Chapter 21: Royalty

"I know what you're going to ask next, too. This is a modified version of one of my special sword techniques; I put you all under the illusion that Yune is a different person, but this effect will only stay active when the person looking is within my field."

Moye paused for a second to think, and continued.

"The best thing to do is to keep the girl in a small room, and have me next to her at all times, so that even if someone comes in, they'll see this pink-haired girl instead of Yune."

I nodded, then turned to Montei and Kasumi and repeated Moye's words.

"It's your plan." Kasumi shrugged.

"Yeah, boss! We'll follow your lead." Montei nodded, following suit.

Albeit boosted by a wind element rune, travelling by carriage was still far slower than by Kasumi's Bifang. Nothing much happened during our journey, and we arrived at Yukizakura on time, as planned.

Of the utmost importance was finding a place to stay, not just one for us, but a separate one for Yune, too. Fortunately, we were able to find a small private inn. We decided to stay at a cheaper place to further disguise ourselves, since Yune would've likely stayed in a much better tavern if we hadn't butted in.

After we got Yune and Moye settled, Montei, Kasumi, and I headed for a restaurant named Yukitei*; apparently, the Emperor of Sakura was going to make an appearance at the welcoming dinner there.

The rows of streets in Yukizakura were decorated with snow-covered cherry blossom trees, much like the name of the city suggests. On both sides of the streets were many different shops and stalls of different sizes and different purposes.

"Yukitei... it should be just two blocks away from the palace." Montei pointed on the map.

"Why are you looking at the map when we already see the restaurant?" Kasumi asked.

"I was just making sure. Don't want to get my tongue cut off because I walked into the wrong doors." Montei scratched his head.

"Interesting thought process." I turned towards a tall pagoda. "Yukitei... looks like we're here."

"Are you Her Majesty's guests?" A guard wearing heavy scale mail armour walked over to us. "I need to see your invitations."

"Here." I took out my invitation and showed it to the guard. "These two are my friends."

"Sorry, Sir, but we can only let you bring one other person in." The guard nodded, and I put away my invitation.

"It's okay, boss. I can wait outside," Montei said to me, but failed to hide his hunger.

Before I said anything, Kasumi took out a golden crest with a phoenix pattern on it and showed it to the guard, whose eyes slightly widened.

"Pardon my impertinence. Please, enter this way." The guard moved to the side, and we were taken inside Yukitei by a waiter.

"Wow, who really are you?" Montei exclaimed, looking at Kasumi, who simply smiled in response.

"Manners, Montei." I coughed. "We are going to meet the empr- Her Majesty, you know."

We were taken to the top floor of the pagoda. The moment we arrived, what was a small space suddenly stretched out by tenfold. The dining hall was filled with people, mostly other competitors of the festival.

"Space runes, huh." Kasumi pinched his chin.

"You know about them, Kasumi?" I asked.

"Mhm. We used them back in Fengmingguan."

While he explained to me what a space rune was, we had arrived at our assigned seats.

"Her Majesty will arrive shortly. Please, do make yourselves home," the waiter said as we kneeled down Japanese-style on some silk velvet cushions.

It indeed wasn't a long wait. Before we knew it, the empress had already shown up, wearing a gorgeous red robe. She gracefully walked in, her eyes fixated in front of her and her lips curved into a small smile.

She then looked towards Kasumi, who sat straight across from me, his legs crossed, unlike everyone else in the room.

"Oh, how interesting," the empress spoke, "Prince Qin."

Everyone in the entire room fell silent for a second. Then they started chattering, as soft as they can to not disturb the empress.

"Pardon me, Your Majesty." Kasumi smiled back. "We don't kneel in Donghuang."

"Well, you'd be pardoned anyhow as you're a prince," the empress replied, her voice calm and tranquil.

"Not yet." Kasumi shook his head, then looked my way. The empress seemed to have understood something and called someone over. She then walked to one end of the long table and sat down.

"What the-" Montei's mouth was wide open. "You're a prince? You're seriously-"

"I figured as much." I pinched my chin.

"Huh? How did you know?" Montei looked at me, puzzled.

"Well, first of all, what I'm wearing right now was a gift from him." I pointed to my clothing and explained with a soft voice only the two of us can hear. "I compared its material to the fabric of clothing in the marketplace, and this completely outranks any clothes I've ever seen."

"Second, his crest. I didn't know what it was, but judging by how he was let in just from showing it, I assumed that he's either royalty or has some connections to royalty."

Suddenly, our surroundings changed. We were still in the same luxurious dining hall, but everyone else had disappeared.

"This is a space bubble created through my spirit," the empress explained, seeing us confused - especially Montei, who had completely lost his mind by now. "It allows me to create a bubble in which everything is the same as the real world, but only organisms I register are allowed inside."

She then turned to Kasumi.

"I thought you'd come with the Donghuang Emperor, Prince Qin," the empress said. "I didn't expect you to be here a week ahead of schedule."

"Well, when I was betrothed to the seventh princess, His Majesty promised me complete freedom so I can help complete my master's wish," Kasumi answered, then gestured towards me. "So I'm following this guy to travel around now."

"Honoured to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty." I bowed my head down, my right hand pushing Montei's head down with me.

"Oh no, please make yourselves home." The empress raised her hand in an upwards motion, gesturing us to raise our heads - which we did. "Since Prince Qin is travelling with you, are you also an Empyrean?"

"No, I'm a Sakuno," I replied. When I came back to this world, Moye taught me the term, "Sakuno," which meant people from the Land of Sakura.

"I'm a Sakuno too," Montei added. "I think."

You think?

*Yukitei: 雪亭, literally "Snow Pavilion."