M:   "It does unfortunately, most everything here has spice," Derogan explained, "but the cooks can always make it without spice."

"We have this pork roast that is really delicious, but it takes a long time to cook so we usually have it at dinner," Mandara said, "but yeah, everything has spice so you probably wouldn't like it anyway."

N:   England sunk into his chair when he heard that, which his parents laughed at when they saw him.

"It's alright, fauntkin," Anglo chuckled, "none of us like spices too, so we can find an alternative."

"What if," Saxon interrupted, "we go to the town and get some food there. I remember last time with Mandara that there were some non-spicy options which seemed good."

Johann perked up at the sound of being able to leave, "yeah, that sounds great, but," he turned to Derogan, "would we be allowed to leave?"

M:   "Well, after yesterday, I honestly don't know," Derogan said, "I know that it wasn't anyone's fault but I think the people might be a little wary of the three English Countryhumans walking around with both princes, no offense."

"And let's not forget about what happened the last time we went, Sir Saxon," Mandara reminded him, "the French soldiers attacked you and you had to fight them. That was really scary."

N:   Saxon gave a small "oh yeah" before deciding, "well, I could stay. Besides, someone needs to organize how the English knights are going to get home, as will England, Anglo, and I, so I could do that."

Anglo raised a brow, "and since when are you allowed to wander around by yourself? Nope, I'm staying too to watch over this one," he pointed at the entity, "so England is going with you."

The younger country was about to protest when Anglo raised his hand, "The last thing I will do is leave you two by yourselves, so you're going." England sighed and stood and stretched his non-injured arm.

"Come on, kiddos, let's go get some food."

Johann cringed, "Please, Sir England, never say that again."

M:   "Aww, I like it when people say that," Mandara said, "it means they care about you."

"I still don't think it is a good idea," Derogan said, "if England leaves the castle by himself, even if we are with him, he could still get in trouble, the knights might think he's trying to escape again."

"It'll be fine Derogan, we're just getting sandwiches, not even you can get into trouble doing that, right?" Mandara asked, though he didn't wait for a response before he ran off to get his coin pouch.

"Yeah, I get into trouble, thanks for establishing that Captain Obvious," Derogan shouted after his brother, sounding pretty miffed.

N:   "If you're worried about me leaving, we could ask a knight to accompany us so it doesn't look suspicious," England suggested, "and I'm sure that your knights can easily apprehend a one-armed unarmed man."

He began tapping his pockets for money but remembered that he didn't have any belongings ever since he was captured. "Umm, do you think that my belongings are still in the dungeons?" he asked.

M:   "They shouldn't be," Derogan said, "they should have been given back to you when you were let out, but maybe someone forgot them down there. You don't have to worry though, Mandara always brings money even though we don't usually have to pay for anything, he likes to help out the economy."

Mandara came back soon after with a pouch in his hand, "I got the money, we can go now, Sir Saxon, Sir Anglo, is there something, in particular, you fancy?"

N:   "I would like to have the sandwich I had last time, minus the spice. If I ignore the part where it made me have a sore throat, it was pretty good," Saxon said.

"I'll have whatever Saxon is having," Anglo began but then he processed what the entity said, "excuse me, did you say you voluntarily ate a spicy sandwich."

"It was a chall-" the entity started but was interrupted by the winged country.

"Don't even finish that sentence," he sighed and then turned to Mandara, "if he said it's good, then I'll have it then."

"Now that we got that sorted out," England spoke, but also giving his father Saxon a confused look as to why he would choose to eat spicy food, "let's start heading out then."

M:   Mandara and even Derogan giggled, they still thought it was funny that Saxon agreed to that challenge, they and Johann followed England out the dining hall but one could still hear the youngest prince say, "Sir England, I bet you three gold pieces you can't eat an entire spicy sandwich."

N:   England looked down in horror at the prince. "What? No. I bet six gold pieces that I wouldn't go near a spicy sandwich. Definitely not after what happened during breakfast," he gave a pointed look at Johann.

The human boy laughed, "I didn't exactly plan for the entire bottle to empty out, Sir England. What if Mandara betted five gold coins?"

The country immediately shook his head, "I'm not stupid like my father."

"What if it's seven?" The country refused again.

Determined to get the country to agree, Johann went up again, "Nine?"

This time the country didn't instantly refuse the offer, scratching his chin as he thought about it, and said, "Ten."

The boy turned to Mandara, "Would you bet ten gold coins? It is your money after all."

M:   Mandara pondered the thought, looking in his pouch to see how many coins he brought with him then nodded, "yup, I can go ten, and you have to eat the whole sandwich or no coins.

Derogan shook his head, "Mandara, I think you have a gambling problem," he stated, Mandara only laughed mischievously.

When they got into town, the people didn't seem to mind England there, which confused the country until Derogan explained.

"We forgot to mention, our people view us as deities for whatever reason so they may not do anything out of respect, but don't start panicking if someone bows to you, that's just what they do."

