Noticing the pair entering the kitchen, Zia jumped down from her chair to show off her new footwear. But her eyes fixated on the scarf on Nick’s hear.

“Woa! Whats that?”

“It’s a practical and stylish head cover. Last time you got scared, so I decided to use it.” Nick answered while smiling.

“I like it! Give it to me!” She stretched out her hand.

“No.” Nick was still smiling.

“But I like it! I am princess so you have to give it to me!” Zia insisted.

“No way. Don’t you understand I am helping you here?” Nick pretended to turn serious.

Both Ben and Nigel as well as the servant who followed Zia were stupefied at the sight of two children discussing.

“What do yo mean? I also want that! So give it to me or I will tell to my mother!”

“Stupid girl!” Nick pointed a finger in Zia’s face.

At this moment all three spectators took a deep breath simultaneously. To curse princess was not a small deal, even if it was done by another child.

“How can you not understand that I am helping you here? Don’t you know everything in the Sun kingdom belongs to the king? That includes this head cover. And now you are trying to rob the king! Do you want to get arrested and put in jail?”

Ben and Nigel barely could hold back hysterical laughter, but the old servant was still in shock. Someone was scolding the princess! And the princess was confused as well – was she really doing something wrong?

“But I really like your new boots! Are they comfortable?” Nick immediately changed the attention of the little girl to another subject. This was basic parenting, but for some reason palace’s education seemed different.

“Yes! Look!” Zia ran few steps along corridor.

“Nice!” Nick clapped his hands, “They really suit you.”

“Of course! I am the princess!” She proudly announced.

Nick just shrugged and turned to the cook, “Good morning, can we have breakfast today, please?”

In any other occasion to fit Nigel’s style Nick would just said ‘breakfast?’, but since there was princess present, he wanted to be a better role model.

“Of course.” Nigel replied while still trying to hide spasms of laughter, “Soup or vegetables?”

“Vegetables, please.” Nick seriously answered, then sat at the side to wait patiently. Ben mumbled something under his nose and also sat.

Zia was confused. For some reason all these people who were focusing on her before, started doing their own thing. She walked to stand in front of Nick and asked, “Nicky, how old are you?”

The latter didn’t think much, he was already telling everyone he was seven, “Seven, and you?”

“Ha! I am eight! You are younger than me! Now you will be my follower, let’s go!” Then she turned around and ran.

But Nick just took the bowl Nigel passed to him and started to slowly eat. After a minute princess returned red faced with her servant in tow.

“Why are you not coming?” Zia questioned Nick angrily.

“I am hungry. We were hunting all morning and I finally get to eat something. Why would I go?” Nick patiently explained. It was highly possible that in all the palace he was the only person that was as patient with princess, may be besides her mother. Although his style of communicating was totally different.

“You were hunting? Tell me! Where did you hunt, do you have a bow? Was there a lot of blood?” The questions came one after another.

Nick suddenly understood – this kid … she was simply lonely! Everyone in the palace was either grownup or significantly older and were not interested in ‘wasting’ their time with a small girl. If up until now he was just politely communicating like he was doing back in children's hospital, now he felt a genuine pity. She was a princess, one of the most important people in the country with millions and millions of people, but she was a lonely pitiful child.

“May be later. Do you want to eat something? Uncle Nigel makes really good food. This vegetable stew is great – want some?” This time Nick was friendly from the bottom of his heart.

“Sure!” Zia stretched out her hand and looked at the stupefied Nigel.

He was already used to caprices of this little nightmare, but she never ate ‘regular’ food like soups or stews. But suddenly it was like she transformed into another person.

While she was waiting, Nick sincerely explained, “You see, the vegetable stews are not only tasty, they are very important for children like us. Also we have to eat porridge and drink a lot of milk.”

“I don’t like milk. It tastes weird.” Zia shook her head.

“Stupid! If you don’t like some food, but it is very good for you – you have to improve it! For example, mash some sweet berries and mix with milk. It will be tasty.” Nick continued his mini lecture as the stupefied Nigel was listening from the side.

“But it’s winter now, berries only grow during the summer.” Zia was actually paying attention.

“Indeed, but there are many tasty fruits that are preserved through winter, you can peel and clean some sweet apples and do the same. Just don’t let Nigel do it for you – you have to research yourself, because no one else will do it better than you.”

Silence enveloped the kitchen. Some were thinking, some were shocked, only Nick continued to carefully chew on his vegetables.

After a minute of confusion a large smile shone on Zia’s face and she stated, “Of course, I’m the best – my father told me that!”

“If the king said something, it must be true.” Nick nodded and cleaned up his bowl, “Thank you, it was great.”

Nigel was still partially speechless and took Nick’s bowl without saying anything, while during all this time Zia’s old servant was silently gaping at the two kids from the side.

Ben also finished his meal.

Nick saw that, “Finished? Shall we go then?”

He stood up and prepared to leave.

