Chapter 440: The Underworld (XVI)

Vessa took another two steps before realizing he was no longer beside them.

"Hm? Why did you stop?"

Gray did not answer.

His eyes had already shifted toward the other side of the street.

Three figures were approaching through the crowd.

The first was a young woman with long crimson hair that fell down her back like flowing silk.

Her ruby-red eyes moved across the street with a calm, almost bored expression, and her dark crimson dress was covered by a fitted black outer coat decorated with silver embroidery and crescent moon patterns.

The crimson jewel around her neck caught the afternoon light.

Behind her walked three familiar figures dressed in dark armor.

There was no need for anyone to announce who she was.

Gray recognized her immediately.

’The Crimson Moon Princess...? She’s also here, huh?’

The princess also noticed him, and instantly, her eyes locked onto his figure, her lips curling up slighly before she walked directly towards him.

Noticing his blank expression, Vessa couldn’t help but ask,

"Why are you staring over there?"

Gray ignored her.

The princess stopped several steps away.

Her eyes moved briefly over his clothes, his horns, his wings, and the cheaper sword hanging from his waist before finally looking at his face.

"You’ve finally arrived at the capital."

Gray gave her a faint smile.

"So did you."

"I live here."

"You know what I meant."

Her lips moved slightly.

Not quite a smile, but more like she found his answer mildly amusing.

"I heard you were traveling to the capital. I didn’t expect to find you wandering the streets on your first day."

"I could say the same about you."

"This is my city."

Gray glanced around.

"You’re right. I suppose you can wander wherever you want."

"Exactly."

Vessa and Riven had gone completely still.

They were staring at the princess.

Vessa’s mouth had fallen slightly open.

Riven looked like someone had suddenly informed him that the next person standing in front of him was a dragon preparing to eat the entire street.

The princess noticed them, and her expression became slightly colder.

"Your friends?"

Gray glanced toward the two.

"Traveling companions."

Vessa immediately straightened.

"Friends."

Gray looked at her for a second before answering.

"Vessa, we have known each other for three weeks."

"Three weeks is long enough when you spend every day of it in the same wagon," Vessa said, still smiling.

"I asked you questions until Riven wanted to throw me out the window, and you still sat there. If that does not count, I do not know what does."

Riven slowly elbowed her and leaned in, his voice dropping.

"Maybe do not say that out loud. You are talking like she is another passenger from the caravan, and she is not. Lower your voice before you make this worse."

"Why?" Vessa whispered back, though it was not much of a whisper.

"I know who she is. I am not blind. I just do not see the point in freezing every time a famous person stands in front of me."

"Because you are talking to the Crimson Moon Princess," Riven said, already pale. "There is a difference between being friendly and sounding like you forgot where you are standing."

Vessa blinked, then looked from him to the princess and back again.

"I know who she is. I have heard the name since I was small. That does not mean I have to talk like I swallowed a court manual."

"You are speaking too casually," Riven muttered.

"Please, for once, notice the difference."

"I always speak casually," Vessa said.

"If I start talking stiff now, I am going to sound fake, and I am already nervous enough without adding that."

"I noticed," Riven said.

"Everyone noticed."

The princess looked at the two of them and did not rush to fill the silence.

Neither Vessa nor Riven held her gaze for long. After a moment, Vessa swallowed and gave a quick, slightly crooked bow.

"Your Highness. Sorry. I did not mean to sound rude. I just talk before I think..."

Riven followed immediately, bowing deeper.

"Your Highness, it is an honor to meet you. Please forgive her. She means well, even when her mouth gets there first."

The princess regarded them for a moment, then gave a small shake of her head.

"You do not need to bow so deeply. If I wanted people on the floor every time I walked down a street, I would have stayed in the palace."

Vessa straightened slowly, surprise still sitting on her face.

"Really? Because the stories make it sound like one wrong word and someone loses a head. I was trying not to be that person."

"You are making it look like I am about to execute you," the princess said. "I asked a question. I did not draw a spear."

Vessa looked at Riven, then back at the princess, unable to stop herself.

"She does not sound like the stories. I thought she would be colder. Or louder. Or already walking away from us."

Riven’s face went even paler.

"Vessa. Stop talking. Please stop talking."

"What? I did not say anything bad. I said she does not sound like the stories. That can be a good thing."

The princess raised an eyebrow.

"What stories? People repeat a lot of things about me. Most of them grow teeth after the third telling."

