The Prince Who Works

Angie arrived at Nikola Park, at his usual spot for setting up his stall, and was utterly shocked.

"What's going on? Why are there so many people?!"

Just then, someone suddenly shouted, "The young boss is here!"

With a whoosh, a massive crowd surged forward and surrounded Angie's food cart.

"Young boss, you finally made it! I came here early just to try your buns and steamed buns."

"Young boss, are you really a member of the royal family? What's your relation to His Majesty?"

"Young boss, do you have enough buns and steamed buns to sell today? Don't make me miss out again!"

...

All the noise was giving Angie a headache.

"Move aside! Please, everyone, make way. I can't get my cart through!" Angie stuck his head out of the window and shouted.

But his voice was drowned out in the noisy crowd.

Just when Angie was feeling helpless, a piercing siren rang out.

"What's going on here? What's going on? Don't you know it's illegal to cause a disturbance in public?"

A stern-looking middle-aged man in uniform appeared, holding a large loudspeaker, berating the crowd. Behind him was a team of guards maintaining order.

"We're just here to buy buns and steamed buns," someone mumbled quietly.

The middle-aged man shouted again, "Is this how you buy things? Everyone line up! Anyone who doesn't queue up will be arrested!"

In no time, the crowd quickly formed an orderly line.

Seeing this, Angie finally breathed a huge sigh of relief. He hadn't expected yesterday's popularity to carry over into today.

In truth, Angie had underestimated the unity of the Azoth Kingdom and the people's reverence for the royal family.

Because the kingdom was small, consisting of only one city (along with the surrounding villages, towns, and areas around the capital), the people were extremely united.

For a member of the royal family to openly run a business outside was a huge deal for the people!

Angie had just parked his food cart in his usual spot and opened the window when a small head peeked through.

"Prince Angie."

"Prince Raleigh?" Angie said in surprise.

"Hehe~~," Raleigh scratched the back of his head, "My sister said you'd definitely be busy today, so she sent me to help you."

"So those guards were brought by you?" Angie asked.

Raleigh replied, "They're my sister's guards."

Angie nodded, then gestured for Raleigh to come in, "Come in! Come in!" He said as he opened the door.

"Slurpuff~~"

Raleigh, along with his Slurpuff, hurriedly ran into the cart.

Seeing Angie already making buns, Raleigh asked, "Prince Angie, what can I help with?"

"Do you really want to help?" Angie asked.

"Yes, my sister sent me here to help," Raleigh nodded vigorously.

"Slurpuff~ Slurpuff~~"

Slurpuff also nodded along.

Looking at Raleigh, who resembled a small turnip, Angie thought to himself, This feels like child labor...

But then again, if his family agreed...

Angie pondered for a moment, "Alright, here's what we'll do. Slurpuff can help me by putting the finished steamed buns and wrapped buns into the steamer for cooking."

As he spoke, he explained to Slurpuff how many buns to place in a single steamer, the spacing between the buns, and how the distance between each could affect their taste.

"As for you, Raleigh, you can help by serving buns and steamed buns to the customers."

He then introduced to Raleigh which steamer contained the plain steamed buns, which held the cabbage-stuffed buns, the ones with radish filling, and the ones with chive filling. These all needed to be remembered clearly; otherwise, what would happen if the wrong buns were given to customers?

After explaining, Angie asked Raleigh and Slurpuff, "Got it? Did you remember everything?"

"Don't worry, Prince Angie!"

"Slurpuff~ Slurpuff~"

Raleigh and Slurpuff looked confident.

Before long, the first batch of buns and steamed buns was ready, and the rich aroma filled the air, tempting the crowd in line.

"This... this smells absolutely amazing!"

Among today's customers, many were merely here out of curiosity, eager to see Angie, a member of the royal family, up close.

Though there were rumors that Angie's buns and steamed buns were delicious, most of the crowd came with skepticism. After all, what could a pampered royal know about cooking?

But now, with the enticing aroma in the air, their stomachs began to rumble, and they couldn't help but admit that this young boss was truly a skilled chef.

As soon as the steamer lid was lifted, the crowd grew restless.

"Can those in front hurry up? Don't waste everyone's time."

"Yeah, yeah, and don't buy too many at once! Leave some for those behind!"

...

The customers began chattering away.

