[3rd Person POV]
Three cloaked people accompanied by another three people dressed in regular commoner's outfit made their way to the heart of the festivals for the Spring Festival Holiday in the royal capital.
It was the second day, but the heat and festivities for the holiday still hasn't died down. On the contrary, it had become even more crowded and lively than the previous day.
After her date, or outing as Alterisa referred to it as, with Alexus the previous day, she came to explore the Spring Festivals once again, this time with the people she had been extremely close with across two lifetimes, Lily and Lucas.
Lily clung onto Alterisa's arm tightly, resting her head on Risa's shoulder, as they explore while Lucas silently followed after them closely from behind, just like how they used to be when they go around their school's festival or the summer festivals.
Behind them, following them silently, were Anne, Maria, and Iris. And in the shadows, plenty of knights in disguise were also following them.
There were around 10 knights from the Lorya Household within 10-20 meters of them, following them closely and watching out for any harm that might come towards their young mistress, young master, and the royal princess. And beyond that, were there more than 20 royal guards securing the perimeter and watching out for any suspicious individuals within a 50m radius of the royal princess, the crown princess, and the future Duke of Lorya.
Lucas and Lily had prepared them in advance, or rather, they were forced to since it was the policy for when a member of the royal family were to travel incognito.
In truth, Iris and Maria alone would've been more than enough to protect them against regular criminals.
Iris's swordsmanship had reached a level of mastery that put her on par with even the royal guard elites that protected the royal family.
Ever since she was young and made it her goal to become the sword and shield of her and her sisters' savior, she had been learning swordsmanship from Luke and his father, Roland von Raeven, the overall commander of the entire royal guards of the kingdom, alongside her mistress. And when her mistress was busy with her business, she continued to hone her skills and blade to a degree that skyrocketed her fame as a genius swordswoman in the kingdom.
She had even become an idol to the many young knights in the castle, who would always await her visit whenever she came to the palace along with Alterisa.
Meanwhile, Maria had also become a terrifying existence without her mistress's knowledge.
Similar to her sister, Maria had sworn to protect her beloved mistress, who saved her, her sister, and Vincent from the depths of hell. And when she tried to train, she found out that her talent didn't lay in swordsmanship like her sister, but in something more... dangerous.
Her agility, speed, and lightning fast reaction slowly came to light when she was young, and they started blooming ever since she started exercising on her own accord after seeing her sister's training.
She requested her young master, Lucas, to help her find a mentor that could cultivate her talent. And in the end, the one who managed to make her latent talent bloom was the leader of the royal family's hidden dagger.
Since then, she had been training in secret. No one, except for Lucas, Altair, Lisa, her sister Iris, and her brother Vincent, knew of this. Not even Alterisa, the mistress she had sworn to protect.
And now, she was both Alterisa's guardian angel and hidden dagger. A dagger sharp enough that even her mentor was eager to welcome her once Alterisa became queen.
Without Alterisa even knowing, she had acquired her very own Maid Assassin in the form of her beloved, fluffy, adorable bundle of cuteness that is Maria.
These two could easily destroy an underground organization just by themselves. Moreover, Lucas and Alterisa were also extremely powerful themselves. The safety of the princess was pretty much guaranteed with the four of them by her side.
"So~? Where did you go to with onii-sama yesterday?"
"Hm, we ate some street foods and played some games from the stalls. Then, we went to watch a play in the theater. Ah, they also serve us some afternoon tea and cakes while we're watching! Although it was mediocre, eating them while watching some play was quite fun! And then, we walked around for a little bit when the sun was setting, and ate dinner together."
"Fufu~ Then... Did you kiss?"
Lily whispered, her words shocking Alterisa, causing her cheeks to immediately turn red.
"W-W-What are you saying, Hana?! W-W-Why would we kiss?!?!?! O-Of course we didn't!"
"Eeeeeh~? But aren't you two engaged~? Normally, a date between an engaged couple would at least end with a kiss, right~?"
"W-W-We're not like that! H-He just kissed my hand and hugged me before leaving. Just the normal things between friends!"
