It is a surprisingly comfortable first day

Thanks to the estates position the carriage doesn't need to go through the nearby village as you depart. So all you have to look at is rolling hills of soon to be harvested grain that suddenly shifts into the forest as you pass the limits of the villages agriculture. You are moving surprisingly quickly so all you can see is a blur of wood and greenry as you go.

Anastasia shifts slightly on your lap. Looking down at her you see her hair has gotten slightly tussled from your unfocused patting. Feeling a little sheepish you take the hand off her head hoping when she walks up she won't comment on it.

You look back out the window to see more of the brown and green blur past.

If it was down to the poor view, your lack of sleep and the magic you used to get over it, or maybe just from having Anastasia asleep in your lap you feel you eye lids getting heavy.

Looking down you worry about toppling forward onto her so you send some magic down your spine. Threads spin around your muscles and hold them as they are. Then you close your eyes. It was the first time you had ever slept near some let along being physically in contact with them.

---

You feel Anastasia stir on your lap and it wakes up. For you waking up is a fast process. Once you are conscious enough to use magic you do exactly what you had done this morning. You looked out the window and saw the forest had changed to more fields. You didn't know the geography between your home and the capital so had no idea where you were, how far you had traveled, or how far you had left to go.

Now alert you look around the carriage to see if there was anything to eat. You weren't hungry but from your last life you know that waking up after a hangover nap leaves your stomach feeling empty and you wanted to preempt Anastasia's need.

You spot a small assortment of fruits and berries in a bowl and reach for it, trying to not move your lower half to disturb it's still asleep occupant. The bowl is just out of reach and you have to shift your hips slightly to grab it.

The movement completes Anastasia's waking and as you grab the bowl in one hand you feel her stretch slightly. She doesn't move any further but you can see from her aura she is awake. She must still be hungover. You take a small bushel of the the berries. You thought they were grapes when you first saw them years ago but they taste more like tiny sweet mangoes. With the bushel in hand you hold it just in front of her face so she can take it to eat.

"I see the impertinence isn't just contained to your staff." She says as she rolled onto her back to look up at you. Her illusions weren't back and you could see the redness of her eyes were gone. In fact she didn't look hungover at all anymore so she must have used her magic to fix it at some point.

"If I am so impertinent perhaps you should select your own food." You say you withdrawing your hand from near her mouth.

"I think it more appropriate you finish what you started." Her eyes never left your own as she spoke and when she finished she opened her mouth and quirked her eyebrow.

You weren't sure if she was playing chicken to see how far you would go, or if she was actually wanting you to feed her. Rather then hesitate any further you called her bluff. Sleeping on your lap was one thing but surely she wouldn't actually let you feed her. You lowered one of berries into her mouth expecting her to bat your hand away. Instead, she bit into it and chewed still looking up at you with a quirked eyebrow. It was making you a little uncomfortable which was probably why she was doing it.

"I hope you don't disappoint me in the capital." She opened her mouth awaiting another berry.

So that is what this was. Not a way to speed up your relationship just a way to assert her authority over you. You lower the berries feeling much less inclined to engage. Instead of keeping your eyes on her you look out the window. She makes no comment likely because you pay her enough attention to feed her another berry when she was ready.

This goes on until the bushel is bare and you toss the remains back in the bowl. Anastasia stays on your lap still looking up at you. "You're handsome from this angle." She said as she swallowed the last berry. The thinly veiled insult does not make you look down at her. You feel her aura shift a little, you'd expected aggravation at you lack of comment but instead see a hint of embarrassment. "Why are you ignoring me?"

She was still on your lap looking up at you and a doubt entered your mind. Was she trying to assert authority? She is a princess so she basically had authority over everyone for her whole life. Maybe this is just how she is, assumed authority just making her see what just happen as a natural action. You didn't know her well enough to actually say for sure but when you looked down at her and saw the small pout you leaned towards this just being who she was.

