Mayor Twyx sure was a nice guy. Here he was letting you, Joy, and even Min sit in the same carriage as him. He was supposed to be royalty and the mayor, and you weren't sure if the statuses from those titles stacked, but the point remained that he was someone of super high importance. Yet he was sharing his ride with a maid, a knight, and someone who showed up only in her pajamas the night prior. Your brain wasn't going to let you live that down just yet.

The carriage you were in was supposed to be quite large for one person, but since there were four people instead, it was a bit of a snuggly fit. Red velvet silk cushions, windows on both sides, the entire thing being made out of gold. A single crumb of this carriage was worth more than you.

Your eyes widened.

It just hit you that you were going to meet the king of Candie Land. Oh shit.

Mayor Twyx (technically Prince Twyx but you two decided you should continue addressing him as the mayor) was sitting across from you. His eyes fell upon your left leg moving rapidly in place.

"Miss y/n?"

Your eyes snapped up.

"Huh?"

"Are you feeling nervous?"

You swallowed your saliva.

"Yeah... I mean combined with the earlier shock of you being literal royalty, the fact I'm about to meet the ruler of this world is insane."

Twyx stared at you. Then, he smiled.

"I'm afraid I've given you some misunderstandings with my words, Miss y/n. When you first awoke, I told you that you were in Candie Land. While that is technically true, Candie Land is the name of our world, and is separated into four mainlands. The land we live in is called Kandel. My father is only the monarch for Kandel; there are other rulers as well."

"Ohhh, okay. That makes sense," you nod, "While that does calm me down just a bit, my head is still spinning from the fact that you're royalty... and not just because I was knocked out yesterday." You narrow your eyes at the knight sitting to the right side of the mayor. His arms are crossed together, head tilted down with his eyes closed.

But somehow, he felt your glare and looked up.

"You were a stranger who appeared out of thin air, intruding on our land," Min met your eyes with a look of stoicism. "I had to put the safety of our people first."

"Yeah, yeah, but couldn't you have given me a warning first?" you raised a brow. "It's not like I would be able to run away anyways. The girl in her pajamas running away from someone wielding a spear?" you scoffed.

He blinked, looking to his left where Mayor Twyx was staring at him. You swore you saw him flinch, but you blinked and he had his neutral expression again. Min opened his mouth to speak, but abruptly closed it again before sighing. Then, he looked back at you.

"Fine. I sincerely apologize for hitting your head to knock you out when you first arrived here, human." Mayor Twyx let out a soft sigh while Joy had an exasperated smile on her face.

"Forgive me, Sir Min, but you don't exactly sound—", she started.

"—Sincere. The word is sincere." You finished her sentence. Now it was your turn to cross your arms, "I get that you don't trust me, but like, I find it hard to believe that you think I pose any danger at all." Surprisingly, the annoyance in your chest gave you the courage to speak up.

The knight opened his mouth to reply before Mayor Twyx shook his head.

"Min, Miss y/n is my guest. Please refrain from making any unnecessary comments, and remember to address her with respect." He said, causing appreciation to ripple within your chest. "I understand your worries very well, but just as Miss y/n said, I believe there's no need to be on edge. My father will surely have the answers to our questions."

Min turned his head the other way, staying silent. You were about to stick your tongue out at him when Joy faced towards you.

"Don't worry, my lady. King Kane is far from intimidating! In fact, he's very kind and welcoming to outsiders. Please don't worry about making a good first impression, it'll be all okay!" she chirped, the sunlight making her hair twinkle. You blinked.

"Really? That's a relief to hear." Scratching your neck, you returned a shy smile. "Thank you, Joy..."

She hummed happily in response.

Your eyes trailed to the contents outside the window. The carriage was taking a short cut to the palace, but you could see little stone and wooden houses to the left belonging to the Candi people. Children with sparkly hair ran around, their laughter filling the air with joy. A large fountain was in the middle, and a woman sat on the edge reading a book. Her brown hair had a slight glossy shine but nowhere near as sparkly as the people with colorful hair.

