“Morning, Prince Carlos.” Anne greets, she’s wearing her usual uniform, with the exception of the bangle on her wrist. Food’s on the table, and there’s some reports already on the other desk.

“Anything unusual, Anne?” I smile, remembering how close she is to my face last night.

“Nothing today..” She smiles, and sits down. “I do have a good news though. I seemed to have gained a skill...”

“I see. Let’s hear it.” I sit down and munch on the banana. Her explanation matches the tooltip I gotten yesterday.

I take a look at her, and the tooltip reappears.

42%, Level 7, Prince’s Assistant

First affection scene unlocked - Prince in Shining Armor.

At that point I recall I leveled up last night, and so my menu appears.

Skill Menu

(1 skillpoint available)

(+) indicates can be upgraded.

Level 1 Prince (+) Level 1 - Eye of affection Level 1 - Crafter of gifts (+) Level 1 - The power of love Level 1 Healer (+) (+) New skill - Level 1 Heal

Ah. Choices! I like choices, and my goal is to beat the demon champion, so I should pick something aligned to that.

I think I will go with [crafter of gifts], so that I can get more gifts, and amass a larger “force” against that demon.

And… that's it. Ah. If I understand crafters, that means making stuff, so I should go look for… parts and materials.

“Let’s go to the market.”

The market of Loom is small, mostly comprising of irregular traders, people who have their own day or full time jobs as a farmer, hunter or from other villages, but occasionally drops by in the main town of Loom to trade their extra goods or produce for cash, or buy necessities which their villages do not produce.

The market is basic, nothing fancy,, its essentially a large square with some coverings and awnings, and most of the traders just spread cloth on the floor, and their wares on it.

I glance at the traders, but my focus turn to the wares.

Vegetables, Neutral

Can be mixed.

Apples, Neutral

Can be mixed

At this point I realise mixing is probably a process of crafting, since I see that on quite a lot of other wares.

“Looking for something, Prince?” Anne asks, herself looking at some trinkets.

“Yeah.. things. I’d like to make some… things.”

I go over to where Anne is standing, a trader peddling some shiny stones. They look mostly uncut, and are really raw.

A greyish round stone.

Shiny stone, Unknown, Further processing needed

Shiny stone, Unknown, Further processing needed

Grey stone, Contains small emerald, Further processing needed

Grey stone, Contains a bit of jade, Further processing needed.

Ah… and the rest are mostly regular stones. Something interesting for a change, so I kneel and smile at the trader.

“I will take these 4, please.”

The trader smiles, and tells me the price, it's rather cheap. Maybe he doesn’t know their value either, but I will take a good deal, so I pay up, and put it in the small pouch at my side.

“Do you know how to identify stones, Prince?”

“Ah…. not really. It's just that I thought those looked interesting.”

“Really…” She walks a little bit quickly, catches up to me.

“Yes…” I smile at her, and she holds my arm.

We stop at another stall, when I saw a tiny pendant for sale, among other tiny handmade things.

Traditional pendant

Green

Female +10% affection

Receiver has a one-off defensive boost.

“Green…”

“Huh?” Anne looks at me, wondering what I am mumbling about

“Ah… Can I get that?”

“Sure.”

Next!

A young spectacled lady sitting on her mat, her wares spread out in front of her. She sells vegetables, some herbs and some wood products.

Name unknown

0% (locked), Level 3 Trader & Harvester, Rank 6, White

Whoah! Rank 6! Its the first time I have seen a rank 6 individual, but… but she’s a trader.

“Hi, you are?”

She pauses, raises her head up and we trade glances. She’s got that cute busty librarian look.

“I am Selena, a trader from the villages. Greetings, your majesty.”

“Ah.” A pop up appears.

Selena’s unlock-quest cannot be triggered at this time.

Oh. It’s locked. Dammit. I turn my attention to her wares, they are neatly, pleasantly arranged. None of them have any unusual tooltip explanations, so I nod at Selena.

“Ah… thank you for your time. See you around.”

She smiles back, and nods.

Anne holds me upper arm, and probably squeezes me a little.

The rest of the market has nothing much of interest, so after the market is done, I still had time, so I went to the barracks again.

“Captain.”

“Your majesty.” He bows.

“A training spar, perhaps?”

“Ah… okay.”