Alterisa shook her head and looked away from Lily, or Hana as they've decided to use their previous life's name as part of their disguise for this outing,
Her outing with Alexus was... pleasant. It was very nice and she had a lot of fun. If there's one thing she would complain about, it would be the fact that Alexus has been making her feel very... anxious?
Her heart was beating super quickly non-stop for the entire day. He held her hand tightly the whole day, and when she tried to let go after realizing how sweaty her hand must be, he rejected the idea since it would be "dangerous" if they got separated.
He also acted... super sweet yesterday, even more so than usual. Anything she took interest in, he would buy it for her even though she tried to deny her interest. Any activities she wanted to try, he would do it with her, no matter how much it may annoy him. Anywhere she wanted to go, he would go with her, even though he might not have any interest in himself. And he did everything with a stupidly sweet and loving smile while holding her hand.
It was as if he's trying to say that... he would do anything and go anywhere, as long as it was for her.
It was super embarrassing...
And by the end... he kissed her hand and hugged her ever so tightly. They've shared hugs and greetings in the form of a kiss on her hand countless times before, but this time... it felt different.
There was intimacy, affection, love, nervousness, embarrassment, and happiness... At least, that's what she felt from him when he hugged her.
She had never felt so hot, embarrassed, and nervous when he hugged her before. But now, she was burning. Her heart wouldn't calm down, and her mind descended into chaos.
She didn't know why she felt this way... Perhaps Hana would know if she told her. But she didn't want to. She felt like she'd be teased to no end if she did. That's why she averted her face.
Akari knows that Hana would be able to read her mind just from her expression alone.
"Hm~? Then I guess I'll just have to ask onii-sama again tonight~ I questioned him last night, and when I didn't get any juicy information, I thought nothing had happened. But after seeing your reaction... fufufu~"
"U-Uuuuhh... N-Nothing happened!"
"Fufu~ We'll see about that~"
"Hah... You should stop teasing her any more than this, Hana. She might turn into a tomato at this rate."
"Fufu~ Okay~"
Alterisa let out a sigh of relief and thanked Kazuto in her heart. Truly, he had always been her lifeboat whenever Hana began teasing her. If Kazuto wasn't there, she didn't know to what end Hana would tease her...
After getting her fill of Alterisa's adorable, redly blushing face, the royal princess took the lead from the flustered platinum-haired girl and pulled her towards various sweets shops and food stalls that she never had the chance to visit ever since her rebirth into this world.
Unlike while she was still Hana, Lily couldn't experience the familiar taste of a hearty, junk food meal. Everything she had ever eaten ever since becoming the royal princess were the luxurious meals that had been cooked personally by world-class chefs that the palace had hired to cook meals for kings and royalties.
While they were undoubtedly delicious, as someone who was originally from the modern world, she couldn't help but miss the taste of junk food.
So, now that she got the chance to go around the city, she decided to make use of it to the utmost.
"Ah, something smells nice. It smells like... chicken skewers."
Lily perked up and looked around. And from behind her, Lucas walked to her side and pointed at a food stall a few distance away near the road in the direction leading to Eden.
There were visibly more people crowding around there since Eden was having a large sale in addition to the launching of a new spring-themed product for the Spring Festival, so many stall owners competed to get a spot there for their business.
One of the lucky ones was the chicken skewer food stall owner. He was a large, bearded man with a large belly, dressed in a slightly brown, most likely white at the beginning, shirt, leather pants, and brown leather apron.
Despite his massive build and rugged appearance, he had a wide, friendly smile that was visible even through his big, messy beard.
In front of him was a large table with plenty of chicken skewers placed and stacked on a rack. They seemed to be divided according to flavors, considering each group had slightly different color than the other.
To his left was a large but simple charcoal grill with chicken skewers currently grilling on top of it, creating smoke that carried a combination of the smoke smell and the delicious chicken skewer smell that Lily picked up.
"Oooh~! Aren't those chicken skewers! Ah, it has been such a long time since we had those~ Let's grab some, Akari, Kazu~!"
"U-Uhn! Let's go!"
