Chapter 29: Shaking Off the Girls

I had gotten used to the squealing from the people around us. But today was a little different. While we were seated eating pudding again, two brave girls came up and asked,

"May we join you at your table?"

Stevie looked at me silently, so I said,

"Sure."

They both shrieked "Kyaaa!" then got all excited together before shyly sitting down while glancing back and forth between Stevie and me. The girl with chestnut hair sat next to me, and the girl with red hair sat next to Stevie. Both had big, round eyes and were wearing refined clothes. The fabric looked like silk—they were probably from wealthy families. It made sense; only proper young ladies could casually enter a place like this during the day.

Stevie and I were eating pudding again today. We stayed silent while eating, when the girl next to me asked,

"Um... may I ask your names?"

*She’s quite bold,* I thought, and simply replied,

"I’m Robby. This guy is Stevie."

The two girls and the people around us immediately started whispering, "It’s Prince Robby and Sir Stevie!"

*How exaggerated.* There wasn’t much pudding to begin with, so we finished it in no time. As I watched Stevie scraping the bottom of his container with his spoon, I thought about leaving when the girls suggested,

"If you’d like, would you eat something else? We’ll treat you! And we can talk while we eat?"

Before I could say anything, Stevie jumped at the offer:

"Really!?"

He had clearly only reacted to the "eat something else" part and completely missed the "talk" part. *Hmm, is it really okay for a prince to be treated by commoner girls?* Well, whatever. Since I had nothing else planned, I decided to go along with it. Besides, a prince basically lives off the people’s taxes anyway.

"Just leave it to you then," I said.

Both girls put their hands over their mouths in excitement. They ordered a large fruit platter. Stevie looked like he wanted another pudding, but they didn’t notice.

"Um, if it’s alright... could you tell us your family names as well?"

Now the chestnut-haired girl was asking for our surnames. But if I told them, they’d immediately realize I was a prince. I was afraid how things might go after that.

"I’ll decline. There’s no need to tell people we’ve just met."

I answered curtly, but they still pressed on.

"So you really are the sons of high-ranking nobles. You were here yesterday too, right? With maids and this guard (the one everyone was squealing about). Since your guard was carrying a sword, we thought you must be very high-ranking nobles traveling incognito. We were worried it might be rude for commoner girls like us to speak to you. We hesitated a lot..."

"Then maybe you shouldn’t have spoken to us."

My true feelings slipped out. It really was just a hassle; I didn’t want them to talk to me.

"But, but! We really wanted to talk to you... and you might not come tomorrow, so we just had to..."

Stevie, who was devouring the fruit that had just arrived, suddenly muttered,

"Delicious."

The red-haired girl next to him lit up.

"Right!? The fruits here are really good!"

She seemed overjoyed that Stevie shared her opinion. After finishing the fruit in the blink of an eye, Stevie looked longingly at mine, so I said,

"Stevie, you can have mine too."

"Really!? Thank you so much!!"

Stevie, who apparently didn’t know the meaning of restraint, started eating without hesitation. The red-haired girl hesitantly offered her own fruit to him.

"Would you like mine as well...?"

Even Stevie checked with me first:

"Is that okay?"

"No," I replied.

Stevie’s shoulders slumped dramatically, like a dog that had been denied a treat.

Ignoring Stevie’s hungry eyes, I was about to stand up when the girl next to me suddenly said,

"Um, ah, if you’d like... My name is Marianne from the Rover Trading Company. Would you come have lunch at our house? If you’re not busy... please! How about it!!"

The people around us reacted with "Ohhh!" when they heard "Rover Company," but I had no idea who they were, and Stevie kept a blank face. *Doesn’t Stevie know almost anything about the common world? The only thing he knows is food—is that really okay for a guard? Maybe I should request a replacement.* Anyway, perhaps worried about our lack of reaction, the red-haired girl added,

"I-I’m Irina from the Johnson Trading Company. Please, please come!"

She was pressuring Stevie. He didn’t seem very enthusiastic. I also had zero interest in eating at a stranger’s house while making small talk with people I didn’t know.

"Thanks for the invitation, but we’ll pass for today. Thank you for the fruit. We’ll be leaving the shop now."

I left enough money for two puddings plus the extra and exited the store. The girls hurriedly paid their bill and followed after us.

---

"They’re following us. Those two girls."

"I know."

They were walking with such enthusiasm it felt like they were stomping loudly.

"What should we do?"

What else?

"Shake them off."

"Ehhh—!? They even invited us to eat with them. What a waste!"

"Then you go with them alone."

"That’s impossible. I’m your guard."

Besides, a socially awkward guy like you would never manage it.

"In that case, I won’t associate with them anymore. This also means we’re done going to that shop."

"Nooooooo—!?"

"Think about it. I may be the 11th prince, but I’m still a prince. I can’t just casually become friends with commoners, can I?"

"Ehhh—!? There are princes who eat commoner girls, you know!?"

"Who the hell are those princes?"

*But seriously, are there really princes that close to commoners?*

"I can’t say."

"I’m not going to do anything that seems like it’ll become a hassle."

"Aww, what a shame."

"For you, it’s all about the food, right?"

"Of course!"

"I’m never bringing you along again!!"

"Eh!? Why!?"

"A guard who gets lured by food is clearly unqualified, don’t you think?"

"I wasn’t lured!"

"You were staring at that red-haired girl’s fruit like you wanted it so badly. You were practically drooling."

"Huh? Was I drooling?"

