Chapter 22

Ziel approached Clara and Princess Iris, standing before the silver tower. They seemed to be enjoying their conversation. Clara quickly noticed that Ziel had arrived, and she immediately called his name

"Ken!" Clara called his name and waved her hand. After that, he jogged while holding Princess Iris' hand.

"I'm sorry if I kept you waiting, my lady. But we'd better leave this place now." Ziel reminded Clara. When he arrived at the place, he felt a lot of gazes directed toward the two girls.

"Ah, Alright. How about we get some food first? I'm already feeling hungry." Clara said with her face flushed with embarrassment. She didn't have time for lunch during the exam break. Therefore, she felt hungry now.

"Yes, my lady." Ziel nodded, and Princess Iris agreed since she was hungry too.

***

Currently, Ziel and the others were in a restaurant not far from the academy. The place was clean enough but empty of customers. They had chosen that restaurant at the request of Princess Iris. But not a single person dared to approach them as they sat down at their table.

"Ken... I will introduce her to you. She is the Princess of this Kingdom, Princess Iris Neigal. Iris, he is Ken. He works as my butler." Clara introduced Princess Iris to Ziel while waiting for the waitress to take their order.

"My name is Ken Nijisaki. I am the butler and caretaker of Lady Clara. I am honored to be your acquaintance." Ziel politely introduces himself to Princess Iris.

"As Clara already said, my name is Iris Neigal. You can call me Iris like Clara does. I'm glad to be your acquaintance, Ken." Princess Iris smiled. She was initially worried that she would hurt Ziel upon meeting. But she is surprised that he is acting as normal as Clara.

"Sorry, but I can't do that, Princess Iris." Ziel slightly lowered his head to her.

"But..." Princess Iris became awkward after seeing his attitude.

"Iris, I'm sure it would be difficult for Ken to call a Princess by her name." Clara smiled and tried to help Ziel explain why he should be polite to Princess Iris.

"I understand. But why hasn't the waiter taken our order yet? Could it be because of me..." Princess Iris frowned as she looked around. He didn't find a single waiter coming to their table. As Princess Iris thought of the possibility, her face darkened.

"What do you mean?" Clara still doesn't know that Princess Iris has Mana which harms those around her. She didn't feel its effects solely because the hairpin Ziel gave her covered her body with an extremely thin layer of Mana membrane, and Demigods couldn't even see it.

"It's nothing. How about we find another place?" Princess Iris wanted to leave that restaurant immediately. She tried to keep herself from crying. Ziel only glanced at her briefly and looked at the inside of the restaurant.

Before Clara could answer Princess Iris' words, an invisible force suddenly compressed the space around the place. Then the Mana leaking from Princess Iris' body was perfectly sealed inside her body, but the girl didn't notice it.

"Waiter... We want to order food. You don't need to worry. Please come here and take our order." Ziel raised his hand and called the waiter.

They watched Ziel's table from a good distance away. Princess Iris panicked when she saw Ziel suddenly calling for a waiter. She thinks Ziel knows nothing about her and that his actions will only harm others.

The waiter walked slowly towards their table. Sweat dripped from his forehead. His face was frightened when he saw Princess Iris. But he was confused when he got close enough to them because nothing happened.

(Eh... Wouldn't the boss say it would be dangerous to approach that girl?)

The waiter mumbled in his heart in both shock and confusion. His boss told him that being close to Princess Iris would be dangerous. He didn't know how his boss knew such a thing, but he believed it.

(What!? Why is this waiter fine after getting close to me? Could this be related to Clara? Her butler was also fine when he was around me)

Since Princess Iris met Clara and Ziel, she had been confused about whether her Mana was harming others. Even though she was wearing the artifact her father had given her, it couldn't seal her Mana completely. There was still quite a lot leaking from Princess Iris' body. Because of that, the people around her would be affected if they got too close to her. But that doesn't apply to Princess Iris' new friends, Clara and Ziel. After them, the waiter was also fine when around her.

"Have you made your order, sir?" The waiter secretly sighed in relief in her heart after knowing that he was fine.

"Yes, I want to order 'Honey spicy fried chicken,' and the beverage is tea. How about you?" Ziel looked at Clara and Princess Iris after he ordered his food. The two girls looked confused as they checked the menu

"I'm the same as him." Clara pointed at the same food that Ziel ordered.

"Me too." Princess followed her.

"Alright. Please wait a moment. We'll get your order ready soon." The waiter was momentarily dazzled when she heard Princess Iris speak. But he quickly regained his senses and headed to the kitchen to process their order immediately.

While they were waiting for their food to be ready, two people of the same age entered the restaurant. One was a girl with dark blue hair styled in twin tails and brown eyes. The other person was a brown-haired, blue-eyed, plain-looking boy.

