Mia climbs onto the bed beside Beth. Max walks around the bed to the other side. They all gather around the sleeping girl. She doesn't have her hood on anymore. Max assumes that Beth or Mia probably took it off for her. Her sleeping face rivals Beth's. Max feels a little uneasy to find himself instinctively comparing the two.
Slowly, her eyelids open, revealing her amber eyes underneath. They are even more beautiful up close, so bright that they are almost inhuman.
She looks very confused. After a second of glancing around the room and at the three strangers that are just staring at her, she shrieks and covers her face with her arms.
"Ahh! P-Please don't eat me!" She screams.
Max finds the absurd reaction hilarious.
"It's okay, we won't eat you." Max chuckles and says.
"R-Really? But aren't you guys cannibals?" She asks, still hiding her face.
Her voice is very gentle and timid, very soothing to listen to.
"That's right, but we've decided we like eggs better," Mia says sarcastically, "speaking of, let me go get some breakfast. you guys stay here with her. I will bring it up."
She bounces off of the bed and walks out of the room.
"W-Where am I?" She starts to relax somewhat from Mia's nonsense.
"Cavendish Inn." Max answers matter of factly.
"Oh, so you guys aren't cannibals?"
"That's right," Beth says. She is also finding the current situation amusing.
The girl puts her arms down from her face and takes a better look at the two of them.
"Why did I think you were cannibals?" She mutters to herself.
"Probably because we were covered in squirrel blood?" Beth replies.
"Squirrel? What squirr… Oh! The Crack!" She suddenly seems to have remembered everything.
Max is a little too close to her when she starts yelling. He jumps and rubs his ears.
"What about the dimensional crystal? Where is it?" She continues.
"You mean… this thing?" Max reaches into his pouch and takes out the blue orb he found below where the Crack was.
"Yes! Thank you!" The girl's eyes light up, and she reaches her hands out in an attempt to grab the crystal.
"Settle down. It's not yours." Max pulls his hand away just in time to dodge her reach.
"Can I please have it?" She asks with her eyes fixated on the orb.
"First I need to know who you are."
"Then you will let me have it?"
"I will consider it."
"Okay then. My name is Charlotte."
After the encounter with Chloe, Max learned that it's best to learn people's full names. Chloe definitely has a last name she didn't want people to know since she silenced Emma before she could address her as Ms.
"Charlotte what?"
"Charlotte La-... Lasagna." She stutters while making up a ridiculous name.
Max is speechless while Beth snickers.
"Lasagna? You couldn't have come up with anything better?" Beth is almost laughing.
"I need to know your real name, or else you can't have this." Max isn't as amused as Beth. Like Chloe, she clearly also has a name that she doesn't want known.
"No! Please! I… have reasons as to why I can't tell you my name, but I need you to hand over the crystal right now." Charlotte is trying to sound enforcing but is only coming across like a spoiled child.
Max sighs. He has no idea what the crystal is for, but Charlotte seems to know something. He is just about to give in when the door slams open.
"Good morning, Max's family! I have come to visit you," Chloe shouts from the door.
Beth is startled by her sudden and explosive entrance.
"Oh, hi, Chloe." Beth greets her.
"Hello Beth, hello Max. Where is M- princess?!" Chloe says in shock after seeing the girl on the bed.
"Ms. Cavendish?!" Charlotte returns her surprise.
Max can't believe what he just heard.
"Princess?" Beth is equally confused, "Cavendish?"
Both Chloe and Charlotte cover their mouths with their hands like they just cursed in a church.
"Okay, now. I demand an explanation." Max says.
"We'd have to kill them now, don't we?" Charlotte attempts to whisper to Chloe, who is across the room.
"Wait, calm down," Beth says.
Max knows that the two of them can't possibly do anything of harm, but if Charlotte really is a princess of some sort, they might be in a fair amount of trouble.
"Oh, hey, Chloe, you are here, too?" Mia comes into the room while holding a plate of food and says with her mouth full, interrupting the tension.
"Mia, get away from her, apparently she wants to kill us," Beth says half-seriously.
"What?"
"Wait, no! I don't want to kill anybody." Chloe frantically tries to explain herself while waving her arms.
"Then please, an explanation would be nice," Max says to Chloe.
At the corner of his eye, he notices Charlotte slowly creeping up to his pouch where he put the crystal.