Mayor Twyx described himself as a Candi person, but you wondered if there were subcategories as well such as 'chocolate', 'chewy candies', 'hard candies', or even 'gummies'.

You looked at him through your peripheral vision. His golden eyes were also on the little town, a noticeably softer gaze decorating his face. His arm was prompted up on the window, his cheek laying on his palm. A gust of wind rustled his hair and you were shocked to see it actually slightly flutter.

What? How? Wasn't his hair made out of chocolate? Man, this world was confusing.

Now that the exhaustion and shock of waking up in a new world and losing your memories subsided, overwhelming curiosity and confusion plagued you instead. You wanted to know more, know how the Candi people even existed, if they were actually edible and made out of sugar, and most importantly: how to get home.

Well, wherever home was.

The knot in your chest tightened until a new sight caught your eye. Again, you looked up to see a town, except this time the houses were made out of what seemed to be marble, granite, and hardwood. They were considerably larger than the last village homes. Shops lined the street as people wearing dresses, suits, and outfits befitting nobility chatted and walked amongst themselves. Another fountain was in the middle, its waters sparkling like dozens of little diamonds thanks to the sunlight.

"This village sure seems a lot fancier than the last one." You commented, observing how some of the Candis were decked out in jewelry. One woman even had a parasol covered in shiny gems. Talk about not knowing what to do with your money.

"We're currently at the upper part of town, or uptown for short," Joy answered, "Uptown consists of nobles or wealthy businessmen, while downtown, the village we were last at, is usually populated by commoners and farmers!"

"Ahhh," you nodded. This was where all the big shots lived. How come Mayor Twyx lived so far away despite being royalty? He was much closer to downtown than uptown.

"Um, mayor?"

He smiled, "Hm?"

"Are you an introvert by chance?"

His golden lashes fluttered when he blinked, "Pardon?"

"Oh, I mean, I noticed your mansion is kinda far away from the townsfolk, uptown in particular. So I was wondering if you just preferred to live a cozy life in the woods. Oh! Just in case you're wondering, an introvert is someone who recharges their energy by being alone. Haha."

His silence combined with his stare left you sweating in your velvet-cushioned seat for a good five seconds, and then, he laughed.

"I usually consume sugar to replenish my energy levels, but I suppose you could say I value my alone time as well. However, that isn't the reason why I live far away from the upper parts of town. As Prince, every citizen is someone I must protect, but as mayor, I focus on caring for the lower parts of town." His gaze softened, "That is why I live near the forest."

"Oh... that's cool." You replied. There was an awkward silence after you responded, and it seemed like Joy and Min were expecting you to say more as well since they stared at you a bit funnily. Little did they know, you were anything but quiet on the inside. You quickly avoided any further eye contact with the man in front of you.

Man, how was this guy real? You snuck a glance at him, breath stuck in your throat as the sunlight outlined his features in a golden light. You could hear the sound of your own heartbeat in your ears, and you swallowed nervously.

Thankfully, Joy, being the only extrovert in the carriage, piped up once the silence was too much to bear.

As the carriage came to a slow stop, you snapped out of your thoughts as a guard walked up to the window where Mayor Twyx was. He wore similar armor to Min, a sword attached at his hip. Once he caught sight of the mayor, he immediately bowed his head low and then saluted.

"Welcome back, Your Highness Prince Twyx of Kandel! May your radiant golden light keep shining on us all." He shouted, before turning to the side and nodding at someone you couldn't see. Meanwhile, you looked at Mayor Twyx with an amused and bewildered expression. He coughed into his palm, ears tinted a slight red.

"Should I start calling you that instead?" you asked, a grin on your lips. The mayor flinched before a sheepish smile appeared on his face.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather you continue to address me as 'Mayor' than my... other title."

You laughed, "Alright," then curiosity got a hold of you, and you peaked your head out the window to see...

Holy shit.

