Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 33

As the royal doctor, Doctor Xion, explained Astoria’s current condition, Yashiro listened with a troubled expression.

“It appears she was bitten, as you can tell from the bite mark on her neck,” the doctor began.

“The venom from whatever bit her causes one to be unconscious. Thankfully she will be alright because whatever bit her only secreted enough venom to put her to sleep, not to kill her.”

Yashiro stared at Astoria’s sleeping body. Even asleep, the princess still looked lovely and elegant. He was absolutely captivated by her beauty this time. He knew that he was in too deep now. When he got the call from Ai regarding what had happened to the princess, he ran out of the meeting in a hurry, leaving his colleagues speechless and confused.

Judging from what he had seen when he arrived on the scene, he knew that it was the creature that had been terrorising the city for the last two months. The meeting that he could not tell Astoria about earlier was connected to Saxhish, the spider woman. His father had found out from countless reports of terrified citizens that family members, friends, or neighbours were disappearing. Such disappearances were caused by an unknown creature in a dark alley.

This creature only lured men into its boundary, and the case of a woman disappearing was extremely rare. Yashiro had discussed this issue with the royal guards and the Minister of Defence to devise ways to annihilate the creature. However, all their methods and suggestions proved to be futile, and, in return, many lives were lost. He hated what was happening in the kingdom and felt useless as there seemed to be nothing he and his people could do to get rid of the creature.

That was until Astoria arrived. She was the sole survivor to enter the creature’s boundary and come out alive. To him, she was the only one who could explain what was inside the boundary, the appearance of the creature and if she noticed its weaknesses. He placed his hand on top of hers and looked at the doctor.

“I have given her an injection that will eliminate the venom inside her. Although the venom is of a small dose, it is still quite powerful, so it will take a while to completely get rid of.”

“How long is ‘a while’, Doctor Xion?” he asked the doctor.

“About five to six hours maximum,” the doctor answered, “however, you should not worry as princess Nexi will be alright. She’s not in any danger. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Yashiro thanked the doctor, who bowed and left the room. Ai and her parents entered, distress written all over their faces.

“Oh Nexi,” Ai softly sniffed, tears escaping her eyes, “I should have tried harder to stop you. No, I should have followed you at least.”

Ai stared at the ground, a look of shame and regret on her face. Her parents stood by her side and comforted her.

“It’s okay, Ai,” her brother said, a sad smile on his lips.

“Yeah, it’s not your fault, sweety,” the queen added.

“If her family finds out about this,” the king said, rubbing his temple in frustration and worry.

“We really need to do something. This creature is murdering citizens, and Nexi is our only hope to stopping it once and for all.”

Everyone looked at the king and then at Astoria, who was sound asleep, her chest rising and falling with every breath.

“We’re glad that she is okay,” the queen said, “Okay, let’s give them some space.”

She ushered her husband out the room and she left with him, leaving Ai with her brother and Astoria.

“Hey,” Ai said, “make sure to let me know when she wakes up, alright?”

Yashiro nodded and smiled at his younger sister. She smiled back and nodded, leaving the room. He turned back to the woman who was sound asleep and softly breathing. He wiped her forehead, which was beaded with sweat. Caressing her cheek, he frowned as he thought of the creature that did this to her. His gray eyes turned dark, and his teeth became sharp as he softly growled in a menacing tone. He was extremely frustrated and angry.

He vowed to rip the creature that did this to his fiancé into shreds. How dare anyone or anything harm his soon-to-be wife? This was the last straw for him. This time, they were going to kill this creature and restore peace to the kingdom once again. He sighed as his anger subsided. There was a knock on the door, and Yoshito entered, a cup of green tea in his hand.

“Have this, brother,” he said, handing him the tea. It will calm your nerves.”

Yoshito stared down at Astoria and sighed in exasperation. He was also worried about the state of his sister-in-law and the many disappearances that had occurred in the kingdom as a result of this unknown creature.

“How is she?” he asked his older brother.

Yashiro turned and gazed up at him. His younger brother saw the troubled expression on his face and was almost shocked at his older brother’s expression. His older brother never cared about princess Nexi, as he once told him that he was just marrying her because of the deal made by their parents. His brother had said that he had no interest in marriage and no feelings for the princess.

If that was, and still is, the case, then what is this unusual expression on his older brother’s face? Did his brother have a change of heart, or is all this an act? No, Yoshito did not sense that his brother was pretending to worry. His brother was sincerely worried about the princess. Did his brother suddenly develop feelings for her?

“Doctor Xion said that she’ll be fine in about five to six hours and that she is not in any danger,” his older brother stated, cutting him off of his thoughts.

“That’s great,” he responded, “I’m super relieved.”

Yashiro nodded and stared at the princess again in mute silence, his expression sad and worried.

“Yeah,” the older fox softly agreed, “it’s really great.”

Yoshito blinked in surprise and internally smiled. He was happy that someone could melt the cold heart of his older brother. He said his last words and left the room. There was silence in the room except for Astoria’s soft breathing. She was in a deep sleep and was having a dream. In her dream, she stood in a field of sunflowers. It was a clear and sunny day. Suddenly flocks of tweeting bright birds circled her. The birds chirruped and cooed, and the melody of it softened her heart and brought a smile to her face.

They were the most beautiful and colourful birds she had ever seen. She outstretched her arms and was over the moon when some of them perched on her shoulders. She twirled and laughed. Her legs tangled in the process of her twirl, causing her to lose her balance. She fell to the ground with a soft thud. Gentle hands lifted her from the ground, and she buried her face into the unknown entity before her. Somehow, the entity made her feel safe.

“My child,” she heard the entity coo in a calming voice she had no idea could exist.