Shangri La Pt. 1

74: Jealousy

"And now must the festivities for the night... BEGIN!!!"

As soon as the Emperor spoke such words, servants appeared into the ceremony and brought out trays and trays of food of all exquisite tastes and left the audience to crave such delicacies. And while the feasts were being brought out to the guests, trays carried by servants exposed themselves to the royals to enjoy the festival as well. 

And though seeing such high class seemed normal for Momo, she just happened to glance over next to her and see her Prince's eyes lit up as if this was the first time he'd seen food in ages.

"Ah– S-Shoto, is there something wrong with the food?" Momo questioned as she leaned towards him. 

"O-Oh no, it just seems that this food is far different from the food I've eaten in the West. It truly is a different culture here in the East compared to the West." Shoto noted. 

"I-Is... Is that a bad thing?" "Not at all, as I did say that I wish to know about your life here, including the food as well." Shoto answered with a subtle smile at her. 

Momo felt her chest tighten up just from seeing such an effortless smile on his lips, but that feeling didn't last long as she watched a servant rest down a glass filled with a dark liquid onto the Prince's tray when he didn't notice. 

'Ah– That's–'

"Just enough for him to get the jitters and lead him to be flat drunk. Once he takes a sip and it sinks in, then the Prince is gonna act like a damn fool in front of everyone, and then maybe the Emperor will change his mind about the arranged marriage for the Princess." 

Momo's body began to shake as if she imagined such a liquid to be poison than anything else in the Prince's cup. 

"Hm? Is something wrong, Momo? Your face seems worried about something." Shoto pointed out with worry. 

"W-What? O-Oh no, n-nothing's wrong, i-it's just– Oh, what's that over there?!?!" Momo exclaimed as she pointed in the opposite direction and forced Shoto to turn his head to see where the Princess was pointing. 

And the second the Prince was blind from Momo's actions, Momo hurriedly swatched the cup off his tray and exchanged it with her own glass. 

'Got it!'

"Hm, I didn't see what you saw, what was it?" Shoto questioned as he turned back to see Momo with a glass in her hand. 

"Huh? O-Oh, I-I suppose I was just seeing things and thought it was something dangerous in that direction. F-Forgive me, My Prince, my eyesight doesn't seem all that perfect." Momo answered nervously as she tried to laugh at her little mistake. 

And though she thought he'd just move on from the quick conversation, she was least expecting to hear; "Momo." 

She opened her eyes as she heard her own name called, only to realize that her Prince leaned in towards her and his lips were just centimeters away from her ear. 

"Ah– w-what's–" 

"Momo." 

She heard her name be called once more by her Prince and she clenched up with nerves as her heart began racing faster than ever.

"Y-Yes?" 

"I wish that once we are married, that you'll be happy if I brought you to the West and showed you my world. I can already see you in the clothes of the West, and you would be the center of attention because of it." Shoto whispered as her ear could only blush from how close he was to her.