188 Meeting the Little Sister (2/2)

The party nodded, happy to be fed regardless of the undesired attention. While they didn't like it, they all understood that it was a strange occurrence, and since both Jack and the prince were involved it was bound to grab everyone's attention.

Soon, the party entered a private dining hall with only the prince. There, they found an enormous spread of different foods. It wasn't all breakfast items either. Plenty of steak and pork dishes were found as well.

”Dig in!”

Everyone enjoyed themselves, glad to no longer have wandering eyes all over them.

Jack looked to Willim and asked, ”What was all that about? They didn't seem too happy with you?”

”Don't worry about them.” Willim waved his hand nonchalantly as he swallowed a mouthful of roasted boar. ”Those guys were all on my uncle's side, so it doesn't matter what they think. Since my father became king and not him, we're the ones with the say around here.”

”Are there contentions inside your family?”

”I guess, but what royal family doesn't have those? If people weren't fighting over the throne, what else would they fight for?” Willim joke with them, returning to his jovial nature.

A knock was heard at the main door and Willim yelled, ”Hurry up, Sis, or it'll be cold!”

”Don't mind if I do!” A soft voice was heard as the door opened and closed. Willim's teenage sister skipped to his side and sat down to join the feast.

”Jack, this is my little sis, Erina. Erina, this is my new friend, Jack.” Willim introduced them, making sure to be extra polite with his sister.

”It's nice to meet you, Jack. We've heard a lot about you so it a surprise to have you show up so suddenly,” Erina tried to explain some of the confusion that was Jack's welcoming party.

”Don't worry about it. I'm happy to finally meet the little sister your brother has told me all about. If it wasn't for me, he would've gotten you a gift too.”

”Really? What were you going to get me?” Her eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning.

Willim shrugged. ”Forget that, it's not important.”

”I don't know, a frost pearl sounds pretty important to me, Willim,” joked Jack.

”A frost pearl?!” Erina was shocked to hear that. ”Does that mean you took it from Wil?”

”No, he won it, fair and square,” stated Willim. ”We had a little sparring match and he wiped the floor with me, so he won it.”

”Oh…” Her enthusiasm dropped drastically as she reached slowly for food to fill her mouth.

Unclear on what just happened, Jack asked, ”What's wrong? Why are you so sad all of a sudden, Erina?”

”Just eat up, there's no need to keep bringing that up,” said Willim, making it obvious that he wanted to drop the subject.

However, Jack didn't like how the mood became somber so quickly. He wanted to know why. ”Really, Erina, did you need a frost pearl for something?”

”Well…”

”Erina, you don't need to tell them if you don't want to.” Looking at his timid sister, Willim tried his best to support her.

She looked at her brother and then at Jack. Her face was riddled with sadness and confusion, leaving Jack even more anxious to get to the bottom of the issue.

”Did you want it?”

That question came from one seat over from Jack. Everyone looked and saw Maura holding a necklace with a frost pearl embedded in a little amulet. ”We were going to use it for something, but if you need it, you can have it.”

Sniffling, Erina's eyes started to water. She didn't say anything, but she wiped her eyes with her sleeve and nodded.

When Maura got up and placed the amulet around Erina's neck, the young, barely-teenage girl made the most adorable face. More tears fell as she bowed her head and thanked Maura for the gift.