"Alright."
With Alterisa slowly recovering from her previous embarrassment, the three headed towards the chicken skewer stall with Anne, Maria, and Iris following closely from behind.
Once they arrived in front of it, the food stall owners looked at them with a slight expression of surprise and raised eyebrows.
Although they were dressed in regular commoner's clothing, it was still obvious that it was of the higher quality ones that actual commoners normally wear.
And judging by the outline of their figure and the slight opening under their cloak that revealed the bottom half of their face, he could immediately tell that they're members of nobility in disguise. Most likely daughters and a son of nobility who came to enjoy the festivities like commoners.
Since they clearly didn't want their identity to be known, he decided to treat them like any other customers.
"Oh! Welcome young lassies and lad! How can I help you?"
He greeted them, his voice powerful and gruff, yet welcoming and gentle at the same time. Just like a kind, friendly, boisterous uncle.
"Hello good sir~ I find you have quite the variety of chicken skewers~ May I ask what each flavor is?"
Lily answered. She noticed the slight surprise that appeared just for a brief moment on his face, and she knew that the stall owner knew that they're not commoners. But, it seemed like this stall owner had enough tact to still treat them like regular customers.
She was very happy with this.
"Oh? Sure thing, good lass! We have salt and pepper, mild spicy, hot spicy, sweet and tangy, salt and vinegar, and my specialty, my very own sweet and spicy sauce!"
The stall owner answered with a large grin as he pointed at each pile of chicken skewers before him from left to right.
"Oh~ How delightful~ They all sound and look so delicious~! Give me two of each please, good sir~"
"Thank you for the patronage!!!"
His grin widened before he began wrapping up each type of skewer into a large green leaf that seemed to be a common serving plate for food stalls.
"Ah, it's pretty rare for me to have such beautiful customers! Normally, it's either men or old geezers who'd eat my chicken skewers!"
He commented with a joyful laugh.
"Fufu~ Most girls tend to overthink their consumption to stay healthy and slim, but doing so for too long might cause more harm instead from having to hold back too much. Having such wonderful treat once in a while be better for us, especially since it is the Spring Festival~ At least, that is my opinion~"
"HAHAHA! You sure have a way with words, young lass! I even suspect you to be the princess or something!"
"Oh my~ Thank you very much for your praise~"
He then handed over the neatly packed chicken skewers.
"Here ya' go! That'll be 16 copper coins!"
"Kazu, if you'd be so kind~?"
"Yes yes."
Without even having any say to it, Lucas knew he would be their "wallet" for the day. After all, he won't be able to win since there's two of them. Though, if it means that his beloved and his sister would be happy, then he'll gladly pay anything for them. Especially now that he was the future duke of Lorya. Money is the only thing he didn't lack right now.
Lucas took out two silver coins from inside his breast pocket under the cloak and handed it over to the large man.
"Keep the change, good sir. We appreciate your hospitality greatly."
"Oh! Then don't mind if I do, lad! Thank you kindly! Have fun with the festival! Don't get separated!"
"Yes~ Thank you very much~"
Lily waved at the stall owner, who also waved his hand at them. And as they walked, they began sharing the chicken skewers with Anne, Maria, and Iris as well.
"Mm~ I've missed this taste~"
"Me too~ It's been a while since I've tasted something like this~"
Lily and Alterisa said as they enjoyed the nostalgic, junk-food flavor of the snack they just bought.
"My lady... Please don't make this a habit. Although it's delicious, it is not healthy for your body."
"Fufu~ I know~ I won't be eating too much~ Here, you eat too Anne~ Maria-chan and Iris too!"
"Yes~ Thank you very much, Alteris- I mean, Akari-sama~"
"Uhn... Thank you very much."
"...I understand. Then, thank you very much."
After having their fill and handing the rest of the chicken skewers for Lucas, Anne, Maria, and Iris to enjoy, Lily and Alterisa continued to look around and explore the festivals.
And until the sun set, they made sure to enjoy the festival to the fullest before returning to the Lorya household's mansion along with Lily.
AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please vote and comment your thoughts~!