Chapter 74: A merry gathering made for a lonely parting
The breakfast truly reminded me of mealtime in the tower. While Natha received his report from Opti, I made small talk with Dhuarta. She told me to call her Arta, and asked me about what kind of snacks I liked.
When I told her that I didn’t know much about the food here—or anywhere else, for that matter—she told me she’d send me a whole lot of it from various places, since apparently, she was in charge of managing the castle’s logistics.
I just didn’t know that personal snacks were part of the castle’s logistics.
And then she started to list some of her favorite ones, where they came from, and how they tasted. Listening to her talk about snacks reminded me of Zia even more. Apparently, I spelled that out loud, since she giggled while replying.
"Oh, it’s been a while since I saw the princess. I used to be the one showing her around the city when she first came here," she said, propping her chin with a palm and looking up in reminiscence. "She still sends me a copy of her books every time."
"It’s called babysitting," Natha suddenly chimed in, eyes scanning my plate like an inspector of a strict dorm, and smiled when he found I emptied it already. "You want anything else?"
"Not now," I shook my head a bit. Perhaps because I couldn’t digest much food in my past life, I still couldn’t eat a lot in one sitting. But since the food coming into my stomach wasn’t much, I also got hungry easily. So rather than eating a lot in one sitting, I ate more frequently.
"Alright," he patted my head before standing up, so I guess the morning report was over, as well as their breakfast. "Just ask the servants if you want to eat. Pinne here..." he pointed to the footman that had been serving our breakfast, who immediately bowed his head, "...will take care of you during your stay. Just treat him like a more talkative Angwi."
Even the most reserved person would be more talkative than Angwi, as long as they weren’t mute. But I just returned the demon’s smile and stood up to follow Natha like a habit—like what I always do every time he had to get back to the castle.
It was quite silly since we were already in the castle, and he worked like...three floors below and a few hundred meters far. But thankfully, no one seemed to question it, and Natha took my hand as usual, just like when we walked together to the balcony.
"What are you going to do today, Young Master?" Opti asked as we entered the pristine, model-like reception room.