Go! Go! Go! Go For It! Prince Lee!

DOROTABŌ

The Kingdom of Starliana's success was not measured in its wealth but by the health and happiness of all its citizens. From the monarchy to the newborns of the nation’s commoners, every smile spoke volumes. At this precise moment in time, you would not find a happier soul in the whole country than the heir to the throne, Prince Lee.

The young ruler-to-be was engaged in his daily affairs of state: reading reports, ratifying requisitions, and perusing proposals. How could he find fun in such parliamentary drudgery? In truth, he didn’t; his joy came from a bag of senbei he kept hidden from prying eyes.

The royal advisors were so strict with prohibiting any manner of distraction from work. That meant no food or drink, no entertainment, no company of any kind, or even letting natural sunlight into the room. However, their rules had no such application in the intervening times between workloads. Of course, even believing himself clever for finding that loophole, he still waited for them to be out of sight before snacking.

For reasons known solely to him, he ate the rice crackers in atypical ways.

One method was to stack them on his nose and then let them individually drop into his mouth.

 Another needless technique was to balance them on each finger, then flick them against his thumb so they would catapult right into his mouth.

 His final feat started by tossing a handful straight up. It was an impressive display of coordination the way he swayed his head about to catch every single one as they fell. Being unable to chew faster than the force of gravity, they ended up piling into a crumbling mess in his mouth. Stray crumbs and drool on his face made for such a crude display so unbecoming of royalty.

“Munch, munch, munch… AAH!”

He sighed in satisfaction. Nothing would dissuade him from a content smile. Tragically though, when he reached for more, his hand brushed against two remaining wafers lingering at the bottom of his bag. “Aww rats, I’m running out.”

His displeasure was matched by disbelief from his ever-present royal guard, Captain Elliot. “Huh? Your Highness, that’s the third bag you’ve gone through today.”

Lee protested. “That’s crazy, impossible even, it— oh my stars, you’re right.” Sliding open his desk drawer revealed other forgotten, discarded bags from earlier. All he could do was respond with a coy chuckle. “Heh-eh, well, like they say, you can’t have just one.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Elliot countered. “Nothing on earth could be that irresistible?”

That question led Lee to assert. “You bet your bippy it can. Wanna try one?”

The aristocrat offered his muscle the crispy cracker, to which he stayed sensibly skeptical.

“But it is rice? How could— HORK!”

Lee silenced him by sliding the puffed snack past his lips.

“HMM! Mmm—MMM!”

The initial surprise was eroded by intense pleasure.

Lee took note of the drastic shift in his features, smirking at the way the army man's eyes went wide with the noticeable brightening of his face’s colors. Gingerly, he took out the final cracker. “Whaddya say Captain? Want one more?”

“Of course not. One is enough.”

Raising his palm in rejection, his insistence was steadfast.

Lee whistled a jaunty tune, leaned in his seat, and kept holding out his offer.

Mere seconds passed until a bead of sweat fell down the contour of his face, and his bottom lip quivered.

“GAAAAAH! GIMME!”