My courtship is doing well so far

After Hugo shocked me with that, 'this was our first day, then' he dragged me with everyone to eat breakfast. Apparently, to him, courtship was us being together as lovers and then doing things as lovers do.

I haven't even recovered from the shock I received from Hugo when everyone baffled me. Hugo's friends were oddly kind — too kind to the point it was embarrassing. They even fought over who was buying me breakfast!

To stop them from arguing and turning this place upside down, I told them they could all treat me. Now, I was staring at the dishes good enough to feed ten people on the table while they looked at me with anticipation.

'I'm an idiot,' I told myself, thinking I was wrong to think they would be wise enough to consider that they were feeding just one person. I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, picking up a spoon with trembling hands.

Before I choose which one to eat first, I snuck a glance at them. Their eyes were glowing, making me think my life with them depended on my first choice. I felt helpless.

"Hugo..." came out a muffled call as I gazed at Hugo on the left side of the table. To my dismay, he was grinning so proudly, as if he had done a job well done. Just what did he tell them for everyone to treat me like this?

"Human, why don't you eat?" One of the twins, Cyran, inquired. I snapped my eyes at him. "Don't you like these foods? Do you want us to get you something else?"

'Something else?' I nearly wept at his question. Seeing tons of food already made me feel so full, and he was suggesting if I wanted something else?

"Tsk. Who would have the appetite to eat when all your ugly faces are all she can see?" Hugo suddenly spat out in irritation. He glared at everyone before waving, shooing them all away.

"Ug — ugly? Me?" I heard Reks question while pointing at himself, but Kieran already dragged him away with him.

A sigh of relief slipped past my lips when they all moved several tables away from us. Hugo remained in his spot, keeping his eyes on me.

"Thank you," I expressed weakly while gazing at the dishes on the table. Even when the pressure from them disappeared slightly, the food was still a lot for me to consume.

"They're gone now, so just eat," Hugo beckoned me to eat, but my eyes veered on the table behind him. They were still looking.

"Don't mind those fools. I told them to treat you better, but those goons just know how to scare you."

"This is too much, Hugo," I said with a sigh. "It's not that I am being ungrateful, but just one meal is enough for me. It'll be a shame if this all goes to waste."

"For an important person like you, you surely care about wasting food."

"Hugo, I'm not an important person, but you are." I shook my head as I instinctively went to a soft dish close to me. "Even when I lived inside the castle, Ashton tells me the importance of food."

"Ashton?" Hugo raised a brow as that seemed to pique his interest.

"Ashton is my personal knight assigned to me by my father," I explained while I ate. "He told me a lot of things. He said many children out there are dying of starvation. So, wasting food always makes me think of them and it became a habit not to waste food."

"Although I sometimes want to skip meals, that is just my defense mechanism, so he would join me to eat," I continued, only to pause and look in Hugo's direction. He seemed displeased while staring at me with narrowed eyes.

"What?" I asked in a panic. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Yes, but never mind."

I studied him with furrowed brows and his expression was still the same. Was he this fickle? His mood was never constant, and I wasn't used to it just yet. I mentally shook my head and continued on eating. I ate as much as I could, but just after finishing two dishes, I felt like throwing up.

"Bambi, you don't have to force yourself to eat. I'll ask those people to clean eat it since they're the ones who bought it," Hugo reassured me when he saw me trying to eat another dish.

"Really?"

"Mhm. Don't worry." His expression was still the same, but it was obvious he was trying not to let his emotions take over his reasons. "Just in case you don't know, the dish you first ate is the food I bought, and the second is also mine."

"?"

"So, that's already fine." He nodded in encouragement. "This only proves that my courtship is doing well so far since you chose mine above everyone else."

My mouth opened and closed, but I found it pointless correcting him at this point. The main reason I chose those two dishes was that they were closer to me and were lighter dishes. But to him, it had something to do with his courtship.

"Alright then," I murmured with a weak nod.

******

After eating, Hugo told Tito to finish everything. It was still strange to see a giant man like Tito clasp his hands while staring at Hugo. He dragged me with him while the rest followed. I was a bit taken aback when I saw multiple carriages outside.

I thought we would travel by running, but Hugo told me they weren't in a hurry. Also, why would they run if they could afford to rent out a carriage? It made sense since running was tiring. I still had no idea how far this Ronmin Empire was from Althea.

I gazed at Hugo from across from me. We were the only ones inside the carriage while the rest shared the other ones. Hugo was staring at the window, arms crossed. I would not deny that he looked smart when he was silent.

"Hmm. How far is Ronmin?" I asked, breaking the silence between us. He peeled his eyes away from the window and set them on me.

"If we run, it'll take us about twenty days. But if we travel by carriage and consider making stops, over a month or two."

"That is..."

"Too far?" he cocked his head with an arched brow.

I nodded and pressed my lips. "If you lived that far, how come you were in that woods? Were you just passing by?"

"No." His answer took several seconds. "Actually, I was there to..."

Hugo's voice suddenly sounded distant as I caught a familiar figure from the corner of my eyes. I immediately turned my head at the window, looking out if I saw it correctly.

"Ashton," I whispered unconsciously.