Will of a Prince

Enny rested her head on her knees waiting for Lidia to leave her meeting. The feeling of the knife being pressed against her side was still fresh in her mind. It wasn’t that she was not expecting it, but she let her guard down seeing the kindness Lidia was showing her and the seemingly peaceful state the kingdom was in.

’I guess even peaceful kingdoms will have their problem people. If I’m that easy to recognize, I wonder why no other guards have apprehended me already?’

She covered herself a little more with the cloak, trying to hide her presence as much as possible.

’And what was he going on about with this balance of power? Why do the empires need to be of equal power to fight each other?’

Just then, Lidia finally opened the door to the palace. Her face was full of concern and apprehension, but it was clear she was trying to hide it. She walked over to Enny and smiled politely.

"Sorry about that. I didn’t expect the meeting to take so long. I also had time to talk with the emperor a bit. I managed to secure you a house that will be by our cropping fields. There aren’t a lot of people who live over there since they need the space for farming. Are you okay with that?"

Enny didn’t know what to say. Lidia kept impressing her more and more the longer she knew her. Not only did she have extraordinary power, but her influence was great enough to persuade the emperor himself to help her out.

’How has Monlo’s intel never mentioned anything about this woman? She certainly isn’t a nobody.’

She nodded her head.

"Thank you very much. That’s very generous of you."

Lidia walked over and offered her a hand.

"Do you want to try walking a bit? I’m sure you may be a bit tired of me carrying you around everywhere."

Enny lifted her head and grabbed hold of Lidia’s hand tightly, allowing herself to be lifted to her feet. Her legs felt like Jello for the first three minutes of her standing. However, she was managing to stay up without falling over... for the most part. She still had to keep an arm around Lidia’s shoulder to walk.

"This is much better. Thank you again."

Lidia smiled and winked at her.

"Don’t mention it. It’s going to be a decently long walk to the fields. Do you maybe want to stop somewhere for a send-off dinner?"

Enny’s heart dropped. This kindness thing was going way too far for someone Lidia had only just met, not to mention as an enemy.

"A send-off dinner? I’m sorry if I sound ungrateful, but why do you keep giving me so much? You offered me safety, you fed me, carried me, got me my own house in a spot you knew would be good for me, and now you’re offering me dinner? I mean, you hardly even know who I am. You wouldn’t do this for anyone you just met randomly off the street, would you?"

Lidia refused to meet Enny’s azure gaze.

"Lately, I’ve come to realize many dreams may not be as achievable as I would have hoped. Therefore, I’m trying to give people a chance at something they’ve never gotten to try before. In your case, it sounds like you are desperately tired of being treated like a tool. You want to be treated as a person, right? Well, what better way to do that than to give you something and not expect anything in return? Is a behavior like that not what separates us people from the real monsters of this world?"

Enny didn’t know what to say. This behavior, truthfully, was completely unfamiliar to her. She didn’t how to react, how she should react to such selflessness.

"I see."

She took a moment to herself before responding with a smile.

"Dinner sounds nice. I think I would like that."

Lidia chuckled slightly.

"That’s the spirit! I know a good spot we can go to! Did I ever tell you about the time me and the general got into an eating competition?"

Lidia talked to Enny the entire walk over. It fascinated Enny that Lidia never seemed to run out of things to talk about to someone who she didn’t know. Every change in topic flowed incredibly naturally, as if talking was the easiest thing in the world for her.

"And so, I got my arm around his neck just like this! I yelled: ’If I ever catch you with my armor again, you’ll be eating soft foods for the rest of your life!!’ You should have seen the look on his face!"

Enny rubbed her head.

"That seems like a little bit too much for an old man who was simply trying to clean your suit, Miss Lidia."

"Hey, that’s mom to you!"

Enny’s face churned slightly.

’She’s been saying that the entire walk over. Did I get adopted without me knowing it?!’

Lidia suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes dazzling at a large sign that read: Suber Food!

"WE’RE HERE! Let’s hurry in and grab a seat!"

Lidia practically dragged Enny inside. The place was bussing with people. There didn’t seem to be a single table open for them. Lidia started pacing around anxiously.

