John was very surprised to find out that the mushroom princess, Kolet, was in love with him. He heard about it through the mushroom chief minister, who told him in confidence.
“Really?” said John, surprised. John was in the library with Benjamin the Mouse when the chief minister came. “Do mushroom’s find human men attractive?” John asked. “I mean, there’s no way that a human could ever mate with a mushroom, so I wouldn’t have thought the attractive urge would exist.”
“Stop putting everything so crassly, John,” said Benjamin the Mouse. “Not everything has to be about mating. Perhaps the lady has just taken a liking to your face.”
“Yes, but… You must admit it is odd, right? There’s never been any sort of mushroom-human romance before, has there?”
“Well, you’re the scholar, not me,” said Benjamin. “Search the books and see what you find.”
“How many people know about this?” John asked the Chief Minister.
“The Princess Kolet has confided in a few of her chambermaids,” said the Chief Minister, “and one of the chambermaids has confided in me. As far as I know, that’s the extent of it right now. I don’t think even the king knows about it at the moment.”
“Curious,” said John. He thought for a moment. “She does actually have a pleasant looking face.”
“The faces of the mushroom people do have some human characteristics,” admitted Benjamin the Mouse. “The eye-lashes, the nose, the lips, the color in her cheeks.”
“It is true,” said John. “When the fairies granted these mushrooms with life centuries ago, they did give them some surprisingly human looking faces.”
“From our perspective,” said the Chief Minister, “You humans have faces that surprisingly resemble mushrooms. No doubt, this is what is causing the princess to be attracted to you. We’ve never seen a human like you before, so she would like to get to know you better.”
“But surely the princess must know,” said John, “that the whole purpose of my journey this way is because I want to approach the land of the fairies and return to my full size. I’ve enjoyed my time in the mushroom kingdom immensely, but I can’t possibly stay forever.”
“The Princess Kolet simply wants to get to know you better during the time you are here,” said the Chief Minister. “Surely there can be no harm in that.”
John looked at Benjamin the Mouse. “I suppose he’s right,” said Benjamin. “I can’t think of any harm that could come from getting to know her a bit better. Assuming you are completely honest with her about your intentions to leave.”
“I suppose it couldn’t do any harm,” said John. Turning to the Chief Minister, he asked. “Very well. What do you propose?”
“Meet me tomorrow night, and I will arrange a rendezvous with the princess,” said the Chief Minister.
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