N:   "That's weird," England and Johann said simultaneously, which then baffled them when they did.

"But that just shows that you guys are good and kind if your people do that, no one would do that back where I'm from," continued the human.

"It's fine, I'll just go with the flow- OOF" England spoke but stopped when he collided with a Mandorian who was about to bow. Despite the warning and what not to do, he started to panic. Luckily, Johann was able to save him from further embarrassment or to give him more.

"Hello, kind Mandorian," the boy said, slightly bowing and playing as England's servant, "my lord, Sir England, is pleased by what you have done and apologizes for colliding with you. I believe it is his best interest for you to stand up so he can eat a spicy sandwich." The Mandorian stood up but gave the country a confused look when Johann mentioned the last part, so the country speed-walked away in embarrassment.

M:   Mandara and Derogan burst out laughing, that had to be the wittiest thing they have ever seen someone do, which made it even funnier the way the Mandorian looked at England after hearing about the sandwich.

Once they calmed down, the brothers led the other two to the bakery, they chatted with the owner in Mandorian and ordered what everyone wanted.

"And just like with your father, I'm getting you a non-spicy sandwich and the spicy one won't be unbearable, it will just have a nice kick to it." Mandara told England, "it's pretty crazy how alike you are to Sir Saxon despite the fact you hate each other."

"I'll say," Derogan smirked, "arrogant, short-tempered, gets into trouble a lot, and can't pass up a challenge."

"You literally just described yourself, Derogan," Mandara pointed out, "maybe you're related to them."

N:   "I'm not short-tempered," England said, raising his voice slightly, but quickly stopped and reiterated, "ok, I may be short-tempered and I might be similar to my father, I just don't like being compared to him. Also, when it comes to Saxon, he'll take the challenge as it comes, whereas I will increase the stakes and try to get the most out of it."

"But," Johann pointed out, "you are still taking up a challenge." England was stumped and didn't know how to counter that.

When the country heard what Mandara said, he chuckled, "well, if you actually were related to us, I am tremendously sorry. Maybe you will be fine with Fa and with my mother-in-law Celtica, but the moment you meet America," he shook his head.

Their sandwiches were ready, and England's sandwich was handed to him. He looked down at the spicy sandwich and muttered, "what have I gotten myself into?"

M:   "I guess we'll find out when we get back home," Mandara grinned, paying for their lunches, "there is no way I'm letting your dads miss this, and as promised it shouldn't be very spicy, but it might be to you since English are wimps when it comes to spicy food."

"I think we have established that many times over," Derogan said as they headed back to the castle, "I think the only person who hasn't had anything spicy yet is Anglo."

"I remember when Sir Saxon hid a bug in his food to get back at him for helping you make Saxon eat a bug," Mandara said, giggling.

Derogan chuckled at the memory and explained, "Saxon and I were in the woods looking for an animal to prank someone with and I dared with him that the last one to catch an animal had to eat a bug, but little did he know that the prankee was him. I caught a snake and scared him with it while he was near a stream, he fell in and got soaked. Then to add insult to injury, later on, he saw another one and climbed up a tree to get away from it. It was on the day Anglo first came so he had to fly up and carry him down bridle style."

N:   "Bloody hell," England laughed, "I missed a lot, didn't I? I would pay a good amount of money to see my father climb up a tree from a snake. We only got a good scare from him once with a snake back in Australia, and the shout he made had everyone laughing for hours."

Eventually, they reached the castle and headed towards the dining hall, and when they entered, they saw pieces of paper sprawled across one end of the table, with the two English countryhumans flicking through them and passing the paper to each other. Anglo was working thoroughly through them while Saxon looked like he was bored out of his mind. However, the entity was shaken from his boredom when the winged country announced, "I think that's it. A few minor adjustments and then we're ready to leave at any time."

The winged country turned around and saw the group come in, so he tidied up the table and thanked the princes as they gave him and Saxon their food. He noticed that England hasn't eaten his food so he asked why.

"I was - er - challenged to eat a spicy sandwich for ten gold coins," the country answered cautiously, which got a sigh from Anglo.

The country looked down at his sandwich, and after muttering a prayer that his throat doesn't die, took a bite.

He immediately started coughing, which got Anglo to his side to help him not choke on his food, while Saxon was cheering his son on to continue. England tried to get another bite, but the spice was too much for him so he stopped.

This got a noticeable sigh from Saxon, which made Anglo face him and stared daggers at him for not helping.

M:   "Aww, you didn't finish the sandwich, no coins for you," Derogan teased.

"I'll give him one for taking the challenge," Mandara said, sliding the non-spicy sandwich to England as well as one coin, "and that one doesn't have spice in it if you still have an appetite left."

"And no need to be disappointed Saxon," Derogan added, "Mandara pulls this bet on everyone that comes to visit and the ones that do don't normally make it past one bite, by the way, what spice did you plant in his sandwich this time?"

"Just a pinch of cayenne powder," Mandara reviled, "it was the same amount in Saxon's sandwich and it shouldn't have burnt that much, but as I said before, English and British tend to be wimps around spice, no offense."

