Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Hargeon.
August 4, x791.
"Come on, Brandish~." Lucy said, her exasperation palpable. "Why are you taking so long to get dressed? The guests will be here any minute now."
"Because it's a pain." Brandish replied languidly while slowly pulling on the stockings of the 8-Island uniform. "Why does this uniform have to be so complicated? What I usually wear is so much better."
"What you usually wear?" Lucy scoffed while rolling her eyes. "You basically walk around in lingerie with a coat over top. Most people wouldn't even call that being dressed."
"Whatever." Brandish replied in a bored tone. "Alfonzo doesn't seem to have a problem with it."
"Is that what you think?" Lucy asked, rolling her eyes again. "Well then, you're thinking wrong."
Hearing that, Brandish raised her head to look at Lucy with her eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?" Brandish asked, her tone much more serious than before.
"Do you really think any man likes seeing his woman showing off the goods for any other man to see?' Lucy asked, rolling her eyes for a third time. "I'm not even a man, and I know the answer to that. The answer is no. But Alfonzo doesn't want to stifle your sense of self. So, he doesn't say anything. Only weirdos like Juvia don't mind their partner showing everything to everyone."
At the same time, somewhere in Fiore, both Gray and Juvia sneezed. Then, Juvia smiled goofily when she realized that she and Gray did the same thing at the same time.
Meanwhile, Brandish's eyes widened to a comical degree when she finished processing Lucy's words. She then looked down at herself, clad in the 8-Island uniform, and saw the large amount of cleavage on display, as well as the little bit of thigh peaking out between her skirt and stockings. She then glanced at Lucy before standing up.
"He doesn't seem to have an issue with what you wear." Brandish said as she reached out with one of her slender fingers and hooked the top of Lucy's uniform. She then pulled, making even more of Lucy's breasts visible. "I mean, you're always showing cleavage and leg. So, what's the difference?"
*Smack!*
"Stop that." Lucy said, slapping away Brandish's hand with a slight blush on her face before covering her chest defensively. "And of course there's a difference. I'm actually wearing real clothes. There's still something left to the imagination."
"Mhmm~." Brandish hummed dismissively as she turned away. And it was clear she did not take Lucy's words seriously. "Anyway, it's about time to start working. Let's go."
"Ugh! Brandish, you're impossible!" Lucy groaned in annoyance as she adjusted her top. "Hey, wait for me!"
A moment later, with Brandish in the lead, Lucy and Brandish stepped out of the female employees' locker room. At the same time, Alfonzo, dressed in a white chef uniform with his hair under a hair net, stepped out of the male employees' locker room with a tall chef's hat in hand.
"Oh, I don't think I've ever seen you wearing this much clothing before, Brandish." Alfonzo said with a smile while looking Brandish and Lucy up and down with an appreciative gaze. "Either way, both of you wear that uniform well."
"You think so?" Lucy asked, striking a pose that highlighted her best assets. "Then, should I ask Lici to make me an outfit in the same style?"
"If you do, I won't complain." Alfonzo replied with a smile.
Meanwhile, Brandish noticed the way Alfonzo looked her over. And what she saw shocked her. Although Alfonzo always looks at her with a bit of heat in his gaze. And why wouldn't he? Seeing how his eyes glinted with more appreciation than usual, she somewhat understood Lucy's take on dressing properly.
'Maybe wearing somethign different for him every once in a while isn't such a bad idea.' Brandish thought to herself while listening to Alfonzo's and Lucy's back and forth.
"Good, you're all dressed." Yajima said after stepping out of the kitchen. "The guests should arrive shortly. They'll be dining in the private room at the end of the hall on the second floor. Lucy, Brandish, you'll be in charge of serving them. Alfonzo and I will be in charge of the cooking."
"Sure." Brandish replied in her usual bored tone.
"Got it!" Lucy replied energetically. "And with looks like ours, they should leave some pretty good tips, right?"
