After what feels like an hour, I finally finish mopping the floor. Now if I could only make it dry faster so I could begin sweeping it...
Mister Austria comes out to check, and I hide inside my shell in case he wants to stomp on me again.
"Well it appears to be properly scrubbed down, now you can take a break to have dinner. And quit hiding in your shell, you coward!"
He kicks my shell and I pop out in alarm. He escorts me to the dining room.
Seeing how large the dining room is, I dread the time when he will ask me to clean it. He sits down to his meal as well, having politely waited for me to finish my chore before eating.
"Take note of how the table is set because you are going to set it next time."
The meal is nothing more than a sandwich with a frankfurter inside.
"Um, Mister Austria, why are we dining on cheap frankfurters?"
"They are called Vienna sausages in other countries, but we call them frankfurters because they were created in Frankfurt. Were you expecting me to cook you a fancy meal every night?"
"Well, yeah. My family does, and you appear to be even wealthier than they are."
"And that's why." Mister Austria takes a small bite of sausage and delicately pats his mouth with his handkerchief afterwards.
I flush in shame, recalling how I have neglected my etiquette while living with my father.
After mimicking Mister Austria and taking a bite, I find that it does not taste bad at all considering that it's commoner fare. Then again, perhaps I am simply used to eating cheap food from living with King Dad. Or then, perhaps Mister Austria is such a splendid cook that he can make the most out of the least.
"May I please have some dessert?" I ask, after I finish, to my shame, several bites ahead of Mister Austria.
"You are expecting to have dessert every night, are you not? That is not healthy! No wonder you are fat and have enough fillings to trigger a metal detector!"
"You are just being cheap again, aren't you, Mister Austria? If you are so rich, why do you not put all that money to good use and treat yourself?"
"Do you not realize that every Schilling I spend on myself is a Schilling I do not spend on the people? Why do you think our country is so prosperous? Why do you think you are able to play music and study all day instead of working like you might very well have to do if you lived in a country where the leaders are rather more indulgent? America, for instance, spends like he has a hole in his pocket, and his people are falling into debt just to get the education that we get here for free! He only lives in relative luxury because China is happy to work for him for lower wages than Americans would accept, and if he keeps it up he will have to borrow money from China that he will likely never pay back! But your pampered ass does not understand the principles of economics, do you?"
"I... beg to differ, Mister Austria." I reflect on how my father steals from his own people and spends it greedily, often going into debt himself, until his people are so poor that he has to expand his empire so he can have more money to steal. He uses very little, if any, of it to support education, which is why he sends me to school in the Mushroom Kingdom.
"But it seems to me that you are treating me the way America treats China!" I add. "Cheap labor! Tell me, how did you ever get these chores done without me?"
"Simple. I did them myself. But it helps to have another country such as you around to do them for me. That way I can spend more time on developing my country's economy. That is how empires become prosperous."
"But that isn't a fair trade! You get work out of me, and what do I get in return? You are being hypocritical by scorning America for treating China that way!"
"Quiet! I have your country do the unnecessary chores that I do not want to do, but that does not mean that your country gets nothing in return!"
I look up again at Mister Austria's face. He displays all the signs of being selfish and hypocritical, and yet somehow he does not strike me as such. Perhaps because his beauty, grace and outward elegance hides his character flaws. Perhaps that was why I had put up with his treatment.
"Now we shall wash the dishes. I will show you how, and you will do them every night from then on on your own. And then you shall sweep the ballroom, which should be dry by then, and then I will show you to your bedroom."
"Yes Mister Austria..."