I watched as Sei's smile brightened, hearing Adel's words. It felt nice that everyone was able to speak on equal terms without needing to worry about status, especially since we were all going to be living under the same roof.
We sat down and began chatting while we ate the food that was prepared for us. I looked over at Prince Lance, who seemed out of place as he ate his food by himself. In a way, I felt bad for him because he was the only boy here. "Prince Lance, I heard that you are really buckling down as of late."
"Hmm?" I watched as Prince Lance's cheeks turned slightly red as he explained: "Well… I have you to thank for that. The incident at the slums was an eye opener for me. I realized I was just skirting through life while people were walking all over me. I did not wish to become a king who was nothing more than a puppet. So in truth, I am very grateful to you and the fact that you are so outspoken. If not for that, I would still be a frog in a well. Only seeing a small patch of sky and never the world around me. Also…. Faith, if you want, you can just call me Lance from now on…."
I looked over at Prince Lance…. Or should I just say Lance and smiled at him. He truly has changed for the better, which is a good thing. "Then…. Prince Lance." But I still couldn't stop myself from teasing him. When I said these words, the look of anticipation turned to one of gloom, causing me to chuckle. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. From now on, I will call you Lance."
"Humph!" A perfectly timed loud snort by Adel seemed to try to mask out my saying his name. I looked over at her, only for her to quickly look up at the sky while eating a piece of meat as if she had done nothing at all.
I smiled and shook my head. Adel will always be Adel, it seems. When I turned and looked back at Lance, he had a silly grin on his face that was too funny not to laugh. But now that I pulled him into talking with us, he no longer seemed out of place.
We were all having a good time when Jeeves suddenly announced a newcomer: "Young Miss Dollen has arrived!"
Adel, who was stuffing her face with a pastry face suddenly turned sour. I looked over towards the garden entrance to see Grace walking over with a big smile on her face. Behind her, two maids were walking a few steps behind with two large boxes in their hands. "Faith! I'm here!"
I smiled and stood up to greet her. "Grace, it has been a while."
"That it has! I only got to meet with you once, but I did enjoy our time together. I do hope you forgive me for my unannounced visit. But when I heard you moved to the island, I had to come see you and give you a housewarming present." With that her two maids stepped forward with the huge boxes in their hands.
"This is?" I pursed my lips and looked at the boxes that were half as tall as I was. Her maids must be very strong!
"Allow me, Young Miss." Jeeves walked over and picked up the first box, knelt down to my height, and held it out in front of him. We had no room on the table, and it would be rude to place the boxes on the ground. All these noble etiquettes were taught to me by Adel. I did, however, feel excited to see what was inside. The first box was blue with a white ribbon holding the lid on. I reached up and pulled one on the ribbon so that it would untie before reaching up and pulling the lid off.
What I saw inside made my eyes glow with excitement. To some, it would just be a box of old papers, but to me, this was like a national treasure. The paper on top already told me what to expect in this deep box of papers. To be honest, I really wished to jump for joy. I did my best to compose myself as I asked: "Is this what I think it is!?"
"That it is. It is the complete set of runic equations for the airship. I went out of my way and made my father use one of his favors with the king to allow me to get a copy of the runic equations. There are several types of equations, from the most commonly used to the experimental runic equations that never saw the light of day. I do not know why but when my father said it was so that I could give them as a gift to you, The king happily sent all the documentation the same day. And that was just yesterday. " Grace explained. I really couldn't help but feel giddy. I mean, these were all runic equations that allowed things to fly through the skies. While I had the runes engraved in my mind, the problem was that I may not have been able to see all of them. There may have been some hidden.
"Thank you very much, Grace! I love it!" I said with a bright smile.
"And in this box, while not as extravagant as the first, I do hope you like it." This time Grace herself took the box from her maid and held it out to me. This box was much bigger, but from the way she lifted it, I guess it was pretty light. It had the same color ribbon, but the box itself was red.
I did the same as before and pulled on the ribbon to untie it. But this time, Grace set the box on the ground and lifted the top off herself. Inside was a huge stuffed animal. It was this world's version of a teddy bear, but the bear like creatures of this world had horns. I reached into the box and lifted it out, and hugged it tightly. It was very soft and warm. "Hehe… Thank you!"
I felt like a small child once more as I pushed my face into the large teddy bear. It was definitely a good present.
