2.4 A d-a-t-e with Arica

'What's this noise early in the morning?'

I entered the sitting room and it looked like Arica and Sistina were arguing on something. Princess Anna and Princess Eliane were sitting on the sofa. Both of them were dressed formally.

Princess Anna was wearing a blue gown with a golden flower pattern while Princess Eliane was wearing a green gown with a yellow flower pattern.

"What do you mean by 'a date'? I thought you guys were just going shopping," Sistina said in an angry tone.

"Ehehe! A guy and a girl going shopping together is no less than a d-a-t-e," Arica said with a teasing smile.

"No, it's not! It's just shopping," Sistina replied.

I looked towards princesses and they were busy talking to each other. So, I went closer to Arica and Sistina and asked, "What's going on?"

"Stay quiet!"

"Please stay out of this, darling."

Arica and Sistina said simultaneously looking towards me. The seriousness in their faces was saying that the topic they were discussing was a gravely important one.

'Darling?! What's going on here?'

"Nara is going on a shopping date with me. It's as clear as a day," said Arica in a confident tone looking towards Sistina.

"W-wait me? I thought you were going on shopping with Nina today," I said pointing towards myself in confusion.

"Yes, but she needed to go to the library with Marina," Arica looked towards me and replied with a smile.

"Yeah, she said she was going to help Marina study about the herbs in the region we are planning to go," said Princess Eliane who was sitting on the sofa with Princess Anna.

I looked towards the princesses and asked, "And what about you guys?"

"I would love to go. But when Miss Lilith told uncle about what happened in the village, he wanted to give us rewards. Miss Lilith denied doing it publicly, so he has called us privately to collect rewards," replied Princess Anna.

"And visiting a crowded place like a trading district may not be a good idea for us in the first place," said Princess Eliane.

She was right. If someone found that they were princesses there, it would likely cause a mess.

"And what about you Sistina?" I asked looking towards her.

She looked down and said, "Miss Lilith said that I will need more training to perfect my form. So, I need to train with her."

'Guess, I have no choice but to go with her.'

"Don't worry. Arica is just joking, it's just shopping," I said since that was really the case.

She looked towards me with eyes filled with expectations and asked, "Promise?"

'Why are you giving me that look? It's not like I am going on a war or something.'

"Yeah, it's just that," I replied.

Somehow, she didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything. After a while, Miss Lilith came in saying, "Sistina, let's go" so she left with her.

Right after they left, a carriage arrived to take Princess Anna and Princess Eliane to the Duke's castle so both of them left as well.

We had recently gotten another month's allowance. We already had 5 silver coins left after our previous trip, so we only collected a silver coin from everyone to finance the trip.

"Darling, we need to head out too. If we go early, we will get things cheaper," said Arica with a playful smile.

'Really? What's with this darling.'

Usually, the morning or evening was the best time to buy things. During the opening time, people would sell things cheaper because of the belief that if the opening sale went well, the whole day would go well. And during the evening, to sell as many products as they could before closing.

If you want to buy things at a lower price, the evening was a better time. But for those who prefer quality over the price, the morning was the best time. This was because most of the goods were already sold during the day, and only low-quality goods that people didn't buy remained till the evening.

"Yeah, let's go. But before that would you stop calling me darling?" I said not being able to take it any longer.

Arica put her index finger on her chin and asked, "Why, darling?" acting confused.

'There is a limit to how much cuteness I can take dammit!... Well, this is Arica we are talking about.'

I understood that this would go nowhere so I didn't say anything anymore. She probably took my silence as approval but that couldn't be helped.

When we reached the trading district, it was already crowded. Many humans and demihuman races were buying and selling things. Food and clothes shops were the most crowded ones among all.

Even the streets were so crowded that it was hard to walk without bumping into someone. But even though people were bumping into each other, they were rarely causing any fuss. They were all busy doing the tasks they were here to do.

Right after we entered the district, I heard a customer at a china shop arguing with the shopkeeper. I had heard that haggling was common here, but this looked a bit too much.

