[It's so strange to hear someone say that word had a good sound to it, just because to her it was as common as anything. But... it was kind of nice in a way, it softens the anxious lines about her expression at the very least.

Or is that the fact that he says his world is like her own? (Probably more that, but.)]

Yours doesn't either?

[So many people had looked at her askance about the lack of technology in her own world, so it's reassuring to hear, and she leans down closer to him instinctively.]

What are kings and queens? Are they like emperors? I saw the caravan of the lord of Echigo, once. I mean, from a distance, but. He did pass through on his way to the capital-