Ai stood behind the door and heard a familiar voice coming from the main hall.
"Young Master Shin-chan?"
She couldn't help pushing the door open.
Inside the main hall, the Daimyo sat in the seat of honor, laughing so hard he could barely hold his folding fan. The ministers on both sides had stiff expressions, unsure whether they should laugh along or keep straight faces.
Shin-chan turned his head and saw a girl in a pale pink kimono standing at the doorway.
"Ai?" He waved. "Are you here to eat tasty food too?"
Ai didn't answer. She walked forward several steps, her pace much quicker than usual.
When the ministers in the main hall saw this, they all sucked in a breath at the same time.
Her Highness the Princess knew this child?
That Konoha brat who had no sense of seniority, pointed at His Lordship's belly and asked if he liked drinking beer, and loudly listed dishes in the main hall?
Ai walked up to Shin-chan, her voice filled with irrepressible surprise. "Why did you come to the capital?"
"Mission." Shin-chan pointed at the bundle on his back. "And I came to eat tasty food while I'm here."
The Daimyo sat in the main seat, lightly tapping his folding fan against his palm. His gaze moved back and forth between the two children.
"Ai." There was amusement in his voice. "You two know each other?"
Ai turned around, faced the Daimyo, and bowed slightly. "When I was in Konoha, I met Young Master Shin-chan."
"Since he is Ai's friend." The Daimyo closed his fan and lightly clapped his hands. "Ai will attend tonight's banquet as well."
A protocol officer stepped forward. "Your Lordship, tonight's banquet is an official occasion to receive the Land of Water delegation. According to the rules..."
"Do you want to attend?" The Daimyo ignored the protocol officer and looked at Ai.
Ai lifted her head without the slightest hesitation. "I want to attend."
"Then attend." The Daimyo stood up. "It's settled."
The protocol officer opened his mouth, but in the end, he lowered his head and stepped aside.
The banquet was held in the hall on the east side of the palace.
Shin-chan was seated beside Ai, the two of them sitting close together.
"Is this how the seating arrangement is supposed to be?" one minister whispered to a colleague beside him.
The colleague whispered back, "His Lordship did not object."
The minister closed his mouth.
Shin-chan looked at the table full of dishes, the chopsticks in his hand already itching to move.
"Wait for His Lordship to use his chopsticks first." Namikaze Minato gently held down his wrist.
The Daimyo picked up his chopsticks.
Almost at the same moment, Shin-chan's chopsticks shot out, picked up a slice of meat, and placed it directly onto his plate.
The eyelid of a nearby minister twitched.
Shin-chan stuffed the meat into his mouth, chewed twice, then reached for the tempura.
"Shin-chan," Namikaze Minato reminded him softly. "Eat slowly."
"It's really good." Shin-chan's mouth was stuffed full. "But why is the plate so big when there's only a little bit of food on it?"
"That is blank space." A protocol officer across from him pushed up his glasses. "Palace cuisine values artistic conception. The blank space of the vessel allows the diner, while savoring the dish, to appreciate the Zen and aesthetics beyond the food itself."
But Shin-chan clearly had no interest in beauty. He was only interested in food.
Shin-chan picked up another piece of grilled eel and turned his head, only to discover that Ai's chopsticks were still resting on the chopstick stand. The plate in front of her was completely clean.
"Aren't you eating?" Shin-chan asked unclearly.
Ai looked at the table full of dishes. Every dish was exquisite, but she didn't have much appetite.
When eating in the palace, the most important thing was not losing one's manners.
"This is for you." Shin-chan placed a shrimp onto Ai's plate. "I tried it just now. This one tastes the best."
Ai lowered her head and looked at the shrimp on her plate, stunned for a while.
At banquets in the capital, no one had ever put food on her plate for her.
"You don't like shrimp?" Shin-chan asked indistinctly, his mouth full of food.
"I like it." Ai picked up her chopsticks, lifted the shrimp, and took a small bite.
The shrimp was a little cold, and the coating wasn't as crispy anymore, but she thought it tasted very good.
Shin-chan gave her another piece of grilled eel. "This one is good too."
The chopsticks of the ministers nearby all stopped in midair at the same time.
A Konoha genin, using his own chopsticks, was serving food to Her Highness the Princess?
The protocol officer's face had already turned the color of a pig's liver. "Your Highness, please pay attention to dining etiquette."
Ai's hand paused.
"What etiquette?" Shin-chan asked unclearly with his mouth full of rice.
The protocol officer said sternly, "Chopsticks must not cross the centerline of the table. When taking food, one must use serving chopsticks. One must not—"
"So troublesome." Shin-chan tilted his head. "Isn't being happy the most important thing when eating?"
"Exactly. Happiness is most important." The Daimyo sat in the seat of honor, gently waving his folding fan.
The protocol officer's expression stiffened.
Since His Lordship had said so, what else could he say? He could only swallow his stomach full of rules and lower his head to eat.
Shin-chan didn't notice this small disturbance at all. He was currently struggling with a crab.
The crab was whole. Shin-chan lifted it in front of himself, looked left and right, but didn't know where to start. "How do you eat this?"
"You use crab tools." Ai put down her chopsticks. "I'll help you."
"No need, no need." Shin-chan waved his hand, then stuffed the crab directly into his mouth and bit down with a crunch.
The ministers all sucked in a breath at the same time.
Shin-chan spat out the broken shell, chewed the crab meat, and nodded in satisfaction. "Tasty."
A smile appeared on Ai's face.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing." Ai picked up her teacup. "I just feel that when I eat with you, everything tastes better."
"That's because it was already tasty." Shin-chan took another bite. "But eating together with everyone really does make it taste better."
Ai took a sip of tea and watched as Shin-chan reached for his next target.
She remembered the banquets in the palace.
One had to control how much one ate. One's posture had to be graceful. Every bite had to be chewed slowly and carefully. One could never show preference for any particular dish, nor could one show dislike.
She had been attending banquets like that for as long as she could remember, and she had never felt that anything tasted especially good.
But today was different.
Shin-chan didn't think large plates were a good thing, nor did he think more rules meant higher class. He ate whatever he wanted, laughed when he wanted, and said whatever he wanted.
The Daimyo's gaze moved back and forth between the two children, the smile at the corner of his mouth growing deeper and deeper.
The relationship between the Land of Fire and Konoha was one of mutual dependence, but also mutual wariness.
The Land of Fire needed Konoha. Without Konoha's ninja, the border would not be so peaceful.
Konoha also needed the Land of Fire. The rewards for ninja missions, the village's construction funds, the investment in ninjutsu research—behind every one of these was financial support from the Land of Fire.
Without the Daimyo's funding, Konoha could not maintain its current scale.
It was like walking on two legs. If either leg was missing, one would fall.
But Konoha's autonomy had always been a thorn in the Land of Fire's heart.
The power of ninja was too strong. So strong that if one day they wanted to change the object of their loyalty, the Land of Fire wouldn't even have a chance to say no.
The Daimyo lifted his wine cup and slowly took a sip.
Suddenly, a wild thought surfaced in his mind.
~~~
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