It was Raleigh's first time seeing such a scene, and he stood there dumbfounded, blurting out, "Prince Angie, your business is amazing!"

Angie shook his head, "Not everyone's here just for my cooking."

Raleigh, of course, understood this, but he also believed that making use of one's advantages was a skill in itself.

Seeing Raleigh fumbling around, Angie smiled and asked, "How's it going? Are you keeping up?"

Raleigh answered seriously, "Don't worry, Prince Angie, I'll do a good job!"

In truth, Raleigh, who had a knack for invention and creation, was not only good at remembering things but also had excellent hands-on abilities. He memorized all of Angie's instructions and made almost no mistakes in his tasks afterward.

However, his shy personality showed itself when he served buns and steamed buns to customers—he didn't dare make eye contact with them or respond to their small talk.

Watching Raleigh's timid behavior, Angie finally understood why Kimia had sent him to help.

Naturally, the customers recognized Prince Raleigh, as there were only three members of the royal family in their kingdom.

They found Raleigh's shy reactions amusing, so they constantly teased and joked with him, often making Raleigh blush deeply.

After all, it wasn't every day you could joke around with a prince.

Because of Raleigh's presence, the line would occasionally erupt into hearty laughter.

Raleigh was truly good-natured; no matter how much people teased him, he never got angry.

Angie would occasionally remind Raleigh, "Raleigh, if they tease you, retort! If it's too much, give them a scolding!"

But Raleigh stammered, clearly unable to do so.

Angie shook his head helplessly, "You need to toughen up, kid..."

"Little boss, I never thought you were a royal!" An elderly man, holding his Growlithe, asked with a smiling face.

"Ah, it's you, sir!" Angie smiled back, "How many do you want today?"

The old man chuckled, "The usual."

"Got it!" Angie responded, then said to Raleigh, "Raleigh, grab 50 steamed buns for the old man, and 50 of each kind of stuffed bun."

"Alright!"

Raleigh quickly lifted the steamer lid and began fetching buns and steamed buns for the elderly man.

The old man took his buns and steamed buns, immediately pulling out two—one for himself and one for his Growlithe.

"Mmm, delicious!"

He said as he walked away, content and satisfied.

"Boss, I'll take two of each stuffed bun."

Angie looked up and realized it was the crepe vendor from the neighboring stall.

Seeing Angie look his way, the vendor scratched his head awkwardly, "Little boss, sorry about last time. I caused you to get surrounded by all those people criticizing you."

At the time, Angie had been quite upset, but after thinking it over, his anger dissipated. After all, there had been no ill intent—people just wanted to help the royal family.

If Kimia had truly been looking for a fugitive, the people would have performed a great service by helping.

With that thought, Angie smiled and said, "It's fine, it was all just a misunderstanding. We're good."

Seeing that Angie wasn't holding a grudge, the vendor breathed a sigh of relief, then happily took his buns to share with the waiting Slurpuff at his stall.

Business was so busy that Angie and the others were nearly run off their feet, even Komala, who was in charge of taking payments, was struggling to keep up.

During a break, while the next batch of buns and steamed buns was steaming, Angie handed out a special batch he had saved for the guards.

After all, the guards had worked hard maintaining order; there was no reason for them to go unrewarded.

At the same time, Raleigh finally got to eat the buns and steamed buns he'd been dreaming about all morning.

Perhaps it was the labor that made the food taste better, but Raleigh was instantly blown away.

"These are incredible! Even better than I imagined! Prince Angie, you're amazing!"

Slurpuff's expression was identical to Raleigh's, and it immediately rewarded Angie with 400 Happiness Points.

"If you like them, have some more," Angie said with a grin, watching as the two companions devoured their food. He also picked up Komala, feeding it since it hadn't had breakfast yet.

Once everyone had finished eating, business resumed.

The morning flew by, and when the last batch of buns sold out, Angie called out from the window, "We're sold out for today, come early tomorrow!"

Disappointed customers who hadn't been able to buy any left with sighs.

As soon as the customers left, Angie closed the stall door and began tallying the day's earnings.

Today, they had sold a total of 2,560 stuffed buns, earning 51,200 Pokédollar; and 4,530 steamed buns, earning 45,300 Pokédollar.

In total, they had made 96,500 Pokédollar.

This was a few thousand less than the day before.