"Why did you rest on my lap?" It was the most direct way of figuring it out and knowing now is better than wondering later.

She sat up out of your lap still pouting. "The carriage is too small to not." She mumbled but both her face and her aura blushed a little. "Why wouldn't you want me to?" She covered the blush by redirecting at you. Which is could be a good indication that she wasn't trying to be deliberately assertive so much as naturally assertive. Or she was a better manipulator than you expected. She is royalty so she likely developed manipulative traits just as a part of her aging.

Nonetheless the best response was capitulation. "You are a princess and I am just lower nobility." The reminder of rank was blunt but from her reaction you said something important.

"And in the Capital, even as your sponsor you will keep that in mind." She drew herself up and assumed better posture to make the point. "But while we're alone..." She trailed off leaving you confused. Her aura actually looked a little hopeful for a moment. "Don't forget that I hold the contract." You could see the shift of hardness in her aura as she said it but their was hesitation in her words. She was lying.

She knew you nullifyed the contract but for some reason couldn't do anything about it. Likely she found the alteration after the sponsorship had been confirmed and she wasn't able to get out of sponsoring you without questions she couldn't answer.

With your relationship set out as clearly as could be you turned back to the window and watched the scenery.

---

The rest of the days ride was spent in awkward silence. Thankfully the two of you had slept through most of the trip and it was only two hours before you stopped. Stepping out of the carriage you were greeted by a building. There was only the one and it was rather large so presumably it was a way-station.

There were some people outside who were eating and a stable with several horses resting inside. It seemed strange for two royals to stop here, even possibly spend the night, you'd accepted the lack of guards as a statement on the kingdoms stability but to spend the night in a common way-station seemed, not dangerous but well beneath their standing.

When Anastasia joined you on the ground and stretched you did your best not to stare at her chest. When she finished you best had proved to be dismal. She leaned toward you and you remembered the teasing from last night. "While we are here call me Anna and Isabelle Bella." She whispered into you ear. You looked at her now and saw her eyes on the people gathered around the way-stations front. Her analytical look giving you information you were lacking.

You didn't think the two royals attending your eighteenth was entirely permitted. The lack of guards was not statement of the kingdoms security. "Nobody knows you two left the capital do they?" You whispered back to her. The analytical eye suddenly turned to you but she didn't confirm or deny the question so you were probably right. Which could be a very bad thing depending on what happens when you arrive. If there is a man hunt for the princesses and you suddenly turn up with them... Maybe Anastasia was taking action about the nullified contract. If you getting killed from a misunderstanding, or are charged with abducting the two there might be less attention on any possible **** contract.

Isabelle and Edin joined you on the ground. Isabelle was putting on her ball of energy persona and Edin seemed happy, so their carriage ride probably went better than Anastasia and yours.

"I'm hungry." Isabelle said eagerly walking towards the way-station. Her attitude and attendance made a little more sense now. She might have caught Anastasia plotting the trip and insisted on coming. As did her questioning of your and Anastasia's letters. Sneaking away from the capital to attend a lower noble boys eighteenth birthday was probably, at best, a little suspicious.

Though that didn't change what you thought Isabelle intentions towards you were. A scandal she could use to leverage a better personal position.

"We'll spend the night and leave in the morning." Anastasia said Edin and yourself before she went to join her sister.

You and Edin looked at each other then shrugged and followed after the two.

---

When the three of you sat down at a table inside and were presented with the option of food Anastasia took it. You presumed in a place like this it would be a stew, something that could be made and just left cooking for days. Adding whatever is needed as it is consumed.

You guess was spot on as very shortly after asking four bowls of stew are put in front of you. You pick up your spoon and were about to eat when you notice the others. The sisters were looking at the food suspiciously and Edin was waiting for them to start.

You looked down and figured their hesitation was down to be royals. It was unlikely royalty would, possibly have ever, eaten a stew since they had no need to leave food cooking while they worked and could afford food of a quality that stewing would ruin it.

