A ways down the hallway, two maids noticed his distress.

"Um, is that the prince?" One whispered to the other.

"Him?...Yes, that's the prince." The maid had paused for a moment to confirm.

"He looks down about something."

"He always looks down about something after being scolded by his Highness, the King." The more experienced maid explain.

"Um, aren't we going to do something about it?" The new maid asked.

"No, just leave him alone. He'll eventually bounce back up." Came the professional reply. "If comfort is applied too early, then he might not understand the gravity of the situation."

"Wow, you must know everything about the prince!" The new maid admired.

"Not everything." the other maid shook her head. "Just enough to keep out of everyone's way. Come, help me bring the tea to the Hero's guest room."

Christian, while wallowing in misery, hadn't heard their earlier conversation. But when he heard the word 'Hero' he shuddered. Not only had he caused a huge mess in relations between mankind and demonkind. He had also dragged an uninvolved human into this mess as well.

He had a strong impulse to seek Robin out and beg his forgiveness. But, then he remembered Robin's earlier words: 'Well, there's not much I can do if it's a random event. But, if it's a summoning, then I'm gonna punch whichever idiot summoned me here in the face!'

Even though he probably deserved it, he really didn't want to get punched in the face. But, the Hero had a right to know about the current situation. According to King Zephron's command, Prince Christian's punishment would be to try and resolve this mess that he created, working in tandem with the Hero.

If the misunderstanding could be clarified before things came to blows, then great! But if things could not be straightened out, and escalated into another demon war...then they would need all the help they could get.

And so, the Prince had orders to travel with the Hero and suppress the general unrest in the populace, as well as trying to get into contact with the demon's protector diplomats to explain everything. After all, as long as the Hero could allay the Demon King's fears, then they wouldn't have to fight.

But now he had to explain things to Hero Robin...Christian could only hope that Robin's sharp tongue would be the only thing slas.h.i.+ng at him.

It was at that moment that a delightfully appetizing odor drifted down the corridor from the direction of the kitchen. At that moment, Christian's stomach produced a noise so loud, that it echoed in the hallway.

It was then that Christian realized that he had eaten nothing for over half a day. He sighed and turned his footsteps towards the kitchen first.

-----------------------

"...Hero Robin, is it?" the Queen's chef asked.

Robin replied with a short nod. After all, her mouth was full of the goodness of potatoes. How could she open her mouth to speak at the risk of dropping even a single crumb of it!? She swallowed. Then she remembered the hash browns that she had made while Pons.h.i.+eu was missing, and grabbed them out of the oven.

This particular oven had several drawers. The one they had cooked the potatoes in was one drawer, and the hash browns she had been baking were in another drawer-one a bit farther away from the source of the heat. This helped to cook the hash browns slowly at a lower temperature than the melting potatoes.

As soon as the hash browns came out, a p.r.o.nounced growling noise sounded from the kitchen door.

Everyone turned to look at a somewhat embarrased Prince Christian. Prince Christian, in turn, was surprised. He had not expected Robin to be in the kitchens, cooking.

"Hey, is there any food fit for a man to eat? I haven't had a bite since yesterday." He chuckled awkwardly, as he caught a particularly delicious smell wafting out of the kitchen.

"Ah! Yes! Immediately!" Pons.h.i.+eu scrambled to the pantry to cobble together something that resembled food. The Queen's chef realized what time it was and hurried into her own kitchen to prepare the food for dinner.

"What are those?" Christian asked, looking at the golden-brown patties lined up on the pan Robin held.

"Hash browns." Robin replied. "They're more of a breakfast food than anything else. I like to eat them crispy and warm with eggs and hollandaise sauce."

"Ho? I've never heard of that particular sauce." Christian tilted his head. "But, then again, I've never heard of hash browns either. What are they made of?"

"The Hash browns are made from potatoes, and the hollandaise sauce is a sauce made fron eggs." Robin replied.

"Potatoes?" Christian asked, looking closely at the food.

"What? You can make a sauce using eggs!?" Pons.h.i.+eu exclaimed, as he almost dropped the a.s.sortment of bread, cheese, and fruit that he had in his arms. Didn't eggs simply solidify when they came into contact with heat? How could they make a sauce?

"Yes." Robin chuckled. "But it takes patience, and arm stamina. You have to stir carefully to make sure the egg doesn't firm up. I'll teach you how to later."

Prince Christian swallowed his saliva. "Um, are these hash browns done?" He asked. It seemed those golden-brown patties were the source of the wonderful smell.

"I'll need to add a bit of salt on top, but other than that, yeah, they're done." Robin nodded.

"Then, can I try one of them?" He asked again.

"What's with how polite you're being all of a sudden?" Robin eyed Christian, with a somewhat concerned expression. "If you want some, just say so! It's not as if things changed just because I know you're the prince."

Keith put a hand up to Christian's forehead. "He doesn't have a fever. Perhaps it's a sickness of the mind?" He muttered.

"Oh lay off, you!" Christian shook Keith off and helped himself to two hash browns, sprinkling some salt on top of them. "How do I eat these?" He asked. They seemed a bit hot for finger food.

"You can either cut them up and eat them like a steak, or you can wait until they cool a bit and eat them like toast." Robin replied.

"Either way it's good to eat. And if you want to prepare them ahead of time, that's fine too. They can last about a month if you place them in an ice room. And, once you wish to eat them, just heat them up in the oven again, and they'll be good to go. Not only are they delicious, but they're convenient."

Then Robin paused.

"Hey, why did you stop!?" Pons.h.i.+eu exclaimed, looking up from where he was writing down every word Robin said.

Robin scratched her head. "Well, I just thought that cooking isn't something that sounds very hero-like, does it?"

When Christian tried a bite of the hash brown, his eyes light up. He looked at Keith, and smirked. Keith smirked in return. Then they both looked at Robin, who saw they were about to say something rubbish.

"Well, then. According to the a.s.sessment of I, Prince Christian-"

"And I, Retired General Keith."

"We won't tell anyone as long as you make something for us periodically." Christian smiled professionally.

"Every now and then." Keith added.

Robin snorted and waved her hands dismissively at them.

"Baaa, I see what you're doing. You two are trying to blackmail me, aren't you? Well it won't work, I say. As soon as you reveal my cooking skills, I'll be swarmed with requests from everywhere, limiting the amount I can make for you two blaggards to a very small amount."

"Oh, I see." Keith shrugged helplessly.

"I did not think of that." Christian noted, as they both looked highly disappointed.

"Hmmmmm...." The both of them pantomimed being in deep thought.

"Tell you what." Robin said.

"You find me some foods that you don't eat every day, and I'll try and see if I know a recipe for them. If I do, then I'll teach Pons.h.i.+eu here, and he can make them for you whenever you want!"

Robin shamelessly pa.s.sed the baton on to Pons.h.i.+eu. After all, someone would have to make it after she found a way back home. Robin might as well pa.s.s it on to an eager learner.

"WHAT! YOU MEAN IT!!!???"

Pons.h.i.+eu exclaimed, ecstatically. He did not see Robin's offer as her handing off a load of work to him, but as the Hero pa.s.sing down a legendary cooking technique. In other words, Pons.h.i.+eu was the one who had most benefitted here, as his dream seemed to literally come true in front of his eyes.

They didn't realize at the time. But it was at that point that Pons.h.i.+eu became the fifth member of their group.