"Okay, and you have the list?" Elizabeth Daelle asks from the kitchen. She is currently talking to Kita through the food window. He'd previously been helping out where he's needed, due to it being a busy Friday lunch. However, then they ran out of a bunch of ingredients, so he's been tasked with going to the market.

"Yes." Kita reassures. The woman nods, turning back around to continue helping out the cooks.

"Alright, your father is outside getting Bermuda ready. Be safe!"

Kita gives her an acknowledgement, before turning and heading towards the back door of the kitchen. Bermuda is their horse, she's pure white, a telltale sign that she was a gift from the royal family. When Kita exits the pub, he finds his father exactly where his mom said he'd be. He's currently tying Bermuda to a wagon.

"Please for the love of god make this quick." The man says, looking exhausted. "That woman needs to calm down."

Kita hums, putting his bag in the wagon and mounting the horse. "You should tell her that."

He just gives Kita a deadpanned, unimpressed look. Kita smiles back.

"Ha ha." John Daelle responds blandly.

Kita shrugs, finding amusement in the situation. "Just an idea."

"A horrible idea," He says, staring to head back inside, clearly not in the mood to banter with Kita. "Now hurry before she changes the menu."

Kita does as asked, heading towards the local market with Bermuda, nearly empty wagon in tow. It's a beautiful day, if a bit cold, and he finds himself wanting to take his time. He loves the pub, but getting a break from the restaurant chaos always feels like a breath of fresh air. It's almost addictive.

The market is a good while away, in terms of vicinity to everything else. Despite Amarath being huge, you can usually find what you need within walking distance, due to it being laid out so well, so technically there is a closer option. However, his mother only accepts the most quality ingredients. So, he has to go to the one farther away, close to Sundew Farms and Lory's Ranch.

Upon arrival at the market, Kita hops off the horse, taking hold of the rein, and beginning to make his way between the stalls. He has the small bag of coins his mother gave him in his pocket, and the list in his hand. He basically just needs to get a lot of vegetables. They're out of limes, tomatoes, and most importantly: potatoes.

They cannot run out of potatoes. Their fries are important. This is part of the reason Kita's mother was so stressed.

Kita grabs all the smaller things first. He's not sure exactly how much they need, his mother was in a bit of a rush and didn't exactly go into detail. So, he basically just guesses and hopes for the best. This ends up being a mistake, because by the time he's buying what really matters, he comes up short.

He can't blame anyone but himself, since any person with common sense would've started with the potatoes. They're the most important thing he's getting, and they're also the only item on the list that he actually knows the amount needed. However, unfortunately, Kita didn't think that far ahead.

"Twenty," The lady says, staring at Kita in expectation. He nods, then pulls out the little knapsack that was given to him. Upon laying his eyes on the five coins in there, he realizes that he may have messed up.

He can't even hide it, looking back up at her with a bit of panic in his eyes. Oh no, he cannot return to the restaurant with any less than several pounds of potatoes, or his mother will probably disown him.

"Uhhhhh," Kita says, eyes wide, glancing between the woman and his coins. He starts feeling around his pockets for some money, before realizing he left it at the restaurant. Seriously? Sure, she was rushing him a lot, but really? How could he have not prepared for something like this happening? He's never exactly had the best of luck.

"I'm sorry," Kita apologizes, turning to Bermuda, who is also looking at him judgmentally. At least, it feels like it. "Let me just—"

Kita starts rooting through his personal bag, though he's pretty sure there's not any money in there. He has a really bad habit of impulse buying, so he tries to only bring money for what he needs, when he goes out. In this case, he needed nothing. His mom gave him money.

So, he comes up empty.

Kita turns back to the shopkeep, who is clearly not in the mood for this. She just raises an eyebrow at him, and Kita realizes that a line has built up behind him. He's beginning to wonder how exactly he's going to break it to his mother that he can never show his face here again, when he hears a voice.

"It's alright. I got it."

Kita jumps a bit, turning his head to find a man standing next to him. He's tall, and lanky, and dressed somewhat formally. His attire would be far more appropriate for church, as opposed to a local farmer's market. He has dark hair and pale skin, and he looks to be in his late twenties.

When Kita looks at him, he finds that the man already has his eyes on him. Kits feels put off, something about the situation feeling strange. He feels guilty for feeling that way, since clearly the guy is only trying to help him. Come on, Kita. He saved you a world of embarrassment! Be grateful!

The guy hands her twenty coins, effectively paying for the potatoes in full. Her eyes linger on Kita for a moment, but she accepts the payment, dismissing them easily. Kita is quick to move out of the way, taking Bermuda over to the side to start securing her stuff. The man follows him, carrying the potatoes the woman handed him.

As he begins helping Kita load them in Bermuda's wagon, Kita says, "thank you."

The guy smiles at him. For some reason, Kita feels the urge to look away.

The man simply hums. Kita just watches him basically take over in strapping everything into the wagon. Kita just stands there, feeling kind of awkward and useless. After a moment, the guy speaks again. "Beautiful horse."

Kita and Bermuda exchange glances. Tone unsure, Kita just repeats, "thank you."

After Bermuda is all situated, stocked with food and miscellaneous supplies, the man steps away. He stands at his full height, which is quite tall, and turns to face Kita. "Strange to see a white horse outside of the palace."

If Kita didn't feel an obligation to talk to this guy, due to him helping him out just now, he'd be long gone.

"She was a gift."

The guy gets a look of intrigue on his face at that, though Kita notes that he still doesn't actually appear surprised. "A gift from the Empress?"