"You didn’t even notice? That’s exactly why it’s a problem!"

"Prince Robbyyyy, I’m sooo sorryyy~ I’ll fix it, so please don’t replace meeee~!"

Stevie followed behind me, half-crying. About 10 meters (or yards?) behind us, the two girls were still following. Right behind them were their own guards. As expected, rich young ladies have escorts.

"Stevie, when we turn that corner, if there’s no one in sight, we’re jumping straight onto the roof. Can you do it?"

"No problem. Leave it to me."

We turned the corner, activated **Stealth** and **Concealment**. (Maybe Concealment wasn’t necessary.) After confirming no one was around, I jumped!! I planted my foot on the second-floor window awning of the house beside the road, leaped to the third-floor windowsill of the opposite house, then jumped again and landed on the roof of the original building. Perfect! No footsteps♪. Stevie followed easily, as expected.

"Prince Robby, that’s amazing!"

Stevie sounded impressed.

"This much is only natural."

I acted calm, but I was secretly happy to be praised by him.

Below us, the two girls were making a fuss. Seeing that, Stevie sighed,

"Awww... I could have gotten free pudding every day..."

"You’re fired."

"Aaaaaaah!! I’m sorry! Please pretend you didn’t hear that!"

He clasped his hands together and apologized.

Standing on the roof, I could see that most houses in the commoner district were no taller than three stories, giving a wide, open view. Only the church spires stood out here and there. This was convenient. The rooftops were perfectly spaced for jumping across. *Maybe there’s some kind of scenery ordinance?*

Anyway, now that we were on the roofs, we might as well move across them. Lily would probably say things like "Not there" or "That’s no good," though.

Jumping from roof to roof in broad daylight felt incredibly good!! The sky was so blue and high. *Thump—! Thump—! Thump—!*

"Heyyyy! Who the hell are youuuu!?"

A voice shattered the pleasant feeling. Looking toward the sound, I saw a man coming toward us from far away, jumping across rooftops. He wasn’t nearly as fast as us. Since it was a hassle, I said,

"Stevie, let’s go!!"

But Stevie stopped me.

"Prince Robby, we can’t. That’s my superior."

"Eh? Really? Isn’t your superior the head maid? That guy is clearly a man."

"Not that one. My other superior."

"Ahhh!! So he’s from *that* organization you can’t talk about? How did he find us?"

"Who knows?"

We had no choice but to wait for the man to approach. He jumped over with awkward *boing... boing...* timing.

When he finally reached the same roof, he was bent over with his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

"Section Chief Lake!"

When Stevie called out, the man finally lifted his head (still breathing hard).

"Wh-what... Stevie...? Haa... haa... haa..."

He was so out of breath it was pitiful. He looked like a middle-aged uncle. Or maybe around 30? Either way, he wasn’t young, so it couldn’t be helped.

"Being with Stevie... haa... haa... means you’re Prince Robby?"

The man looked at me, so I replied in a very arrogant tone:

"Isn’t it basic manners to introduce yourself before asking someone’s name?"

"You are correct. My name is Greg Lake. I am Stevie and Lily’s superior. I serve as Section Chief of the Royal Palace Garden Maintenance Department. It’s a pleasure to meet you."

*Garden Maintenance Department?* I’d never heard of it, but apparently it existed. Since he had properly introduced himself and I now knew he was a palace official, I had nothing to hide.

"I’m Robin Marie. You already know the rest, I’m sure. So why is the Section Chief of the Garden Maintenance Department on the roof?"

"Pardon me for asking, but I was about to ask you the same thing. Why is Prince Robby jumping across rooftops in the commoner district?"

"That’s simple. Because it feels good!"

I answered with my chest puffed out.

"Feels good...? Hey, Stevie, didn’t you stop His Highness?"

Section Chief Lake turned to Stevie, who answered nonchalantly,

"No, Prince Robby said he likes doing it, and there didn’t seem to be any particular danger."

"He likes it... jumping on roofs? Why? Was assigning Stevie a mistake...?"

Section Chief Lake fell into deep thought.

"If you have no more questions, may I continue on ahead?"

Section Chief Lake waved his hands frantically.

"No, no, no! Absolutely not! A prince of this country jumping around on rooftops is unprecedented! What if you get injured!?"

"I’m fine! I won’t get hurt! There’s no way I’ll fall!"

*That’s exactly what people who end up getting hurt always say.* (Like that slogan: "Don’t grab danger, grab the handrail.")

"People who say that are exactly the ones who get hurt! Come on, let’s return to the palace. We can’t descend here, so I’ll lead the way. Please follow me."

Lake was about to jump when I interrupted,

"We’re going back to the palace already? I haven’t had lunch yet. Hey Lake, why don’t we eat lunch before going back? You haven’t eaten yet either, right? Even if we return now, lunch probably won’t be prepared anyway."

"Well... that’s true. Prince Robby’s lunch probably isn’t prepared. Did you have somewhere in mind?"

"No, I don’t. Take me to your usual spot, Lake."

I said it firmly.

"My usual spot..."

Lake was speechless. *Yeah, he probably can’t think of any place suitable to take a prince.*

"Anywhere you normally go is fine. It can be dirty or taste mediocre. I’ll pay."

"Dirty... mediocre... And the money would come out of our department’s budget..."

Lake muttered under his breath.

"Understood. Please follow me for now."

I’m really looking forward to what kind of place he’ll take us to. Exploring new restaurants is fun in both my previous life and this one!!