Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: p@treon.com/CosmicKaminari
----------
After accepting the quest, Lucas quickly woke up Munchlax and together they prepared the materials needed for today's stall.
Since he hadn't gone yesterday, Lucas planned to prepare extra food today.
Once everything was ready, Lucas prepared to leave. He walked to the door, where Altaria was already waiting.
This was something Lucas had arranged with Swablu's father, Altaria, beforehand yesterday.
"Altaria~ Ria~" Lucas, good morning.
Seeing Lucas, Altaria lowered his head and greeted him.
"Good morning, Altaria," Lucas said, gently stroking Altaria's fluffy cloud-like wings. "I'm counting on you again today."
"Altaria~~"
Altaria chirped softly, carrying Lucas and Komala as they set off.
When they arrived at the gate of Azoth Kingdom, Lucas said to Altaria, "Why don't you come into the city with me today? It must be lonely for you to stay here alone. Come in with us, and we can have lunch together at noon."
Although the idea of having lunch together was tempting to Altaria, the thought of so many people in the city made it quickly shake its head.
Lucas smiled and persuaded it, "Don't worry, I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you. Once you have more contact with people, you'll find that humans aren't as scary as you think."
Hearing this, Altaria hesitated.
Lucas continued, "Let's go together. The city is a lot of fun."
In the end, Altaria gently nodded, flapped its cloud-like wings, and flew up, entering the city with Lucas.
Azoth Kingdom was already bustling with people in the early morning: shop owners opening their businesses early, office workers heading to their early shifts, construction workers carrying bricks at construction sites, and their Pokémon companions...
In Azoth Kingdom, except for special vehicles needed for work like Lucas's, or motorcycles like the one Princess Kimia rode to save time, you hardly ever see cars, especially private vehicles.
This is because all the main streets consist of moving walkways. As long as you know the route and your destination, the walkway can take you anywhere in Azoth Kingdom.
Of course, for short trips, like going to the store to buy something, people still prefer to walk. There are dedicated pedestrian paths on both sides of the moving walkways, as well as emergency lanes for motorcycles, but the latter are rarely used.
Lucas stood on the walkway heading to Nikola Park, holding Komala in his arms, with Altaria floating next to him.
Altaria looked very nervous because it had never ridden on a moving walkway before.
And there were people everywhere—it felt like everyone was looking at it.
Noticing Altaria's nervousness, Lucas reached up and stroked its soft, cloud-like feathers, comforting it. "Don't be afraid, you'll get used to it slowly. And look, everyone around us has Pokémon with them, so no one will pay special attention to you. You can hold your head high."
After Lucas's reminder, Altaria did notice that almost everyone had Pokémon with them. They were talking and laughing with their Pokémon, and the Pokémon were close to and dependent on them. It was clear they had very close relationships.
Looking at it this way, they didn't seem to be paying much attention to it! With this realization, Altaria finally calmed down.
Before long, they arrived at Nikola Park. Lucas took Komala and Altaria to a deserted corner, released the food cart, and slowly headed towards their usual stall location.
Altaria perched on top of the food cart, facing the morning sun, experiencing the early morning of Azoth Kingdom for the first time.
When they arrived at the location, Lucas parked the cart, set up the items, and began to make buns.
Suddenly, a cry of surprise came.
"Young boss, you dare to come and set up a stall?"
The one speaking was the uncle selling crepes at the neighboring stall.
Lucas was stunned. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I dare to set up a stall?"
"You're wanted by the royal family, don't you know?" The uncle sized Lucas up and down. "Could you be some kind of international criminal?"
Lucas: ???
What are you talking about? Why don't I understand a word?
Suddenly, Lucas thought: Could it be that my unlicensed business status has been discovered?
Should I... not set up a stall today?
Just as Lucas was hesitating, the uncle seemed to guess what he was thinking and said with a vigilant expression, "Don't think about leaving. You're the person Princess is looking for, and I won't let you go."
It turned out that after Kimia and Flamel didn't see Lucas yesterday, they spread the word throughout Nikola Park, telling the nearby residents that as soon as they saw the owner selling buns and steamed buns, they should immediately notify her at the palace.
