The Black Sky Pirate Laughs Beneath the Moon. The Crimson Mage Howls at the Stars (46)

Princess Anastasia had been sitting in a white-painted chair on the balcony. When she noticed me, she half rose from her seat, and her expression lit up. Hmm, is she a puppy? She was astonishingly beautiful when silent, and her delighted, age-appropriate smile was almost unfairly adorable. The men around here would fall head over heels before they knew it if they weren't careful.

"..."

No, judging by the three Lef women attendants standing beside her and sighing in admiration, she seemed to affect women too, not just men. And apparently, she could even effortlessly transcend the barrier between races.

When I tried to kneel on one knee, she flapped both hands in a panic, making a motion like she was lifting her skirt. So she was telling me to stand.

'I apologize for calling you here so suddenly.'

She held out a memo she had already written,

"Not at all. I don't own any formalwear, so I'm sorry to be dressed like this."

At Her Highness's invitation, I sat beside her, with the table between us. We sat with our backs to the building, facing each other at an angle. This probably made communicating in writing easier; neither of us had to keep turning the paper around.

This seemed to be Her Highness's residence, and its spacious green garden was an extremely rare sight in this city. The tall buildings probably had a view of us, but even the nearest one was about a hundred meters away.

"So, what did you wish to discuss...?"...