"Excuse me. Table for two people, please." The boy said to one of the waiters, and the two people were given a table near Ziel and the others. The blue-haired girl glanced at Ziel's table and raised her eyebrows. She suddenly stood up and walked towards them.

"Long time no see, Princess Iris." The blue-haired girl greeted Princess Iris. They seem to know each other.

"Ah, Princess Rinne. Long time no see." Princess Iris did not expect to meet one of her acquaintances at the restaurant. So she was at a loss as to how to respond. The blue-haired girl was the Princess of the Cirlus Kingdom, Rinne Cirlus.

"May I join you at this table?" Princess Rinne had already sat down before Princess Iris gave her permission.

"Of course." Princess Iris answered briefly.

"Hugo, we will sit here. Ooh, are they your friends, Princess Iris?" Princess Rinne glanced at Ziel and Clara. She hadn't noticed they were at that table earlier due to her focus on Princess Iris.

"Yes, they are my new friends. Her name is Clara, and over there is Ken." Princess Iris points at Clara and Ziel.

"Ooh? You've made a new friend. I'm Rinne Cirlus. You can call me Rinne. I don't care about honorifics." Princess Rinne casually said and then turned her eyes to Princess Iris.

"Is the bracelet working properly, Princess Iris?" Princess Rinne looked at the bracelet on her wrist. 

She knew the bracelet because it was a magical tool made by her father, King Raghnall. It was created with the help of her and the boy she is currently with, Hugo. They made the bracelet on a special order from King Jonathan, which took them quite a long time to make.

"It works well, but it's not perfect. A lot of Mana was still leaking from my body." Princess Iris answered honestly despite knowing that Rinne's father had made it.

"Hmm... Is that so? But I don't feel anything. Your new friends don't seem to feel anything, either. How about you, Hugo?" Princess Rinne looked at the people sitting at the table one after another. Then she turned her eyes to the boy beside her.

"I don't feel anything, Rinne." Hugo shook his head. He seemed the quiet type of boy to strangers.

(This is weird. Indeed, the device isn't perfect. But why people around her don't feel anything?)

Princess Rinne muttered in her heart while rubbing her chin.

"I'll ask my father about it. Maybe he can make it better." Princess Rinne decided to check out the Princess Iris bracelet.

"Thank you, Princess Rinne." Princess Iris smiled slightly. She didn't want to put her hopes too high on the abilities of magic tools made by humans. Usually, the best magic tools can be obtained from a Dwarf blacksmith. But Princess had no choice now as her father still couldn't get the Dwarves to make magic tools for her.

Not long after, Ziel and the others' food arrived. Princess Rinne and Hugo were still waiting for their orders to be ready. When Princess Rinne glanced at Ziel and Clara, she was stunned to see the hairpin the girl was wearing.

"You... What was your name!? Where did you get that hairpin from?" Princess Rinne suddenly stood up from her chair and pointed at Clara's hairpin with an excited face.

"Huh? My name is Clara. This hairpin was a gift from someone." Clara is surprised that Princess Rinne suddenly talks to her enthusiastically. She answered while glancing at Ziel next to her.

"Show me! Let me see it!" Princess Rinne's attitude changed 180 degrees from what she had shown before.

"I'm sorry, Princess Rinne. But I can't do it." Clara resolutely refused the request from Princess Rinne and held on to her hairpin tightly.

"Why?" Princess Rinne's face darkened after she heard Clara's answer.

"This is someone's gift to me. So I don't think lending it to you would be good. Please forgive me, Princess Rinne." Clara bowed her head to Princess Rinne.

"You..." Princess Rinne was slightly annoyed to hear that, but what Clara said wasn't wrong.

"Rinne, stop it. You're always like this when you see magic tools. I'm sorry for Rinne's behavior." Hugo interrupted Princess Rinne before she continued her sentence.

"It's not an ordinary magic tool Hugo. It's an artifact! What's more, it's ranked so high!" Princess Rinne's words shocked everyone at the table except for Ziel.

"What!?" Princess Iris, Hugo, and even Clara, the hairpin owner, raised their voices.

"That's why I want to see it. D you remember Princess Aishia's bracelet, Hugo?" Princess Rinne asked. Hugo raised his eyebrows after he remembered something.

"Ah, you're right, Rinne. If I'm not mistaken..." Hugo intended to say something, but his words were interrupted by the sound of the restaurant door opening.

"Excuse me..." A silver-haired girl entered the restaurant and said in a melodious voice.

(This is getting more and more troublesome...)

Ziel sighed when he saw the girl who entered the restaurant.