Ash and Elnys entered the high-ceiling room where a scrumptious feast had been laid out on a shimmering dining table that could seat at least two dozen people. 

Queen Gidri was presiding. She invited Ash to eat to her heart’s content. 

The palace chef proudly introduced the elaborately presented roasted pheasant, grilled young boar, wild pig stew, broiled rabbit, seared fish, cheeses, and vegetables. 

The queen glanced at her advisors disguised as cupbearers. They were stationed around the room. They gave her a slight nod. They were here to observe the Chosen One’s every move.  

Ash thanked the queen for her generosity and scanned her options. She was starving. Her last meal had been the half-bag of chips that she chucked up back in that forest. She settled for some braised cabbage, lentil soup, a piece of cheese, and brown bread. 

“I recommend the pheasant, honorable Chosen One,” the chef said, twirling his mustache. 

“It looks… well-prepared. I just don’t eat meat.”

Queen Gidri cocked her brow. 

Elnys blinked at Ash, then looked down at her plate, and pushed it away. “I shan’t eat meat tonight either. I’d like to be served more vegetables instead.” 

The chef looked mortified. The queen felt bad for him. She thanked him with a reassuring smile and dismissed him kindly. The man left the hall, shoulders slumped. 

One of the advisors disguised as a cupbearer asked Ash whether she wanted wine or ale. She asked for water. 

“The Joyian royal wine is renowned for being made out of the rarest type of grapes that only grow by the Sacred Tree Lake. You should try it,” the queen said. 

“I’m sure it’s delicious. But I don’t drink alcohol.”

The princess let out a small gasp. “How is this possible?”

It had always surprised Ash to see how sobriety was socially not acceptable, as opposed to being a vegetarian or a non-smoker. She would even occasionally pretend to be a former alcoholic just to avoid the usual barrage of questions that would systematically follow. And this time hadn't been different, despite being in another world. 

“I do like the taste but my body doesn’t take it well. Besides, alcohol makes people do incredibly stupid things...” she replied, unwilling to go into more details. 

“So neither meat nor alcohol. How uncommon,” the queen commented with a smile. 

She looked at her advisors with a satisfied expression. They nodded. This dinner was a way to test Ash’s capacity to keep her collectedness in case of hunger and how she would behave in an inebriated state. 

And she had just passed it with flying colors.

After dinner, Ash was back in her chambers. She was trying to get the hang of the quill pen when she heard a knock on the door. 

A female servant entered, carrying a large box. She said that the queen thought that the Chosen One might want some company tonight. 

Then, three tall hunky men came in, all wearing tunics that barely covered their glabrous muscular bodies. 

The servant was blushing hard. She stammered several times as she struggled to introduce them as Alad, Kirizal, and Ettu. 

She looks flustered just by looking at them, Ash noticed, amused. 

The servant cleared her throat. She explained that she brought games that they could play together if the Chosen One wanted to. 

That poor woman’s ears are red now. 

She put down the box on the table nearby, dipped, and left. 

The man named Ettu stepped forward. He had luxuriant black hair, a chiseled jawline, and intense brown eyes. 

“Your skin and hair are so smooth. What’s your secret?” he complimented as he twiddled one of her braids. 

Before she could tell him to back off, dark blond-haired Kirizal had slipped behind her and started massaging her shoulders with his brawny hands. 

“I can feel several knots in your back. Let me help you relax.” He flashed a painfully shiny smile that emphasized his gentle blue eyes. 

Alad, the youngest of them, came to her rescue. “Give her some space, you two.” He brushed them away. 

She was about to thank him when, out of nowhere, he performed a front flip followed by a backflip. Ettu and Kirizal clapped, bobbing their heads. Young Alad saluted his small audience with a broad smile, bowing with his arms stretched out proudly. He smoothed his bright red hair.

“I’ve got many more moves to show you,” he said with a suave voice before winking at her. 

Ash’s body trembled. The next second, she burst into a long frantic laugh. 

She was wheezing, holding her sides, and trying to catch her breath. She was laughing so hard that she couldn't utter a single word for a long minute. The three men were watching in puzzlement, glancing and shrugging at each other. 

“I guess you didn’t get the memo,” she finally said, wiping the tears that had formed at the corner of her eyes. “Is that how you hit on girls here?” 

She didn't wait for their response. She patted them loudly on the back and walked to the box that the servant left. 

Rummaging through some strange-looking items, her face lit up when she found a small rectangle-shaped deck and asked if they wanted to play. 

Over the next couple of hours, the four of them shouted, groaned, cheered, and laughed loudly. 

Eventually, she walked them back to the door and wished them goodnight. She dropped down on her bed and fell asleep almost immediately. 

Outside the chambers, Queen Gidri and her advisors intercepted the three men. 

“So, what happened?” she asked in a whisper. 

“We played cards,” Ettu said with a big smile.

Alad added with excitement, “We had a really good time.” 

Kirizal nodded energetically. 

The queen looked at them in disbelief. “Nothing else?” 

The three of them shook their heads. The queen was flabbergasted. 

They wanted to assess the Chosen One’s capacity to resist seduction attempts that would divert her from her mission. These were some of the most attractive men in the nation, everyone desired them. Heck, even herself. 

The queen thought that this woman had outstanding self-mastery. 

On the other side of the door, Ash was drooling on her pillow, dreaming of alluring women dancing around her in their birthday suits.