The Prince and the Peasant

Dinner

Yugo wasn't about to say it out loud, but he was actually enjoying spending time with the prince. Despite basically kidnapping him and taking his precious toy horsey away from him for a little while, Yuri was treating him really well. Much better than the orphanage treated him.

The two boys played for a while with Yuri's toys, until the butler arrived. "Your Highness, dinner is ready," the butler said. Yuri stood up and took Yugo's hand. "C'mon, Yugo! Time for dinner!"

Yuri led Yugo to the dining hall, where his parents were already seated at the dining table. The cabbage-haired prince made his blunana peasant friend sit down in the seat next to him, and they began eating dinner.

Yugo had never seen so much food on one table, and it all looked so delicious! Once he started eating, he couldn't stop. Yuri's mother wrinkled her nose as the peasant shoveled food into his mouth. "He could stand to learn some table manners..." she muttered.

Yuri's father frowned at Yugo. "When was the last time you had a full meal?" he asked. Yugo was about to respond through a mouthful of roast beef, but Yuri quickly answered for him. "He's never had a full meal before! I asked him what the orphanage fed him, and he said the orphans get a bowl of cabbage soup three times every day, and on Sundays they get one piece of bacon with their morning bowl and a slice of bread with their afternoon bowl and half a cup of milk with their evening bowl. They never get any snacks either!"

Yugo nodded in agreement, swallowing his roast beef. "And if we don't finish in five minutes, our food gets taken away and we have to skip our next meal," he said.

Yuri's eyes widened as he snapped his head around to stare at Yugo. "You didn't tell me that part! Why didn't you tell me that part?!" he asked, shocked and very upset. Yugo shrugged. "You didn't ask."

Yuri's parents' eyes were wide with shock at the news. Even his mother seemed to feel a little bad for the orphan peasant. Clearly his lack of table manners was because he didn't want to be punished for not finishing within the time limit he was used to.

Yuri's father shook his head in disbelief. "I'll have to do something about that. As the heir to the throne, it's my duty to make sure my people are taken care of properly. I'll have a talk with my father, the King, about the way the orphans are treated. For now, you just slow down and enjoy your food. We won't take it away from you. You can take as long as you need."

Yugo looked up at him with wide eyes. "R-really?" Yuri leaned over and patted his shoulder, and his father nodded and replied, "Really. It's not right to punish children with food. Besides, royal meals can last for several hours!"

The little peasant did his best to slow down, but it was very difficult. He struggled to eat slowly. But the food was delicious, and he was enjoying it very much.

Finally, after about half an hour, Yugo had eaten his fill, and sat back in his chair, unable to take another bite. He had tried to finish his plate, to the point of gorging himself after his tummy was filled, but his plate still had lots of food on it. Yuri looked at him in worry. "Why aren't you eating?"

"I'm too full..." Yugo admitted. Yuri blinked in confusion. "But you hardly ate!"

"He's going to need some time to get used to having enough to eat," his father told him. "When people are starving, they can get full from only a little bit of food, because they're not used to having enough to eat."

Yuri pouted and poked Yugo. "Just a little more?" he pleaded. Yugo gave in and took two more bites of his steak and kidney pie before pushing it away. Fortunately, Yuri seemed satisfied that he'd eaten a bit more.