When I woke up, I was sitting at a table as close to the wall as possible, and my head was resting on Maia's shoulder. I didn't open my eyes right away after noticing I was awake, instead I just instinctively tried to sleep some more, although I don't really recall being tired anymore.
"But when is it going to be done?"
"Can't say for sure, the plan is to have all of them complete them at the same time after all."
Are they talking about a project or something?
I was definitely curious, since I honestly had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. It's human nature to want to find out the answer to something you don't know about, right? But now that I think about it, though I didn't open my eyes yet, I still remembered Luna's dress, and while it was definitely a simple piece, it also seemed pretty fancy at the same time, so maybe she's from a rich family?
"… I guess there's no rush with it."
I heard Maia sigh before her sentence, and she also seemed to have taken a sip out of probably a glass after finishing it.
"Well, that aside. You really weren't joking when you called him cute so often, huh?"
"Of course not. Lying about an objective fact is nothing but delusion. My little brother is the cutest in the entire universe."
W-what… What are you talking about you two?!!
Why was I the topic of the discussion now?! Also did Luna also call me cute? She did, right? Right?! She definitely did. Oh but… thinking about it, wasn't I acting weird earlier??? If I remember correctly, I fell asleep while standing and being held by my sister's friend who I had just met, didn't I… ahhhh, I want to die, I really, really, really want to die! Someone kill me, please!
"I guess you have a point. My apologies Kind lady. You have my utmost gratefulness for giving me the honor of witnessing this scarily cute creature."
"I didn't give you the honor to witness his cuteness because I didn't invite you, but you still showed up for some mysterious reason… but for sure, you're welcome, Kind Lady."
Maia sounded pretty pissed, but fuck that! I have to find a way to get out of this incredibly embarrassing scene. I could feel a smile of satisfaction slowly carving its way up on my face, and also slowly starting to blush, so it was only a matter of time until they noticed. This was a serious situation. And so I decided to go with the most adequate plan I could think of for solving this problem. The plan has a few simple steps. And I put them into motion with urgency.
First step was to rub my eyes while frowning, not opening my eyes or lifting my head from Maia's shoulder. I, of course,magnificently executed it.
"Hm? Seems like he's waking up… were we too loud?"
Luna's worried remark felt like an iron rod impaling me straight through my heart, and I could feel myself losing at least 85% of my hp because of it. However! It was too late to stop now.
I'm sorry… Luna.
With my sincerest apology expressed in my head, I made up my resolve and went on to the second step. Lifting my head from Maia's shoulder, and while keeping my eyes closed, continuing the process of step 1, while also adding a few yawns here and there.
"Nah, I don't think that's it. We've been here for a while after all…"
I have no idea how long we've been here for, but at the very least this was going to make my wake up plan feel more natural, so I didn't mind. Step 2 was completed flawlessly, and it was now time for the 3rd and last one. Opening my eyes, waiting for them to say something then look around and act confused.
"Seems like our prince has awakened from his slumber haha. Good morning, Cael"
"It sure looks like it. Also don't call him our prince, he's my brother. Good morning though, Cael"
"… morning…"
Being called a prince and what not wasn't so bad. Though the sarcasm was painfully obvious in their voices, at least it made me feel special for a tiny short moment. Nonetheless it was time for the final part of the 3rd act.
"Hm… where are we…?"
"After you fell asleep, I took you up on my back until we arrived here. This is a local that serves all 3 meals of the day at all times. Pretty convenient, right? Me and Luna have already eaten, so it's only you who still has to eat breakfast… though it would actually be lunch at this point since it's about 13:30 now."
"He did sleep for quite a while after all, haha"
Wait. It couldn't have been any later than 9 when we got to town. Maybe 10 at latest. Does that mean I've been sleeping for 3 whole hours, and they've been staying here with me since?!
Now I kinda just felt bad about it. Looking around, the place seemed fairly nice as well. Or rather, wasn't this place a bit too cozy?! Now that I think about it, I've always just assumed that this world was your classic medieval era one like in any reincarnation story, but looking at this local which looked like your average family restaurant from my world it was hard to believe. Looking back, I never put too much thought into it, but we did also have a regular looking fridge and electricity at home… so I guess the antique looking oven mom had was just a preference? Regardless, while I felt bad, my stomach was growling with hunger, so I took a menu from the table and started growing through it.
I don't feel like having anything sweet, since it's technically lunch time as well anyway…
Skipping the sweet section of the menu, but not getting out of the breakfast one, I decided to go with something that would at the very least feed me enough to not have to worry about food until night.
"Have you decided what you wanna eat yet?"
"Yeah, I have."