"You say it's 4 copper coins, but a shopkeeper on the other side was saying it's just 2 copper coins," a woman who looked to be in her forties said in a loud voice.

"No no madam, it's just 2 copper coins. You misheard me," said the shopkeeper rubbing his sweat. It looked like he was trying to prevent his customer from running away because of all the fuss the lady was creating.

'Man, that woman is cruel.'

As I was thinking that, I felt a soft sensation on my right arm. My heartbeat increased when I felt that. I slowly turned my head towards it, and it was as I thought she was clinging to my right hand.

'You were wrong Bookman. This is it... the heavens.'

I was no longer able to think clearly. I had no choice but to submit myself to this sensation.

Right at that moment, someone bumped into me bringing me back to my senses.

'Man, that was close. Thank you, God's messenger.'

I pulled myself together and collected courage from every part of my body to say, "A-Arica, I-isn't this a bit too close?"

We were in public even though everyone was minding their own business. I had to bring things back to the track and survive this trial.

Arica tilted her head and said, "Too close?"

'Stop acting confused dammit! I am having a hard time controlling myself.'

If it was a girl, she could easily say that 'I am uncomfortable'. But as a man, this was something I could never say.

It was too late now. My hand had stopped listening to me. It had already betrayed me for the soft sensation. I could no longer separate myself from it.

I was glancing at her every once in a while, and every time our eyes met, she smiled.

After a while, we arrived at the butcher's shop from where we were planning to buy dried meat. We waited there for a while since the front was crowded and our turn finally came.

"Hello sir, how ma- EY!... Please wait, I will call our manager."

A young man at the front was saying something but he stopped when he saw Arica and went inside to call the manager.

After a while, the manager who looked like a middle-aged man came out and asked, "Miss, how can I help you this time?"

'Is it just my imagination or does he look scared.'

"We want dried goat meat. I hope you can give us a discount like last time," she said with a smile.

"Y-yes. It's 5 copper coins like last time," replied the manager, and went inside.

After we finished buying the dried meat we got back to the street. I was curious as to what happened, so I asked, "Arica, what happened last time?"

Arica looked at me with a teasing smile and replied, "I will tell you if you call me 'darling'"

"Arica, just tell me," I said insisting.

Arica just shook her finger saying, "Darling".

'Well, it's just 'darling'.'

"Okay, Darling," I said looking away from her.

"Hmm… that wasn't fun at all. But I will tell you. I just know their trade secret," she replied looking a bit disappointed.

"Trade secret?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah. They use dark magic to dry the meat and sell it. It's nothing harmful, but the quality decreases a lot," she replied.

'Ah, so she knows how they do it and they don't want her to reveal that. Well played.'

Arica was very good at dealing with the shopkeeper, so we didn't even need to haggle much. I was uncomfortable at the start, but I soon got used to it. It was late afternoon by the time we finished buying everything.

"Darling, why don't we eat something before going back. I am hungry," Arica said after we reached near a restaurant.

It was a small restaurant that didn't look very crowded. Arica looked tired and I was also hungry so I said, "Okay, let's go inside."

Inside, there were some customers but many tables were empty. We sat at a small table, one that only had two chairs.

Right after we sat, a maid came in and asked, "What would you like to eat today?"

"What's special here?" I asked looking towards her.

"It's noodle soup sir," she said in a polite tone.

"Then bring us two bowls of noodle soup please," I replied.

She bowed a little and said, "Yes sir. It will be prepared soon." She then went inside the kitchen.

After around fifteen minutes, she came back with two bowls of noodles soup.

Arica was looking at me and smiling while we were eating. I wasn't sure how to react to that so I just responded with a smile.

It was evening by the time we finished eating, so we decided to return back to the dorm.

I wasn't sure if one could call this a d-a-t-e like Arica said or not. It was a little awkward, but we both had fun.

Next Chapter: Start of a New Journey