-Kashion-
The next morning, Kashion stood in front of his door with a smile. His gaze fell on the Cheqi board. He hadn't changed the pieces. Oren looked at him skeptically.
"Something's different," he finally said.
"It certainly is." Kashion felt a quiet anticipation inside and was far more relaxed now. "I found out something important about the Princess."
Oren raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Kashion offered no explanation. For now, this was his little secret with the Princess.
When he stood facing her shortly afterward, she looked different to him. Even more beautiful. Her eyes seemed to shine more brightly. And when she looked into his eyes, he almost felt something like a connection.
This time, the brown-haired maid stood beside her instead of Prior. Kashion glanced at Oren and could actually detect something like disappointment. Strangely enough, Kashion didn't feel sorry for him.
"I'll prepare the hover," Oren said after the greetings.
They were planning to visit the city center of Lantian, the capital of Tingdao. Kashion knew that Saturn had no major cities like those on Earth. He hoped he could impress Evlina with it. Lantian was a megacity filled with greenery.
Once they were seated in the hover, Kashion finally said to Evlina, "Thank you for your advice yesterday. It helped me a great deal."
Evlina looked at him in surprise and confusion. Then it was as if something clicked.
"Oh, that. It was only a small thing I had to learn myself. You'll see—it makes everything much easier afterward."
"I believe so. Do you play—"
Kashion was suddenly interrupted by a ringing tone.
Talina checked her messenger. "Princess, it's your father."
"Oh," Evlina said softly, putting in her earpieces and beginning to speak with him.
It seemed he simply wanted to check on her well-being and ask what she had been doing so far.
By the time the call ended, they had already arrived in the city center. Kashion stepped out and offered Evlina his arm. She placed her small, delicate hand on it and stepped out as well, smiling at him warmly.
"Please forgive me. My father has been very busy and only just found time to speak with me. I apologize for interrupting our conversation."
"It's quite all right, Princess. It's completely understandable."
"What were you going to ask me?"
But Kashion suddenly felt it was no longer the right moment to talk about Cheqi. He wanted to focus on showing her the city.
"I'll ask you later. What would you like to see first?"
Evlina looked around thoughtfully. "If I may choose, I would love to see one of the large shopping centers—and later perhaps go somewhere with delicious food."
Kashion was slightly surprised; he hadn't expected that. From his sister he knew how important clothes and certain gadgets could be to some women. And Evlina was always impeccably dressed. That morning she wore dark blue trousers and a yellow blouse. It wasn't ceremonial attire, yet on her it somehow still looked almost festive.
So they headed first to Lantian's largest shopping center.
-Prior-
Prior had changed into lab clothing and was introduced to the scientific team of Laboratory 1. Talina had been assigned to Laboratory 2. Lab 1 focused more on advanced, cutting-edge research.
Prior was nervous. This had once been her field—before everything had fallen apart. Back then, she had loved devoting herself almost entirely to research. Now it felt like a part of her life that no longer truly belonged to her.
Still, she remained deeply interested in petroleum synthesis research. After all, it concerned her homeland as well. Naturally, before the trade agreement was finalized, Earth wouldn't grant her too much insight. Saturn was simply meant to see why an agreement with Tingdao would be so attractive. Tingdao was one of the most advanced realms in modern plastic production.
The researchers kept their distance and seemed cautious. After the introductions, Prior was assigned to a scientist named Yin, who would supervise her for the day.
Yin seemed friendly and perhaps ten or twenty years older than Prior—estimating age had never been one of Prior's strengths.
"I'm so excited to work with you," Yin said. "To be honest, it's one of my dreams to visit Saturn someday."
"You can speak to me informally," Prior replied.
"Oh, I prefer that as well."
"I haven't seen much of Earth yet, but I can definitely recommend traveling to Saturn. We have many beautiful landscapes and cities."
"If only it weren't so expensive," Yin said.
That was true. An ordinary person could hardly afford such a journey. Some managed it as transport workers, but even then it didn't mean they were allowed to leave the spaceport. Some transport companies insisted on immediate departure after loading and unloading. And immigration regulations were no longer as relaxed as they once had been.
"What are you currently researching?" Prior asked.
"We have several stations. My task is to examine Aethereleum more closely and find better packaging and transportation methods for it."
"That's interesting. I can tell you everything I learned about Aethereleum back then."
"Were you in science?" Yin asked.
Prior swallowed and hesitated. It was still a painful subject. "Yes. I worked in Aethereleum research."
"Excellent," Yin said.
"At the moment, I'm particularly interested in Earth's new findings on oil extraction from gas."
Yin looked at her with wide eyes. "Ah. That's the most interesting topic for all of us. Unfortunately, it's currently classified. None of us can share anything about it before the agreement is signed. But I can say that there have been some interesting breakthroughs recently."
Prior was glad to hear that. And she understood—too much was at stake for either side to take risks. So she and Yin continued exchanging knowledge about Aethereleum instead.
-Kashion-
After Evlina had explored much of the shopping center, Kashion insisted on showing her the botanical gardens as well as the Great Tower, from which one could see the entire city. Evlina expressed genuine admiration and seemed amazed by Earth's diversity in the gardens.
Kashion felt proud that he could offer her so much.
He noticed that Oren was unusually quiet. He knew his servant often struggled with small talk, and Talina—Evlina's maid—didn't seem to connect with him very well today, despite being rather talkative. Kashion found that surprising; Prior had seemed much quieter than Talina, and yet Oren had quickly formed something like a friendship with her.
Still, Kashion didn't want to dwell too much on his servant. It was Oren's duty to accompany him, just as it was the duty of Evlina's attendants. What truly mattered was his relationship with Evlina. Getting to know her better had priority.
In the afternoon, they went to a charming café. Kashion introduced her to a few Tingdao specialties. Evlina chose only a small slice of cake. He sat opposite her, while Oren and Talina sat at a table nearby.
Now Kashion finally wanted to bring up the subject.
"Does it taste good?" he asked.
"It's excellent. Thank you."
"I hope you've enjoyed the day."
"Oh yes, everything has been very interesting. Thank you for taking so much time."
"Of course. It's only proper. And I believe it's best to get to know each other well before the official talks begin."
Evlina smiled. "Absolutely. So much depends on it. Our future might change forever."
Kashion felt nervous. The thought was no longer as frightening as before, but he still felt uneasy at the idea of possibly having a family of his own soon.
"How long have you been playing?" he finally asked.
Evlina looked at him in confusion.
"You know more rules than I do," he added.
"Playing? I'm terribly sorry, Prince Kashion, but I don't know what you're talking about."
Kashion was stunned. Had she completely forgotten?
"I'm speaking of Cheqi."
"Cheqi?!" the Princess laughed. "Oh goodness, I don't play Cheqi. It's far too strategic and boring for me. I'm sorry."
Kashion felt briefly shaken. What was that supposed to mean? He didn't know what to say. The small plant of hope that had grown so quickly the previous evening was already beginning to wither. Perhaps he had simply misunderstood—or perhaps she was joking.
When he received no further clarification, Evlina stopped smiling and looked at him thoughtfully.
"I didn't know you liked the game. If you're looking for someone to play with, I can recommend my maid Prior. She played it the entire journey to Earth."
Prior? That couldn't be right. Prior?