Realization seems to dawn on Kudra about something, and I think I see the hint of a smile in his expression. Then, he makes a troubled face and shrugs.
"I really couldn't say, Mizuki, that's too far above my station, and too daunting of a question." (Kudra)
Yeah…I was probably hoping for too much with that one. I nod at him in a conciliatory manner.
"That's fine, I understand. In that case, just tell me about yourself. What would make you, personally, more comfortable with me being around the palace?" (Mizuki)
"Fufufu…well if you like the kur'kes, for starters. It's hard to trust someone that doesn't like kur'kes. Other than that, I'd say just some time seeing you around here without any other changes or incidents. That would be enough to settle the uncertainty I feel." (Kudra)
He presents our finished order to me as he responds. I smile and hand him three gold coins, much to his surprise.
"Fufufu…thanks, Kudra. Here's some coin for your goods. Before you think about declining it, just ask yourself something. Either Princess Ilina or this strange human is going to overpay you, so whose money would you really rather take?" (Mizuki)
Kudra looks like he's about to argue at first, but after a moment of thought, he smirks in amusement and accepts the coins from me. Then, he nods appreciatively, and I rejoin Ilina and Klaus without another word to him.
As I approach Ilina, she smiles and looks at me with curiosity and amusement. There's nobody else in our vicinity, so she speaks freely.
"So, Mizuki, did you learn anything interesting from your chat?" (Ilina)
"Oh yes…it seems that me trying these kur'kes is more important than I thought. Also, I need to praise Alto for her suggestion to tour around this place." (Mizuki)
Ilina rolls her eyes at my evasive answer.
"Well, just don't give me a bad reputation, okay?" (Ilina)
Ilina has a playful tone as she says this, so I don't think it's a real concern. I nod at her reassuringly anyway.
"Of course not, my future Queen." (Mizuki)
I give a subtle bow to her and put on a pretentious voice as I respond. Ilina's eyes narrow at me dangerously, and I feel my body being weighed down. Is she using gravity magic on me?
Hmm…I'll provoke her further. I've learned how to keep a perpetual body enhancement active. It's not maxed out, to avoid outpacing my magic regeneration, but it's still more than enough to protect me.
"If you wished me to kneel to the future Queen, you only needed to ask Princess Ilina." (Mizuki)
The weight on my body intensifies briefly, then lets up. Ilina looks more than a little annoyed with me.
"Tch…you'd really tease your beautiful date so mercilessly, Mizuki?" (Ilina)
I glance around nervously at her careless words, and I can feel myself blushing slightly from embarrassment.
[Woah, Ilina, I'm sorry! I yield! I'll stop teasing you about your royal status, I swear.] (Mizuki)
Ilina immediately smirks.
"Good, I'm glad to hear it, Mizuki. Now shall we continue with our tour around the city for today?" (Ilina)
I stare at her, dumbfounded. When did she get so comfortable with romantically intimidating me? After a moment, I just sigh deeply and nod my obedience. She smiles happily, then takes off further into the city with Klaus in tow while I mutter to myself.
"Hmm…I might be in trouble with her." (Mizuki)
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
Later, it's close to sunset and we're back inside the palace. Ilina asked Klaus to give us a few minutes alone, and she insisted I'd be walking her to her room.
I pull one of the kur'kes out as we walk. It kind of resembles a snickerdoodle with an almond-type nut embedded in its center. Biting into it, the taste is as expected, just less sweet.
For this world, I'm quite impressed. No wonder Kudra said he couldn't trust someone who didn't like these. I pop the rest of it in my mouth and finish chewing it happily.
"What do you think?" (Ilina)
She stares over at me expectantly as she asks.
"It's very good, thank you for recommending it. It reminds me of something we had on my planet." (Mizuki)
Upon hearing that I like it, Ilina smiles happily and takes one of the kur'kes from my hands and pops it in her own mouth. Then, she sighs contentedly as she chews it. As she finishes, we arrive back at her room.
Before I can say anything, she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me quickly. She's blushing some, but I can also see her smiling happily as she looks at me.
"Thanks for the date, Mizuki, I enjoyed it. When you see Nina later, please tell her I said thank you for letting us go alone this first time." (Ilina)
Oh, was that another arrangement between the two of them? I'm not sure I like being handled in the background like this.
"Will do. She hasn't reached out to me to come retrieve her yet, though, and it feels like she's enjoying herself. So, there was something I wanted to talk about in private first. Can we step into your room?" (Mizuki)
I still haven't told her about everything with Azazel, and I don't think it's a good idea to hold off on that too much longer. She makes a coy smile at me in response to my suggestion.
"Oh? How forward, Mizuki, inviting yourself into my room. So long as your ideas aren't too ambitious, I like the sound of that." (Ilina)
I direct a solemn smile at her, and she raises her eyebrows questioningly. Seeming to understand that we didn't have the same things in mind, she nods seriously and leads us into her room. We take a seat on her bed together.
"So…what's this about, Mizuki? You look nervous." (Ilina)
"Well, while Alto and I were doing magic research the other day, I had a little bit of a revelation. Long story short…Azazel ended up coming to visit me and we had a rather serious chat." (Mizuki)