Hollywood Zenith

Everyone looked toward the direction Adele was pointing to.

Naruhito was surprised by Adele's question; he was sure that no one would be foolish enough to disturb their meeting; he had already told everyone to give them privacy, but when he turned his head to look at the place where Adele was referring, he became stunned--

" Grandma, what are you doing here?" he said. No one had sensed her before, but somehow she was observing Samuel. She stood up and made a beeline toward Samuel; he was shocked by the unexpected development.

As soon as she reached sufficient distance, she almost lunged at Samuel without uttering a single word; Samuel didn't know what to do at that moment but fearing that she would get hurt, he decided to get 'caught' by her.

" So cute! OMG, where did you come from?" She looked toward Naruhito while mushing Samuel in her embrace--

" Can I keep him? "

" " everyone was dumbfounded in the face of a weird situation. Especially, Naruhito was at a loss for words.

Oscar and Karolina were at arm's length from Samuel, ready to take precautions, but Samuel motioned them to stay put.

They didn't understand Japanese, so a big disconnect was going on. Samuel already felt no malice in the old woman, but being squished around was embarrassing.

" GRANDMA, please, he is our guest. How can you treat our guest like that." Naruhito stood up to stop the shenanigans of his grandmother.

Seeing his furious expression, the woman reluctantly parted but there was still longing in her eyes as she was still fixated on Samuel.

" T-this is my grandmother Hana; some part of her is about the others I can't say." He said, still glaring at her, but the other side ignored it.

" He is much cuter than you when you were young." Hana said just loud enough for everyone to hear it.

Samuel and others tried their best to hold their laughter to not disrespect Naruhito; Hana was really amusing.

" So, what! I turned out just fine." thus, both began arguing in front of everyone, and Masako made Samuel and others change positions while explaining the incident.

" You know our country is famous for its artistic culture," she said.

" Yeah, I have heard about it. I never got to enjoy it myself though." said Samuel.

" Others were also oblivious it, it had not became a mainstream thing yet and was fairly contained inside Japan. The anime industry will have a huge boon after internet becomes more widespread and the addition of Smartphone. It is a good industry to invest on. " thought Samuel.

" We don't know how but Grandmother somehow got a hold of one of those Manga, I don't really know much about it but I have heard about its addictive nature. Now, she really enjoys the otaku culture. The whole was worried about it first but after several years we left her at her own devices, whatever makes her happy." she explained.

" Is it okay to tell us that? It will be a huge deal if others found about it. I have seen plenty of bad rumors about our British royal family. " Oscar said.

" It is true; editors and news reporters would kill for such information, and they will pay handsomely for it. " Karoline is always the blunt type.

" I trust Samuel, so I will naturally trust the people who came with him. But we already know a lot about your group. You don't have to worry about anything." Masako asked directly.

" That was clear indication that she had researched about Iblis and others. It was not far-fetch to thing about it, they also have to be careful. It would be weird if people invited strangers over without proper investigation." Samuel thought.

Oscar and Karoline also understood the hidden meaning behind those words. But for some reason, they were more rattled about it than me; Iblis standing behind everyone, was clearly lost in thought.

" You can trust us. We are just here for the trip." Samuel reiterated his motive, which defused the situation.

Most people take the Japanese Monarchy as a joke as they lost most of their power after the second world war; several collateral branches were abolished, leaving only the main family branch to exist, the victors did that to de-militarize the whole region, but they tend to forget its history. As the oldest Monarchy on the planet, they hold sufficient power to sway the government, although they don't show much of it these days.

The fight finally quieted after other family members interfered; Samuel also interjected and told them it was not a big deal. He didn't really get to say hello to the little princess, but they would stay for a week, so he could do it later.

Everyone dispersed while Samuel was led inside to living quarters; they prepared elegant rooms, which were generally kept for a foreign head of state. After more than half a day of air travel, they felt jetlag and needed to take a breather. Seeing a familiar environment made everyone relax a little.

The attendant informed us that breakfast would be served soon, so everyone took their respective room to freshen up a bit.

About an hour later, everyone came down to the dining area. They did have fancy chairs and dining tables, with countless decorations arranged elegantly to suit the environment. One side of the room was fully open but fitted with large glass from where you could look at the beautiful garden surrounding the backyard of the building.

Samuel led Hannah as they entered the room, surveying everything. Others were also amazed at the view; it was nothing fancy, but the arrangement of flowers gave it a sense of structure that you don't see in western decoration.

Samuel scanned the people; the other party had yet to arrive, and they said they would be having breakfast together. He looked back to see Iblis, she was staring back at him, but as soon as their eyes met, she looked away.

" Is something wrong?" Samuel asked Adele, who was beside him.

" Wrong? What are you talking about?"

" I mean with Iblis, did she say something to you? I feel like she has been avoiding everyone and she didn't utter a single words since we arrived here."

" I don't know." Adele was also clueless about it.

Samuel decided to ask her directly, but the other party arrived with several more people in tow. There were people from earlier, along with amusing old women but several more ladies came along with them. They were staring at Samuel's group, but Naruhito stepped forward.

" Welcome, we were not able to have proper conversation earlier, I am sorry about that but enjoy the breakfast for now. Please sit down everyone, I will introduce you later."

He introduced me to other ladies; they were other princesses.

Princess Hitachi is an old woman, around sixty years old. She glared at Samuel, which he perceived as slight malice, and he decided to ignore it. Her husband was not present; when asked, she informed me that he had some health issues but would be at the dinner party.

Princess Mikasa, along with Prince Mikasa, great-uncle of Crown prince Naruhito. They were an old couple who only gave warm smiles.

Princess Tomohito, along with her two children--

Princess Akiko was in her later teens, and Princess Yōko was in the latter part of her twenties. They were both seated together, younger one was curious about Samuel, while the older princess had an aloof expression, not caring much about what was happening around her. Their father was not present, as Naruhito informed them they were not present in the castle.

" There are others that you would be able to meet at the party. We are a big family, so it could get overwhelming." He was speaking in English to not lose another guest. Samuel could understand it but seeing others' oblivious faces during the previous meeting made him change his mind.

" I hope to see them at the party then, our family also has many members, so I am used to it. It is nice to live together with the people you love." Samuel gave a cheesy reply, but his words moved a few strings of emotions inside their hearts due to his title.

" Yes it does."

We chatted. Happily, Samuel also got to talk to the little princess which whom he was acquainted; while few stayed wary but nonetheless, the atmosphere was happy.

Soon, helpers served their meal; it was surprisingly a simple one. Naruhito elaborated that they only had tiny, simple meals to start the day, but the main component of the breakfast was rice.

Some people were not fond of it, but it was carefully prepared, so they ate happily. They were given chopsticks and spoons first, but Samuel opted for a chopstick. He looked at others, everyone struggled with it, but Karoline was surprisingly good with it. Oscar grumbled, seeing her expertly handling small clumps of rice.

" What? I love Chinese and Thai food." She turned toward him and said.