CHAPTER 4

AN INTERESTING OFFER

"Welcome home you two!" Tsukune`s mother said as Tsukune and Yukari came closer. "Hello Mizore!" She greeted her children`s friend. She hesitated when she saw Moka; unlike most of the villagers, she had never seen the princess before, so she had no idea who this beautiful girl that her son had brought home with him was. She turned to him. "Tsukune, have you finally gotten a girlfriend?" She whispered to him. Tsukune`s face turned red and Yukari giggled.

"N-no! Of course not Mom!" Tsukune quickly corrected. By this time, Moka had reached them and was looking at the mother and son curiously. Tsukune cleared his throat and gestured to Moka. "Mom, this is Princess Moka." Tsukune`s mothers` eyes widened. The princess? At her house? She frantically brushed her hands of any invisible dirt on her apron, and then stuck out her hand to shake with the princess.

"It`s a pleasure to meet you, princess!" She said as Moka took her hand. "You can call me Kasumi!" Moka didn`t know how to react to this chipper woman, so she just nodded and followed them inside. Moka looked around. She was in a small room with a worn-down welcome mat beneath her feet. To her right, there was a door-less entryway to a slightly bigger room with a beat up couch and some floor mats. In front of her there was an entrance to what appeared to be a kitchen, as the smell of soup was wafting into her nose from that direction. To her left was the bedroom, with the bed scattered around the room. Moka could see a bucket underneath the hole in the roof at the center of the room. Moka was brought out of her gazing by a tug on her dress that when she looked saw it was Yukari pulling her towards the kitchen. Kasumi made everyone sit down, even Moka (despite her protests that she wasn`t hungry). While they were having dinner, Kasumi started some conversation. "So princess, what do you think of the town?" Moka was not expecting the question, so it took a few seconds to formulate the answer.

"It`s very nice. It has a nice atmosphere and-"

"No thanks to you and your family." Mizore cut her off mid-sentence. Tsukune, Kasumi, and Yukari froze. Moka`s eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"Look around you, princess." Mizore embellished the title in a way that was clearly disrespectful. "Do you think that this is an uncommon thing? What magical cloud do you live on?" Truthfully, Moka had never really given much thought to the state of the town; she had just trusted that her parents were doing a good job. Seeing this, however, made her reconsider her position. Mizore misinterpreted her silence, and turned to Tsukune to gloat. "See Tsukune? She clearly doesn-"she stopped when she realized that Tsukune`s attention wasn`t on her, but on Moka. Moka however, didn`t notice this: she was too busy glaring at Mizore. Then her anger faded as the truth sunk in: she was right. This wasn`t uncommon. She couldn`t help everyone. But, Moka realized, I can help these people. She turned to Kasumi.

"Pardon me for asking, but what does your husband do for a living?" Kasumi seemed a bit taken aback at the question.

"He`s a merchant; he sells goods at the marketplace every day." Perfect. Moka thought. She turned to Tsukune, who could tell from the look in her eyes that his princess had something on her mind.

"Tsukune," she said in the same commanding voice that she had used on him in the town, "how would you like to come and work at the castle as a servant?" The room was silent for a moment. Then, Tsukune broke the silence by saying something that summarized the collective thoughts of everyone in the room: "Um, what?"

"Well, you see Tsukune," Moka started to say. "When someone works for the royal fam-"

"Do you really think that little of us?" Tsukune quietly asked. Moka was confused for a second, then her eyes widened as she realized what he had inferred from her offer. She quickly tried to rephrase what she said.

"Tsukune, that's not what I meant!" Moka said. "What I meant was that when you work for the royal family, you don`t have to pay taxes! I didn`t mean to insult you or your family!" Tsukune let out a breath that he didn`t know he was holding. He stared at Moka.

"What are the circumstances?"

"Well, you`ll be able to see your family, and you`ll have to live at the castle. You`ll be my personal servant, so you`ll have to answer to me." Moka said.

"Tsukune, you can`t seriously be considering this!" Mizore said. "Mrs. Aono, don`t you have something to say?" Kasumi was simply sitting there looking back and forth from her son to her princess, unsure of what to do. They could use the help, but to not have Tsukune around the house…

"I`ll do it." Tsukune said with determination.

For some reason, Moka felt her heart beat a little faster.

XXXXXXXXX

"Good morning Princess." Corma said, pulling up the shades to her room as he did every morning. Moka groaned and turned over.

"Corma, what time is it?" Moka mumbled in her half-asleep state.

"The same time that I always wake you up Princess: 7 o`clock sharp." Moka`s eyes opened, now fully awake, and she jerked up.

"Tsukune will be here any minute!" Moka exclaimed.

"Ah, yes, the new recruit." Corma said with a hint of distaste that Moka didn`t pick up on.

"Corma, I want you to show Tsukune the ropes and show him around. Make sure that he`s comfortable in his new room. Understand?" Corma`s normally infallible smile faltered for a moment.

"Yes your highness. Is there anything else that you need?"

"No, thank you Corma." Before anything else could transpire, however, there was a shout from downstairs.

"Princess! The new recruit is here!"

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So, what do you think so far? Next time, Ruby and Koka will make an appearance. Also, don`t expect Moka`s parents to make an appearance, because I read the manga as it comes out in stores, not online, and in the manga so far, Akuha is just making her appearance. So, yeah. Anyway, thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated!