“All right, what do you want to eat? I’ll go buy it for you,” Eve said with a smile.

Elina pouted and tugged at Eve’s sleeve, coaxing her. “Nooo~ I want to go buy it myself. That way, I’ll get to feel more like I’m living among the common folk~”

Eve covered her face with one hand, at a loss for words. Your Highness, you’re a princess of a great empire. Even if you want to understand the people’s lives, you don’t have to actually blend in with them.

But what could she do? Her little princess Elina was just so sweet and innocent. Perhaps a princess who was happy to spend time with the common folk was naturally loved by everyone. After all, even if you were beautiful, being spoiled and bad-tempered wouldn’t make the people around you like you. They’d only resent you. Of course, because you were a princess, they wouldn’t dare say it to your face.

Thinking about it that way, she should probably go along with what Elina wanted. She shouldn’t stop her.

Of course, she couldn’t give her too much money. She didn’t want Elina to develop the bad habit of wasting money from a young age.

“Mm, then I’ll give Elina three silver coins. That’ll be enough for the two of you. It’s not because big sis Eve is stingy~ You just shouldn’t eat too much at night.” Eve flicked her fingers. A green light flashed, and she handed Elina three silver coins with a reminder.

Elina happily took the coins and nodded with a smile. “Don’t worry, big sis Eve. I can’t eat much. Three silver coins will be plenty.”

Elina knew how much this body could eat, after all. She definitely couldn’t eat too much. But she only wanted to try a little. The castle’s royal chef was excellent, and the food’s texture and flavor always left her completely satisfied. But just like when she used to sneak out for skewers in the middle of the night, there was a special charm to a sip of beer and a skewer from a street stall—one that even the finest food couldn’t match, meow~

Maybe that was just what life was like. Even after coming to another world, she still sometimes wanted to find out what it felt like to head home in the middle of the night with a full belly, meow~

“Mm, that’s a relief. Go ahead and buy your food. I’ll wait here. Don’t go wandering off~” Eve warned them sternly.

Elina quickly nodded, then took Caro, who was looking at her with an indulgent smile, over to a takoyaki stall wafting with delicious aromas. She looked at it curiously. There were quite a few customers, so business must be good, and the takoyaki looked delicious enough to whet anyone’s appetite. The owner was a potbellied older man who seemed friendly. Let’s try this stall first.

“Boss, two orders of takoyaki!” Elina called out, raising both hands.

But the moment she spoke, Elina regretted it. Her voice was so distinctive, and she’d already spoken in front of so many people that morning. It’d be easy for someone to recognize her.

But after waiting a few seconds, Elina saw that the people around her barely reacted, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her voice must’ve been swallowed up by the noisy crowd.

But when she turned around, Elina saw the boss staring at her in surprise. She could only sigh. So he had recognized her after all. She was just about to run when he handed her two orders of takoyaki and said quietly, “Your Highness, here are your two orders.”

“Mm, thank you!” Elina took the takoyaki with delight and hurried out of the crowd.

The boss watched Elina’s petite figure and smiled fondly. What a lovely princess. She wasn’t just cute on the outside—she had a lovely heart, too. These days, it was practically unheard of for someone of a princess’s status to buy food from a little stall like his. She probably wouldn’t even give one a second glance.

But the princess of his country was different.

If he were a few decades younger, he might’ve fallen for her kind, lively nature. But that was clearly impossible now.

He’d just treat what happened today as a wonderful misunderstanding. When he was old, he could tell the children how he’d once made takoyaki for a princess.

The boss smiled, tucked the memory away, and said no more. Then he went back to the day’s work.

......