"Something wrong Anna?" You asked raising an eyebrow. You figured reminded the sisters that they were supposed to be 'undercover' might get them to eat and you were hungry. "Not used to the food?"

Anastasia glared at you as she picked up her spoon and very carefully selected the smallest amount of stewed meat she could find taking an even smaller taste. The fact she didn't immediately die seemed to surprise her. She glared and you and the smug face you couldn't conceal. She took a larger spoonful and started eating.

Isabelle looked between the two of you. Her aura was in control but their were currents of disquiet leaving a darker hue to it. Likely she was worried about your and Anastasia's relationship. If the two of you were close it might make her trying to control you or turn you against her sister harder. She poked her food with her spoon but took little more than a tiny taste.

Edin took Anastasia's eating as permission and dug in as well. Still feeling rather smug that you were able to manipulate Anastasia you ate as well.

The way-stations food was surprisingly good. You had gotten used to the cooking afforded to nobles and expected the much simpler mass produced stew to be disappointing. Instead it was delicious and after a quick checking magical. The enchantment wasn't harmful and from your understand focused on taste and texture.

It had never occurred to you that food could be enchanted like this. Your mind was immediately grabbed by the possibilities and as soon as your bowl was empty you went to ask the waiter about it. They seemed very surprised so it was likely no one had ever cared enough to ask. Which made you pretty sure that this was a normal practice among commoners. Which made sense, food was a daily thing why wouldn't it be the focus of magic for those who made it. You wondered why you hadn't gotten any at your fathers estate but put it down to being nobility. In your previous world you read about how nobles stopped eating some foods because the peasants started to. Likely the same happened in this world, magic imbued food indicated a need for the food to be imbued.

Feel a little embarrassed by your obvious blind spot you returned to the table. Edin had emptied his bowl and was looking content, Anastasia had eaten about half but apparently when you left you took her appetite with you. Isabelle had barely taken more than a mouthful.

The waiter you questioned about the magic appeared and collected the bowls. He looked at the untouched bowl in front of Isabelle and asked. "Would you like anything else?"

"Wine?" It shot out of her mouth as soon as he had finished speak and she looked at Edin and you. Apparently she was disappointed about not having gotten any information last night and was going to try and **** it now. It was such an obvious attempt it reminded you that no one present was over twenty and she herself was still seventeen. "I'm sure you all want to have a drink after the ride." She looked at Anastasia putting on a puppy expression to appear totally innocent in her request.

Anastasia looked from her sister then to you and Edin. "I don't think they are ready for more yet." She said to Isabelle. Using the two of you to cover for her not wanting to drink seemed a little childish. You looked at Edin to see him blushing and wondered what else had happened last night after you had left. You must be missing something since you couldn't remember anything that was too embarrassing for him. A little drunken instability was hardly worthy of a blush.

"Sis I wanna see–" Isabelle quietly but firmly tried to interject before the waiter interrupted.

"Sadly we haven't received out shipment of wine and only have beer." He said still waiting with bowls in hand.

"No." Anastasia said to Isabelle then said the same to the waiter.

Isabelle pouted but didn't try to insist. She was easily upset when her plans didn't work out. A useful thing to keep in mind for the future.

"In that case your rooms are upstairs, third and fourth doors on the right." He turned and walked off. You were amazing the sisters were willing to share a room, being royals, undercover or not, you would have thought they would demand their own room.

The four of you were quiet. The awkwardness from Isabelle's pouting putting an end to any conversation. "I am going to retire." Anastasia said. "Your room is the third door." She said it you but you saw her aura twitch and Edin nodded a little. Who knows what the two were talking about but it was probably along the lines of keeping Isabelle out of the room. Just because she liked her younger sister doesn't mean she'd give her carte blanche to do whatever she wanted with her, you should come up with a term, friends was too much a stretch and toys was a little too humiliating for you to call yourself, you'll think of something later.

