[Third Person POV]
As Sabrina stared in shock at the clone of Hajime, she quickly refocused when she heard a loud cough. It was a familiar cough, and she responded instinctively.
"What do you want, Mom?"
Before she even realized who she was talking to or what she had just said, her mother responded.
"I want to know why my daughter thinks rebelling by kidnapping the king is such a good idea. Or does she not respect royalty anymore, feeling like embarrassing me by treating me so rudely in front of another noble? Please, do tell me, Sabrina, I'm quite curious."
After chastising her daughter, Queen Kaela and Hajime watched as Sabrina's face changed from annoyance to a pale white terror. She had previously thought she would remain undetected long enough for her to get the message to Mikayla and start their duel, but somehow, her mother found out. Worse than that, she was currently looking at the cage holding the king, while also standing... next to him?
"Wait, how are there two of you!?"
"A special ability of mine, my kidnapper," Hajime responded jokingly, but keeping the focus on her action of kidnapping him. He didn't know whether she was trying to change the subject, but he wouldn't let her. She was so smug earlier when she thought she had trapped him, so seeing her floundering about, trying to come up with an explanation of why the king of Kinkow was imprisoned just outside her hut, was amusing.
"Sabrina!" Queen Kaela howled in anger. Ignoring the fact that Hajime was a child, which only made the situation worse. Her daughter had attacked the king of the island over a petty, childhood grudge. If, god forbid, he went to war after escaping, the Nanju tribe would either cease to exist or be imprisoned for life.
Sabrina was the next in line for her throne, which only meant that, at best, relations between them and the rest of the island wouldn't change, something she doubted. The likelier outcome was Hajime isolating their tribe, leading younger members to leave for better opportunities elsewhere on the island. It would destroy their way of life, and she wouldn't even be able to protest since it was retaliation for her daughter's actions.
Queen Kaela took a deep breath, schooling her features to present a calm look that unnerved Sabrina and both Hajime clones. The queen looked like she had reached enlightenment, but in a terrifying 'I'm going to make your life hell' kind of way.
"Sabrina," she repeated, this time much calmer, but more stoic. "Your actions today were not just foolish, but they risked the entire Nanju tribe, all for your childish grudge against that Mikayla girl for taking the last skewer at lunch."
"But-"
"No buts! It seems I've neglected to discipline you properly. And since King Hajime has suffered because of your actions, he should be the perfect person to whip you into shape."
""Huh?!""
Both Sabrina and Hajime were stunned by her declaration.
"Queen Kaela?"
"King Hajime, to make amends for my foolish daughter's actions, I would like to enlist her as one of your royal guards. I don't care about the position or treatment you give her so long as she finally learns some responsibility." As Queen Kaela says that last part, she stares at her daughter, making the blonde girl shrink back, clearly never having seen her mother this irate. She didn't even try to speak up, already realizing that doing so might make her situation worse.
"As for you, young lady," she said, addressing Sabrina, "I expect the best possible behavior from you. Should I hear anything about you not doing your work properly, I'll come down to the castle and discipline you myself in front of everyone."
Finally done with her warning/threat to Sabrina, she turned to Hajime. "Your Majesty, once again, I apologize for my daughter's actions," she said, giving what Hajime assumed was a Nanju curtsey. "Though it's presumptuous, I sincerely hope that by joining your guards, Sabrina finally learns some responsibility.
Hajime accepted her apology, letting her know she was forgiven immediately. He wasn't the type who liked holding grudges, and his idea for punishing her would be her own personal hell.
After finishing up what he was doing before she took him, Hajime's clone led her back to the castle, preparing to hand Sabrina off to her new boss, aka the person who gets to tell her what to do, Mikayla Makoola.
He figured that if her grudge with Mikayla was so bad that it led Sabrina to kidnap him, then he'd make sure to break her pride by having her serve under said worst enemy. He presumed it'd be even worse since not only would she have to listen to Mikayla and show her respect, but if she messed up, Mikayla would get to punish her however she saw fit or drag her mother into it. It was truly a punishment that fit the crime.
-----
After talking with Queen Kaela some more and promising to visit the tribe in the future so she could show proper hospitality, Hajime took Sabrina back to the castle.
Needless to say, Mikayla nearly stormed into his room when she heard Hajime had brought Sabrina back. Their rivalry was fierce; apparently, to the point where several teachers had refused to intervene for their own safety.
When she entered the room, Sabrina nearly flew into a rage.
"Mikayla!" She shifted into a combat-ready form, Mikayla reciprocating, before Hajime spoke up.
"Sabrina, you've been here less than a minute. Do you want your mother to come here that soon?"
At that threat, Sabrina froze before backing off, not willing to face that woman's wrath, which was likely still burning from earlier. It was like getting a speeding ticket from the cops, only to start speeding the second you're told you can go.
Seeing the stubborn blonde she was so familiar with listening to the king's instructions, Mikayla was understandably confused.
"My King," Mikayla said, putting away her machete. "How did you get her to listen to you?"
"She tried kidnapping me earlier to use me as a hostage to get you to fight her. Her mother wasn't too happy to find that out, though. Now she gets to work off whatever sentence she might've had."
Mikayla's jaw dropped as she turned to stare at Sabrina. She always knew Sabrina was reckless. Aside from her, Sabrina had picked the most fights with people at school. But to kidnap the king just to fight her?
Even Mikayla herself wasn't confident in beating the king, even with the rest of the royal guards. She would've thought by now that most people had heard of what happened, given it involved the transfer of the kingdom.