"Ugh... Where the hell is he?!"

Just then, a busser walked over to a small podium and bowed to Lidia.

"Commander. How may I help you today?"

Lidia slapped her stomach loudly.

"This mama’s hungry! I need a table for two, as soon as possible!"

The busser read over a small piece of paper.

"Ah yes, let’s see here. The wait time is approximately three hours. Does that work for you?"

"THREE HOURS?! YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO ASK SUCH A THING TO ME AND MY DUAGHTER?!"

"Uh, actually, I’m not her-"

"YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!!"

Lidia reached over his podium and grabbed a small silver bell. She rang it around her head obnoxiously, causing everyone in the restaurant to give her a weird look.

"ENKI! IF YOU DON’T GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A PROBLEM!! ENKI!!"

The busser desperately tried grabbing the bell from Lidia’s hands.

"Please Commander, you’re causing a scene!!"

"Miss Lidia, we don’t need to eat here."

"THAT’S MOM TO YOU!"

Finally, an old man walked over to Lidia and pushed his hands through his hair.

"What the hell are you doing?! You’re going to scare away my customers!!"

Lidia threw the bell back down on the podium, causing it to crack. The busser picked it up weakly, holding back tears for his fallen tool.

"There you are! Can we have something to eat, please? We just got back from a super scary dangerous expedition! Oh, the horror! I saw one man’s head completely explode into red mist! I think some of his blood got in my mouth!"

She pointed at the inside of her mouth as she said this last part.

All the customers groaned hearing Lidias story, a few of them even ran out of the restaurant while covering their mouths and stomachs trying not to vomit. Lidia seized the opportunity and stole one of the now empty tables, throwing Enny on the other side of it to secure both seats.

She grinned devilishly and waved her hand in the air.

"Worked like a charm! Waiter! Waiter!"

Enki’s face turned red like a tomato with anger.

"Lidia! I’m charging you double for this!!"

Enny simply looked at Lidia completely speechless.

’Seriously... I really can’t tell if she’s a good person or not.’

Lidia slapped Enki’s back.

"Lighten up old man. Just get me the usual please!"

Enki sighed and walked away.

"I’m going to ban you from this place one day..."

"I love you too!"

Lidia looked back at Enny, just now noticing her expression.

"Don’t worry about him. I actually always pay quadruple the normal price even though he hates when I do that. That’s the real reason he’s mad, haha!"

Enny relaxed her shoulders a bit.

"This is a nice place. So, you come here often?"

"Only after expeditions and training. That man who has a similar name to you, Enki, is actually an enchanter. Possibly the best one that exists. He tried to train with us initially, but it seems like age is starting to get to him a lot more in these recent days. Apparently when old people start to decline, they decline extremely quickly. Enki is no exception to that. Therefore, he decided to have Sarah, the Butcherer as you know her, help him start this restaurant."

She looked around before whispering over to Enny.

"Don’t tell anyone, the pates holding the food actually enhance the meal you eat! They’re enchanted!"

Enny’s eyes widened as she looked around.

"I see. That explains why they’re so popular for being so new."

"Well, there’s that, and Enki made the food here super affordable! That was a request from Sarah as well since this region isn’t very wealthy."

Enny nodded her head. Suddenly, she felt a strange glare attacking her from the other side of the restaurant. A woman dressed in a dirty white scaled armor was staring right at her. In her left hand was a long spear with an extremely sharp tip. The woman’s hair was messy, her green eyes made her look like a serpent, and her muscles could be prominently seen as the armor hugged her body. However, one of her eyes looked to be changing colors on a whim. Enny assumed that it was the lighting playing games on her, but the more she stared, the more she doubted herself. Whoever this person was, was incredibly strong.

The woman walked over to their table and glared down at Lidia. Her face was unreadable. It was hard to tell if she was on the verge of crying or the verge of breaking everything around her.

Suddenly, Lidia looked up at the woman and gasped, her eyes immediately filling with tears.

"...Maria?"

"...Mom."

Maria grabbed a chair and brought it up against the table before sitting down. Lidia tried to move up and give her a hug, but Maria put a hand up.

"No. We need to talk."