Kita really wants to go back to the restaurant right now. He knows his mother is probably stressing up a storm, and his dad, as well as the entire kitchen staff, are having to deal with it. Unfortunately he isn't particularly knowledgeable when it comes to the intricacies of conversation. He doesn't know a way to cut this short without coming across as rude.

"We're family friends." He explains, though he can't help but get the sense that he shouldn't talk about this. He feels like he's revealing secrets or something. This whole conversation just feels so strange.

"Family friends," the guys repeats, making a lot of eye contact. Kita reflexively looks away, before he can think better of it. "I see. You must be Nikita Daelle."

Coming to that conclusion isn't particularly far fetched. Empress Eve doesn't really socialize a lot, due to the fact that she's had to run the entire empire by herself since the death of her husband. It's a full time job, even with all her advisors and other employee's help. She doesn't have much time for friends.

Also, as mentioned before, Alexis doesn't have many friends, either. He's just not good with people, has always come across as too domineering. He's not easy to get along with if you're even mildly hard headed, which most people, especially in Amarath, are. Most of the people who live here are quite strong willed and opinionated. Those qualities clash with Alexis.

His sister is a bit easier to get along with, though she's still just as passionate about everything. It's somewhat of a family thing. She's always been more of a loner, though, so there's not much socialization from that front either.

So, Kita and his parents are the only people who really associate with the royal family regularly. Because of this, they're well known throughout the empire.

"It's just Kita," Kita affirms. Immediately afterwards, the guy is holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Evander Carlton."

Kita can't help his hesitation, feeling a bit guilty for being so put off by this guy. He's done nothing but help since the start, Kita should be more grateful. He reaches out and takes the guy's hand, jumping a bit at how cold it is. Then again, it is approaching autumn...

Still, it catches him by surprise. The hand shake is weak, and he's pulling away as soon as he can.

"Well, thanks again," Kita says, backing away from the guy. He feels kind of bad for having such a strong urge to be away from him, but he needs to get the supplies back to his mom anyway. "I better head back."

The guy nods in understanding, smile unmoving. Kita begins to mount Bermuda, finding him unnerving. He situates the last of his belongings, the man watching him the entire time.

"Of course. Wouldn't want The Remedy running out of fries, would we?"

Kita gives him a nod, though it's a bit unsure. He waves a last goodbye, before heading on his way. Bermuda seems to sense his haste, since she's rushing almost immediately. As they exit, Kita chances one last look at the man.

He's gone.

Kita shakes his head, ultimately deciding to move on, for his own peace of mind. He should treat that as nothing, because it probably was.

-

The remedy is closed on Sundays, though Kita's not entirely sure why. He thinks it could be for religious reasons, but his family has never been all that religious.

Kita's mother makes him the exact same thing for breakfast, every day. Scrambled eggs. He looks forward to it, and it's basically his favorite food, generally speaking. His mother is an amazing cook—obviously, she'd kind of have to be to work in the castle, and also design a popular restaurant menu—so he gets excited for just about any meal she will make for him. Breakfast, however, is his favorite.

This particular morning has not been all that enjoyable, though. This is because his father is seated across from him at the table, a newspaper in hand, his morning coffee on the hardwood.

Kita and his dad have never gotten along super well, but for once, it's no the man's presence that is the problem. It's the cover story of the paper he's reading.

Vampire attacks leave 3 dead overnight

Kita raises his eyebrows, unable to contain the feeling of surprise and dread that curls up in his gut. That's a lot, for it only being over such a short time span. It's getting worse. Alexis is probably driving himself crazy over it. He has a nasty habit of blaming himself for every death caused by a monster, especially vampires. It's not his best quality.

Due to it being a Sunday, Kita doesn't have much to do. He elects to just help his mother with chores around the house, while his father disappears off to god knows where. Kita was always closer to his mom, anyway, so he prefers to spend time with her.

Kita's dad is better now, but he used to be really unhappy. Especially when Kita was in school, the man was very hard on him. He also used to not treat Elizabeth all that great, either. Again, he's better now, but it's hard to forget the past.

Although his father seems happier now, Kita's mother does not. She spends her days keeping busy, and Kita tries to help when he can. Sundays are the days where she gets chores done, and there is a lot to do both around the house and for The Remedy. So, he's busy all day.

It's right after dinner, about 7:00, when there's a knock at the door. Kita's father is still gone, and Liz is the closest to the door, so she wipes her hands on her apron before heading towards the front door, which is at the top of a staircase on the side of the pub. The top two floors of The Remedy building are where they live. It's a bit inconvenient, but at least they get their exercise.

Alexis doesn't come here that much, mostly because he's usually in some type of armor. He's already a very big guy—he kind of needs to be, due to his job—so he's at least twice Kita's size. Therefore, he has trouble fitting into any sort of small, cramped space. Kita's house is a cramped space.

He's also busy, generally speaking. He has a lot going on basically at all times. These reasons are why, more often than not, he sends a messenger when he wants Kita.

Kita is not surprised when his mother exchanges a couple words with the person at the door, then opens it wider to let them in. Kita is met with the sight of one of the palace messengers. He can't remember her name, but she's worked for the palace for a while. She's retrieved Kita for the impatient prince on many occasions.

"Prince Alexis requests your presence, Kita." She notifies him. Kita sighs, quickly finishing the dish he'd been washing, and saying bye to his mom. She tells him to be careful, and then he follows the girl to the door.

After that, they're on their way.