Be My Princess: Prince Roberto

Moving Back Home!?

"M-Mom?" I glared at her, trying to get her to understand my objections only through the power of my eyes. 

"Oh, come on, dear! It's so late already and you can't expect them to drive all the way back to the city and get back at a decent hour!" 

"But, you know... what about..." 

"What about what?" 

Alberto spoke quietly to his prince. "Your Highness, this would be..." 

"Hm? What?" 

"You have official duties to perform tomorrow, so let us take our leave..." 

"But they went to all the trouble to invite me!" They fought a silent battle of wills for a few moments and then Alberto gave in, losing out to the purity of Prince Roberto's earnest happiness. 

"Then you will need to take every care to not let this result in a scandal..." 

"Of course! That's not gonna happen, Al!" 

"I still have to prepare for our schedule tomorrow, so I will excuse myself..." And so Alberto returned to the car and left. 

How did things turn out like this? 

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When evening fell, our dining table was set with the special iron pot we used to cook sukiyaki. Prince Roberto watched wide-eyed as the meat and vegetables were gently boiled in the iron pot. 

"So this is the famous sukiyaki I've heard about!" He swallowed hard, his glittering eyes fixed on the food. I passed Prince Roberto a raw egg and he looked at me curiously. 

"Crack the egg in that small bowl and mix it up. You eat sukiyaki dipped in that." 

"You use raw egg as a sauce?" 

"More or less. The broth used in sukiyaki is a bit strong, so dipping the meat and vegetables in egg gives it a milder flavor." 

"Wow. There's all that thought put into it, huh?" He cracked his egg open as he spoke. Surely the prince wasn't used to cooking for himself, yet even the way he cracked his egg was graceful. It must've been thanks to his royal upbringing. 

At long last the sukiyaki was ready. 

"Go ahead, Your Highness. Please have some." Mom says. 

"I'd be glad to!" And so he lifted his first ever bite of sukiyaki to his mouth. His face bloomed instantly with happy delight. "Mrs. [Y/L/N], it is delicious!" 

"Oh, I'm so glad you think so!" 

Then my dad spoke, a beet bottle in hand. "Prince Roberto, would you like some as well?" 

"Thank you, sir. I would love a drink." And then he held out his glass. My dad wasn't feeling quite as nervous after a couple of drinks and he was getting quite chatty. 

"Ahh, but we never thought our little [Y/N] would work for someone so amazing..." Dad says. "It was just yesterday that she was still toddling around the house." 

"Dad, how old do you think I am!?" 

"No, no, he's right. I still see you walking off to your first days of school, your shiny new backpack on your back." Mom says. 

"What was [Y/N] like as a child?" Prince Roberto asks. 

"Hmm, what was she like? Not great at studying, not great at sports..." Dad says. "She didn't really stand out, but that's not to say that she was a nice, quiet kid either..."