The Doll and The Prince - v3 Chapter 71, v3 Chapter 72, v3 Chapter 73

Naruhito (72)
"Otoha, have you ever seen a goldfish?"
"A goldfish? What’s that?"
"You see, it floats in the water like this, and its mouth is always going 'ham ham,' and its tail…"

As I explained, I suddenly remembered the tail of the goldfish and burst into laughter.

"What is it? I don't get it at all."
"It's a small red fish. People keep it for decoration and enjoyment.”

Rikimaru, who was eating lunch with us, explained.

"Their behinds often have something stuck to them.”

Rikimaru added, grinning at me as I was still laughing, which only made me laugh harder.

"What are you two on about?"

Otoha asked in an irritated voice.

"Do you want to come too, Otoha?"
"Where to?"
"To see the goldfish."
"Huh?"
"Let's go together."
"… I want to see."
"Then, let's go after we finish eating."
"Can I come too?"
"Sure."

After eating, Otoha, Rikimaru, and I headed to the palace. Of course, Grandpa followed us from a little distance. But with Rikimaru here, we were fine.

"Is the goldfish at the palace?"
"Yeah."
"Can we just walk in like that?"
"Yeah."
"In the prince’s office or something?"
"Nope, not there~"

We walked on, chatting. It was more fun than going alone.

"Let’s go again next time~”
"Next time…? We haven’t even arrived today.”
"You're a little too eager, Naru.”

Ahaha, Otoha laughed at me.
At the castle gate, the guard bowed his head, and I bowed back as we entered.

"They didn’t stop us."
"Yeah, we got in."

Both of them bowed their heads and followed.
I’ve never been stopped here before, though?
We walked swiftly further inside.

"Hey, Naruhito, are you sure it’s okay for us to be here?"
"Is the place with the goldfish really in this direction? Can we even go here?"
"The goldfish is this way."

The two of them were starting to sound worried. What’s the big deal?

"This is bad. We’re about to enter a restricted area.”

Rikimaru warned as he stopped me.Just then, a woman who is always in Shizuku’s room appeared near us without us noticing.
Rikimaru quickly let go of my hand and lightly positioned Otoha behind him.

"Excuse me, Her Royal Highness has been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Allow me to guide you over, this way."

She said with a bow before starting to walk. As we followed her, Rikimaru whispered to me.

"Her Royal Highness, who?"

"I don’t know. But since she’s a person from Shizuku’s room, it’s fine to follow."
"Shizuku…? Naru, don't tell me Her Royal Highness is…"

We finally arrived at the goldfish room. The woman who had guided us had already opened the door and was waiting for us.

"Hello, Shizuku."
"Welcome, LIttle Naruhito. I’ve been waiting for you. You brought friends today, didn’t you? I was looking forward to it."

Rikimaru and Otoha froze at the entrance. Meanwhile, I marveled at how Shizuku always knew when I was coming, even though we never made any promises.

----------

Rikimaru (9)
"Your Majesty."

My Sister-in-law bowed her head, placing her right hand on top of her left fist. I hurried to follow suit.
Naruhito! You can't just walk into places like this so casually. And he's greeting her like it's no big deal!
When I glanced at him while keeping my head lowered, I saw him looking around nervously before awkwardly trying to mimic our pose by raising his hand. His left arm, which only reached his elbow, was lifted painfully. As I worried about him, Her Royal Highness gently lowered Naruhito’s arm and approached us.

"Yes, welcome. I've received your greetings. You can lift your heads now. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see the goldfish."

Cautiously, I raised my head to find Her Majesty smiling softly while holding Naruhito in her arms.

"Little Naruhito, you’ve come with your friends today. You’re all very welcome."

Naruhito beamed and nodded eagerly, looking overjoyed at being treated as a friend.

"I am Otoha from Senmon'in family."
"I am Rikimaru from Senmon'in family."
"Yes, I am Shizuku. I’m always grateful for Hitachimaru's help. Rikimaru, you look a lot like your brother."
"Yes, I hear that often."

During this brief exchange of greetings, Naruhito had already started glancing toward the back of the room. When Her Majesty gently let him go, he took my sister-in-law's hand and led her forward.
Since my sister-in-law had never seen goldfish before, her face lit up in awe, and she became glued to the large tank. I, too, had never seen such big goldfish before. The ones I saw at the goldfish scooping stands at night festivals were much smaller.
Seeing my sister-in-law’s reaction, Naruhito looked delighted. He confidently brought over a stepping stool and began sprinkling food into the tank from above. The goldfish started eating. Their faces looked funny, their mouths constantly going "ham ham."