She left and Isabelle looked from her retreating form then to you and Edin. You thought she might try and order **** now that Anastasia was gone but instead she left after her sister.

You and Edin sat quietly for a moment before he asked. "How was the ride with Anna?"

"We slept for most of it." You didn't want to tell him that she slept in your lap. "How was yours?" You were actually curious. It wasn't just Anastasia you had written too and given how close Edin and Anastasia were, their secret aura message gave that away, you figured Isabelle would be probing him for information as well.

"She's... talkative." He answered very diplomatically. "Just ah, she had a lot to say about," his eyes flicked to you, "things." He blushed as he said the last word.

So she was probing him and he didn't want to go into details. Hopefully she wouldn't push him too far. You didn't know him well enough to say for sure if he would say something about the **** contract. You got the feeling he would never risk his position at the Royal Academy, which meant never risking Anastasia's sponsorship, so he probably wouldn't.

"What's the capital like?" You diverted to avoid putting him in difficult situation.

"Oh it's amazing." He immediately beam at you. Apparently his limited vocabulary was not confined to his writing. "There's so much too see. We can go to the galleries, the theaters, the stadium, the markets, the Royal Gardens are so beautiful. Anas-I mean Anna would take me all over the place." He was enraptured by the remembered sight seeing so you didn't really get much of a say in his recounting. "And she bought me clothes that I could wear for her. She even let me try on... th-that is she would pay for the clothes and I could wear them." He cut himself off trying to correct the wording. He started to fidget with his hands suddenly overcome with the awkwardness of his wording

"Sounds amazing. I look forward to seeing it with you." You say putting a hand over his to stop him from talking further. The physical touched entirely cut him off and he stared at it for a moment before you let go thinking it was making him uncomfortable.

He took a deep breath and turned to look into your eyes. "Um do - do you remember anything about last night?" He was blushing but seemed confident despite it.

"I-ah..." You weren't sure what he was getting at since you'd already told him you didn't.

"I just thought you might remember a part of it." He started to shift on his seat. "When um, when Anna and Belle were talking." He whispered the last half of the sentence looking around suspiciously. So he was aware that Isabelle had been probing Anastasia for information. Which meant Isabelle probably had been probing him separately.

You weren't sure if you should engage. You liked him but you barely knew him and had no idea if you could work together, or if that is what he would offer. "A bit." You hope he'd provide some more information if you were vague, it might let you know how you should continue.

"So when I was sitting on your lap." He moved a bit closer so he could whisper to you. He seemed to be really concerned with secrecy so you had a feeling he was about to say that Isabelle was trying to find out some details of the **** contract. "Did you like it?"

The question totally caught you off guard. It didn't seem to be some introduction to a conspiratorially inclined discussion. "I - It was ok?" You remembered the feeling of him wiggling his hips. "It wasn't bad." You venture trying to figure out what he was getting at.

"That's good." He was blushing. "Maybe we could try again some time."

"R-right." You were really lost right now. "Is there anything else?" Maybe you were missing something obvious and this was some sort of attempt at coded messaging.

"Just that I really liked how it felt." His eyes glanced down to your crotch. Well it didn't seem like a coded message so that meant there were two people who found your lap comfortable. He was probably just trying to make sure your friendship wasn't hurt by his drunken stumbling. Suddenly he jumped up. "I need to go the room." He bolted for the stairs leaving you thinking the conversation had gone well. Or at least it hadn't gone badly.

You stayed sitting trying to pries some further meaning to the conversation but couldn't think of anything. You looked around and saw that the room was emptying. There weren't that many people to start with but there were now just three aside from you.

You stood when you feel someone approaching you. You didn't recognise the feel of the aura but it was coming to you. You turned to look at a portly smiling man walking over. "How was the stew?"