"You, too, 'princess'." Max pushes her back onto the bed.
"Ow."
"I guess we have no other choice, but first of all, why do you have pr- Charlotte in your bed?" Chloe says while walking to a chair beside the bed.
"She passed out in the grove north of the city beside a Crack, so we brought her back."
Chloe's eyes widen in surprise. She looks over to Charlotte, who nods in confirmation.
"So, those piles of squirrels… were you guys?" Chloe looks back at Max.
Their "accomplishment" seems to have spread.
"That's right," Max says.
"It seems like you have your fair share of secrets, too. How about this, if we tell you who we are, you tell us who you really are," Chloe says and takes off her hat.
"You aren't really in a position to negotiate, but seeing that you might have the authority to kill us, sure."
"Wait, Max, are you sure about this?" Mia asks.
"Not really."
"Okay, then. But it's not like whatever you are about to tell me is worth the same information we are about to give you. Princess, please introduce yourself." Chloe says.
"Princess?" It's the first time Mia is hearing it. She sets her plate down on a table and walks beside Max.
"Um… I'm Charlotte Lancia, first princess of the Lancian Empire and second heir to the throne."
"Wha-" Max just assumed that she was some lord's daughter who for some reason was addressed as "princess". He did not expect the actual princess of the entire Lancia to be right beside him right now, but the royal aura she gives off matches her title.
Mia's and Beth's eyes light up. They look like they are excited to meet a real princess, like the ones they heard about in storybooks.
"So, now that you know I am your princess, will you be kind enough to give me the crystal?" Charlotte continues.
"Later." Max ignores her request.
Just like the mainland, Stratford Island is divided into classes, but the higher class, like Beth's family, doesn't particularly receive any special treatment, so Max is not familiar with the customs of respecting those of higher status, but Charlotte doesn't seem to be demanding it, either.
"And Chloe, you are…"
"My full name is Chloe Lancia Cavendish, the heir to the Royal Cavendish Company." Chloe casually drops the bomb.
Now everything is starting to make sense to Max: why she was kidnapped, why she was disguising herself, and why she was trying to keep her name a secret.
"So… this inn belongs to you?" Mia asks.
"Well, it belongs to my dad, but it will be mine when he passes the company down to me." She says nonchalantly.
"Right…" Mia was just talking about the Cavendish family the previous day, but she didn't expect it to belong to one single person. Her face is showing that she can't grasp how rich Chloe must be.
"Wait, why is Lancia your middle name?" Beth is focusing on a completely different detail.
Indeed, having the name of the kingdom as part of one's name is not at all-natural, even Beth knows that, having grown up completely separate from the monarchy.
"You see… Charlotte is actually… my sister-in-law."
"Huh?"
"My older sister, who was the original heir to the company, is engaged to Charlotte's older brother, the crown prince."
"Hold on, so you are not only probably the richest girl in the world, but you are also part of the royal family?" Mia asks.
"I guess you could say that, but I am not part of the royal family because my sister is engaged to the prince. The Cavendish family has had a long relationship with the royal family of Lancia. The previous king was actually the biggest contributor to our company, which is why my grandfather named it the Royal Cavendish Company. Also, why are you talking about me? Charlotte is even richer than me and is a literal princess."
Max realizes that his plan to stay discreet has been completely spoiled, but he also thinks that meeting Chloe and Charlotte might be beneficial.
"Now you have to hold up your end of the bargain. Please tell us who can kill a mountain of Cracked Beasts and escape unscathed." Chloe says.
"And please give me the crystal," Charlotte adds.
Beth and Mia look at Max, he nods at them.
"Alright, alright. Mia and I don't really have any titles worth mentioning, but Beth here is Beth Stratford, the second child of the Stratford family head." Max says.
"Stratford family? Why does that sound so familiar?" Chloe doesn't seem to realize who they are yet.
"Stratford?! Of Stratford Island?!" Charlotte immediately recognizes it.
"Wait, really?" Chloe now catches on.
"Yeah, Max and Mia are from there, too."
"What? Why did you not tell us earlier? We should have organized a parade to welcome you." Charlotte shoots up from the bed.
"We um… kind of ran away." Beth scratches the back of her head.
"Oh, I'd like to hear more about that, but first, I believe Charlotte has something to say."
Max looks over to Charlotte, who is now standing on the bed.
"Please, I need your help."
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