Chapter 248 Bear-san is Troubled by Princess Floras Question

Authors Note:

Here, a release 3 days ahead of time. Enjoy.

On my way to the castle, I thought about what to do about the request.

Bringing Noa and Shuri to the capital If we rode on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, getting here should be no problem. With the four of us, two people could ride on each bear, and the journey shouldnt take too long.

Still, maybe it would be okay to reveal the Bear Gate to those two. If I did, traveling would become much easier, and we could spend the extra time doing other things. I had to consider this carefully, though, as it was an important tool I had to keep a secret.

I continued to ponder which to choose all the way to the castle gate. As usual, the soldier at the gate noticed me before I even came close. Well, my outfit could most likely be seen from a mile away, so that wasnt anything special.

Just I was about to greet the soldier myself

Oh, if it isnt Eleanora-sama.

He called out and saluted at someone behind me.

Good work.

Came a response.

Turning around, I saw Eleanora-san standing right there with a big smile on her face.

Eleanora-san? How long have you been there?

Huhu, Yuna-chan. Ive been walking behind you this entire time, but you never noticed. It was quite funny.

Its rude to stalk someone like that, you know.

Even thinking back, I really never noticed anybody following me.

Your backside is so cute, though. Especially with how your small tail sways around as you walk.

Please dont look at peoples b.u.t.ts!

I reb.u.t.ted and covered the tail on my outfit.

Admittedly, I also liked looking at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bears tail sway but only now did I realize how embarra.s.sing it was having someone stare at my own b.u.t.t.

Its cute, though.

She said disappointedly as my tail disappeared from her sight.

Anyway, why did you follow me without saying anything?!

At first, I was going to catch up to you and call you, but then I noticed your tail and ended up staring at it all the way until we reached the castle.

This person

So, are you here for work, Eleanora-san?

Yes, more or less. My job isnt only to take care of your shop, after all.

Youre still doing your other work properly, right?

Yuna-chan, dont be so mean. I always do all my work properly.

Alwayssounded a bit suspicious to me, but it did make sense for her to be here for other work. Still, whenever I saw Eleanora-san, she always appeared to be slacking off

Lets not just stand here and chat. Shall we go to Princess Floras room?

Eh, didnt she come to the castle to work? I really wanted to say that but couldnt bring myself to. I was too tired of her shenanigans, so I ignored her. Even if Eleanora-san was skipping out on her work, that was His Majestys problem, not mine.

Both of us were let past by the gatekeeper and headed inside.

By the way, I didnt know you could make candy from just sugar. How did you find out about that?

Was she trying to fish for more information about me?

Either way, I couldnt tell her it was something I had learned from another world.

Thats a secret, of course.

Oh, too bad then. Still, you should be careful to whom you reveal your recipes. Your dishes are all very special and peculiar, so some people are surely going to be very curious about them. If something happens, just let me know. I will do anything within my power to help you.

Was Eleanora-san concerned about the students making the cotton candy recipe public?

Please do take care of me if something happens.

I accepted her offer.

Of course. When you make something new, bring it to me right away, okay?

Was that her real motive behind her offer?

It was very difficult to understand what Eleanora-san was thinking. I hoped Noa and s.h.i.+a didnt grow up to be like her.

Yuna-chan, did you just think of something awfully rude?

Nope, I thought that you were being very kind and considerate.

Really?

She looked at me with doubt. Not like I could tell her what I actually thought just now.

I broke eye contact, and we continued heading towards Princess Floras room.

Yuna-chan, can you look me in the eye properly when you talk to me?

If youre not coming with me, Ill go by myself.

Im coming too!

What about your job?

Even though I hadnt intended on asking, I ended up doing so anyways.

Its fine, I already did what I needed to do for today.

Really now?

As we walked down the familiar hall towards Princess Floras room, we saw what looked like a Swaying Bear plus.h.i.+e walking on its hind legs towards us. Next to it was Anju-san.

Oh my, Eleanora-sama and Yuna-san?

Bear-san?

When Anju-san greeted us, the Swaying Bear plus.h.i.+e spoke up as well.

Since when could plus.h.i.+es speak

Magic was a scary thing

Okay, enough joking around.

Princess Flora poked her face out from behind the plus.h.i.+e. She had been walking down the hall while hugging the plus.h.i.+e in front of her, so it only looked like the plus.h.i.+e was walking and talking on its own.

Bear-san!

Princess Flora noticed me and happily rushed to me with the plus.h.i.+e still in front of her.

Running while hugging onto Swaying Bear like that looked awfully dangerous, though.

Now that I thought about it, I naturally responded to being called Bear-san. I had acknowledged it to be my name at this point

Would she at least stop calling me that when she got older?

Why are the two of you here?

I asked Anju-san while hugging the princess and patting her on the head.

We were going for a stroll.

You were going for a walk while holding a plus.h.i.+e?

Yes, we were going on a stroll with Bear-san.

Princess Flora said happily and continued hugging the bear plus.h.i.+e.

I felt bad that Hugging Bear plus.h.i.+e wasnt here together with the Swaying Bear plus.h.i.+e, but I didnt think that could be helped. The princess was so small that she was barely able to hold one of them and walk at the same time.

Did you come to visit Princess Flora today, Yuna-san?

I finished a new picture book, so I brought it here.

Picture book?!

A new picture book?

Princess Flora and Anju-san both sounded very happy when I revealed my reason of visit.

I had expected princesss reaction to be as such, but Anju-san surprised me. She didnt really have to go that far, did she?