N:   "None taken," England replied hoarsely as he took his gold coin and non-spicy sandwich, and slowly ate it.

Saxon was only more disappointed when he heard that England's sandwich had the same amount of spice as his, "England, you could have eaten the whole thing."

"Saxon, could you not see that England couldn't continue," Anglo shook his head, "that's enough spice for one day."

"Wow," Johann agreed with Mandara, "you English are wimps when it comes to spice," but was immediately shut down by Anglo, who asked what sandwich Johann was eating.

"Anyway, Sir Anglo," the human began, trying to direct the attention back to the winged country, "why don't you try out some spicy food?"

"Because I'm not an idiot," he answered simply.

M:   "Fair enough," Mandara and Derogan said in unison, then Derogan added, "England did actually decline it at first if it makes you feel better, but Johann kept raising the stakes until he eventually agreed.

Mandara decided that the spicy sandwich shouldn't go to waste so he swiped it for himself, earning a disapproving look from his brother.

"You already had a sandwich before this one and now you're going to have a third, you're going to get fat and won't be able to fly," he said.

"Mind your business Derogan," Mandara snapped, "I'm hungry and not letting the sandwich go to waste."

N:   The English and Johann laughed at the siblings' bickering, and then England got an idea.

"Faeder," he called, which made Saxon turn towards him, "THERE'S A SNAKE BEHIND YOU."

Saxon yelped and was instantly on the table, far away as possible from his original place. Everyone started laughing, and Johann was laughing so much that he needed to sit down.

Anglo walked up to his panicked husband and convinced him between chuckles, "there is no snake under the table, dear, so come down."

The entity tentatively stepped down from the table, slightly shaking, and threatened England, "you're in trouble young man."

The younger country chuckled, "what are you going to do?" but his eyes widened when he saw Saxon marching towards him.

Saxon head-locked England and began to rub his knuckles against his head, and the younger country patted his father's arm to stop. The entity continued for ten seconds until he let go, allowing a dazed country to plop back down in his seat.

M:   The brothers were practically dying of laughter, neither could catch their breath and felt like they were going to pass out, Mandara had even fallen out of his chair and was just laughing on the ground.

"Oh my gods, I don't think I ever laughed so hard in my life," Derogan exclaimed through laughs, "I hope you all decide to come back and visit, I don't think there's been this much laughter in this castle in years."

Mandara sat up and shook his head in agreement with his brother, still trying to calm himself down. He then perked you and faced the doorway of the dining hall, his wings fluffing up from apparently picking up something.

"Father can feel our excitement," he announced, "he says he's jealous that we're having a good time without him and is tempted to come down and join us."

N:   "In the state he's in," Anglo commented, shaking his head, "it is better that your father stays in bed." The winged country then turned around to hear a conversation between England and Saxon.

"... and I heard that Fa had to carry you down from a tree because you were scared of a snake," England smiled.

"T-that," the entity stuttered, "that was not how it happened."

"And he carried you, and I quote, 'bridle style'. Should he do that again whenever we hide a snake underneath your bed," teased the younger country.

"You little," the entity was about to lunge at England when Anglo held him back by the arms.

"Now, now Saxon. There is no need to get worked up."

M:   "You hid snakes under his bed," Mandara repeated, "we do that too whenever Father summons Lord Commonwealth."

"It's true," Derogan confirmed, "Commonwealth is deathly afraid of snakes, probably even more so than Saxon, however unlikely that may be, and he either jumps on top of his wardrobe and fluffs all four wings like an owl, or he once jumped out the window when we put a particularly big snake in his bed. He did get hurt from that since he went through the glass so we try not to do it again, at least with big snakes."

N:   Anglo chuckled, "Poor Commonwealth. You two really do give your guests a tough time." He faced Saxon and saw that his face had turned a bit pale, so he laughed a bit and rubbed his back to comfort him.

"Big. Snakes," the entity gulped, not wanting to think about the prospect of a snake under his bed, "I am going to lock the door and window whenever I go to sleep from now on."

"So that means we have to place a snake before you go to sleep, Sir Saxon," Johann laughed, "let's name it 'Operation: Scare the Head of Insurgents."

M:   "That's not a very good name," Derogan said in good nature, "a name for a mission should be short and witty, I'd say something like 'Operation: Scaly Assassin,' figuratively speaking of course."

"Yes, The Feather Assassins will claim another victim," Mandara cheered, "and now we have a new recruit to train."

N:   "That name was long, wasn't it," Johann muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, but then he lit up and did a fist pump when he heard he was recruited. He faced Saxon mischievously, "you better watch out."

"Anglo," the entity said, although keeping an eye on the three boys, "if we are not going to go today, I am going to take a horse and ride away from here."

The winged country only laughed and shook his head, and England spoke, "come on, Faeder, you need to face your fear of snakes once and for all."

The entity scrunched up his face and mumbled, "I do not want a repeat of Australia."