Chapter 26: Meeting Noble Children

While I was following behind the restaurant manager, the three carriages from earlier made their way out of the crowd towards us; after the carriages stopped, their doors opened, exposing three different people getting out.

Coming out of the Eve carriage was an adorable young girl who didn't look much older than me; her clothes looked similar to mine as our's are both luxurious, and she had her families symbol's stitched on, her blonde hair was tied up into a ponytail behind allowing everyone to fully view her pointed ears.

Stepping out of the Dagmar carriage was a boy who looked slightly older than the young girl from before. He also wore fancy clothes, though I noticed a dagger attached to his waist. Something unusual about him was his short black hair, as almost every Elf I've seen has long hair.

Exiting the Sigurda carriage was a young girl who looked to be of similar age as the boy from before; while her clothes were also luxurious, they were much thinner and showed a good amount of skin, similar to how the matriarch of the Sigurda family wore her clothes.

"I'm Maga Dagmar, the son of Matriarch Dagmar. It's an honor to meet you, Prince Elif." Spoke Maga with a confident and respectful voice while bowing before Elif.

"Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Kare Sigurda, the daughter of Matriarch Sigurda. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Prince Elif." Said Kare, with a pleasant voice and a smile on her face while bowing before Elif.

"I'm S-S-Sarah Eve, D-Daughter of Patriarch Eve. It's great to finally meet you, y-your highness." Said Sarah, scared and shy with a shaky voice, while bowing before Elif.

"Address me as Prince Elif Sarah; now, what do you three want?" Said Elif, reprimanding Sarah, causing her to get even more frightened than before.

"Nothing Prince Elif, but since we are of high status as well as in the same generation, it only made sense for us to greet you while getting to know each other better, maybe over some food if that's okay with you, Prince Elif?" Said Kare, trying to make a good impression on Prince Elif.

"I was thinking the same thing as Kare, Prince Elif." Mentioned Maga, realizing what Kare was doing, and tried copying her.

I didn't mind if they accompanied me while eating; actually, I'm curious how interacting with other children will be, as the only non-adult I know is Elaine, and she's only a few months old.

"Sure, I don't care. Manager, is there enough food for us all?" Replied Elif.

"But of course, Prince Elif, I prepared a feast big enough for one-hundred people when I knew of your arrival; adding a few people won't make a difference." Quickly answered the fat Manager while weirdly rubbing his hands together.

Nodding in reply, I continued following the manager while chatting with Kare and Maga, but by the time I reached the entrance of the Pagoda, I noticed Sarah wasn't with us, so I stopped walking and turned around, only to see Sarah looking depressed with her head hanging down while making her way into her carriage.

"Are you not coming with us, Sarah?" Asked Elif, though his words had caught the depressed and sulking Sarah off guard, as she's used to people ignoring her.

"C-CAN I!?" Yelled Sarah, with newfound energy, though still slightly nervous.

"I already said I don't care, so hurry up if you wish to join; I don't have all day; mother said I must return home before dusk." Answered Elif. However, his words brought so much joy to Sarah that she momentarily forgot about her status as a noble and ran to catch up with Elif.

"T-Thanks, Prince Elif." Said Sarah, embarrassed at how she had just displayed herself.

I nodded in response and finally entered the Pagoda with them following me; the inside of the Pagoda was beautiful with various small trees, paintings, and statues placed around the area, though while there were a lot of tables and chairs for people to sit, I noticed not a single person was present, except for people that worked here.

"Hmm, where is everyone?" Asked Elif while using his divine sense to ensure he didn't miss anyone.

"When the customers heard that a Royal carriage was parked outside the restaurant, they all rushed out, and now that it's publicly known the Crown Prince is dining here, no one dares to come inside." Replied the fat manager while beginning to walk up some stairs.

"Hm, anyway, Maga what's with the dagger attached to your waist? Is it your partner?" Asked Elif, bringing to attention Maga's dagger.