"Anyway, Mikayla, I'm putting Sabrina under your command, which means you'll be giving her all the orders and punishments, as well as making sure she keeps up with training," Hajime explained to her. "Also, while I am aware of your grudge, I expect you to be professional, which means I want you to treat her as you would any other guard, understand?" Hajime smiled when he saw Mikayla nodding, though her face had a slight look of reluctance.
"I understand, My King."
"Good, dismissed." Hajime let them both leave, figuring it was best to let them work through everything somewhere that he wouldn't be immediately forced to mediate.
While those two were busy, possibly verbally tearing each other apart, Hajime was taking a walk through the town, looking at the many changes that had been made, both permanent and temporary.
The permanent changes were things like roads. Granted, they weren't much more advanced than what the island previously had, but he just switched from dirt to either gravel or cobblestone. They also had a more advanced toilet drainage system, some areas with electricity (including a location safer than an 'internet tree'), and several new farms growing new crops.
Brady and Boomer had started some of these projects nearly a year ago, but they were barely funded and weren't widespread. The twins mostly started them to keep their lifestyle as modern as possible, and with the gold-pooping gopher creating a constant influx of cash, few cared if it seemed wasteful.
It wasn't that anyone didn't understand the benefits, but most people on the island were traditional, which slowed change. That was partly why only the areas the twins visited developed this way, while everything else remained as it was.
Though there was some resistance, Hajime planned to offer tax benefits for the next three years to those who got on board, to speed things along. Having a gold-pooping gopher made things like this incredibly easy.
The temporary changes were banners, streamers, and the like, all in preparation for the diplomatic visits from Sununu and Cornea. They would arrive in 3 and 6 days, respectively, and Hajime made sure everything was in order. He wasn't going to be one of those panicky people who needed everything to be perfect for guests, but he still wanted to make sure everything showed off the kingdom's prosperity and hospitality.
He even had two sections of the castle prepared for his visitors, complete with guards and servants, ready to fulfill almost every command. They'd still probably have their own guards and servants, but none would be familiar with the castle.
As Hajime strolled through the town, he was greeted by many islanders, many of whom he'd met and talked to over the last few months. Hajime had made frequent appearances, not just to reassure everyone about the changes, but also to gather their input.
He didn't plan to change the island's culture, but he did plan to add at least some basic modern amenities, such as internet, plumbing, and paved roads. For any other changes, he wanted their opinions first. Even if he connected it back to his homeworld, he still wanted to preserve their unique culture.
-----
Three days came and went, and the twin queens had finally arrived.
Their procession came by boat, as the people of Mindu did in canon. Though they had methods to deal with the many sea monsters in the archipelago's waters, it was still quite dangerous, and a hot-air balloon never felt appropriate for such visits, so diplomatic missions between the kingdoms were rare.
The boat was ornate, with gold trim along the gunwale and a statuesque figurehead that looked awfully similar to the living statue who cursed the island. It wasn't the same, given that he had turned the sentient one into a living search engine, but it was definitely made in its likeness.
It was also made to look bad on purpose. The face was misshapen and droopy, with two different-sized eyes, not too big a difference to be immediately noticeable, but enough that you'd recognize it looked off. The smile carved into it had crooked or chipped teeth; one was even painted black. The nose was large and bulbous, while the hair was carved to look less kempt, with a large bald spot.
The twins even made sure there was an equally ugly body to match; think Poseidon's true look from the SpongeBob Movie (the third one with Atlantic City). It was fat and flabby everywhere, making anyone who looked at the statue feel disgusted.
Of course, for taking away their intelligence, not to mention the rest of the island's intelligence, the queens were absolutely unwilling to let their grudge go, not that anyone could blame them. They insulted a statue once, and in return he nearly destroyed the island; it wasn't even close to a reasonable punishment. What remained of the statue after Hajime was done with it had been covered up, making it look like a church confession booth, so they'd never have to see its face again.
The queens stepped onto the deck wearing a set of matching purple dresses adorned with jewels and gold trim. As they walked down the gangplank side by side, they easily drew everyone's attention. Hajime, flanked by Mikayla and Sabrina, stepped forward to greet them.
"Queen Desta, Queen Hesta, I'm glad to see you after so long. How's Sununu doing now that your curse is gone?"
""It's good to see you too, King Hajime,"" the twins replied.
"We're doing fine now that that bastard of a statue is dealt with."
"We've been using it during our island's trivia nights to announce the answers."
"It's become a huge hit. The bar that hosts it even requested to double the number of trivia nights."
The two spoke in turn, as if one had the next sentence ready before the other finished speaking.
"How interesting. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll take you to the palace." Hajime led the twin queens to the carriage that would take them, helping them on before joining them, Mikayla and Sabrina holding the reins for the donkeys.
The guards in both groups moved. Those in front of the carriage kept the road clear, and those behind and to the side made sure nothing attacked. Hajime knew the road was almost 100% safe, but he wouldn't take the risk of either queen getting hurt, especially only minutes after landing on Kinkow.
The political fallout would be huge.
As the carriage slowly rolled along, Hajime, Hesta, and Desta all talked about how they were running their kingdoms, something only Mikayla was interested in, while Sabrina became incredibly focused on looking for threats, practically praying something might happen so she could do anything interesting.
__________
Author's Note:
This should be the last of Kinkow for a while, at least until I connect the worlds, so I wanted to cover most of my bases, but I might have one or two more interludes later on to continue this, though.
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!