You hesitate. So far you had thought most of your interactions with others had some ulterior motive behind it and you still aren't sure which of those did and which were paranoia. "It was really good, I'd never seen magic used like that before." You decided that paranoia was not health.

The man beamed at you. "Thank you!" He clapped his hand. "It's been so long since I'd met someone who can appreciate it. If you'd like I could show you how it works." He seemed extremely eager to show off and since you'd never encountered this sort of magic before.

"I'd love too." You answer excited at the prospect of new knowledge.

It was only as you were following him through a door towards the kitchen did you realise you just followed a stranger to a second hidden location with few witnesses. Maybe you shouldn't have reflectively thrown out your paranoia. The further you follow the more you wanted to turn. You don't feel anyone but the man in the area but that didn't mean someone wasn't just hiding their aura like you. If Anastasia wanted to get rid of you there were worse places to do it that a way-station in the middle of nowhere.

As the man walks into another door your heart is pounding loud enough that you found it difficult to move forwards. You took a breath, if you get consumed by paranoia you aren't going to be able to do anything. Walking into the room you see the man standing by a pot stirring its contents. A little worried you'll walk over to see an eye floating in it you approach.

"See here." He points to the bottom of the pot and you relax your eyes to see magic. There was an incredibly intricate pattern along the bottom dozens of strings that interact with each other in ways even a quick glance told would take days to figure out. "The pot was made by an arch-mage that was given to my great grandfather as thanks for years of service." He sounds very proud of it.

While you definitely aren't one to judge, since the best you could do with imbuing with creatively destroy the item, this didn't really seem arch-mage level magic. You didn't understand it yet but in time you probably would. Arch-mage magic seems like it should be a little, grander, especially since magic food probably isn't that unique, perhaps it was a matter of refinement.

"How do you manage the ingredients you put it. The magic doesn't cover every taste does it?" Your question is met with ever more excitement.

"Oh no it's been the work of my life to understand the magic and get it to the level it is now." He walked over to a sack and took out a root and a knife. "The key to a good stew is Anara Root, but not too much." He cuts off a small portion and proceeds to mince it.

You were a little worried about the knife and feel a little embarrassed to be so as he started mincing. "What about meat?" You asked approaching the table looking for the pantry.

"Hmmm. I'd go with pig. In winter we get some hare from the forests. You should come in spring when the deer are out." He sounds wistful as he speaks.

You try to remember the last time you cooked for yourself and couldn't. Aside from small snacks all your meals were made for you.

The man gathered the minced root and pointed towards the pot. You watch as he dropped it in and the magic around the base flared. Each thread shifted slightly, some lighting up, others dimming. It was fascinating to watch and gave you an insight you hadn't thought about. The magic of the pot was affecting it's contents which were not themselves enchanted and this alteration left a magical print on the food after it was put into the bowl which is what you had seen on the stew. If you had any ability at all to imbue you probably could have made more use of this knowledge.

"That is brilliant." You comment. "Thanks for showing me." You say.

"I'm just glad to have met someone who could see the magic. Aren't many people who stop by that can these days." He sounds a little sad.

"Why not?" It seems an odd thing for him to comment.

"Well with all the advancements in the capital people are only going one way these days. Not many people leaving the capital to go to the outer lands anymore." He stirred the pot a few times. "Ah listen to me going on like this." He lets go of the spoon he had been using to stir. "Go and have a good night lad, no point spending it talking to me when you have company in your room." He lets out a happy laugh and turns to open the kitchen door for you to leave. You aren't sure what he was getting at but he clearly wanted you out. Entering the corridor he did make one last comment. "Just remember that we have to clean the sheets." He laughs again and closes the door.

"What?" You ask the closed door not following what he said. Maybe he was trying to suggest you needed a bath. You take a surreptitious sniff of yourself and you don't think you smell that bad. Shrugging at the weirdness you made your way upstairs. Anastasia had said your and Edin's was the third door so you open that one hoping there was a bath or something similar present.