Unexpectedly, her actions were misunderstood by everyone, who thought that Lucas had committed some illegal act and was wanted by the royal family.
Everyone was pitying him at the time. Someone who could make such delicious buns and steamed buns was actually a criminal.
They, the citizens of Azoth Kingdom, would not sympathize with a criminal just because he cooked delicious food.
Although Azoth Kingdom is small, the national cohesion is quite high, and the royal family is very loved by the people, always receiving a warm response.
Therefore, everyone would definitely not let the person Princess Kimia was looking for escape.
"Everyone, come quickly, the young boss is here!"
With the crepe uncle's shout, people who came to the park for morning exercise gathered around and surrounded Lucas's food cart.
In fact, people who didn't know Lucas and his bun stall were greatly publicized by Princess Kimia, and Lucas's popularity had greatly increased as a result.
"Altaria~ Altaria~"
Seeing Lucas surrounded, Altaria immediately soared up from the top of the cart, making sharp cries, threatening everyone not to come forward.
Everyone was startled and moved a little further away from Lucas and the food cart.
Komala wasn't idle either. It jumped to the ground, and the log in its arms slammed the ground with a loud bang. If anyone dared to approach, it could smash their heads with it.
"Everyone, please calm down. Although I don't know why I'm suddenly being called a wanted criminal, I'm really a good person and haven't done anything wrong."
Someone shouted, "It's not up to you to say. We've already sent someone to notify the princess. When she arrives, the truth will be revealed."
Lucas: . . .
After a while, someone shouted, "The princess is here!"
Immediately afterwards, the crowd parted, and a girl with golden pigtails wearing a blue royal uniform rushed over with a team of guards.
"Your Highness, we've caught the wanted person for you."
"Your Highness, hurry, don't let the strange person run away."
The crowd buzzed with excitement.
The moment Kimia saw Lucas's face, she felt a jolt throughout her body. It was too similar, too similar—it was simply an enlarged version of the Lucas from the painting.
After being stunned for a long time, Kimia came back to her senses with the reminder of the people. When she learned that everyone regarded Lucas as a wanted criminal, she couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Everyone has misunderstood. I'm looking for this gentleman just to inquire about something. This gentleman is not a wanted criminal and has not committed any crime."
Princess Kimia's explanation silenced the crowd for a moment.
"W-what? So we all misunderstood! Young boss, I'm so sorry, really sorry," someone said awkwardly.
"I knew it, the young boss doesn't look like a bad person at all. How could someone who can make such delicious food be a bad person?"
For a moment, everyone apologized to Lucas.
At this point, Lucas looked at Kimia and asked, "May I ask why you are looking for me..."
Kimia said gently and politely, "Sir, can we talk alone?"
Lucas hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Then come to the cart." Actually, he really wanted to know about the current situation of the Nebel Plateau royal family. After his "death," how were his father and mother? How was his sister?
"Okay." Kimia nodded in agreement.
Afterwards, Lucas closed the doors and windows of the food cart, only inviting Princess Kimia and her secretary, Flamel, inside, while the guards brought by the princess surrounded the cart.
The people were very curious about what the princess wanted to talk to the young boss about, so they all gathered nearby and didn't leave.
A table was set up in the cart, and three stools were taken out. The three of them sat around the table.
When Lucas took off his chef's hat, revealing his head of blond hair, both Kimia and Flamel were shocked. They looked at each other, and both saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
Lucas saw the change in their expressions and instantly understood that the princess in front of him was definitely not looking for him because he was operating without a license.
Come to think of it, such a trivial matter as operating without a license could not possibly alarm a princess. Then there was only one possibility...
"Sir, may I ask your name?" Kimia asked first.
"Lucas Nebel." Lucas replied calmly.
"You... your surname is really Nebel?" Although she had already guessed in her heart, Kimia was still shocked by this fact, feeling dizzy. "Nebel is a surname unique to the Nebel Plateau's royal family."
Lucas pointed to his head and said, "Isn't this head of blond hair obvious?"
Obvious! Of course, it's obvious. You can't find such beautiful and pure blond hair anywhere else. It's because it's too obvious that she's shocked.
"Are you really called Lucas Nebel? But do you know? This is the name of Queen Anna's older brother," Kimia confirmed, suppressing the excitement in her heart.