King Kane lived in a castle. A massive one at that. It towered over you so much that you couldn't even see the very top. The walls were a light beige color with blue tiles and tips on top. Many small windows were scattered across the walls, and there were two towers on either side. All of a sudden, the spiked gate lifted to reveal an entrance into the castle. There were even more guards lined against the walls, you counted about ten, with spears in their hands and a stoic expression decorating their face. It reminded you of a particular someone, but man, security sure was tightened here.

The carriage started to move again, and once you were inside the entrance was shut again.

The carriage doors were opened by two guards, one on both sides. Min and Mayor Twyx stepped out first, and as Joy was about to step out, you saw Min reach out his hand towards her. She took it and he helped her gently to the ground.

"Thank you, Sir Min!" Joy chirped. Min nodded in response.

Before you knew it, your brow was already raised at what happened before you, and as you got out the carriage yourself, a gloved hand reached out to you.

"Here, Miss y/n." Mayor Twyx stared at you. It took you a full three seconds to process what was happening before you gingerly took his hand, noticing it was very firm.

"T-thanks." You grinned. He returned a small smile before looking at Min and Joy as well.

"Min, Miss Joy, please wait in front of my father's chambers while Miss y/n and I talk with him."

"Understood, sire." Min nodded.

"Of course, my lord," Joy curtsied.

Then, Twyx turned to you.

"How are you feeling, Miss y/n?" he asked. "While the guards escort us to my father's room, we can discuss what you want to ask him."

"Honestly, I'm still nervous as fuc—fudge. But at the same time, I'm really looking forward to getting some answers," you gave him a tiny smile, "and also meeting your dad as well."

He nodded.

"I promise you will receive some answers for your questions, Miss y/n. Now, please follow me." Mayor Twyx turned around, his cape fluttering behind him.

Stone brick walls enclosed around you while torches lined up evenly as your group navigated through the hallways. Every now and then there was a painting, a table with a vase, or a guard prompted up against the wall with a spear in hand. You lost count of how many times you made awkward eye contact with one.

Since the king's bedchambers were on the highest floor, it was going to take a bit of walking to get there. The thought itself made you exhausted already, and you wiped invisible sweat from your forehead.

As you were lost in your thoughts, a certain mayor ahead slowed down to match your pace. When you blinked, he was no longer in front of you but to your right instead.

"Miss y/n, I don't think I've mentioned much about my father to you."

You met his eyes, "Now that you say it, I guess not. So far, I only know that he's your father, the king, and a pretty nice guy. Well, according to Joy."

Twyx chuckled, "Indeed, but there's one thing I haven't told you yet. My father's health is... unstable, at the moment. He is currently bedridden." There's a brief silence. "I apologize, Miss y/n. I hope this news doesn't ruin your visit."

You halted, a look of pure bewilderment on your face.

"Huh? Of course it wouldn't... It's not your fault or your father's that he's not in the best condition. Why would you think that?"

He stopped in place and turned around, looking as surprised as you were. Meanwhile, Min and Joy came to a stop as well, their eyes darting between the two of you with no knowledge of what was going on.

"I, well," he paused, as if trying to find the right words. "Earlier you mentioned how you were looking forward to meeting my father, and I was worried how it might not live up to your expectations."

You blinked. Once. Twice. Then, a warmth filled your chest and made your heart feel like a pile of goop.

"D-don't worry!" you stammered, "I'll have a good time no matter what. Promise." At times like this, you really wished you had more skill points in charisma. "So uh, please don't say things like that again. Alright?"

The mayor studied your face for a few moments before a soft smile graced his lips.

"Of course. Thank you... Miss y/n."

In the back, Min was staring daggers at you while Joy had the twinkle of a thousand suns in her eyes.

"Oh my..." she whispered, failing to contain her smile.

Min glanced at her before looking forward again. He coughed into his palm, drawing the attention of the two in front of him.

"My liege, we should get going."

The mayor nodded, "Oh, of course. My apologies for the sudden stop." He shot you one last smile before turning around.