#diamond's queue

Being the princess elect came with benefits. One of them being was having other people cook her meals for her. Sure, Serene wouldn't mind cooking herself. But the personal chefs were more than happy to do the hard work for her.

During her first meal at the palace, Chancellor Giles questioned the princess elect for any food allergies. Thankfully, Serene did not have any. However, she made a request to not include a certain vegetable in the meals: cucumbers.

"I wasn't expecting that response from you, princess.", Giles commented, his arms folded across his chest in their usual position. "Being a former home tutor, you probably had to encourage the children to eat their vegetables, no?"

"Y-yes, I did actually.", Serene muttered, feeling quite embarrassed.

"Please don't take it the wrong way. I am your advisor, not your babysitter. I won't force you to eat them, however, keep in mind that you desired to set a good example to the children of Wysteria."

"Heh, I said that, didn't I? I suppose I could try to eat them more. Just to be a good role model and all."

"That's fine by me. I do hope that you'll keep up with your word."

Time has passed since that conversation with the princess. The chancellor kept his eye on Serene- only to ensure that she was enjoying her food. He also hoped that she kept on her promise.

However, there was one time where Giles regretted not being more observant. It was dinner time and Serene has a salad for her side meal. She wouldn't have had much of a problem with it if only there weren't cucumbers in it.

Seeing her disgruntled expression, Alyn stepped in and rescue her.

"Hey, if you won't eat cucumbers, then why bother having the chefs prepare it in your food?", the captain whispered in an annoyed tone.

"I'm just trying to get used to eating them more-", Serene responded before Alyn stopped her.

"You shouldn't be forcing yourself to eat something you don't like. You always look so unhappy when you're eating them...and I hate seeing you like that."

Stunned by the knight's response, Serene turned to face Alyn, who quickly averted his eyes. The princess lightly chuckled at the blush creeping on his face. Serene continued eating her food when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"I'll eat them for you. Feed me?", Alyn concluded, a small smirk on his face.

"Huh?! U-um ok.", Serene nervously muttered, picking up cucumber pieces with her fork. Her hand was shaking as she brought the utensil to Alyn's mouth. He poked her nose before accepting the food.

As their eyes met, the princess felt less nervous. She couldn't stop herself from giggling as she continued to feed him the "horrid" vegetables.

Curious about the sudden loud noises, Giles looked up from his plate. As he eyed the princess elect sharing her vegetables with the knight's captain, he felt disappointed. He hoped Serene would keep her word about eating cucumbers more. However, seeing how happy the two of them were currently, Giles' frown soon softened into a gentle smile.