Chapter 23: Visiting The Beast Human Nation
...
{Location: power of the mind}
I read up on my progress while the personalities (myselves) discussed.
"We've reached a turning point at last..." Happy grinned
"Indeed, however we shouldn't celebrate so soon. There are still more surprises that await us" interlect spoke, adjusting her glasses.
"Hey, the beast prince sounds like no pushover, if he's managed to scare of three professionally strict tutors, each within the first month" wild groaned
"What if he hates us and fires us, king Steven worked hard to get us this job..." Spineless muttered trembling.
"Calm down all of you, let's think of a strategy before having any assumptions" boss lady said, her voice silencing the others as she continued
"We can't really judge a character before even meeting the prince. It's best we act professional till his introduction and decide from there....any objections?" She added
"NONE!!" everyone Said in unison.
"Sounds reasonable enough" I nodded in approval. As I decided to get back to the real world.
...
I slowly opened my eyes.
"Morning, darling..." nate smiled. I blink a couple times before realizing that I was laying my head on his lap. My face flushed brightly as I immediately sat up and shifted a few seats from him.
"Your finally awake" Ryu said with a sly grin, staring at my flustered state.
"You look refreshed" kuro smiled
"Good morning shiori-sama" kyokota added
"Did something happen while I was asleep?" I asked curiously
"Not really..." They spoke dully in unison.
"Hey, hey, rock, paper, scissors is a sacred game of chance, no hard feeling..." Nate grinned
"I know..." Ryu huffed
"How unfortunate..." Kuro whined
Huh? I was now super curious.
{Location: the kingdom of buarheld}
We all stood in front of the king. He had red fiery haired and red eyes, boldintimidating.
Damn his inmidating.
"State your Names." He stated with a deep blunt voice.
"I'm shiori koromi, Queen of the ethereal city and I'm here for the job of tutoring the prince" I stated
"Yes, Steven did speak about you, his sweet and powerful daughter in law. , his words not mine..." he let out a loud laughable.
I chuckled awkwardly
"And what brings you here prince Nathaniel?" He quired.
"The alliance between our nation is of high attention, I've come to deliver a hand written letter from my father" Nate said showing him an envelope.
"Very well, I shall read it and send you my answer soon" he replied thoughtfully
"Thankyou your highness " Nate grinned as The king then turned to me.
"Say, shiori right? How about it, care for you and me to spar..." He asked with a determined glint in his eye.
Huh? I blink
We stood in an arena. I kept staring at the king in disbelief. Just then I heard footsteps approaching, it was the chief advisor
"I'm really sorry about this, when his highness sees a strong person, he can't help himself and want to fight them " he sighed
"I see..." I sweatdropped as the minister grabbed my shoulders and stared me dead in the face.
"Go give him a good smacking! Give him all you've got!"
Huh?! Isn't he on your side?!
"Why does he even want to fight my shiori, she's a girl." Nate said confused
"He believes in gender equality " the chief advisor replied.
I stood in front of the king, readying to fight as I held up my wooden sword.
"Begin!" The referee signaled us to begin.
He lunged forward swinging his sword as it clashed with mine. The king smirks as the suddenly vanished.
Huh? Where did he go?
Just then he appeared right behind me as I quickly blocked his ambush.
"Good defense" he complimented as he attacked with precision and great power.
"I see now, why beast humans are considered the best in combat..." I smiled
I lunged at him at impressive speed, aiming my blade ready to swing. He got into a defense position.
"Got ya...."
I tripped him over with my foot, causing him to fall. he tried getting back up but I pointed the tip of my sword at his neck.
Everyone gasped
"It seems like I have been beat" he rose his hand in surrender before letting out a jolly laugh.
"Good game" I smiled pulling him back onto his feet.
"Same, your quite strong for a girl and a pretty fox one at that.." I looked away embarrassed by the compliment.
Just then I felt a gaze. turning to face the palace, I saw someone staring or rather sending glares my way before leaving.
"Huh?" I rose a brow in confusion
"You'll meet my son another time. For now please do enjoy tonights banquet in honor of you and your friends"
........
Later that evening, a massive banquet was held in our names. I was dressed in a sky blue ball gown that covered my ankles like some Disney princess. Apparently this is the norms dressing style for females nobles when attending events
I was heading for the snack table when I overheard the chief advisor talking with the king.
"Sire, the entertainment for the banquet haven't arrived yet." He said in a worried tone.
"What?! This is bad, the dancers should be performing any moment from now..." the king frowned.
"Excuse me, may I ask what is wrong?" I caught their attention as I walked over to them.
"Lady Shiori, it's about the entertainment for the banquet. their not here yet and the show is supposed to be starting soon " the king replied with a grumble.