I win, but once against because the captain intentionally lost. I then proceed to spar with the rest of the soldiers, and some of them went all out, but I had enough skill to beat them. It seems in terms of swordfighting ability, I am above that of a regular soldier, but below anyone with a tinge of talent.

This means, I am likely to be mostly useless in an actual combat against demons.

Hmm. But maybe the idea is not for me to be on the front line.

By the time the spars are over and I am done, its almost evening.

And I felt a little bit generous.

“Men, all of you come with me. We going to a bar.”

They seem shocked, but they nod. Anne holds my arm again.

I turn to Anne, and nod at her. “I know you are not a fan of bars, but I’ll be alright, give me some time to spend with the guys, okay?”

She pauses. And she nods. “Ah.. yes. Yes you should do that. I will wait for you back at the mansion.”

“Okay.”

Its the same bar as the day before. Adam isn’t here today, he has guard duty on the walls. But the captain and the rest of them is.

“Guys, order what you want.”

Most of them though order just beer, taking after my order of beer. They are still a bit shy and awkward, having drinks with their Lord.

Realising this, I ask the waitress to serve some finger food, fries, fried chicken, for everyone to munch on.

And after the first mug of beer, everyone starts talking a bit more.

“Prince Carlos, I didn't realise you enjoy drinking beer. I thought you royalty indulge only in wine.” One of the soldiers started.

I laugh. “I used to, but after I tried beer, I think I like the lightness of it better.”

“Really…”

“Yeah. Wine is… just too intense sometimes. Especially when you wanna just sit back and relax.” To be honest, this was the real life me speaking.

“I never had wine.” One of the soldiers chime in.

The captain too, a little tipsy, pokes in. “I had it once. I vomited. Apparently I should not chug it down like beer.”

The soldiers, everyone really share a laugh.

“That's okay. My first time with wine, I was only 12, and father thought it is compulsory for all men to drink. I could not take it and peed on my bed.” This is actually Carlos’s memories, but hey, men need to talk shit to build rapport.

Everyone pauses, trying to suppress their laughter. They probably wonder is it a crime to laugh at their prince.

“Oh just laugh, dammit. Its true, and I think its funny. If you guys don’t laugh it makes me feel bad.”

And they do.

The captain leans in. “Prince Carlos… is.. is something happening? What are you planning? You’ve changed since you woke up that day, after you fell from the horse…”

Ah, my recent outreach these few days is suspicious. So I pause, thinking how to best answer this question. Do I be truthful?

After a while, I sigh.

“When I slept that day… I had a dream.”

“A dream?” The soldiers lean in. Everyone is interested now.

“Yeah. Its about Loom… I see it engulfed in flames, and a giant monster killing everyone.”

Everyone pauses, and the captain goes “And?”

“I heard a voice, that tells me to gather an army and defeat that monster. To prevent this destruction…”

“And?”

“That's it.”

The captain slams the table. “Prince, you mean to say you’re doing this because you had a dream?”

“Uh… yeah.”

The captain gulps and finishes his beer. And then orders another one. “I think I need another one. That's the most.. stupid answer I heard all month.”

I laugh. “Yeah, when you think of it, it is kind of funny.”

Some of the soldiers, already quite drunk, lean in. “Prince, are you superstitious?”

“A bit. Most royalties are.”

Another one asks something rather cute. “Have you done it with Miss Anne?”

I pause. “Erm…. not yet. Maybe someday, I hope.” I think I am drunk too, even though I only had a mug. Did the waitress gave us a spiked set of drinks? I think I will regret saying that.

Everyone laughs.

“She’s really cute. Plenty of men tried to go after her, but it seems she’s got her eyes on you.”

“That’s good.” Yeah, drunk.

The captain leans in. He is already halfway through his second mug. “Prince, you… you seem like a good guy. Honest, I like that about you.”

Then, he pulls out a dagger and stabs it on the table, missing my palm slightly. The rest of the soldiers don’t react.

“But, Anne is like a little god-daughter to me, I watched her grow up. So, if you ever hurt her…”

Ah. This trope. I have read of it. I smile, “I don’t plan to hurt her, ever.”

The captain then chugs on his drink. “Good.”

After my 2nd mug, I decide to call it a night, so I pay for the drinks, and head back home. I do manage to walk back, eventually, after I sat at the town square that night for about an hour, and let the alcohol subside.