Chapter 109: No Refills

There was no way the people working in the royal palace—especially fully grown men—should be licking the containers clean like that. All the girls in the shop (and a few older women too) were staring at the pair. Or rather, glaring at them with contempt. The two men didn’t seem to notice the gazes (or perhaps didn’t care?), and of course they didn’t notice that the Queen was watching them either (or did they know? They had to have known). They kept licking away with smirks on their faces. This must be their usual habit whenever they come to this shop. Otherwise, there’s no way they could lick the containers in such a hostile atmosphere. The two of them hunched their backs slightly, grinning at each other, quietly exchanging impressions while licking.

"Ahem!"

I gave an exaggerated cough. Both men turned to look at me at the same time. When they saw the Queen beside me staring intently at them, they gasped, straightened up immediately, and sat properly in their seats again. I’m pretty sure their end-of-term performance evaluations just took a huge hit. A zero score would be completely justified.

"That is very bad table manners, so you must never imitate them!" I told the Queen.

"I thought so. Yes, that’s not proper at all. Grown men eating in such a sloppy way... Those gentlemen of a certain age should be setting a good example for the young ladies. It really is quite troubling," the Queen said in a quiet voice. Yet somehow her words seemed to echo throughout the entire shop. Lake-san and Relf-san turned pale in an instant and shrank in their seats. The girls looked like they had finally gotten some satisfaction.

The Queen finished her extra-large parfait elegantly and beautifully.

"Were you satisfied?" I asked once she had eaten everything.

"Yes. It was very delicious," the Queen replied with a smile. Her smile was just too cute.

"Then shall we leave the shop soon?"

"Yes!"

At the cashier, the Queen suddenly stopped. Palace personnel had been leaving without paying since earlier—the bill would be sent to the palace later. However, the waitress was still standing at the register as usual, bowing her head and saying "Thank you very much" every time someone left.

"Is your job to bow to everyone who passes by?" the Queen asked the girl. The waitress froze at the sudden question. Her eyes went wide and blank, and all expression fell from her face. She seemed completely stunned by a question she had never expected.

What do I do? How do I handle this? Do I have to fix this myself? I looked around the shop, but no one would meet my eyes. This must be what they call "eyes swimming." At this point, I decided to be honest and add a bit of embellishment.

"Mother," I said (at the word, she seemed to remember her role and gave a little start—adorable expression even for an older lady), "this is originally the place where you pay the price for what you ate. Since I invited you today, Mother, I’ve decided to pay for everyone here in the shop."

I wasn’t sure if she even understood the concept of payment, but it was the only thing I could think of.

"Oh, is that so? Then Robby, won’t you show me how to pay? I’d like to see what paying looks like. Please, Robby!"

Of all things to be interested in... I sighed inwardly, took out two large copper coins from my pocket, and handed them to the waitress. The girl accepted them, looking a little confused, and bowed, saying, "Thank you very much."

Just when I thought that was the end of it, the Queen stared intently at the girl’s hand and said,

"Show me what you just gave her."

She took the large copper coin and examined it.

"What is this called?"

The "wife of a wealthy merchant" setting had completely flown out the window. Well, it wasn’t like anyone had strictly defined it—we were just going with the general vibe. That vibe had apparently flown away too.

"It’s a large copper coin, a type of currency."

"Is it different from a gold coin?"

"Yes. It has less value than a gold coin. Below gold coins are silver coins, and below those are these."

"I’ve never seen one before."

She examined it closely. I was impressed that she had seen gold coins before.

"Are there many of these in the royal palace?" she asked, turning the coin over and over, asking questions I had no answer for. The Queen was full of curiosity about all these unfamiliar things and had finally started asking about the palace itself. Fortunately, she herself didn’t seem to realize it.

Even if she asked me, I had no idea how many gold coins were in the palace either. The only coins I had seen were after I started going outside the palace—silver coins, large copper coins, and regular copper coins. Even then, Cass would just hand me some before I left, saying things like, "Today I’ll give you one silver coin and two large copper coins."

"I don’t know. I have no idea how many there are in the palace."

"Is that so? Then I’ll ask when we get back. But who should I ask...?"

Haaaaah, I was exhausted. I felt like a sigh had leaked out through the entire shop... I could sense Christine-san and the others in the back desperately holding in their laughter.

We finally left the shop and walked back toward the wealthy merchant’s store. The Queen seemed very satisfied.

"Robby, thank you so much for today. I had a wonderful time. There are so many things in the world that I don’t know."

"I’m glad to hear that. Hearing you say that makes introducing you to the place worthwhile."

The weight on my shoulders finally lifted, and I answered with a perfect 100-point smile. However—

"Say, Robby. Where will you take me next time?"

She took my arm, pressed it against her chest, and started begging! 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

"And I want to go to that shop again. I’d like to bring the girls I couldn’t bring this time."

She said it so casually.

After yesterday’s final executive committee meeting, Kantoner-san had come up to me and said,

"Prince Robin, please look at this,"

then parted his hair to show me a bald spot the size of a 500-yen coin.

"Prince Robin, do you understand? This appeared because of Her Majesty’s visit this time."

He spoke in a thoroughly exhausted voice.

"My condolences."

I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Kantoner-san glared at me sharply and pleaded,

"Prince Robin, I beg you—once this entire schedule is over, no matter what, please do not say ’yes’ if Her Majesty says she wants to go anywhere else. If Her Majesty decides to go somewhere again, all my hair will disappear. I’m counting on you. You’re my only hope!"

The look on Kantoner-san’s face at that moment was burned into my mind.

So I answered immediately,

"Eh!? No way, this is the end! I don’t know any other shops!"

I frantically waved my hands, but the Queen said,

"Oh? Is that so? I heard that Robby knows many different shops?"

She pressed my arm between her breasts and spoke in a coquettish tone. Wait, wait, wait—how can the Queen of an entire country act all coquettish and beg like this? And am I seriously the only person in this country whose arm has been pressed into the Queen’s chest like this?

Putting that aside—

"W-who told you something like that!?"

I asked in a panic.

"Oh my, the maids said that Lake and Relf were talking about it. They said Robby took them to an unbelievably bad-tasting shop."

Ah, that shop?

"No, no, that won’t do! That shop is no good! Mother—uh, I mean, that’s not the kind of place to take Her Majesty—I mean, Mother. Anyway, it’s bad. They serve food so terrible you never want to eat it again!"

Even after I said that, she replied,

"Is that so? I’ve never eaten bad food before. I’d like to try it once. Could you take me, please?"

She asked again, even more persistently.

Eh? She’s never eaten bad food before? Of course. The kitchens in the royal palace and rear palace would never serve anything bad to the Queen. If a dish failed, they’d remake it, and they probably never even attempted risky recipes. So naturally, she had never tasted bad food in her entire life. But that didn’t mean I could take her there.

"Nooooo! Absolutely not! That kind of shop is completely out of the question! I can’t let Her Majesty eat horribly bad food!"

The Queen looked disappointed at my words.

"Is that so? Robby won’t listen to my request? I’m a little sad... but it feels fresh somehow. Ufufu. You’re the first person who has ever refused one of my requests. Very well, I’ll ask His Majesty again."

And just like that, it became a matter that would require the King’s personal approval.