Chapter Text
The castle town positively buzzes with life.
The Granarosa Midsummer Festival always brings in large crowds; merchants from surrounding villages coming to set up their stands and sell their wares, there’s food stalls and live music. Since the opening ceremony is done, she’s free to interact with the people and try whichever stands she likes.
“I fuckin’ hate festivals.” On her right, Akito doesn’t seem to agree with her opinion. “Makes this job way harder than it already is.” A pointed glare accentuates the end of his sentence, and she jabs her elbow into his ribs.
“Oh, come on! Isn’t it so nice to see the town so lively? And I’m really not that bad.” She grins. It’s not her fault that the castle can get boring, and that going out into the castle town is good fun.
“You really are that bad. Stop sneakin’ out and then we’ll talk,” Akito grumbles.
“I think the festivals are lovely,” Toya adds, which is met with a sigh from Akito. “Your Highness is right that they liven up the town. Additionally, it’s an opportunity to try many new things.”
“Your Highness is hellbent on giving me grey hairs before I turn thirty.”
“Watch your tone, Sir Shinonome,” she threatens back lightheartedly. She wouldn’t report Akito, and even if she did, Dad wouldn’t fire him. Annoyingly, he has a sixth sense that detects all of her attempts at sneaking out, so she’s not getting rid of him anytime soon. Besides, if he’s fed up with her enough, he’ll simply go with her to watch over her.
“Is there anywhere you two wanna go?” She looks between them. Toya seems uncertain, while Akito shrugs lightly.
“I jus’ wanna try some good food.” Akito is predictable as always, and she giggles at his response.
“You’re so boring. Follow me!” She takes off into the crowd, heading straight for the market.
She hears Akito curse as he runs after her, with metallic clanging confirming that Toya’s doing the same. She keeps up her tempo, all the way until a jewellery stand catches her eye, dazzling under the midday sun. She stops in front of it, startling the vendor.
“Hello! What’cha got here?” She leans in closer to take a better look at the jewellery.
“Ah, Your Highness!” The vendor straightens up. “I think I have a set that’d fit you perfectly.” He pulls out a matching set of golden jewellery, with pale rose pearls set into the metal. “Rosy pearls like these are hard to find, but I’m lucky to have a friend who deals with fish and stuff. I bought the pearls off him, and I think they’d suit Your Highness quite well.” He holds out the necklace, checking how it’d look on her neck.
“What do you two think?” She turns expectantly to Akito and Toya.
“You…” Akito rolls his eyes, then sighs. “Your Highness. It goes with the way your hair pales at the ends, and you have quite a few dresses that these colors would fit.” Akito catches himself, his tone mockingly formal. She nearly winces at how wrong it sounds. She can never get used to his ‘nice guy’ act, and while she’d never say it, she prefers the rough Akito she talks with everyday.
“It would look beautiful on you, Your Highness.” Toya agrees, sounding genuine. Akito could really take a page out of his book, except Akito doesn’t read.
“I’ll take it, then. How much is it?” She grabs her bag, rummaging through it to find her pouch.
“For Your Highness, it’s thirteen gold.” The vendor starts packing the jewellery, while she pulls out some coins. Two, five, seven, ten, fifteen’s enough, and with a tip on top.
“Here you go!” She reaches out her hand. “Thank you, Mister?”
“Ruuju, Your Highness. Thank you for your generosity.” He takes the coins and hands her the jewellery, packed in a neat box.
“Mister Ruuju. Your handicraft is beautiful, and I’ll be sure to mention your name when I have the chance. Thank you for the jewellery!” She packs the box in her satchel, then heads off.
“Stop runnin’ off, are you crazy!?” Akito complains. He sounds like he was waiting for his moment to berate her.
“You should be used to this,” she clicks her tongue.
“The crown princess should be behaving like a crown princess,” he fires back.
“Instead of pointlessly complaining, you should focus more on doing your job, maybe?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Akito throw his hands up in exasperation. Whatever he says next is lost on her ears, though, because she just spotted somethin far more important than his whining.
There’s an absolutely adorable flower stand, manned by an absolutely adorable girl. Her mousy bangs frame her adorable face, and she wears an adorable yellow dress, complete with an adorable sunhat.
Determined, she heads for the flower stand, keeping her stride calm so someone doesn’t have anything to complain about. The girl jolts when she sees her, face going adorably red. Did the Goddess send her this absolute cutie?
“Hi! You have an absolutely adorable stand,” she praises, looking between the flowers; roses, daisies, sunflowers, lilies, tulips and more she can’t name. There’s plenty of premade bouquets, too; she’s not sure which one she should focus on, every single one dazzling with color.
“Y-your Highness!” the girl squeaks out. “Thank you. U-um, I help my parents run a flowershop in Helia. They sent me to represent the shop.” She nervously smooths down her skirt. “How-how can I help?”
“First, what’s your name?” She carefully moves her hand between the flowers, feeling the soft texture on her fingertips. They look healthy, their colors vibrant. It’s clear she and her family take good care of their flowers.
“My-my name’s Kohane, Your Highness.”
“Kohane! I like it.” Her words make Kohane flush even harder. “Could you make a bouquet for me?”
“O-of course!” Kohane surveys her flowers, then starts picking some out; she recognizes pink roses, purple tulips and white lilies among them.
