Nice To Meet You

"Why are they talking to your mother…?" Sierra said, followed by Olivia's nod. And rather than before, that sight kind of made Arina a little more curious.

But when Arina was looking at them like that, her eyes accidentally met her mother's eyes. And she immediately waved her hand at Arina, gesturing for her to come closer.

So with a sigh, Arina put down her drinking glass. "Seems like I have to go there." She said and finally left.

"Rina, Rina! You have to meet Effiria!" Mrs. Anastasia said excitedly. "This is Arina, my daughter." She also added to Effiria.

"Ah, nice to meet you." Greeted Effiria with a light bow. "I'm Effiria."

"..." Seeing her smiling like that, Arina finally made sure that the priestess didn't seem to remember her after all.

But now that she was in front of her, she decided to confirm something else too. So she held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Arina. Nice to meet you."

Effiria happily welcomed Arina's hand, but actually Arina was waiting worriedly if the priestess could feel anything about her dark magic--or worse, might even turn her hand into dust immediately…

But fortunately not. Looked like the necklace that used up her several boxes of gold was indeed worth it.

"...Ah, sorry." Said Arina who seemed to be holding Effiria's hand for too long. "You look so beautiful up close, I'm a little surprised." She said it carelessly.

Though it turned out that the other person immediately blushed when she heard it. "N-No, absolutely not. You are much prettier." Effiria replied frantically with flushed cheeks.

But before she started to feel awkward again, Mrs. Anastasia then started to talk again. "Rina, you must hear this. Effiria said she likes herb plants too." She told her happily. "And… She knows me!"

"Ah, is that so?" Arina forcedly replied, somehow feeling disappointed hearing that. To be honest, didn't that sound like the last thing everyone wanted to hear from a high priestess?

And then the prince also added, "She said she ever saw Mrs. Anastasia's when she was a little, so she kind of recognized her earlier." He explained. "She sounded like she really admired Mrs. Anastasia. so I decided to introduce them."

"She said she's from Halvan village." Added Mrs. Anastasia again. "Didn't I ever tell you I once went to many places before I got married?"

"Yes, you did. Maybe." Arina replied with a dry laugh. Her mother told all sorts of weird stories, that she ended up feeling that she might have made them all up. It wasn't included in her main memory, so Arina vaguely remembered them.

"..." But all of them really looked like they were adoring this topic, which is already weird. But Arina couldn't just walk away now, so she tried to think of another reply. "Then, do you like making medicine yourself too?" Arina asked.

"Ah, yes." Effiria replied with a shy chuckle. "Actually my mother owned a store that sold herb plants too. So instead of buying a new book of fairy tales, she preferred to teach me to read with the recipes she has in the store." She told the story while laughing.

"And my mother always said that the medicine recipes from Mrs. Anastasia Flesda's books were the most effective. So I always use it as a reference." Effiria added excitedly. "Who would have thought that I would actually be able to meet her again here!"

"Geez, stop it. You embarrass me. It's really been a long time since anybody called my maiden name." Replied Mrs. Anastasia, who in contrast looked so happy hearing it. "I actually feel more honoured that a high priestess like you actually read those lousy recipe books I wrote." She continued and started blushing too.

"N-Not at all! Even now I'm still studying it."

"..." Seeing them praise each other nonstop, Arina really started to feel bored. But maybe she wasn't the only one. Because the prince then talked again. "Then, since you have already met, I will excuse myself now." He said.

"Ah, yes. Thank you very much, Prince." Effiria said while bowing.

And Arina didn't want to stay either, so she tried to tag along. "But prince, did you see Prince Alex by any chance? I want to look for him, so can you accompany me for a bit?"

"…" Felix didn't seem to like the idea very much. But because Arina was already holding his half arm, he forced a little smile. "Then it's a coincidence. I'm actually looking for him too."

And the two of them started to walk away.

"..."

"What do you want? I'm busy." Said prince Felix with a flat tone. Unlike before, he didn't even try to sound polite at all now.

"Approaching such an innocent girl, aren't you a bit too much?" Arina replied with the same tone too. "Do you really not know that a girl like that won't be able to help you take back the crown prince position again?"

"What do you think of me? Of course I know that." Felix replied with a chuckle. "She's not even a noble. How can I expect her to go against someone like you?" He added.

Turned out he did know that. "Then why did you approach her like that? It made you look pathetic, you know. Everybody has been bad mouthing you since earlier."

Slightly widening his steps, Felix removed Arina's hand from his arm. "None of your business." He said. "I just need her for something else, so… Can you not try to kill her again like you did last night?"

"…" Feeling her heart dropped into her stomach, Arina tried her best to maintain her expression, but… 'What did he just say?!'

Although on the contrary, Felix seemed to be smiling again as if he was satisfied with Arina's shocked face. "But I was worried, you know. Because Lunia told me that you were seriously injured last night." He said. "But thankfully you look fine."

"…"

"Well, it's still too soon to get surprised, but I guess we'll talk again another time." Felix said and he left, leaving Arina shocked alone in the middle of the party.