Having sent the herald back home after a little confrontation in the morning, Princess Lin did not intend for a grand entrance to the staff cafeteria.
She told herself it was only to have spaghetti carbonara. Having a chance to run into Lee Jun was only an an after thought, of course.
Although the teachers were more disciplined than the students in keeping themselves from being wowed too much, there was still a sense of fascination in the air as the Princess made her appearance, closely followed by her Royal Maid Mari.
Lin was instantly recognized by the cafeteria lady at the entrance, who happened to be a fan of the Royal Family and loved following all the gossip, and when it came to gossip and amusing stories, there was no one better than Princess Disaster Herself.
"Oh my, Your Highness, thank you for gracing our humble cafeteria with your presence"
And the lady suitably overreacted, probably enacting a fantasy she's held for a long time.
"Thank you. What is on the menu today?", the Princess asked her directly, to the absolute delight of the lady.
"We have spaghetti carbonara"
"I would like to have one then, please"
"Er…, Your Highness, are you sure? This is just very simple food"
"Her Highness wants carbonara and Her Highness shall get it", Mari butted in.
"Understood!", the lady quickly ran to the serving line.
In a blink, she came back with a tray and bowed her head down as she presented it to the Princess.
"Tsk!", Mari took the tray instead and the lady realized the mistake she had made, but just as she was about to apologize Lin granted her a rare warm smile of gratitude that melted her heart. This was a memory she was sure to treasure and tell her grandchildren.
The Princess then quickly scanned the cafeteria with wandering eyes, and as she did so some teachers nodded while others looked away as if not to appear too obviously awe-struck by seeing the Princess in flesh.
'Ah, there he is', Lin finally found Lee Jun at the table near the window where he sat with a few other teachers. Seeing that there was no free seat left on that table, she decided to go there anyway.
Jun noticed her walking toward his table with her maid following close behind holding the food tray and was puzzled what was going on, but was somewhat irritated that the good natured Mr. Marassa swiftly got up from his seat announcing that the nature called him.
"Is this seat taken?", the Princess Obvious asked Jun with royal bluntness as soon as Mr. Marassa left the table.
'What the heck is she saying?'
"No, it's not", Jun responded regardless.
"Her Highness will take this seat", Mari set the tray on the table and pulled out the chair for Lin.
'Gees, this Her Highness stuff again. Is Lin going to bring these people around to school every day?'
"Oh, please do", Ms. Smith from across the table gestured for her to sit.
"Thank you"
With that, the Princess calmly sat down next to her young teacher, only to notice that everyone had already finished the meal and they all sat around awkwardly.
The attentive Royal Maid Mari has been looking after Lin since she was young though, and understood not so long ago what her mischievous girl was up to and grinned inside.
"You may leave the table"
She said it as she made eye contacts with Ms. Smith and Mr. Camps in turn, deliberately leaving out Jun. The other teachers took the cue and also got up to vacate the table so that there was only the Princess and her (minor) crush left.
The two awkward pair sat next to each other, the Princess specifically positioned close enough to the English teacher by the cunning maid when she moved the chair, their elbows almost touching. Lin did not start eating and just stared into blank space in front of her with her hands on her laps, while Jun - who had already finished his meal as well - sat in his seat leaning forward a little with his arms on the table.
"Aren't you going to eat, Mr. Lee?", the Princess broke the silence.
"I… have finished my meal", Jun would have left if he had the chance earlier, but now he couldn't possibly leave his student behind to eat all by herself on the first day of school.
"Her Highness generously offers you the Royal Lunch Box", the scheming maid moved aside Jun's empty plate and placed the golden lunch box in front of him.
"Mari! No-", Lin tried to stop but the damage was already done.
The confused teacher looked at the most ridiculously luxurious lunch box he has ever seen, with the Royal Crest engraved at the top with Princess Lin written just below it, but the dot at the top of 'i' replaced with a heart.
'What the…'
Jun's eyes traveled back and forth between the Royal Crest and the heart while stealing a side glance at the blushing face of the Princess.
Although Lee Jun earlier played down the royal customs during his morning homeroom class, he knew that turning down the meal offered by royalty might be a bit too rude, not to mention the fact that it would effectively force Lin to eat by herself while he sat there twiddling his thumbs.
'Screw it…'
"Thank you very much... Lin"
When faced with an adversity, especially those of embarrassing nature, Lin knew the most befitting way for a princess to handle it is with composure and a show of confidence.
"You are most welcome", she theatrically leaned her head back slightly to point the tip of her nose upward at an angle and announced, closing her eyes for a second.
The young man swallowed his sigh and opened the box and was expectedly surprised by its lavishness.
'Oh man… this would have been such a treat if I wasn't so full now'
"This looks excellent", Jun complimented nevertheless.
"Mm hm", was all Lin could say.
"What brings you here though? This is staff cafeteria"
"I… just wanted to have carbonara", the coy Princess spoke and all Jun could do was to dive in and stuff himself.