Vessa hesitated.

Then, because she had already gone too far to pretend she had not, she kept going.

"Well... there are a lot of them. People in my hometown talk whenever your name comes up, and they do not stop at one version. They pile them on until you cannot tell which part is real."

"Please stop..." Riven quietly muttered, but Vessa ignored him.

"People say you are one of the strongest young demons in the capital, and that your Royal Bloodline awakened early. There are stories about your Domain, and your spear, and that time you defeated a peak Monarch who challenged you. I do not know which parts are true. I only know people say them like they are certain."

The princess’s expression did not change much.

"Some of that is true, some of it is not."

Vessa’s eyes widened.

"Really? So some of it actually happened? I thought maybe all of it was tavern talk."

"Some of it happened," the princess said.

"You do not need the list. If I start correcting every rumor, we will still be standing here when the restaurant closes."

"Oh." Vessa nodded, then her face lit up anyway.

"You are actually the Crimson Moon Princess. I knew that... I still feel strange saying it while you are standing this close."

Riven covered his face with one hand.

"You already knew this. You said you knew this. Why are you discovering it a second time?"

"I know, but it is different when she is standing in front of me," Vessa said. "A name in a story is one thing. A person with guards and that pressure around her is another."

The princess looked at her, almost curious in spite of herself.

"You seem rather enthusiastic for someone who just bowed as if I might bite. Most people either freeze or start reciting titles."

Vessa laughed nervously.

"Sorry. I have heard about you for years. My hometown doesn’t get many royal visitors, so whenever your name comes up, everyone starts talking. I did not think I would be the one standing here doing the talking."

Riven nodded, still miserable.

"She is not exaggerating. If someone mentions the Crimson Moon Family back home, the whole table changes."

Vessa continued before he could stop her.

"I have always wanted to see the royal bloodline of the Crimson Moon Family. People describe it like it is a second sun, and I wanted to know if that was only talk."

The princess looked almost bored.

"Why? Bloodlines are not impressive simply because someone repeats the word enough times. A bloodline is a tool. People forget that and start worshipping the handle."

Vessa blinked, then tried again.

"Then your strength is. I saw your guards. I can feel the pressure around you even when you are holding it down. Everyone in the street knows who you are without anyone introducing you. That is impressive, whether you like the word or not."

For the first time, the princess’s expression softened by the smallest amount.

"You speak honestly. That is rarer than a bloodline in a place like this."

"Most of the time," Vessa said.

"Sometimes I speak too honestly. Riven can confirm that."

Riven sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes. She does."

Vessa elbowed him.

"Stop making me sound worse. I am trying to be polite, and you are helping the opposite way."

Gray laughed quietly under his breath.

The princess looked at him.

"You found strange companions. One of them cannot stop talking, and the other looks like he wants the street to swallow him."

"I noticed that during the first day," Gray said. "Vessa decided we were friends before I finished sitting down. Riven has been tired ever since."

Vessa immediately protested.

"Hey, I am sitting right here. You do not get to summarize me like I already left the conversation."

"Exactly," Gray replied.

"That is why I can say it to your face."

She looked offended, then pointed at him.

"You are supposed to defend me. We traveled together. That should count for something when a princess is standing here listening."

"Why would I defend you from a description that is true?" Gray asked.

"You decided we were friends five minutes after meeting me. You have also been traveling with me for three weeks. Both things can be true at once."

The princess glanced between them.

"So you really traveled together all this time?"

"Yes," Riven answered, grateful to have a safer sentence.

"We came from Vhar’Zul on the same caravan. She talked. He answered just enough. I read and regretted most of my life choices."

The princess looked at Gray.

"You traveled by caravan? That is a slow way to reach the capital, especially now."

Gray nodded.

"It was convenient since I don’t have much money."

She stared at him a moment longer.

"You could still afford to travel another way. You do not move like someone who had no other choice."

"Probably," Gray said.

"I chose the caravan anyway. It gave me a chance to gather information without attracting attention."

The princess’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"You are still doing that. Even now. You watch the street, the guards, and the two of them while pretending you are only standing here."

Gray smiled.

"Doing what?"

"Watching everyone," she said. "Do not make me repeat it. You did it in Vhar’Zul, and you are doing it here."

Vessa looked at Gray, surprised.

"You do? I thought you were just quiet. I did not realize you were studying the whole wagon while I was asking about food."