"May I ask what kind of entertainment?" I quiered
"Some interpreter dancing, it's quite the spectacular,..." he smiled
"And how much would be the pay?" I quired
"Around 10 gold coins, why?"
CHI CHING!!!🤑
"I'll be happy to entertain the guests until the main dancers arrived " I grinned, They stared at me with surprised
"But, lady shiori you don't have to.." the minister started but I cut him off
"It would be a shame to keep the guests waiting for someone classic entertainment, don't worry I'm an excellent dancer myself, as long as I get paid for it of course..." I said trying to hide a sly grin
They both sighed before they nodded in approval. I excused myself as I went into my room and quickly got changed into a kimono.
I walked on and stood on the stage wearing a purple kitsune mask as everyone gathered around.
Play music here {the four seasons}
Kyokota begun playing the piano while I was dancing out the song gracefully as I could.
I swirl and flowed my body as if it were water.
Each motion precise and elegant as the audience awed with wonder.....
I summon a pouch of lotus petals and used wind magic to move them and make my dance more enchanting.....
It's a good thing I practiced ballet lessons till when I was a preteen ☺️
As my performance came to an end, Everyone applauded. I bowed before letting the main entertainment begin. I came back in my original gown.
"That was incredible lady shiori!..." The king praised
"Thanks sire..." I bowed
"No need for formality, my name is James kin Gacier..." He said
"Very well king James" I curtsied
"Oh and here's your pay" I said handing me the pouch of coins to which I gracefully accepted before walking back to the food table.
I squealed with delight as I ate some of the local delicacies
Yummy!🤤
"You look lovely tonight, shiori-sama" I turned to see the others approach me.
"Thanks, you guys look great as well" I complimented them as they were dressed in tuxedos.
"How about me?" I turned to see Nate approaching, looking absolutely gorgeous in his blue suit.
"You also look great..." I smiled
"And you were wonderful on stage my dear" he smiled kissing the back of my hand.
"Let's capture the moment, shall we" I wiped out my phone and took a picture of them.
The flash alerted the guards, causing them to drew out their swords, luckily the king rose his hand signaling them to stop.
"What's that?" He asked staring at my phone curiously.
"Oh, it's a special device. with it, I can take pictures and save them" I explained as I showed him the photos on my phone
"Interesting, an instant panting and it's so realistic. Can you do take them out?" He queried
"Yes, if I have paper or something to transfer it to" I replied.
I was giving a stack of paper, I placed one down and concentrated with my eyes closed
Fragments of memories, heed my command and be casted onto the object of my desire, Drawing!
the picture copied from my phone and unto the paper. Everyone gasped and awed.
"Can you do one for me" the king asked excitedly.
"Sure..." and that's how I spent the next few hours being a photographer for the king as well as posing for couple of photos with Nate.
Hours had past, I sighed exhausted as I slumped onto a sofa. The banquet was still going but I've had my share of partying.
"I'm so beat..." I sighed. I felt a little tug at my dress. Curious I looked down, only to find a stuffed teddy bear staring back at me.
"What in kanato's teddy bear?" I was beyond confused as well as curious
The teddy then started walking, gesturing me to follow, cautiously I did. It lead me to a room. I opened the door to see familiar figures sitting on a couch, surrounded by stuffed animals.
"Libara, Ciel, what are you doing here?"
The smiled at me warmly
"Shiori-sama, what a surprise, I and Ciel we're just visiting the buarheld kingdom to learn about their customs towards non citizens, what about you?"
"I'm here for a job offer as the new tutor for the beast human prince" I replied.
"I see...." She nodded
"So what's with the walking teddy bear, is it alive?" I asked
"No, it's a new spell I've learnt, it's called puppeteer.."
"Puppeteer?" I asked
"Yes, it requires advance dark magic. By inputting a certain amount of mana into an object, you can insert specific commands for the said object to obey. For example..." she got up a placed her hand on a chair, pouring her mana into it.
"Heed my command, once sitted you shall move forward."
She retracted her hand sat on the chair, surprisedly it moved forward automatically.
I awed, "so can you give any command as long as you have the mana for it?" I queried
"Sadly, That's not how it works. you may give command according to the physiology of the object in question for example you can't command a table to fly but a bird toy would fly if you command it too" she explained
"I see, then let me try" I turned to the pile of soft toys and picked up a silver stuffed bunny with one droopy ear.
{New Skill Available: puppeteer}
{Do you wish to use this skill?}
{Yes} {no}
I selected yes before I set the bunny onto the bed and began pouring my mana into it.
"Heed my command, once done casting the spell, you shall gain consciousness and have awareness over your body, you shall walk and move around according to your own will. Puppeteer!"
I retracted my hand and waited in anticipation. The bunny's leg twitched as it was soon standing on it's own. It looked around confused before turning to stare at us curiously.
"Hello, my name is shiori koromi, but my know me as master or just shiori" I waved.
