As they walked through the packed festival streets, dodging families and merchants, something popped into Lucas's head.
"Wait, where's Charlotte?" he asked, "why isn't she with you guys?"
Lydia looked back at him. "Oh, she couldn't make it. Her family's actually running a booth at the festival."
"The Nabados family has a stall here?" Lucas said, shocked.
"Yeah," Marie said. "Apparently they do it every year. Tradition thing, plus extra cash. Charlotte said she'd be helping out all day."
"We should go visit her," Damion said. "Show some support."
Before anyone could agree, Celeste cut in, barely hiding her irritation.
"Can someone please explain why ALL of you just happened to show up today? This was supposed to be..." She stopped herself, then said, "...a smaller thing."
Marie turned to her with a bright smile. "Oh! Leyla told us we should all come today. She said something big was going to happen at the festival and we shouldn't miss it."
"Something big? Like what?" Lucas asked.
Marie shrugged.
"She didn't actually say. Just told us to make sure we were here and to bring friends. You know how she can be."
I really don't, Lucas thought.
"That's very vague," Zacard said. "I'd have thought she'd at least tell you?"
"Nope. Said it would be a surprise." Marie looked completely fine with this. "But Leyla's usually right about these things, so here we are!"
The princess tells people to show up at a festival because 'something big' will happen, and nobody questions it? Lucas wondered.
Though I guess when you're royalty, people just go along with whatever you say.
"Well, whatever it is, we might as well have fun until it happens," Lydia said. "Charlotte's booth first?"
Everyone agreed and changed direction, following Marie through the festival crowds.
They found Charlotte's family booth tucked in a corner of the market square.
It was a cute setup with a colorful awning and tables showing off various handmade stuff: painted wooden figures, beaded jewelry, little decorative boxes, and pouches of dried herbs that made the air smell nice.
Charlotte was helping a customer, some middle-aged woman looking at matching bracelets.
When she spotted them coming over, her eyes went wide and she almost dropped the jewelry.
"O-oh! Everyone! What are you doing here?" she stammered.
"We came to support your business," Marie said cheerfully. "Also to rescue you from booth duty if we can."
Charlotte finished with her customer, carefully wrapping the bracelets in brown paper and taking payment with shaky hands.
Once the woman left, she turned back to them looking flustered.
"I can't just leave. My parents need help with the booth, and we're actually pretty busy today..." She trailed off as two people came out from behind a curtain at the back.
Charlotte's parents were easy to spot.
Her dad was a thin guy with graying hair and kind eyes, wearing practical merchant clothes. Her mom was a plump woman with the same soft features as Charlotte, her hair pulled back in a neat bun.
"Oh my!" Charlotte's mom said. "Charlotte, dear, are these your friends from the academy?"
"Y-yes, mother," Charlotte said. "This is Marie, Lydia, Lucas, Celeste, Damion, Zacard, and Raymond."
The introductions got a little messy as everyone tried to bow or curtsy the right way.
Charlotte's dad looked pleasantly surprised by the company his daughter was keeping.
"It's great to meet Charlotte's friends," he said. "She talks about you all sometimes. Well, mostly she talks about classes, but you get mentioned!"
"Father!" Charlotte looked mortified.
"We were wondering," Damion said with his most charming smile, "if we could borrow Charlotte for a bit? We'd like her to check out the festival with us."
Charlotte's parents looked at each other.
"Please?" Marie added her own puppy-dog eyes. "We promise to take good care of her."
After a moment, Charlotte's dad nodded.
"Alright. But Charlotte, ground rules."
"Yes, father," Charlotte said.
"First, stay with the group. Second, be back before sunset. Third, don't blow all your allowance on festival games: I know how you get." He smiled. "And fourth, try to have fun. You work too hard."
"I will. Thank you!" Charlotte quickly took off her work apron and came around the booth.
The now-complete group kept exploring the festival.
They played games, tried different foods, and watched a juggling show that had Damion trying to copy the moves afterward with terrible results.
That's when they found a booth that made several people freeze.
The stall was covered in deep purple cloth with fancy gold letters that said "Romantic Literature."
Behind the counter, organizing books, was the librarian from the academy. The same one Lucas had seen reading "romance" novels during study time.
"Oh no," Lydia whispered.
But it was too late, she was already drifting toward it like a magnet.
Marie grabbed her arm. "Lydia. Lydia, don't....we're in public."
"Just a quick look," Lydia said.
Within seconds, all the girls had moved to the booth. Even Celeste had gone.
The librarian's eyes lit up when she saw them.
"Ladies! How wonderful to see you at my little side business. Can I interest you in the latest romantic tales?"
"Yes, of course. Do you have Hearts of Fire? I've been looking for a new edition of that book for ages." Marie asked.
"Why get that garbage? Duke's Forbidden Love is obviously superior." The librarian said, already pulling out the book.
"What? I'm sure I didn't here you right. How could Duke's Forbidden Love be better than Hearts of Fire. Nothing is better than Hearts of Fire." Marie said.
"Well it seems your scope of the world is obviously small. The Duke's Forbidden Love is obviously better," the librarian said.
"Are you insane?" Marie shot back. "The writing is so overdone. Hearts of Fire has way better character development."
"But the pacing in Hearts of Fire is terrible!" Celeste jumped in. "Everything happens too fast."
"That's the point!" Marie said. "It's passionate!"
"W-well, I prefer the slower books where the will they- won't they is drawn out." Charlotte said.
All the other ladies stopped and stared at her in disbelief.
"Are you crazy?" Marie finally asked.
"B-but.." Charlotte started.
"No buts. You need prayer." Lydia said.
The other girls nodded.
The guys had moved a few feet away, watching with varying levels of amusement
"This is gonna take a while," Zacard said.
"Probably," Damion agreed,. "But it's entertaining."
Raymond looked confused. "I don't get what makes these books different from regular stories."
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Lucas said.
He noticed Lydia eyeing a particular book with gold lettering, reaching for it then pulling back.
It seemed she didn't want her desire for the book to be so obvious.