Sitting back down, Xarakas took the offered plate with a polite "Thank you," inspecting the meal that was unfamiliar to him but seemed to have the princess salivating.
"If I didn't care about whether you died or not," he added, "I'd continue to let you behave this way. But I'd rather see you live, so this is for your own good, whether you resent me for it or not. Now eat whatever this strange food is, because you need to gain your strength back."
Nodding as he thanked her, Asha started to pick up her enchilada but then paused. "You care whether I live or die?" she asked, clearly surprised.
She was too flabbergasted to even try to explain Nana's cooking and encourage him to take a bite, much eat herself.
"But I thought you disliked me. Which is—that's fine, of course. Not everyone has to personally like me. But I thought that was why you always seemed so… cold and distant with me and insisted on being formal."
He shook his head. "If I don't behave perfectly, with correct protocol and formality, I could lose my head, Princess. I don't have the luxury of being able to say or do whatever I want with no consequences. If I fuck up, I'm dead. Or worse, depending on if your father, the king, is feeling merciful, and I don't really intend to ever find out whether he'd simply kill me outright or whether he'd prolong my suffering indefinitely for speaking out of turn or doing something to offend him."
Asha meanwhile, finding the smell of her meal too enticing to put off, even if it wasn't exactly polite to talk while eating, took a couple of bites of her enchilada as Xarakas explained his behavior towards her.
"And at first, when you didn't know me, you weren't sure whether I'd tattle on you to 'Daddy' if I decided you were bad?" she guessed wryly.
"I'm not the good little perfect daughter he thinks I am, you know. I don't always do everything he says or wants, and I certainly don't tell him everything. I'm not going to try to convince you to act differently than you have been around others, but at least when we're alone, you really can drop the formalities.
Asha smiled faintly, adding teasingly, "I'd prefer it, honestly. It'd be nice to know what you actually think of me for me."
"Oh, I have no delusions about you and your devious nature, Princess. I can tell you're no angel, despite your parentage," Xarakas countered, a hint of a smirk on his lips. "I can assure you I think you're just swell, Princess. No need to get your feelings all in a twist over little old me."
His teasing came as a surprise, given that he'd never done anything of the sort before, but Asha grinned as if it were the greatest thing to have ever happened to her.
"It was the cursing in Demonease that gave me away, wasn't it?"
Still, she couldn't help but roll her eyes as he called her swell. "Well, it's better than spoiled brat at least. And part of dropping the formalities includes the title. I know you know my name."
"Oh no, Princess, I could read you like a book the moment I met you, Xarakas said with a faint smirk, taking another bite of his meal.
"It was obvious to me you weren't the angel your father takes you for as soon as you walked into his office. And I'd prefer to stick to the formalities, Princess. Actions are easier to conceal, while words are more often overheard. I'd rather not get in trouble for not referring to you with the proper titles."