“Who said you can leave? You are my follower now!” Suddenly a small hand pulled Nick towards the entrance to the living quarters. The last thing Nick saw was Ben shrugging and saying something like ‘sorry’.

“Zia! Stop, stop! Where are you pulling me?” To Nick’s surprise this little princess was really strong, “I am not allowed in there!”

She stopped and seriously instructed, “From now on you are my follower! Followers and assistants are allowed to enter. Ok, I will show you everything, let’s go!” She started pulling Nick further down the corridors with even more strength.

In a blink of an eye he had a tour of the inner palace. Of course, he didn’t remember anything because the speed of this little princess was astonishing. No wonder the old servant lady couldn’t keep up with her. The only thing Nick noticed was that there was a large difference between inner and outer quarters from luxury perspective. Carpets on the walls, golden candlesticks and framed paintings – one did not see those in the outer palace’s corridors and halls.

After they finished the excursion, both sat in a larger hall with beautiful big windows made from colorful mosaic glass. The sunlight made it look like the whole hall was bathing in a myriad of colors.

“You are not tired?” Zia was out of breath and looked at Nick in surprise.

“We just ran a little. If you eat proper food, you won’t get tired either!” Nick shrugged.

What he said was definitely correct, but he didn’t consider that he had his Qi pathways cleansed while he was in mother’s womb and he was practicing the Qi techniques before he started to walk. Actually at this time Nick was already a real Qi practitioner. Although practicing a bit less than a year, his techniques were top notch, the steroids and treatment he received were even better. Therefore it was not really fair to compare him to ‘normal’ people.

“I’m a princess! I have the best food in the world!” Zia stated with furrowed brows while holding her pointy chin in her fingers – a theatrical gesture she obviously picked up from someone else.

“That is true. But the best and most expensive food is not always the most appropriate. Think, why do small kittens drink their mother’s milk?” Nick educated her.

“They can’t eat meat yet?”

“Of course, not only they are physically incapable, they will simply die if they manage to swallow a piece. Every person at particular age has to eat appropriate food.”

“But everyone eats what they want! And many are still strong! Why can’t I do that?” Zia turned out to be, in fact, quite smart, she just didn’t have a pediatrician professor present for almost twenty years at every breakfast and dinner table unlike her new ‘follower’.

“If you do everything like others, you will become like others. Doing things like the rest leads to mediocrity!” Nick repeated Olle’s words, “Sigh, if you want to be better than others, you’ll have to do something different and try to improve in every aspect possible. But if you just want to marry some prince and then stay your whole life in the palace – just do what everyone else does.”

Princess fell deep in thoughts. Everything Nick said was logical, but there were so many boring things in her life. She didn’t like her teacher and his boring lessons, she didn’t like how grownups were talking about business and politics. Did she have to do all of that and even more?

“But everything is boring! I don’t want to talk about politics and trade.” She suddenly complained.

“Who told you to do that?” Nick glanced at her.

“You just did, you said that I have to be better than everyone.”

Nick finally realized that besides him sat an eight year old girl from medieval royal family, not his peer from the previous life.

“Hahaha, sorry. I should have explained it better.” Nick’s mood suddenly improved. “Let me help you understand with an example. Your father is one of the strongest Qi sword masters on the continent, right?”

“My father is the strongest!” She immediately corrected.

“Fine, fine. Did he become the strongest just by swinging swords with the other soldiers in the army or on the training grounds?” Nick asked.

“Why would my father train with common soldiers?” Zia was confused.

“You see – he did something different and became the strongest. Otherwise every soldier would be the strongest and that is simply not possible. Your father had a secret that made him the strongest!”

There was a brief silence again.

Zia’s eyes lit up and she suddenly said, “So you want me to tell you my father’s secret? Is that the reason you want to be my follower?”

Nick was stupefied. How many court intrigues and machinations are there in this kingdom that an eight year girl could have such a twisted line of thought.

“Hahaha, silly girl! Why would I want that? I don’t care about swords or other people secrets. First, I don’t intend to learn to kill people, I think it’s wrong and I don’t want to do that, and second, I have my own goals.” As sad as her thought was – Nick found it funny at the end.

“So you think I have to find out my father’s secret and then train the same way he did?”

“No way.” Nick got serious again, “Your father's secret is his own. You should think of what you want to achieve in life and then find the best way to do that. And you have to find some trick that will make you better than others. For example, do you want to be stronger than your father? If yes, then you just can’t do same thing as he did, because he always will be stronger than you since he was here first.”

They both looked at the colorful lights in the hall dancing on the walls. Nick was still reminiscing about his parents, so he didn’t notice the bright glint in Zia’s eyes.

After a while Zia quietly said, “Will you help me if I think of something?”

“Sure! Why not?” Nick didn’t really pay attention.

It was obvious that he as a grownup should advise the child, especially if he could improve her diet or widen her future prospects – it was simply a good and normal thing to do.