Princess Flora, since Yuna-san brought you a new picture book, shall we return to your room?

Or, we can do it after you finish your stroll.

I wanna go back to my room.

While still hugging the Swaying Bear plus.h.i.+e, the princess reached out her hand and tugged my outfit.

It looked like she really wanted to see the picture book. I was really glad I had decided to draw another book seeing her reaction.

Okay, lets head to your room, then.

Princess Flora grasped my Bear Hand and we walked to the room together.

Yuna-chan, youre so sweet with children.

I thought about my actions and realized I couldnt really deny what Eleanora-san said.

Was I being too kind to children? Still, was there anyone out there who wouldnt feel warm inside just seeing this smile?

I was sure Eleanora-san would also spoil Princess Flora if that smile was directed at her. I also didnt think my level of kindness was anything out of the ordinary, so I decided it wasnt an issue.

When we made it to her room, the princess released my hand and walked over to her bed.

Sitting on the bed near a pillow was the Hugging Bear plus.h.i.+e. It looked like Hugging Bear had to watch the room all alone while everybody else went out for a walk.

Princess Flora placed the Swaying Bear plus.h.i.+e next to the pillow, then grabbed the Hugging Bear plus.h.i.+e.

Why, though?

When we go outside, Princess Flora brings around Black Bear-san, and when were in her room, she switches to White Bear-san.

Anju-san explained for me when she noticed my baffled expression.

Why such an arrangement?

Well, if we go outside, the plus.h.i.+es might get dirty, so if its Black Bear-san, it wont appear as dirty, I guess

Anju-san had a hard time giving an explanation.

Well, since Swaying Bear had black fur, it was true that dirt wouldnt be as obvious on it than on the white fur of Hugging Bear.

And thats why she keeps White Bear-san inside the room and takes out Black Bear-san.

While I now understood that she wasnt ditching Hugging Bear on purpose, I now felt bad for Swaying Bear.

It didnt feel like a good reason to bring only Swaying Bear out was because its fur wouldnt get dirty, but maybe it was still better than the Hugging Bear getting dirty?

If dropped, Hugging Bear indeed had a high chance of getting dirty, so it somewhat made sense for that to be the reason.

Princess Flora returned to my side while holding onto the Hugging Bear plus.h.i.+e and looked at me expectantly.

Without further delay, we moved to the table where we could easily read the picture book.

Here you go, volume three of the picture book.

Thank you.

Princess Flora joyfully took the picture book out of my hands and sat down on a chair.

She then very carefully opened the cover. Anju-san stood right behind Princess Flora and looked at the book over her shoulder. She must be curious about the contents too, huh.

Eleanora-san, are you going to need this picture book?

Yes, I plan to distribute copies soon, so dont worry.

Thank you.

Anju-san said happily.

The princess turned the pages of the book slowly.

Anju-san, who at first looked like she was going to read it with her, went away for a moment and soon returned with freshly-brewed tea.

I relaxed next to Princess Flora while drinking the tea.

Was His Majesty going to come find me today? I did see a guard running off earlier.

I pondered for a while as I sipped the tea.

They parted from Bear-san

Princess Flora said sadly.

Flip. Flip.

She turned a few pages.

Bear-san!

She sounded a lot happier again. I guess she got to the part where Bear-san reappeared.

Once she was finished reading, she immediately turned to look at us.

Can Bear-san really turn that small?

For the moment, n.o.body answered her.

Any regular adult would know that bears couldnt shrink. If we explained that to Fina or Shuri, they would be able to understand at their age, but what should we tell Princess Flora, who was still very young?

Princess Flora, Bear-san cannot become smaller in the real world.

Anju explained in my stead.

But the Bear-sans turned small in the book.

Thats

Anju-san looked over at Eleanora-san and me, conflicted on how she should explain.

The princess was clearly treating my Bear summons like they were real bears. To begin with, it was difficult to explain the difference between them, especially to a young child like Princess Flora.

Princess Flora, normal bears cant turn small. Yuna-chans bears are just special. Also, the bears in the picture books are even more special.

Special?

Yes, theyre special bears. Real life bears arent like them.

Eleanora-san stepped in and took over for Anju-san.

However, even to that, the princess simply tilted her head. Explaining things to a child sure was difficult.

For children who didnt know about Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, they would just read the picture book as something fictional and that would be the end of it. Yet, for Princess Flora, who knew that my bears could become small, that was not the case.

Bear-sans cant turn small?

She asked and hugged her Hugging Bear plus.h.i.+e.

My Bears are just special. Other bears really cant become smaller, no matter what.

I tried to explain to her as gently as I could.

The princess seemed to be somewhat convinced at this point but still wore a confused expression. She didnt perhaps learn about bears turning small from somewhere else too, did she?

If she had asked about what happened to the people who escaped from the carriage in the story, I was going to push it onto Eleanora-san or His Majesty to explain it. However, this was really unexpected.

Anyhow, Her Highness decided to finally show up soon after, which was still much later than expected, and His Majesty came in even later. It looked like I wasnt going to be able to escape them today, either.

Both of them thanked me for bringing the new picture book but were also noticeably disappointed when they saw I hadnt brought any food this time around. Did they think I could just take out a new dish every time I came here?

In the end, I had to pa.s.s around some chawanmus.h.i.+, which they all ate contentedly.

Authors Notes:

Only two days left before volume 3 goes on sale.

I look forward to your continued support.

She finally managed to give the picture book to the princess, and then Princess Flora is more concerned with the small bears than the villagers that ran away. Lol