Aria was deeply engrossed in her book, when her stomach gave a growl.
She looked up and saw that the fire was burning quite low and the moon had changed positions, which meant quite some time had passed.
She shoved Joseph who was lying on his side beside her, saying, "Hey, sleeping beauty? How about you get up?"
Joseph groggily opened his eyes and said, "Why are you waking me up in the middle of the night? And why are you in my room, Aria?"
Aria rolled her eyes and said, "The reason I'm waking you is exactly because we are not in your room. And I'm hungry."
Joseph's mind seemed to be clearer now as he sat up, yawned and stretched, "Come. I know a great place for some midnight snack."
Aria and Joseph put out the fire and the two flew over to the capital city. Joseph led Aria towards a modern looking restaurant which was still open. He said, "24 hour restaurants. There should be more of them."
They went in. The restaurant inside was not very luxuriously decorated but it was clean and had a nice look to it. Various fires burnt in lamps hanging from the ceiling and there were candles on the tables, though not lighted.
The place was fairly deserted except for a man with his face hidden beneath a hood drinking deeply from a big pitcher.
A sleepy looking waitress came and lit up the candles at the table where Aria and Joseph had just sat. She said in a monotonous voice, "Welcome. What would you like to have?"
Joseph said, "How about the usual? Make it two portions."
The waitress seemed to awake upon hearing Joseph's voice as she looked up from her little notebook and exclaimed, "Oh my god, Joseph! It's been such a long time. We have so much catching up to do."
Joseph smiled, "I agree. But would you mind if we chatted while we ate. I'm rather hungry."
The waitress slapped her forehead, "Of course. I'll be right back with your order."
Joseph called out to her back, "Remember, two portions."
Aria looked at Joseph surprised, "You come here often?"
Joseph chuckled, "I used to. But I've not been here for a long time."
Aria nodded, "The people here know you?"
Joseph smiled bitterly, "You'll be surprised at how many people know you when you are the son of the commander-in-chief and have lived in a city your whole life."
Aria looked down and thought about how popular she would have been if she had not been sentenced to death by her whole family. She was the granddaughter of the king after all. But here she was now, a nobody, without even a last name.
She shook her head and pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Aria looked around and said, "It's a nice place."
Joseph nodded, "For a 24-hour restaurant, it is."
Aria: "Say, how come nobody really knows Helen?"
Joseph: "She was never one to roam around. The people who came into the castle do know her. But not the common folks. They have only heard of her."
By then the food arrived. Joseph's usual consisted of a bowl of noodles and fried vegetables with, to Aria's surprise, red wine.