"...So?"

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Vessa asked. "I would have asked fewer questions. No... that’s a lie. I would have asked different questions."

"You ask enough questions without adding more," Gray said.

"If I told you I was watching people, you would have asked me what I saw in every face between here and Vhar’Zul."

"That is not an answer," Vessa said.

The princess quietly watched their exchange, then looked toward the street ahead.

"Where were you going before I stopped you? You did not walk this way by accident."

"Food," Vessa answered immediately.

"We have been on the road for three weeks, and I have been thinking about this place since the second week. If we stand here any longer, I am going to start describing the menu out loud."

Riven looked at her, then at the princess.

"We were going to the Bloodmoon Table. It is nearby. The food is good, and it is not one of those academy-side places that triple the price the moment entrance season starts."

The princess glanced at Gray.

"You like that restaurant? I would not have guessed you already had a favorite."

"I have never been," Gray said.

"They were taking me there. I arrived today, and they decided I should not eat alone after three weeks in a wagon."

Vessa pointed at herself.

"We were taking him there. He just arrived today. I know the place. Riven knows the streets. It made sense."

The princess was silent for a moment, then her eyes returned to Gray.

"... Didn’t expect that from you... but well, mooching a free meal is something that an incubus should do."

At those words, Gray raised an eyebrow.

"...You know me so well!" he made a dramatic expression, putting his hand on his chest.

The princess rolled his eyes at him

Just then, Vessa’s eyes suddenly widened. An idea landed on her face so clearly that Riven saw it before she opened her mouth.

"No! Whatever that expression is, no."

"I have not said anything yet."

"I know that face!"

Vessa ignored him and looked at the princess.

"Your Highness... would you like to come with us? We were already going. The table is not a court table. It is just food. If that is too strange, you can pretend I never asked."

Riven’s eyes went wide.

"Vessa. You just invited the Crimson Moon Princess to dinner like she is another traveler you met at a roadside inn. Please hear yourself."

"I know," Vessa said. "I heard myself. I still think it is better than standing in the street pretending none of us are hungry."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Because we were already going," Vessa said.

"And because she already knows Gray. I thought it might be less awkward if we stopped standing here like the road itself was a problem."

Riven stared at her as language had failed him.

Vessa turned back toward the princess, a little less sure now that the words were out.

"We were going there anyway, and since you already know Gray, I thought it might be nice if you joined us. If you have somewhere important to be, I understand. I just did not want to walk away and later think I should have asked."

The three Monarch guards looked toward the princess at once. The princess herself remained still. She looked at Vessa, then Riven, then Gray.

Riven quietly covered his eyes.

The princess stared at Vessa for several seconds, then looked at Gray.

"You do not mind? This was their invitation first."

Gray gave a shrug.

"I do not see a reason to mind. If you want to eat, eat. If you do not, we go anyway. It’s just a meal, y’know?"

The princess considered it, then nodded once.

"Very well. I will come. Do not make a ceremony out of it."

Vessa froze.

"Really? You mean it? I thought you were going to tell me I had forgotten my place."

"I said yes," the princess answered.

"That is the end of the question."

Vessa’s face broke into a grin.

"Riven, we are eating with the Crimson Moon Princess. I need you to understand that sentence the same way I understand it."

"I heard her," Riven said.

"I understand it. I am trying not to think about what happens if you knock over a cup."

"No, you do not," Vessa said.

"This is incredible. People back home are going to think I made this up."

The princess frowned slightly.

"You are making this sound more important than it is. It is a meal. I have eaten meals before."

Vessa immediately tried to calm herself.

"Sorry. It is simply surprising. I did not expect you to accept. I asked because I wanted to, not because I thought it would work."

"What is surprising?" the princess asked.

"That I eat? Or that I accepted an invitation given in the street?"

"That you accepted," Vessa said.

"You are a princess. I thought you would have somewhere important to go, or people already waiting, or a reason to refuse that I would not even see."

"I do have somewhere important to go," the princess said. "Later. That does not mean I have to vanish the moment someone offers a table."

"Then why are you coming with us?" Vessa asked before she could stop herself.

The princess looked toward Gray.

"Because I wanted to see him. Our last meeting ended in a restaurant where he chewed more than he spoke. I still have questions, and I prefer asking them where he cannot walk away as easily."

Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" Vessa exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"I have a feeling we’re going to be good friends then!"