"Alright. Excuse me! We'd like to order again!"
Maia called out for a waiter after Luna asked me if I had decided. Wait. This was pretty weird, wasn't it? Why did Maia call out for a waiter and not Luna? Was this alright? They aren't going to give us the same nasty look while I order, right? I didn't mind it outside, but I'd rather not get stared at as if I was a criminal while trying to enjoy a meal. But as the waiter approached our table, it seemed like my worries were nothing but a waste of peace and mind.
"Ah, it seems like the little one has finally woken up. Did you sleep well? I've brought you a small blanket for your legs from my locker so you wouldn't be cold, hope it helped."
I looked at my legs and she wasn't lying. I hadn't even noticed until she pointed it out. I was obviously grateful, but I couldn't hide my surprise whatsoever, and everyone broke the silence out with a chuckle.
"We were going to explain it to you while walking here, but you fell asleep so we didn't get the chance. I'll let Luna do the honors though, I'll go to the toilet quickly."
Maia got up and walked towards the local's bathroom, and it was only Luna and the waitress left now alongside me.
"The owner of this place was actually a former Ashford servant. While the main mansion was destroyed in an incident, after the passing of… your grandparents, any servants from all over the land they owned were discharged from their duties, and they started normal lives for themselves."
That made sense. It also explained why I felt no hostility in the waitresss' eyes towards me or Maia, and it was genuinely one of the most refreshing and reassuring feelings I had felt in a while. Luna then looked at the waitress as if to signal her that "it's your time to speak now".
"The owner is actually my grandmother. I work here pretty much every day since it's a family owned restaurant, and ever since Maia started coming here with Luna we've been nothing but delighted. My grandmother always tells me stories about her time serving the Ashfords, and how they were nothing but kind and thoughtful towards her. No one in our family has any resentment towards you, and we are 100% convinced that the accusations against you are made up."
I see… so it wasn't just Luna. There's still people who believe in us…
I could feel a few tears coming down on my face, and I quickly wiped them dry with my hands and apologized to the kind waitress.
"I'm sorry… it's just that.. I don't even know what to say. I'm very happy right now…"
"You don't have to say anything, or apologize. We're glad to have you here. This goes without say, but your meal just like Maia and Luna's are all on the house. Me and the 2 of them are actually pretty close and often hangout after my shifts haha."
"No, no. I can't possibly accept that! You've already done so much for me, even gave me a blanket and allowed me to sleep here!"
"… it really is that bad, huh?"
She looked at me with a compassionate expression on her face, as Luna confirmed whatever thoughts she was having.
"Allowing a kid to sleep in peace, and giving them a blanket for their legs isn't something worth your gratitude. It's simply the right thing to do. I know that I'm not being professional as your waitress as I'm telling you this, so instead I'll just talk as your sister's friend. Doing the bare minimum isn't something you should be thanking me for. Though I guess compared to how other strangers would treat you, this is definitely something exceptional…"
"…"
I couldn't say anything. I couldn't deny her words or even thank her, all to hold back the strong emotions building up within my heart. The guards incident, and all of the glares that everyone was giving us once we got in. I thought of them as simply being a natural thing, considering their perception of our past doings. But It seems like I had also forgotten that it wasn't natural to treat us like that just because of it.
"Sorry for the heavy discussion haha, after you just woke up as well. You can just point to me what you want to eat on the menu, and we'll bring it right away."
I nodded, then pointed at the savory breakfast meal with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and a hash brown, and she quickly noted it down and went on her way to give in the order. A few moments after she left the table, Maia was finally back from the bathroom, sitting next to Luna this time.
"Hm? Did you two tell him?"
"Yeah, since his older sister didn't feel like telling him on her own, we did."
Luna's smile was portraying any feelings other than happiness, but I couldn't blame her. Maia's escape from the heavy discussion was flawlessly executed, More or less.
"No, no. I actually also had to go! I didn't just want to run away from it!"
"Only, huh?"
"Ah."
She then looked at me, as if pleading for help, and we proceeded to have a wordless conversation with our eyes only.
"Don't look at me for help. You're the one who messed up."
"Are you abandoning me?! After all these years I've taken care of you?!"
"… you've taken this upon yourself. Our journeys disband each other here. Goodbye, my dear older sister."
"You traitor… Cael!!!"
"…What are you two doing?"
""Ah""
Both me and Maia exclaimed at the same time, glanced at Luna then back at each other and bursted out laughing.
"Haha, good question! What are we doing, Maia?"
"I'm wondering as well, haha."
"Jeez…"
Luna sighed as me and Maia kept laughing, but overall, I'd say all of us were having a good time.