Let's start over, Your Majesty.

Chapter 22: There's a monster!

Princess Shia arrived in Alexia on February 5th and was warmly received by King Otto VI. The banquet was held at Morahan Palace, and the princess expressed great satisfaction with the event. She will also visit the tombs of Emperor Rean and Queen Greta on February 10th.

In addition, the Kingdom's Ministry of Culture stated that it will launch a series of imperial cultural revival activities to allow the public to once again experience the history and culture of the Eldaria Empire.

"According to sources, Princess Sia's return to the country was strictly blocked by the Surna government. According to information revealed by the princess herself, she was persecuted by the authorities during her stay in Surna and will assist the Kingdom of Fein in jointly prosecuting the Surna government on a total of thirteen charges."

A black and white picture of Princess Sia was also attached to the news article.

The photo was taken from below, showing a thin, petite girl with a pretty face but obvious signs of malnutrition. She was looking at the camera with a calm expression, and the crown she wore, along with the elaborate decorations, gave her a truly regal air.

The news article also painted a celebratory picture of the Finn Kingdom's great victory in acquiring the princess; this single news item occupied an entire newspaper page.

They even took the opportunity to annoy their opponents. Surna probably never dreamed that the legitimate descendant of the empire was actually in his own country, only to be snatched away by Finn first and then accused of persecuting royalty.

"If Princess Sia can stay in Fein, I might run into her again when I go to the capital to study in the future. That could be a good opportunity to get closer to her," Caesar thought.

He put away the newspaper, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and looked out the window at the azure sky to relax his eyes.

It was the weekend, and he had been reading all morning. He stood up and decided to go out and relax.

As I walked downstairs, I saw Yumilia standing at the door with a small bamboo basket, about to put on her shoes.

"Are you going out?" Caesar asked.

“Well, we’re almost out of food at home. I’ll go to town to buy some,” Yumilia smiled at him. “I’ll leave the house to Caesar. I’ll bring you some snacks when I get back.”

“I’ll go grocery shopping,” Caesar said, stepping forward. “It’s a good opportunity to go for a walk.”

"Huh? You're going?" Yumilia asked in surprise. "Does Caesar know the way?"

“I’ve been traveling to town for five years now, okay?” Caesar said speechlessly, then stepped forward and took the bamboo basket from Yumilia’s hands. “Tell me what you want to buy.”

"Well, alright then." Yumilia agreed, and took out a light blue leaf-patterned wallet from the pocket of her apron, pulling out two dark green banknotes.

This is the currency of the Kingdom of Fein. Thirty years ago, after the currency reform bill was introduced, more than ten cumbersome currency conversion methods were abolished, and only "Golden Lang" and "Daka" were adopted as currency units. The currency also adopts the classic decimal conversion, with ten Daka equaling one Golden Lang.

Both banknotes are worth twenty gold taels each, enough to cover the food expenses of a family of three for a week.

In addition, Yumilia's monthly allowance as an elf is seven hundred gold ronins.

After giving him forty gold rons, Yumilia took out a five-card coin.

“Come on, Caesar, go buy yourself some of your favorite snacks to treat yourself,” Yumilia said with a smile.

"I don't like sweets anyway," Caesar muttered to himself, but still kept the coin.

After handing him a list of things she wanted to buy, Yumilia saw Caesar out of the house.

"Be careful on your way! Watch out for strangers!" she shouted loudly behind her.

"Understood!" Caesar waved his hand casually, picked up his basket, and set off.

It was less than three kilometers from the small village where I lived to the town. Taking the back road, I quickly arrived in the town.

We arrived at the market easily. It was still noon, and the market was noisy and bustling, filled with the smells of fish and livestock.

"Hey! How unusual, Caesar, are you buying groceries all by yourself?" The vegetable stall owner greeted him warmly when he saw him.

"Hmm," Caesar said, looking at the vegetable stall and pointing to the carrots and lettuce.

"One bunch of carrots, and two bunches of lettuce."

"okay!"

The shopkeeper wrapped up the vegetables and handed them to him.

“Here, three gold pieces, just right.”

After Caesar handed over a twenty-yuan note, the shopkeeper, holding the money, asked with a grin, "Caesar, let me test you. Do you know how much change you should get?"

"Seventeen Golden Gems, could you please hurry up?" Caesar said expressionlessly, clearly not in the mood to play games with him like a child.

"Ha, ha, Caesar is really clever," the shopkeeper chuckled sheepishly, giving him his change.

Then I bought other vegetables, bread, eggs, and meat.
They didn't buy much meat, just enough for Caesar alone. As an elf, Yumilia mostly ate vegetables.

Because Yumilia was one of the few elves and quite famous in the town, Caesar received special treatment from the market vendors. They greeted him all the way as he came to buy groceries alone.

He even encountered vendors offering him food. One dried meat shop owner gave him a small packet of beef jerky to try, insisting that it was free. Caesar had no choice but to thank him and accept it.

After responding to the warm greetings and filling the bamboo basket with all the items on the list, Caesar still had two gold taels left.

And the five daka that Yumilia gave him as a reward.
"I'll use the money to buy books; the new books I wanted recently have arrived," Caesar thought to himself.

When we arrived at the bookstore in town, there happened to be a pastry shop next to it, and the sweet aroma wafting from the shop filled the street.