"Not at all, Prince Elif; it is merely an accessory to my outfit, the dagger inside blunt." Answered Maga as he tried to cut a piece of his clothes with the dagger, but nothing happened.

"Well then, what weapon do you use?" Asked Elif.

"I'm proficient in the art of using small weapons, such as needles, kunai's, and shurikens, just like most people in the Dagmar family." Answered Maga, with pride in his voice.

"I've tried using those weapons before, but I didn't like them; they were too small for my taste. What about you, Kare and Sarah? What's your weapon of choice?" Answered Elif, though his words from earlier caused Maga's mouth to twitch in annoyance, but he didn't dare voice his annoyance before Elif.

"The only weapon I've ever used is the whip, as I enjoy being flexible in battle, Prince Elif." Replied Kare with a smile.

"I-I use the sword; what about you, Prince Elif?" Replied Sarah before asking Elif his weapon of choice; however, since she rarely talked to anyone her age, she was overly friendly with Elif, especially considering it was their first encounter, though luckily Elif is the same, so he thought it was normal.

"The whip is fine, but it's too hard to control, and the sword, well that's my favorite as I also use that weapon." Said Elif, causing Sarah to get shocked as he uses the same weapon as her.

"W-Well, can you show us your sword, Prince Elif?" Asked Sarah, who seemed to be getting a little too friendly with Elif after only a couple of conversations, though her words did spark slight curiosity in Kare and Maga.

Nodding in response, I opened my hand, and my sword suddenly appeared still in its sheath, so they weren't able to see the beauty of the blade, but that changed when I unsheathed my partner.

"Woah, It's so big, and the blade is really shiny!" Exclaimed Sarah as she stuck out her finger to try and touch it, but Elif flicked his partner away just in time.

"I suggest you don't touch it; it's not a toy. It's a weapon meant for killing." Warned Elif before he sheathed his partner and put them back into the storage ring.

"S-Sorry." Said Sarah meekly.

After reprimanding Sarah, she followed us quietly while Kare, Maga, and I continued talking for a little bit till we arrived at the topmost floor of the pagoda. We walked down a short hallway leading to a set of doors that the manager opened for us, allowing us to walk right into a much smaller room than the one on the ground floor, but everything looked far better.

There is a big round table in front of us, surrounded by what looks like miniature throne chairs, the walls were all glass allowing for a beautiful view of the city, and there's a stage to the right of the entrance.

"I hope it's to your liking, Prince Elif." Asked the fat manager, leading them closer to the table while pulling out a chair that looked more majestic than the others for Elif to sit on.

"It's fine, though I didn't come here for the appearance. I came for the food." Replied Elif, as everyone sat down in a seat, with Kare and Sarah sitting to his right while Maga sat to his left.

"Right away, Prince Elif, I shall go and bring the food out; in the meantime, please enjoy the entertainment." Said the manager with a bow as he quickly left the room.

Right when he left the room, various Elven women wearing loose clothes walked out from behind the stage and started performing a group dance, it was pretty nice for a little bit, but I got bored soon after, luckily the manager came back with a lot of people following behind him while every single one of them was carrying a large tray filled with different types of food.

"Sorry for the wait, Prince Elif." Said the manager while placing down plates of food in front of Elif.

I didn't respond to him as I was already taking bites of the food, the first food I grabbed was a heavenly apple, and when I took a bite, it tasted magnificent; however, I didn't wish to get full quickly, so I set down the apple, and grabbed a small fruit I've never had. The moment I put it in my mouth, I felt an electric shock travel through my body before incredible sweetness invaded my mouth.

"This fruit is incredible; what is it called?" Asked Elif out loud in delight.

"That fruit is called a Lightning Cherry, a very rare fruit as it's birthed after being baptized by a Heavenly Tribulation, Prince Elif. It is even rumored that you'll gain slight resistance to a heavenly tribulation by eating one of them, but it's never been confirmed." Stated the fat Manager.