"That will depend more on your service than your looks." Yajima said in a proffessional tone. He then turned to look at Alfonzo. "Oh, and they've ordered the duck as the main course for their meal. Do you think you can take care of the cutting on sight?"
"No problem." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "The only question is how fancy do you want me to get?"
"As fancy as you can." Yajima replied with a nod. "This guest is the highest-profile guest 8-Island has ever received."
"Now that you mention it, you never told us who the guest is for tonight." Lucy pointed out while cupping her chin with her right hand.
"Oh? I didn't?" Yajima asked, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. "My apologies. It seems I was so caught up with the thought of making everything proceed properly that I forgot."
Reaching that ppoint, Yajima stopped to take a deep breath. Then, his perpetually squinted eyes opened about halfway as he finally revealed the name of the VIP.
"It's Princess Hisui E. Fiore." Yajima said, his tone filled with solemn gravitas. "She and several of her noble friends are coming to try the food. Apparently, she somehow found out that Alfonzo helped with the menu. So, she decided she wanted to try it for herself."
"Really? Princess Hisui?" Lucy asked in shock. "She rarely leaves the capital. Yeah, I guess I can understand why you asked for Alfonzo and two waitresses to act as added security."
"Exactly." Yajima replied with a solemn nod. "So, I need you all to do your best tonight. Also, I need you to stay on guard just in case any dark wizards get any funny ideas."
Alfonzo, Lucy, and Brandish nodded in understanding, Brandish even changing her expression from her usual bored expression into something that could almost be considered serious.
With that, Alfonzo, Lucy, Brandish, and Yajima split into groups of two. While Alfonzo and Yajima went into the kitchen to start making the different courses for Princess Hisui's meal, Brandish headed up to the second floor of 8-Island to be on standby in the private room while Lucy moved towards the front entrance to wait for Princess Hisui and her entourage.
Like that, time passed quickly. Then, after half an hour, or so, a fairly large precession of knights on horseback and carriages could be heard coming down the street in the direction of 8-Island. Meanwhile, all the citizens of Hargeon, curious to know who would come to Hargeon with such fanfare, lined the sides of the street, watching as the precession passed.
"Who do you think is in that carriage?" A man asked while looking at the central carriage.
"Are your eyes just for show?" A woman, most likely the man's wife, asked while slapping him upside the head. She then pointed at the central carriage as she continued. "Look at the flag hanging there. That's the emblem of the Fiore Royal Family."
"Oh... Then, does that mean the king has come to Hargeon?" The man asked, his tone growing more and more excited with every word."
"How should I know?" The woman asked. "It could be the princess, or both the king and the princess. There's no way to know until the door opens."
"I guess you're right." The man replied while scratching the side of his head as his eyes followed the precession. "I just hope we'll be close enough to see when that happens."
Many conversations like that occurred along the route the precession took to its destination. When the precession eventually stopped, the doors of the carriage in line with the front door to 8-Island, Hargeon's citizens held their collective breath in anticipation of who they would see step out of the carriage.
A moment later, the captain of the knight squadron escorting the carriage dismounted his horse before making his way over to the carriage door. At the same time, two other knights dismounted and made their way to the back of the carriage. They then opened a compartment on the carriage and pulled out a rolled up red carpet. Then, just as the captain reached the door, the two knights laid down the carpet and unrolled it, its end stopping at the threshold of the 8-Island restaurant.
*Click!*
Then, once everything was in order, the captain held the handle of the carriage's door before gently pulling it open.
A moment later, a tall female knight with long, braided blonde hair stepped out of the carriage. She then stopped just to the side of the carriage door before holding her hand out to assist those in the carriage as they climbed down.
"Are you serious?" Lucy asked herself breathlessly. "They actually let her assist the princess?"
As though she could hear Lucy, despite the distance and the closed doors of the restaurant, the blonde knight, Darkness, blushed lightly as she shivered minutely. A moment later, however, she shook her head and returned to her senses just before a slender, hand wrapped in a white glove reached out of the carriage and took hers.
"Thank you, Lady Dustiness." A female voice said just as a green-haired head poked out of the carriage.