In fact, due to the buzz from yesterday's events, there were actually more customers today. In this highly connected world, any piece of news could spread far and wide very quickly.

The only issue was that Angie hadn't prepared enough ingredients.

He could have kept selling just the steamed buns, but yesterday had been so exhausting that today, he didn't want to push himself too hard.

It wasn't worth it.

After all, he had been given a second chance at life, and he intended to enjoy it.

To be able to earn 90,000 in a single day—he was more than satisfied. Many people didn't make that much in an entire year.

Contentment brings happiness!

As Angie counted up the earnings, Raleigh asked, "Prince Angie, do you plan to keep running this stall for long?"

Without looking up, Angie replied, "Huh? I haven't really decided yet. I'll keep it up for a while, at least."

Raleigh continued, "The ministers aren't too happy about you running a street stall."

"I couldn't care less what they think!" Angie said dismissively. He did whatever he wanted, and no one could tell him otherwise. "If they've got the guts, they can say it to my face. Let's see if I don't give them a good thrashing!"

Raleigh: "..."

At that moment, the voice of a guard came from outside, "Prince Angie, Prince Raleigh, Princess Kimia has arrived."

Hearing this, Angie stood up and opened the door, and sure enough, Kimia was there with Flamel standing beside her.

"Good afternoon, Prince Angie," Kimia said with a smile.

Raleigh excitedly ran over and shouted, "Sister!"

"Raleigh!" Kimia called back before turning to Angie, "Your Highness, I hope Raleigh hasn't been causing you any trouble?"

Angie smiled and praised Raleigh, "Of course not! He and Slurpuff were a huge help to me today!"

Raleigh, hearing this, scratched his head bashfully, while Slurpuff proudly lifted its chin.

Kimia couldn't help but praise her younger brother, "Well done, Raleigh. I'm proud of you."

Raleigh blushed even more.

Then Kimia turned to Angie and said, "Your Highness, shall we return to the palace?"

Angie nodded, and soon they were riding the food cart back to the palace, with Kimia, Raleigh, and Flamel in tow.

On the way, Kimia handed a smartphone to Angie and said, "Your League citizenship has been processed, and the permits and licenses for selling buns and steamed buns are all in order. You can check your information on the League's citizen website."

She guided Angie through the process of logging into the League's citizen website.

Once logged in, Angie could indeed see all his personal information, including a detailed record of his status as a member of the Azoth royal family.

"And I've also set up a bank account for you, so now you can use online payments whenever you like!" Kimia continued, teaching him how to use the online banking system.

In the world of Pokémon, smartphones were essential. Almost all social activities could be conducted via phone.

Previously, Angie hadn't been able to get a phone because he lacked legal status, even though he could have bought one from the system store. But now, he finally had an identity.

"Thank you for all your hard work, Kimia," Angie said sincerely.

Kimia waved it off, "Please, this is nothing—it's what I'm here for."

Before long, the food cart arrived at the palace, where Minister Alva was waiting at the entrance.

When he saw Raleigh step out of the cart, he called out sternly, "Prince Raleigh, I've been waiting for you for quite some time!"

"Sister..." Raleigh looked to Kimia.

She gently patted Raleigh on the back and said, "Go on now, study hard."

Though Kimia didn't like Alva much, she had to admit he was the nation's foremost authority on mystical sciences.

Raleigh ran to Alva's side, and though Alva seemed like he wanted to say something to Angie, Raleigh hurriedly dragged him away.

"See you later, Sister, Prince Angie, and Flamel!" Raleigh shouted as he ran off, waving goodbye to them.

"See you, Raleigh!" Angie and Kimia called back.

After bidding Raleigh farewell, Kimia took Angie to the royal hospital for a check-up. Angie had been weak and sickly before, and though he had regained his health after five hundred years of slumber thanks to Diancie, the exact condition of his body was still unclear.

The royal hospital, located within the palace, was a specialized facility reserved for the royal family. Its doctors were elite figures from the medical world, and its equipment was cutting-edge.

The hospital was divided into two sections—one for treating and maintaining the health of the royal family members and another for treating their Pokémon.

The efficiency of the royal hospital was top-notch, and soon, Angie's test results were out. The examination revealed that he was in excellent health, even stronger than the average fitness trainer.

Seeing these results, Angie was thrilled. It seemed that all the effort he had put into improving his physical stats had paid off.