Clutching the money, Caesar stood at the bookstore entrance for a moment before turning around and walking into the pastry shop next door.

When I came out, there were two more boxes of milk pudding in the basket.

“It’s good to relax once in a while,” he thought to himself, looking at Pudding.

Yumilia also loves sweets, so I brought her a box as well.

Carrying the somewhat heavy bamboo basket, Caesar headed home.

Just as I stepped out of town, I heard a shout:
"Caesar!"

Turning his head, he saw Chopper waving at him from the sandpit at the entrance of town, with several other children of similar age playing in the sand nearby.

"Chopper, what are you doing here?" Caesar asked as he approached.

"Mom came to town to visit Auntie today, so she let me come out and play by myself. Hehe, look, this is what I made." Chopper pointed to a lump of something in the sandbox.

"Is this... a monkey's head?"

"It's a Beetle!" Chopper seemed a little disappointed that Caesar didn't recognize it.

"Want to join us? We're having a sandcastle-building competition."

"I'll forget it."

Caesar turned his head, wondering what was so fun about this pile of sand, and decided he should go back to his studies as soon as possible.

"Look, this is the castle I built, isn't it amazing?"

Just as he was about to leave, he saw a child showing off to his friends what he had built—which could only be called a mound of dirt.

Caesar looked at it for a moment, then sighed slightly. Oh well, it's a day off anyway.

He put the bamboo basket aside, rolled up his sleeves, and walked into the sandpit.

"Get out of the way! This thing you've piled up is uglier than anything a pig could build. Watch how I do it!"

He took matters into his own hands and began to shape it. In less than ten minutes, a small castle with four spires was built.

"Caesar is amazing!" Exclamations of admiration rang out from the sidelines.

"Hmph, back in the day when we were on the march and fighting and we lacked bowls and jars, we dug up the soil and fired them by hand," Caesar thought to himself.

Just as he was digging more sand, a familiar shout came from nearby.
It was Mana, the little bully from kindergarten, still wearing that sailor hat, who arrogantly walked towards him.

"Ha, I thought it was someone else from afar, but it's Caesar, you dead fish eyes, what are you doing here?"

"I'll dig your grave," Caesar replied calmly.

"You, you, you, you"

Mana's face flushed red with anger, and she pointed her finger at him.

"Hmph, forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with you today," Mana tossed his head, calming his expression, then his face became smug:

"I have some really big news to share, but I'm not going to tell you, haha."

Turning his head, he saw Caesar still meticulously tidying up his castle, showing no intention of asking him what big news it was.

“Hey, don’t you want to ask?” Mana asked, his face showing some disappointment.

"What do you mean? Did you wet the bed in some new way last night?" Caesar asked.

"Bullshit! That's not it!" Mana snapped, blurting out, "Let me tell you, this is what my uncle said himself. He's a hunter! Do you know what he saw in the woods yesterday?"

Mana made a hideous face and looked at the children around him who had been captivated by his words.

"What?" Chopper asked blankly.

"He saw the carcass of a large black bear! Its belly had been ripped open! Its intestines were spilling out all over the ground!"

Mana's eyes widened: "That was a big black bear! My dad said it was killed by a much stronger, more powerful animal! It was scratched to death with a single claw! He also saw animal footprints nearby that he'd never seen before!"

The children all looked timid upon hearing this. Mana lowered his voice and said in a terrified tone:
"My family says that a monster has appeared in the mountains near the town!"

"Ow!"

He suddenly shouted loudly, which startled the children so much that they all fell to the ground and ran away screaming.

"Hehe, so be careful on your way home, don't get caught by a monster," Mana chuckled as he spoke to Caesar.

But he remained expressionless and said calmly:

“Mana, I also want to tell you that every night after you fall asleep, a ghost covered in tentacles crawls out from under your bed and licks your head with its long tongue, but it runs away as soon as you wake up.”

Mana chuckled. "Trying to scare me? I'm not afraid. There's nothing under my bed."

But as he stood there and thought about it carefully, he subconsciously felt a cold wind blowing behind him, which made him shiver.

"If you don't believe me, just wait until tonight and look under the bed. You'll see a pair of eyes watching you," Caesar sneered at him.

Mana's face stiffened, as if he had remembered something terrible. His lips twitched. Although he looked quite calm, the cold sweat on his forehead betrayed him.

Just then, his mother called him from a short distance away, and Mana turned and ran.

"Mom! I don't want to sleep in the bed tonight! I want to sleep with you and Dad!"

"Little brat," Caesar muttered.

"Hey Caesar, what if it really is?" Chopper said anxiously.

“It’s obviously him bragging. Besides, if there really were a monster nearby, the kindergarten would definitely be closed, so it would be good that they wouldn’t have to go to school,” Caesar said.

"No, that one, the ghost under the bed you mentioned, I feel that's scarier," Chopper said softly.

With Mana's meddling, everyone lost interest in playing in the sand and got up to leave. Chopper also wanted to go back to his aunt's house. After everyone left, Caesar clapped his hands, looked at the castle with five pointed roofs he had built, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Perfect."

I'm getting hungry after playing for a while, so let's go eat that pudding first.

But just as he was about to go back to find the vegetable basket, he discovered...
I can't find my shopping basket.

(End of this chapter)