Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 28

When she finally got back to her usual self, she realised that Yashiro was hugging her.

“Ah! Too close!” she exclaimed in shock, placing her hands on his chest and pushing him away from her.

The sudden action caught him by surprise, and he ended up falling off the bed.

“Ow!”

Without having to look at her, he knew she was blushing again.

“What was that for?” he asked, staring up at her as he lay on the floor.

She gasped and quickly got out of bed. She walked to him and held out her hand to him.

“Oh my gosh,” she gushed out, embarrassment was written all over her face, “I’m so, so sorry. You just caught me by surprise.”

He tsked as he took her hand and stood up.

“Well, aren’t you charming?”

She blushed even more, avoiding eye contact with the fox.

“When did you get so strong?” he teasingly asked her, a smirk on his face.

“I’ve been working out, doing some training, and stuff like that,” she lied and awkwardly laughed.

“Uh-huh,” was all he could say, certainly amused by this princess.

She internally facepalmed herself. Her heart was racing, but not because of some of the memories she now regained, but because of the close contact she had with the fox prince.

‘Calm down, heart. These are not my feelings. These are Nexi’s.’

She watched him as he strolled towards the bed and grabbed the towel.

“Thank you,” she softly said.

He turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. She pointed at the towel and smiled.

“For helping me get better. Thank you.”

He stood in front of her.

“What exactly happened to you?”

She cleared her throat as her brain worked hard to come up with an excuse.

“Well,” she began, “lately, I haven’t been feeling so well. I’ve been getting these weird headaches. No, headache is not even the word for it. My head just starts hurting out of nowhere. I don’t know why.”

He crossed his arms. Seeing her this vulnerable made him want to embrace her again, but he knew she would not allow him to do so. Her face right now was as red as a tomato. This was clearly the face of someone who felt embarrassed and ashamed.

“What about your body glowing? It’s the first time I’ve seen that happen to you,” he said, curiosity in his voice.

She bit her lip, unsure of how to answer that. It was not like she even knew the answer to that. She was just as confused as he was. How would she explain that to him? Her action of biting her lip caused a stir inside him. The action aroused an emotion he never knew he had. It was not like he was in love with her.

He was only marrying her because of his royal duty as the oldest son of the Kuba family. They both knew that this was an arranged marriage, a marriage of convenience. Although he was unhappy when his father gave him the news of this marriage, he still obeyed his father and agreed to it.

When he had first met Nexi, he felt no romantic feelings for her. He just found her burdensome and hated how much of a pushover she was. She was always keeping her feelings bottled up, never expressing any anger towards her predicament. That really irritated him. So what was different now? Why was he beginning to feel this way all of a sudden?

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He shook his head and walked towards the bathroom, hanging the now dry towel on the railing. He stood in front of the small mirror and stared at his reflection.

‘What’s so different now? Why do I have the sudden urge to possess everything that is her? Why do I want to protect her and keep her to myself?’

All these questions kept flooding his mind, and he sighed.

‘Whatever. Let’s not think too much of it.’

He walked out of the bathroom and saw her moving her suitcase to the closet. Her back was turned, and he noticed how slender her shoulders were and how every part of her covered body was absolutely perfect. She turned and smiled at him. The smile caused his heart to flutter.

“I should go wash my face,” she said, walking past him and into the bathroom.

He sat down on the bed and waited for her. When she walked out, she smiled at him again. He wanted to be the only one to see that smile, for that smile to belong to him and nobody else.

“Please don’t tell your family about what happened,” she pleaded as she stood in front of him, staring down at him with her cobalt eyes.

He resisted the urge to pull her towards him and hold her in his arms.

“Understood, but you still did not tell me why your body suddenly glowed like that. I mean, I know you have the Silver Ocean, but it’s not like you were using it, so why?”

She mentally ‘tsked’ as she was hoping he would not ask her about that again. How was she supposed to answer that? She, herself, did not know why.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” she said.

“Because you don’t know why that happened?” he asked.

She nodded. He understood and stood up, strectching his hand out for her to hold. She stared at his hand, wondering if she should hold it or not.

‘Did Nexi always hold his hand? If she did not, and she held his hand, would he not be suspicious of her? Was she maybe overthinking this?’

She mentally groaned, and he watched as she looked hesitant.

‘Although Nexi’s memories came back, it’s not all of them. Why did I not get at least one memory of how she interacted with this man?’

He watched as she continued to stare at his hand, unsure of whether to take it.

“Relax, my hand doesn’t have invisible teeth, so your hand won’t get bitten,” he said teasingly.

He could not resist teasing her as it was just too tempting and fun. She lifted her head to look at him.

“Ah, right. Of course,” she said, placing her hand in his, which brought a smile to his face.

“Let’s go,” he said, “my family must be wondering what’s taking us so long.”

She nodded, and he opened the door. They walked out of the room and headed to the dining room, hand in hand. Her heart was racing the whole time. This was the first time she ever held a man’s hand. Due to her work as a policewoman, she had no time for things like dating or hanging out with friends.

Heck, she barely had friends due to her busy schedule. Her only friends were Jigger and Stan. This was all too foreign to her, and because of what she was feeling, she concluded that it was Nexi’s feelings and emotions, not hers. Her heart was racing because Nexi might have actually loved this fox.

‘Yes, that has to be it.’

She stared at their entwined hands and looked at him. He turned to face her and smiled in a warm manner which caused her to smile back.

‘Yes, these are definitely not my feelings.’