"All set." That evening, Drible had been busy preparing the plane Daisy would use to fly to the Chai Kingdom with her Toad escorts. "You are fit for flying tomorrow, princess."

Daisy was busy tuning a part of the plane. Her face covered in grease along with the rest of her clothes. "Heh, course it is. Dad used this thing a lot and now it's mine to use. Gotta keep her at one-hunned!"

"Quite right," the Dry Bones butler nodded. "Oh, and if you see a yellow Koopa woman in the Chai Kingdom tomorrow, approach her. She is my love of 75 years."

"Ooh, I didn't know you had a love lady, Drible!"

"Well yes. I do. It was simply not relevant to my work life, so I never mentioned it."

Daisy was heavily invested. Evidenced by her enthusiasm and how much she jumped in her caretaker's face. "Tell me about her! How is she? What's she like?"

"You will find out tomorrow...once you've arrived. Not to mention showered again. You smell of grease. To the washroom with you."

"Awww, okay..." she feigned disappointment but was actually very excited inside.

The trio arrived in the Chai Kingdom the next morning via plane. It was a rather small vehicle, with only one seat for the pilot, Daisy herself. Because of this both Toads simply rode on the wings of the plane with almost no issue.

"This isn't safe! Why did I let you talk me into this?!" The Blue Toad shrieked as he stood on the plane's left side.

Toadette scoffed while she snapped photographs with a film camera. "Seriously? We've both jumped all over airships before and this is what scares you? We aren't even going that fast!"

With a set of pilot goggles and a helmet, Daisy controlled the plane with a fair amount of ease. "Yuh, she right. We ain't even going more than 20 MPH. Don't worry, Blue we almost there."

"So what's the Chai Kingdom like? Is there a governor that answers to you or something?" Toadette asked.

"I think it'd be easier if I showed ya." The Kingdom was just over the desert horizon. The closer they got, the more features they would be able to make out.

The entire Kingdom was built with traditional Southeast-Asian architecture in mind. Lanterns adorned many of the buildings with an open air market on one side, and a massive castle-like building on the other.

"Woooahh..." Toadette's mouth was agape in amazement. "It looks so cool! Like Dragon Driftway!"

"Yeah uh...that race track is sorta near here," Daisy quietly commented whilst landing the plane just outside of the Chai Kingdom's entrance.

"I guess that makes sense..." Blue Toad replied in a timid fashion as he jumped off of the plane wing. "Oh thank lord. Soft earth..."

"C'mon! I wanna get as many good shots of this place as possible!" The pink Toad ran through the front entrance past a pair of Goombo guards.

"Hey!"

"Chill ya'll, she with me," Daisy removed the pilot gear and exited the plane. Wearing her usual dress and white gloves. "Gina, Gerald. Good to see ya again."

"Yup," the female Goombo guard smiled, "it's a bit of a drag, but we get by."

"Just keep a leash on that pink one," the male grumbled, "I don't wanna have to write another mundane report."

Daisy giggled while she walked past them with her Blue escort. "Heh, no problem. Hey which way'd she go...?"

Blue sighed. "She's over there, taking pictures of every building."

Indeed, Toadette was zipping past each of the structures with her camera flashing every other second. "Ooh...ahh...so many places, what to do first?!"

"Ahem." Daisy cleared her throat and simultaneously swiped Toadette's camera.

"Hey!"

She held it just out of reach of the short girl, and put it away. "You'll get this back after we do what we came here for. And that's findin' out who these dang rebels are."

"I agree," Blue said, "though, I will admit, this place is nothing like the Mushroom Kingdom. There's so much...calmness with a diverse set of species living here."

All around them were many of the natives walking, shopping, and going about their business. On the surface level, it was bustling with lots of different shops and stands to purchase food and clothes. However, there were no roads wide enough for vehicles to traverse the inside of the Kingdom.

"Oh wow, we could get so much shopping done..." Toadette fantasized about the different types of clothes she could purchase before she thought of something. "Hey, why isn't everyone crowding around you and bowing? Don't they realize their ruler is here?"

The flower princess stretched in a casual fashion and waved to a few passersby. "Yeh. They do but they know me well enough that I'mma friend to the people, not a ruler."

"But...you are, though."

"Ahem! Okay we'z gettin' off track." Daisy ended the conversation and pushed her pink friend along. "C'mon we gotta ask around for info."

After a bit of walking, the trio arrived at a food stand. Working there was a cloudless Lakitu. "Princess!" She bowed, "And you have friends? Welcome!"

"Hey, Kaia. Gimme three orders, please. I also need some info."

"Coming right up! And info on what?"

Daisy leaned on the stand and whispered. "You hear summin' about some rebels in town?"

"Oh...no...I haven't," the goggled koopa responded while gathering Daisy's order.

"You sure?" Her eyebrow raised, dubious she was, "it's okay, hun. You can tell me."

With a sigh, the Lakitu placed three steaming takeout boxes on the counter in front of her. "Okay, listen. I don't know any names, but there's this group that's supposedly going around buying all sorts of weapons like they plan to start a war or something. That's all I know, princess. Honest."

"Hm...thanks, Kaia." She grabbed the three boxes and met her toad friends at a nearby table on a plaza.

"You got a look on your face," Blue pointed out, "something wrong?"

Daisy handed them each a box and a pair of chopsticks. "Nah. Nothin'. Although...I think I'mma show ya'll around sommore."

Toadette grew confused. "Wait a sec...I thought you said we weren't on tour?"

"Well, now we are. I got a suspicion that I wanna check out."

Blue tried to use the chopsticks to feast on the chow mein, but it proved difficult. "Gah! I know one thing's for certain, this place has hard eating rules. Can't I get a fork?"

Daisy casually ate from her own box. "Nah. Sorry, but that's how it's done in the Chai Region. Not much metal 'round here to make forks with, plus they recyclable."

"Grrr..." Toadette had a rough time as the noodles kept slipping off her sticks. "This is ridiculous. And-is that an egg? Who puts a whole egg with noodles?"

The princess chuckled in the face of her friend's hard time. "Heheh. You'll get it. Just takes practice. 'Sides. That ain't the only thing you gonna find difficult around here."

"..." Upon hearing this, Blue decided to simply shove his face in the box and eat the noodles directly. "Screw the rules!"

"Hmph. Quitter." Toadette scolded him while doing her best to use the chopsticks properly.

"Oh my gosh, guys..." Daisy noticed some onlookers staring at them, and responded with a forced grin to hide her shame.

Among the witnesses was a yellow-shelled Koopa that Drible had spoken of the night before. But before Daisy could approach her, she approached them instead.

"Hello! Princess?"

"Uh, yeh?"

She ran up and gave the princess a squeezing hug. "My man is your butler! Oh, he's told me a lot about you! How has it been up there? Oh, let me take a selfie with you, dear!"

"Um, hold on-wha!" She couldn't form a sentence before the Koopa woman had pulled her off to the side to take pictures with her from her smartphone.

Blue wiped his messy face with a napkin. "And there it is."

"Yup, totally saw that coming. There's no way people can resist cute chicks like us," Toadette bragged in a subtle manner.

"Wait, you're implying you fit into that category?" The Blue Toad snickered.

In response, she grabbed him by his vest with both hands. "Repeat that?"