She Becomes The Hero In Another World 80 She Takes One More Picture

"Well then, Cousin. I think I've slept long enough, don't you think? Am I excused from bed rest?" Robin asked cheekily.

Jasmine grinned. "For now, you may. No more magic spells, and don't push yourself. No heavy lifting, either!"

Robin rolled her eyes. "You're almost as overprotecting as my older brother...Almost."

Jasmine laughed. "Thank you for the compliment~ Do you need help getting up?"

Robin stood up, testily, waving her arms around. "Oof! So stiff!" She complained, before beginning some stretching exercises.

Christian walked in upon her stretching her side muscles.

"A bit more, and you can turn all the way around like an owl!" He joked.

"That's not it-" pop. "Ah, there we go!" Robin quickly moved about, causing several pieces of cartilage to emit popping signs as they popped back into place.

"All done!" She said, contentedly. "Sleeping for three days sure can cause things to get out of sorts. But turning about like an owl is a physical impossibility. So, did you need me for something?" Robin asked Christian.

"Um, yes. I was asked by Ponzu if you were going to make an appearance at dinner, or if you still needed sleep." Christian replied. Then he turned to Jasmine. "You sure do like to visit Robin a lot. Isn't he fine aside from no magic spells?"

Jasmine lifted a quizzical eyebrow. "I could say the same thing to you, actually. Who ever heard of a prince that delivers messages from his chef?" She poked fun at him. "Couldn't Gerard or Keith have come just as easily?"

Christian's face darkened. "Keith is busy reorganizing the soldiers barracks, and Gerard is out in the town on a different errand. I was the only one left that wasn't a girl ready to swoon over Robin, or try jumping in his bed while he was sleeping."

Robin was surprised. Were other women actually that brazen? She glanced at Jasmine. "Cousin, it seems that I've been saved. What need I do?"

"Very well, I permit you to acknowledge Christian as your brother." Jasmine snickered.

"Hey! Why do I get the feeling that was an insult?" Robin frowned.

"Because you two are just as bad at jumping into trouble head first!" Jasmine announced.

"I object!" Robin exclaimed, raising her hand. "I may get into trouble, but I can at least get myself out of it on my own!"

"Why you!" Christian growled, and quickly messed Robin's hair up, before Robin escaped from under his hand.

"Bleh! If you ever become my brother, it will be as my younger brother!" Robin teased from the doorway.

"I am older than you!" Christian objected.

"Sorry, but the occupation for my father is already filled!" Robin teased, cheekily.

"Get back here!" Christian called as the two went on a merry chase about the estate. It ended when Christian had to stop in the estate gardens, due to being out of breath.

"How can you run so fast?" He panted.

"Hmm...I was in track and field for a bit, until people started pulling cheap soapbox dramas in the background. Then I quit school to go abroad with my older brother and was homeschooled ever since...Maybe it's my wind affinity?" Robin answered.

"Soap box? Track and field? What does any of that mean? And what does that have to do with your wind affinity?" Christian asked, confused.

"Hmm...come to think of it, no it doesn't. Forget about it, then." Robin said, too lazy to explain, looking out at the sunset.

"..." For the first time that week, Christian was speechless. In the golden light of the setting sun, Robin looked like a perfect picture one could only find in a painting.

'Beautiful...' Was all that Christian could think, before snapping out of his daze.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He finally asked, his cheeks a bit red, both from his run, and from his sudden newfound shyness. He looked away, unable to meet Robin's eyes for the moment. "Jasmine said not to push yourself, after all."

Robin was surprised for the third time that day. Then she realized something. This awkward side of the Prince was kind of....cute. She smiled at the sudden thought. The Prince? Cute?

"Heh heh!" She chuckled, and rubbed her nose before asking. "So does that mean that you're worried about me?"

"Ahem! I mean, we can't have you collapsing on the way again, after all!" He turned his head, avoiding Robin's observing eyes.

'If he knows what I think about him, then I'll be one hundred percent dead!' Is what Christian was thinking at the time.

"Oh?" Robin smiled, feeling warm and fuzzy feelings tickling in her chest. So he did care about her. But he was trying to keep up appearances. And Robin remembered that soon she would be returning to her world. So she took a step back and looked around at the gardens, pretending she hadn't understood or noticed anything.

'Time to be a riajuu.' Robin thought to herself. (AN: A Riajuu is a main character that is unaware of the beaut[y][ies] that are pining for the mc's love or attention.)

"You don't have to worry about that." Robin said, innocently. "I'm used to not using magic, so I am okay with doing things by hand." She flexed her arm, cheerfully.

"See? That's all lean muscle from years of practice. What we did today was hardly a warmup for what I usually do on a normal day. So, rest a.s.sured, I'll be fine!"

"O-oh? Is that so? I see." Christian responded. 'Whew! Safe!'

"We-well, It should be almost time for dinner. If you're hungry, you better head inside before Gerard and Keith finish it off!" Christian said. "I heard that tonight's dinner will be especially tasty!"

Robin watched as he headed back towards the house. And, upon sudden impulse, took out her camera, and snapped a photo of Christian.

'It's almost a shame for me to leave...' She thought to herself, as she returned the camera to her bag.

'Just when I finally met a nice guy...' Robin smiled a bit sadly to herself before heading back inside. Out of sight, Keith had observed the whole scene.

"Heh heh!" He chuckled. As a former general, how could his sharp eyes not see the change in Christian's att.i.tude? Now he finally had something else to tease-er 'warn' Christian about.

----------

Dinner was a nice, hearty beer wyvern stew from the remaining ingredients left in the carriage. Robin was only allowed to eat the stew, even though there were several other tasty tidbits going around the dinner table. Robin looked longingly at the melting potatoes before returning to her stew. Other things, like the baked asparagus fries with hollandaise sauce, deviled eggs, and even the cole slaw, didn't hold as much of an appeal to her.

And then came dessert. Everyone received a plate upon which a jiggly golden jello, the size of a fist, gleamed. Robin's plate, however, was filled with small jello drops the size of a thumb, stacked on top of each other in a small pyramid. While that was impressive enough, Robin's jello had something else, which made it the centerpiece of the entire table.

Inside of each jiggly jello drop was a genuine flower head. The ones with goldenrod inside had small cl.u.s.ters of goldenrod blossoms, instead of just one. Ponzu had left out a third of the flowers Robin had given him to accomplish this. And the top jello drop was a bit larger than the others, as it held a bright yellow dandelion blossom inside of it.

All of the other jellos were a simple transparent gold. Ponzu had filtered out the flowers he had boiled with the gelatin. So, all of the jellos were the same flavor. Robin's jello simply had more decoration. But, that didn't stop the others from looking enviously at it.

Truly, there is no jealousy without comparison. But, that didn't restrain Robin. She ignored the gazes, since she finally had something else that she could eat! The cool jelly was a delight to her entire mouth.

Seeing her face light up with delight, the rest turned to their own plates of jello. Among them was the mayor, and his household, as well as the newly-appointed captain of the soldiers. They had wanted to speak to Robin over the course of dinner, but the food was so tasty that they had forgotten all about it.