"It's the princess!" A young woman shouted as she recognized the first person to step out of the carriage.
"Oh, my God!" A young man shouted at nearly the same time. "Princess Hisui is so beautiful!"
"Princess Hisui! I love you!" Another young woman shouted.
Just like that, the area surrounding 8-Island exploded into a cacophony of cheers, screams, and shouts for order. All the while, the other young noble ladies continued to climb out of the carriage as if they were already used to scenes like this.
Meanwhile, Lucy watched the scene outside the restaurant closely.
"So, there are five of them." Lucy muttered to herself. "Well, at least it shouldn't be too hard to serve them. And with Princess Hisui's personality, even if some of them are spoiled rich girls, she'll probably keep them in line as long as we don't make any major mistakes. Hold on... I think I've seen that one before."
At the end of Lucy's line of sight stood a pretty young woman with waist-length brown hair, a single lock of which hung over the right side of her face, and light blue eyes wearing a blue and white calf-length dress with brown boots looking around at everything with child-like curiosity.
"*Sigh* It really is her." Lucy muttered with a fond smile on her face. "It's still hard to believe how much she changed after falling down and bumping her head when she was a child. But now, she actually works in the Ministry of Magic. I bet her father, Duke Claes, must be proud."
The young woman who caught Lucy's eye, Katarina Claes, was someone she met years ago while on a trip to Crocus with her father. In fact, she met her the same night she met Elicia back in x782. And the two hit it off quite well back then, despite the fact that Katarina was three years younger than Lucy, who was only fifteen back then.
However, there was a secret about Katarina that Lucy had no way of knowing. In fact, the only people in this world who might have an idea about that secret were Alfonzo and Elicia. But for now, Katarina was known to everyone as a kind, charismatic young woman who is not afraid to express her feelings on any matter.
While Lucy was thinking about Katarina, the group of those intending to eat at 8-Island started walking down the red carpet, with the captain of the knight squadron, Darkness, and two other knights moving as the protection unit for Princess Hisui and her four noble friends. Then, after a moment, the group reached the doors of 8-Island, where the captain opened the door.
"Welcome to 8-Island." Lucy said with a sweet smile and a bow as the group of nine stepped into the restaurant. "Your private room has been prepared. Please, follow me."
Immediately, most of Princess Hisui's group recognized Lucy. She had been in Sorcerer's Weekly on several occasions, after all. Plus, she was a member of Fairy Tail, Fiore's strongest guild.
"Lucy, I wasn't expecting to see you here." Hisui said with a pleasantly surprised smile. "I would assume that Yajima put in a request for more wait staff."
"Yes, he did." Lucy replied. "But it wasn't just for wait staff. In fact, the extra wait staff was just secondary. The actual request was for a certain cook."
Hearing that, Hisui's eyes lit up. Meanwhile, Katarina was looking at Lucy with a slightly star struck expression in her eyes. Though, only she knew the reason for that.
"Does that mean Alfonzo is here?' Hisui asked as she could feel saliva gathering in her mouth. "I've eaten at the Sixth Sense Restaurant and Lounge in Crocus and spoken to the head chef, Erina Nakiri. And she said that all the dishes there are those that Alfonzo created. Erina even says that he is a better cook than she is. Though, she does grit her teeth every time she says it."
Reaching that point, Hisui could not help but giggle from the memory of Erina pouting and gritting her teeth when admitting that she was a worse chef than Alfonzo.
"That's right." Lucy replied with a smile. "In fact, he actually helped Yajima finalize the menu here, as well. So, when Yajima heard that you wanted to visit his restaurant, he made a request for Alfonzo to come and help out. He has even planned for Alfonzo to put on a show for you that involves the main course. So, I hope you're all looking forward to it."
After that, Hisui and Lucy exchanged a few more words. Then, Lucy led everyone up the stairs to the private room. Finally, once everyone was seated, she left the room, leaving Brandish to take drink orders while she headed down to the kitchen to pick up the first course of the meal.