"They're eating. Naru, they’re eating!"

Sister-in-law exclaimed. The tension in Her Majesty's room had completely dissipated, and I, too, was starting to feel more relaxed.
Naruhito stepped down from the stool and stood beside sister-in-law, smiling as he watched the goldfish eat. He looked so happy that I couldn’t help but smile too, especially when he suddenly let out a little laugh.

"Hey, Naru. Is that… could it be?"

Sister-in-law started to laugh softly while asking. The two of them held hands, giggling together.
They were so adorable that I couldn't help but notice Her Majesty’s quiet comment: "I’d love to take a picture of them." When I glanced over, I saw her watching the two with a warm, joyful expression. I had heard she was ill, but she seemed to be recovering well. I was relieved.

The goldfish swam gracefully, with that hanging from its rear. Haha, why is it so comfortable swimming like that?
I moved closer to the two and peeked into the tank with them.
Naruhito, still laughing, looked over at me.

"It’s definitely hanging there."

He nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

----------

Rikimaru (10)
As the three of us were laughing and watching the goldfish, I noticed that some food had been placed on the low table without us realizing.

"It's a little early, but let's have a snack. You must be thirsty after walking here, right?"

In elegant glass dishes, there were foods I had never seen before. Naruhito happily sat down on the floor.

"Ice cream! I wanna eat ice cream!"

Is it something Naruhito can eat? I’ve never seen this kind of snack before.

"So, this is called ice cream? This is my first time seeing it."

It seemed sister-in-law didn’t know about it either. As she stared at it curiously, Her Majesty's voice called out:

"If you don't eat it soon, it’ll melt."

Naruhito said, "Let’s eat," and took a bite. It looked delicious. Sister-in-law and I also said "Let’s do that" and took a small scoop into our mouths.

"It’s cold."
"It’s so good."
"It’s yummy!"

Our voices overlapped in unison. Wow, I’ve never had anything like this before. It melts in your mouth, and the sweetness spreads… it’s incredibly tasty. This has to be something Naruhito loves. It’s right up his alley. As I looked over, he was taking small bites, closing his eyes and smiling contentedly after swallowing.

Yeah.
He’s adorable.
I couldn’t help but keep watching him.
Still, this ice cream is really tasty.

"Hitachimaru loved ice cream too. The first time he ate it, he said, 'This is amazing,' with the same expression as you on his face.”

Her Majesty said, giggling as she remembered.
That made me recall something as well.

"My older brother used to say that the most delicious thing in the world is ice cream when he was little."
"I think I’ve heard him saying that, too.”

Sister-in-law added.
She had heard it as well?

"But he stopped saying it at some point."
"That’s true."
"It might be because I told him it was a secret treat. Since you could only have it at banquets, not many people knew about it. He was a smart child, so maybe he thought he shouldn’t talk about it. He didn’t need to worry so much, though."
"That’s just like him."
"… I’m sorry for all the trouble Hitachimaru went through for Hiiro. Even as a child, he was made to stay by Hiiro’s side constantly. Hiiro didn’t want to bring guards to school because the other children didn’t have them, but we couldn’t just leave him without protection. So, when I heard that there was a child stronger than most adults in his class, I asked for help. I’m sorry we ended up taking your brother away so often, Rikimaru."
"No, I think my brother and His Highness are just good friends. His Highness was often at our place, so it felt like I had two brothers. Um, if it’s not too presumptuous... sister-in-law was there too, and it was always lively."
"I see... thank you. He’d also come to this room sometimes, and he was always in a good mood when he had ice cream."
"That’s quite the privilege.”

Her Majesty looked somewhat relieved. There really wasn’t anything for her to worry about.

"Hiiro doesn’t like sweets much, so Hitachimaru would always end up eating two portions. Would you like seconds as well, Rikimaru?"
"… Yes, please."

When it became quiet, I noticed Naruhito had started nodding off. The last bite of his ice cream was slowly melting in the glass dish. As I reached out to support his drooping head, I was suddenly swatted away. Lord Murashige, who had appeared at some point, was now holding Naruhito.

"You promised not to touch him. I let it slide in the hallway, but don't forget.”

It wasn’t the ice cream, but something in my stomach chilled at that moment.