“White lilies for majesty,” Kohane hums. An smiles when she hears how steady she sounds now. “Purple tulips for royalty, pink roses for grace and cosmos for beauty, harmony and peace.” Kohane arranges the flowers neatly, then fills out the bouquet with some smaller white flowers.
“That’s so pretty!” She praises, reaching for her bag. “How much for it?”
“Three bronze coins,” Kohane pips out as she wraps the flowers in some paper and ties them off with a ribbon.
“Here you go!” She hands Kohane a silver coin, which makes the other girl squeak.
“A-ah, Your Highness, that's too much!” Kohane starts looking through her pouch.
“Such a pretty bouquet f– is worth a silver coin.” She doesn't almost say ‘from a pretty girl’, and the snort Akito lets out is not caused by her fumble.
“Is it-is it really okay?” Kohane looks between her and the coin.
“Yes, take it!” She brings it closer to Kohane, then jolts when the town musicians begin playing. “Quick, the music is starting! Will you be my dance partner, Kohane?”
“Me?” Kohane finally takes the coin, even as her face turns as pink as the roses in her bouquet, while she accepts the flowers from Kohane's hand. “U-um, I can't dance, and-and the stand…”
“Don't worry! They'll keep watch.” She points to Akito and Toya, and ignores the former's comment about some girl combusting from being flustered.
“O-oh, okay.” Kohane looks nervously between her guards and the stand, but does end up timidly leaving her spot.
She hurries to stand in front of Kohane, taking her hand into hers; she ends up taking her other hand, too, so they hold the bouquet together. The melody starts off slow, and she sways Kohane gently as the two of them twirl around on the cobbles. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Toya taking Akito's hand and dragging him off to dance loops around the stand. The piano picks up, and so do the string instruments; their feet knock out their melody against the stones, and Kohane giggles when she spins her around and around.
“A-ah, Your Highness, that's too fast!” Kohane squeals, still giggling.
“Call me by my name! An-denka is fine!” She pulls Kohane close, then spins her away. Kohane stumbles, and she rushes to catch her in a flurry of petals. Crap, she's ruining the bouquet!
“Is it– is it really– okay?” Kohane leads her into a slower dance, trying to catch her breath.
“Yeah! If you heard how he—” She pauses to point at Akito, who sends an unimpressed glare her way before Toya spins him away. “Refers to me, your ears would fall off.”
Kohane's eyes widen adorably, which makes her laugh.
“Don’t worry. I've known both of them for a few years now, and they're my friends.” She lets go to spin Kohane's concerns away.
“Ah- An-denka?” Kohane tries, and she shifts her hold to hug Kohane close and lift her up into the air.
“Exactly like that!” She cheers, then places Kohane down. They keep swaying to the music as it mellows out into background noise, but eventually, they have to stop.
“A-ah, I should go back to my stand. This was fun, An-denka.” Kohane leaves her embrace to bow deeply. “O-oh no, the bouquet!” She yelps when she sees the state of the flowers, and An winces.
“Sorry! I’ll press the remaining flowers to preserve them, promise.” Most of the petals fell off during their dance, but she can salvage a few of the flowers.
“That-that’s great. I’m sorry they fell apart.” Kohane frowns, and An’s not going to let her be this sad.
“Hey, don't give me that face!” She pinches Kohane's cheeks, and dear Goddess, they're so cute and soft…
“U-uh, An-demka, phlease let go…” Kohane squeals, face adorably smushed.
“Aww, but you look so cute!”
Kohane's cheeks turn furiously red under her hands, and she looks at her with wide eyes. Crap, she didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“Uh-uh, tha-thank you, A- An-denka,” Kohane stutters out, sounding incredibly cute. “Yo-you're cute, too…” Her voice quiets down as she speaks, but An doesn't miss the compliment.
“Thanks!” She smiles brightly. Getting complimented by a cute girl is totally the highlight of today's festival. “Are you going to come back someday after the festival?”
“Uh, maybe,” Kohane mutters out. “If the stand does well enough, then yes.”
“Don't buy out the whole stand,” Akito says flatly before she even gets to open her mouth. Damn it, how'd he know?
“I wouldn't.” She looks at him, trying to convince him of her innocence. It doesn't work.
“I apologize for her forward behaviour,” he sighs, addressing Kohane.
“It's-it's fine.” Kohane shakes her head. “Um, I think I should get back to work. En-enjoy the festival, An-denka. A-and thank you for watching over my stand.”
“Enjoy, Kohane! I hope to see you again!” She brings the bouquet closer to her chest and heads off in a random direction. Behind her, Akito and Toya hurry through their goodbye before they rush to catch up.
“Didja have to flirt with her in front of everyone?” Akito complains as soon as he's by her side.
“She's so cute, though!” She's never seen a girl this adorable, and she really wishes they had more time.
“Ya know you're gonna have your ear talked off, right?” She can feel the exasperation radiating off Akito in waves. Goddess, would it kill him to relax for once?
“I know, so can you spare me this time?” She looks at him sternly.
“Fine,” he relents. “You're payin’ for my cake, though.”
The festival keeps going; she checks out plenty of food stalls, as well as a few vendors selling their crafts. Toya ends up buying a small ceramic dragon that reminds him of Caerunox, and Akito gets to stuff his face full with pastries from Clover’s Bakery.
It's fun. She can't help thinking that she'd have more fun if Kohane was by her side, though.