It just stood there for a moment,then nodded in approval.
"So cute! What should I name you?" I tilted my head examine it's features, it's surely a he so he needs a cute names.
"How about mochiko, mochi for short" I suggested. It nodded before leaping into my arms
"Mochi it is!" I smiled
"I...I can believe you mastered the spell so quickly, It took my days!" Libara whined
"Well I had a great teacher"
"Oh stop it" she giggled
"She's so easy to read.." ciel Chuckled
"So how long are you staying?" I quired
"Not long, we leave in three days.." Ciel replied
"I see. goodnight then, bye.." I carried mochi in my arms and left the room.
I flopped onto the bed as I embraced the fluffy pillows happily. I snuggle with mochi who seemed to enjoy the attention.
"Sanemi, where the hell are you?" I muttered. Before long, I drifted into slumber.
.......
The next day as I was strolling through the garden, Nate ran up to me.
"Oh, morning Nate" I smiled
"Morning shiori, and..." He stared at mochiko strangely
"Oh, this is mochiko, a toy that I brought to life...." I explained as mochi waved his paw in response.
"Oh, so it's not a present from any rivals, good " he sighed in relief.
Huh? What is he talking about?
"So anyway I was thinking that after breakfast, we could explore the city together..." He said shyly
"Ok, but what about the others?"
"There joining the guards here for their training " he replied.
"Oh ok then..."
We walked around the city, from jewelry shops, to simple bakeries.
Nate was picking really fancy bluegreen earrings for me.
"They'll look so good on you" he smiled softly as he placed them in my palms as I paled in horror staring at the price tags.
......
I beamed excitedly as I tried some free samples.
I tried on a ton of clothes ranging from ruffled shirts to dress pants
I noticed how Nate was being patient and carefully looking at the stuff I chose, like the colour, their scents and even the food I liked. Then it hit me,
this was practically a date!😳
"Let's grab some food before heading back, I heard there was a really nice restaurant close by..." He suggested
"Ok sure..." I halted in my tracks, turning to look behind me.
"Is something wrong?" He quired.
"I'll be right back, can you get us a table..." I smiled sweetly, handing mochi over to him before walking in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?" He asked worrying
"Just a quick matter I have to attend to"
I opened up a mist portal, reappearing on top of a tall building's rooftop. Present there, were two cloaked figures.
"Hello" I greeted them from behind, they shreaked in surprise before poofing away.
"Huh?" I blink.
{Radar activated}
"Found you!" I smirked teleporting again, reappearing right in front of the cloaked figures as The got into a fighting stance, I knocked them out with my purse as they fell onto the ground unconscious.
Lifting their cloaks my eyes widened.
......
They soon woke up, trying to stand up but they couldn't, realizing that there hands and legs were bounded.
"Oh great your awake, now can you explain yourselves, Mira and Artemis" I said with a gentle smile that radiated a deadly aura.
"We were sent by the king!" Mira admitted.
"What's he got to do with this?"
"We were ordered by the king to protect prince Nathaniel from within the shadows, as extra protection" Artemis answered
"I see, and is Nate aware of this?"
"No, his not" she replied
"Please don't tell him about this, he might end up being angry with the king and it might cause a disrupt in their relationship" Mira begged
"That bad huh..."
"How long are you staying?"
"Since his highness is leaving by tomorrow morning, as well as your followers, We're leaving tonight " she replied
"I see, ok I won't tell Nate anything"
"Thankyou!" They bowed. I sweatdropped.
I untied them and headed to the restaurant where Nate was waiting
"Your back, did you do what you needed to?" He smiled, mochi in his arms
"Yeah, now let's eat!" I smiled
.......
The next morning, I watched everyone leave in the carriage from my guest room window...
Flashback....
"Ha?! You want us to leave without you?!" Ryu was confused as well as the others
"I have to tutor the princes...." I said flatly
"But, hes a man..." Kuro whined in a corner, clutching mochi was consolence.
"Whats does the gender matter?" I sweatdropped.
"They're right, it seems risky to leave you alone here" kyokota added
"I'll be fine...." I assured
"How long would you be gone?" Haru quired
"About a year....."
"That's too long!" They yelled in unison
"No worry, Eliot has the embassy covered and the counsel can handle the ethereal city's affairs, plus I have tasks to keep you busy..." I smiled
"Tasks"' they queried
"The ideas I suggested from my memories to invest in. Choose one of your particular interest, excel in it and use it to boost out statue and power all over the realm! As well as make me tons of money!" I ordered
"Yes shiori-sama!" They nodded
Flashback ends.....
I sighed, holding mochi in my arms.
"That's settled, now I just have to pass the interview and I'm his tutor..". I looked up at the ceiling.
"I wonder what the prince is like...." I smiled typing into my phone with new drive in me