The young hostess made a pleasant smile as she bowed, very serviable.
"Certainly, honored guest."
She went away with little light pace, her sandals making barely any sound on the tatami as she came back with a little bottle of sake.
"Your sake, my lord."
After what, she went on to explain the various dishes served at the garden, from the simple onigiri rice balls, the simpliest of the sushis made of shrimp from the seas of Honshu to more complexe variety of okazu, and then beef soba noodles, popular among the lower classes of imperial citizens and more and more commong outside Kusari. The variety was exceedingly large, and represented well the long history of the nippon empire' culture.
--
From time to time, high ranking officers would come in. But here in a tavern, there were no need to salute them, so all Isabelle Mitsurugi got when she entered were the curious glances from just about everyone - for she was wearing the imperial uniform just like much of the soldiers patronning around. And she certainly didn't looked Kusari at all.
Her fiery red cape brushed the soft flooring as she walked past the bar along with her bodyguard, a tall helmeted kusari soldier armoured with anti-blaster plates.
As she neared the clients, they could notice the two ranks of decoration - barely any of them from the Kusari empire. Yet, her shoulder plates indicated two bars and 5 stars; the rank of the imperial generals, the high ranking strategist warriors of the army.
There was some majesty to it as silence suddenly fell in the room as she walked up to the terasse of the Officers, a place especially reserved for the naval forces personnel.
As soon as she wasn't in sight anymore, conversation began once again, but she was soon back, without the symbolic armour and cape - for the time being, she wanted everyone to look upon her as any of the other soldiers in this tavern, so no one stopped their chatter this time.
Isabelle sat down on one of the cushion, alone with her bodyguard. It has been a long time since she spent some time alone - just for herself. She smiled at the prospect of a life just as it used to be when she was still the youngest libertonian general...
"Rheinland Kolsch, please." she asked as a hostess came to take care of her command.
There used to be a time when spending time in a bar was a natural habit for her, even though her consommation remained ever low. She smiled slightly at the thought she did used to flirt from time to time - never engaging in a serious relationship of course. And then there was Jimmy... but that was a different story.
She still felt somewhat nervous at the prospect of wedding, but was happy anyway with it. She just needed some time to get used to the idea, and for that, she needed a place like this one where she could forget for a moment the heavy duty of a warrior.
She sipped slowly at her drink, reflecting on her past as she dismissed her bodyguard for the time being...