Queen Anna is a household name in Azoth Kingdom.
Queen Anna? Lucas's heart stirred. It seemed that his sister had indeed ascended the throne later!
He nodded and said, "I know. Anna is my twin sister."
Hearing this, Kimia almost jumped up from her stool. Her voice couldn't help but become a little louder, "But Prince Lucas passed away five hundred years ago."
Seeing this, Flamel gently reminded the princess in her ear, "Princess, calm down."
Kimia took a deep breath, trying to calm her complicated emotions.
Lucas's brain quickly processed this, and finally decided to fabricate a story about his resurrection.
"I didn't die, but fell into a deep sleep. I slept for five hundred years and just woke up not long ago," Lucas said calmly.
"This... how is this possible?" Kimia found it hard to believe. "How could anyone live for five hundred years..."
"Actually, it was all Nikola's experiment that led to the current result," Lucas decided to push all the "culprits" to Nikola.
Nikola is the most important figure in the history of Azoth Kingdom, even more famous than any royal family member, including Queen Anna. He laid the foundation for Azoth Kingdom's mysterious science, allowing the kingdom to continue to this day.
Even in the history of the entire Pokémon world, Nikola's position is pivotal. Otherwise, Azoth Kingdom would not have become the dream place for all inventors in the world.
Since Nikola was able to create the Mechanical Pokémon Magearna, then it wouldn't be a big deal for Lucas to sleep for five hundred years and then wake up.
"Nikola?" Kimia exclaimed in surprise.
Lucas nodded, "Actually, I didn't die when I entered the royal tomb that year. I dodn't know what he did, but it caused me and Carbink to have an unknown connection, and then we fell into a deep sleep together."
"Five hundred years later, Carbink mutated into the mythical Pokémon Diancie, and I was able to wake up and recover my health from being frail and sickly."
"I think all of this... should be related to Nikola."
"Your Carbink mutated into Diancie?" Kimia was shocked again.
Lucas nodded. He stretched out his hand, and the next second, Diancie appeared in the cart.
Diancie didn't know what had happened, but when she saw Kimia's blond hair, her expression was slightly surprised.
Lucas took the initiative to introduce Diancie, "Diancie, this is Princess Kimia of the royal family."
Diancie was not surprised and gave Kimia a standard royal etiquette.
"Your Highness Princess, good morning, I am Diancie."
Kimia was speechless from the shock of Lucas's summoning just now.
Lucas didn't intend to hide his uniqueness. He had lived for five hundred years and had the mythical Pokémon Diancie by his side. It's only natural to have some special abilities.
Besides, there are many people with special abilities in the Pokémon world, such as those with Aura powers, those who can use Psychic abilities, Bond Phenomenon users... one more person with special abilities wouldn't matter.
At this point, Kimia basically believed Lucas's words. It turned out that Prince Lucas's royal tomb was not stolen—he woke up and walked out of the royal tomb himself!
"Is this... is this the legendary Diamond Domain Princess Diancie?" After a long while, Kimia recovered and muttered to herself, looking at Diancie.
The Nebel Plateau royal family is proficient in working with Fairy-type Pokémon, and naturally has records about the Fairy-type mythical Pokémon Diancie, but no one has ever really seen one.
Princess Kimia never thought that she would be lucky enough to see it today.
She couldn't help but exclaim, "As expected of Nikola, the pioneer of mysterious science!"
In her understanding, apart from Nikola, she feared no one could make a Carbink evolve into Diancie.
Then Kimia withdrew her gaze from Diancie and looked at Lucas again, "Prince Lucas, can you give me some of your hair?"
Although she already believed Lucas's words, the necessary identification still had to be done. The royal bloodline could not be confused, and she also needed sufficient evidence when reporting to her father.
The technology of the Pokémon world is very advanced. Although Prince Lucas and the current royal family members are separated by many generations, they can still confirm whether they are related through genetic testing.
"Of course." Lucas knew why Princess Kimia wanted his hair. He nodded, casually pulled out a few strands and handed them to Kimia.
After Kimia received Lucas's hair, she handed it to Flamel, who was next to her.
Flamel bowed to the two of them, and then hurriedly left the cart with Lucas's hair.