.

“Don't bother.” Benelia waved a hand irritably. “What use are court manners in an alley? There's no one watching. Spare me the unnecessary display.”

“But, Your Highness—”

“I said it's fine. More importantly, my memory is rather hazy. What opening did you use when we played chess?”

Why bring up chess now? I would have been happy to reminisce on another occasion, but this was hardly the place.

“Your Highness, if we could leave the chess for—”

“Answer me.”

Her golden eyes narrowed. In the twilight of the alley, they shone with a chill that made her seem like a lion regarding its prey.

“I asked you a question, Viscount Theorad.”

There was no mistaking the command in her voice. She had been born into the imperial family, and I had the uncomfortable feeling that refusing her would end badly.

“I used the Caro-Kann Defense. After a close game, Your Highness proposed a draw.”

“Hmm.”

Benelia glanced around the alley, then back at me. The tension eased from her face.

“Then you really are the Viscount Theorad I know. Forgive my doubts. I thought you might be an impostor.”

“An impostor?”

“Someone in disguise, a doppelganger, perhaps. Or perhaps someone had caught me in an illusion without my noticing. There are plenty of people eager to pry information from me.”

She spoke of those possibilities with remarkable calm, as if they were ordinary inconveniences. She approached with a measured, regal stride and stopped a pace away.

Curiosity replaced suspicion in her eyes.

“Now, what are you doing here?”

“I've been invited to lecture at the Mage Tower—”

“I'm aware of that. I mean why you're wandering around Rioveda alone.”

I could have asked her exactly the same thing. Unfortunately, replying to a princess's question with one of my own hardly seemed prudent.

“…I was trying to find a souvenir shop mentioned in this booklet.”

“A souvenir shop?”

“It sells ornaments shaped like constellations. I heard they possess protective magic, enough to safeguard the wearer's health. I thought one might make a suitable gift.”

“Constellation ornaments…”

Benelia frowned thoughtfully, then nodded.

“You mean a shop called ‘The Old Moon That Grows on Its Own,’ perhaps.”

“That's the one. But how did Your Highness—”

“What a foolish question. I was born and raised in the capital.”

I fell silent. Of course she would know a celebrated local shop that even a visitor like me had heard of.

She smiled at my expression.

“So you do have your blind spots. Unless you're pretending?”

“I apologize. I would never presume to act foolish before Your Highness.”

“And now you're apologizing again. Enough of the stiff court talk. Come along; I'll show you the way.”

“That would be too much trouble. I couldn't possibly impose upon Your Highness—”

“And if I don't guide you? Will you spend the rest of your life wandering Rioveda? You have an extraordinary talent for getting lost. You're headed in precisely the opposite direction.”

The opposite direction?

I unfolded Alina's booklet and stared at the little map. It was so roughly drawn that I could barely tell which street I was standing on.

My hesitation was apparently obvious. Benelia took the booklet from my hands.

“Stop looking away while I'm speaking. Do you not believe I can guide you?”

“No, it's not that. I was only worried that people might start rumors if they saw Your Highness walking about without an escort, alone with a man.”

“Then we'll find whoever spreads the rumors and kill them all.”

I stared at her, mouth open.

She said it so casually that for a moment I couldn't tell whether she was serious. Then she burst into laughter. Her bright laughter filled the alley before gradually dying away.

“I'm joking. I'm not insane.”

Wiping a tear of amusement from the corner of her eye, she gave my shoulder a light pat.

“But I wasn't joking about guiding you to the shop. Stop worrying and follow me.”

She had the booklet, and she plainly wasn't taking no for an answer. I sighed and fell into step behind her.

We emerged onto a broad street crowded with shops. Crystal globes glowed overhead, bathing the evening traffic in a soft light. It was bright enough to seem like daytime despite the advancing night.

Outside the imperial palace, I doubted there was anywhere else in the capital like Rioveda. No wonder it was such a famous attraction.

Stall owners were calling out to passersby and offering samples. I watched them for a while before turning back toward my guide.

“Mmm. Delicious.”

Benelia was eating another taiyaki with evident pleasure.

Cream had gathered at the corner of her mouth.

Watching her enjoy the sweet pastry, I was reminded that Benelia was only twenty years old. Some called her the Iron-Blooded Princess, but right now she looked like an ordinary young woman who loved sweets.

She did, however, have cream on her face.

I debated whether to tell her, then drew a handkerchief from my coat and held it out.

Benelia stopped halfway through her pastry and looked at the offered cloth.

“What?”

“Your mouth…”

I kept my voice low, mindful of the people around us. I was prepared for her to take offense, perhaps even scold me, but she accepted it without hesitation.

She wiped her lips and handed the cloth back, entirely unembarrassed.

“Thank you.”

At least she remembered to thank me.

Somehow that little exchange made her seem almost endearing. The distance that had always separated us felt a shade smaller.

“Your Highness, may I ask something?”

I put the handkerchief away.

“Why were you walking through Rioveda without an escort?”

“An impertinent question.”

She finished the last bite of her taiyaki, tail and all, then went on.

“Still, I suppose I can tell you. About three days ago, some vermin broke into my guest room and stole classified documents.”

“They did?”

“Naturally, the documents were all false. I'd placed tracking magic on them, so the thieves led us straight to their temporary hideout.”

Benelia rummaged in her bag and offered me a taiyaki. Apparently she intended to continue talking over a snack. I accepted it and took a bite.

“I led an elite unit to ambush the hideout today. The vermin realized we were coming and escaped before we could surround them. We split our forces to track down whoever we could.”

Her eyes narrowed in irritation.

“I followed one of them into Rioveda. He's an expert at disguises, though. I couldn't identify him among the people here.”

So that's why she was suspicious of me.

The chess question made considerably more sense now.

I continued eating. It was food the princess had given me; I felt obliged to finish it before interrupting her.

Benelia clicked her tongue.

“And that's the miserable end of it. I couldn't catch him, so I gave up and went to buy some taiyaki. That's when I met you.”

“Wretched little rats,” she muttered.

She looked thoroughly displeased. I swallowed the last mouthful and spoke.

“I'm sorry.”

Benelia turned to me, baffled.

“For what?”

“You had just bought those pastries after a difficult day. Then I startled you in the alley and made you drop one. And now I've put you to the trouble of guiding me to a shop.”

For a moment she only stared. Then she shook her head and laughed again.

“You may be the only person alive who would sincerely apologize for a dropped taiyaki. And I offered to guide you myself. What is there to apologize for?”

“Even so—”

“If your aim was to make me laugh, you've succeeded. Besides, don't imagine I'm doing this for your sake. I have something I want to see at the Old Moon myself.”

“Ah. In that case, I'm relieved.”

Some of the pressure lifted. I gave an awkward smile.

Benelia took another taiyaki from the bag and handed it to me. I accepted it and began to eat.

An easy smile touched her lips.

“You look rather cute when you eat. Like a thin little bear.”

The comparison made me frown before I could stop myself. She looked away with a shrug.

“That was a joke. Don't tell me a man is so easily offended.”

“It's not that I'm offended…”

“Enough. How does it taste?”

If she hadn't been a princess, I might have given her a playful knock on the head.

I swallowed my embarrassment and answered sincerely.

“It's delicious. Truly. I'm not flattering you.”

“Naturally.”

Benelia smiled in satisfaction.

“And who bought it?”

Somehow, our exchange had slipped into something free of titles and ceremony.

It didn't seem particularly princess-like.

Then again, perhaps this, too, was simply Benelia.