Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 37

When she began talking, his eyes darted to her lips. They were tempting and, someday, he would feel those warm lips against his. He shook his head and focussed on what she was saying.

“…so the creature said she consumes the souls of men because they are deeply tainted since men have deep, dark secrets and have committed evil deeds,” Astoria stated, briefing him about Saxhish.

“She said that is why she favours their souls since they have more dark energy than women. She lives off their dark energy, and it is her life source.”

Yashiro nodded and positioned his finger on his cheek.

“I see, and that clarifies why there are more reports of men disappearing than women. It won’t be easy to enter the boundary since you told me she does not let just anyone in. She needs a man with enough dark energy that will satisfy her,” he told her, rubbing his cheek with his finger.

Astoria leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. Even if they found a man with enough dark energy to attract Saxhish, who would be willing to sacrifice their life like that? Moreover, how are they going to enter the boundary? It was as if the fox prince read her mind and began to answer her questions.

“Finding someone with dark energy will be easy. We can use a prisoner as bait and-”

Astoria abruptly stood up, almost knocking the chair she had sat on. She was completely taken aback by his suggestion.

“What? Use a prisoner?” she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

Yashiro nodded, a neutral expression on his face. He gazed up at her, unsure why she was so shocked by his suggestion. How else did she expect them or anyone else to enter the boundary?

“Yes,” he responded, completely calm, “how else can we enter the boundary?”

She slowly sat back down, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“Is that not too inhumane?” she questioned.

Yeah, she was a cop who hated criminals, but she would never kill them or send them somewhere, knowing that they would die there. It was just not humane to her. Doing something like that would make her a murderer, a criminal, and an evil person.

“To you it is,” he answered her, “but to me, it is a necessary sacrifice that will save my people. I have an obligation as one of the royal family to respond to such monsters that cause harm to our people.”

She shook her head. Yes, she understood that he had a duty to protect his people. She understood that sacrificing one prisoner would save several lives, but it was still inhumane. This was a full-on crime. However, she has no say in this matter since it is not her kingdom and it is outside her jurisdiction.

“Okay, let’s say that you use this prisoner,” she slowly spoke, “how will you enter the boundary? You cannot go in there yourself. Saxhish is powerful and deadly.”

Yashiro was not planning on entering the boundary himself. He knew the dangers that came with doing such a thing. The worst-case scenario was his soul being devoured by the spider and never seeing Nexi again. No, he would not allow such a thing to happen to him. He was going to live through this and save his people.

“Are you worried about me?” he teased her, causing her eyes to widen.

“W-what? No! I m-mean yes. Kinda, but…”

He smirked and watched her stutter, her face turning as red as a cherry. Yeah, teasing her was one of the things he enjoyed whenever he was around her.

“Argh! Whatever,” she said, crossing her arms, not willing to speak about this matter any further.

“I will go with the guards,” he explained, after softly laughing.

She nodded.

“Once we lure her into opening the boundary for the prisoner, we will enter immediately behind him,” he continued.

How was she going to mention that she also wanted to enter the boundary and that she wanted to ask Saxhish questions about the whereabouts of the Dark Lord? About what she meant when she said she holds a bit of dark energy within her? Was this darkness from Nexi or her?

‘No, considering that my soul is in Nexi’s body, the dark energy is from me and not her.’

Yashiro watched Astoria, who was lost in thought. He noticed that she had a habit of twirling a strand of her hair when she was deep in thought. He found it rather cute. His sister would tap her index finger to her left cheek whenever she was deep in thought, while his younger brother had the habit of stroking his chin and looking into the distance.

“Is that all you wanted to tell me?” he asked her, causing her to snap out of her thoughts.

“Um, well,” she began, not knowing where to start, “what I’m about to tell you is very important and does not just concern me, but also concerns this world.”

He nodded, ready to hear this vital information.

“You’ve heard of the Dark Lord, right?” she asked him.

He nodded again. He heard about the story of the Dark Lord killing Nexi’s mother and the queen, although he did not know all the details. Furthermore, he thought of how it must have been so traumatic for Nexi to undergo such an ordeal.

“Okay, and you know that there have been countless rumours of him appearing in different locations?”

He nodded at her question as he heard of such rumours, but most of them were just that. Rumours. No one has seen him.

“He tried to kill me again,” she said.

His eyes widened like saucers at her statement. He tried to do what to her?

“During that time, I was supposed to come and spend the weekend with you and your family but could not because I was sick,” she explained, emphasising the word sick, “However, I was not sick.”

He tilted his head in bafflement.

“I was attacked by the Dark Lord while taking a walk to the river with Keya.”

“What? He attacked you?” he asked, bewildered.

“Yeah,” she replied, “He threw me into the river. One thing led to another, and I was in bed for a while. That is why I could not come to see you. He is still after me and wants me dead. He even wants to take the Silver Ocean from me.”

Yashiro rubbed his temple, completely taken aback by what she told him.

“So,” he began, concern in his voice, “you’re telling me that the Dark Lord wants to kill you and take the Silver Ocean for himself?”

She nodded, but that was not all the Dark Lord had planned.

“Not just that,” she added, “while I was asleep because of Saxhish’s venom, the Goddess, Lumina visited me in my dream. She said that I can now control the Silver Ocean.”

Yashiro stood up and walked towards her. Standing beside her with his arms crossed, he leaned on the table.

“She said that I need to kill him because if I don’t, he will bring chaos into this world,” she continued, “He will unleash the demons of the underworld who belong to Hades since he made a deal with him to get more powerful.”

“And can you do it?” he asked her, raising an eyebrow, “Can you kill him?”

She clasped her hands together and stared at them. That was a question she had kept asking herself. Did she have what it takes to kill him and save this world? She could not even use the Silver Ocean properly. This was why she needed allies who would help her with this whole thing. She could not do it alone.

“I believe that I can do it,” she answered, staring at him.

Her deep-set cobalt eyes held a glint of determination in them.

“I can do it,” she repeated, fisting her hands, “but I cannot do it alone. I need help, allies, training. I have to find the Dark Lord and not wait for him to find me.”

“And how will you find him?” he asked her.

“Since the Goddess told me that my power can restore what was once broken,” she said, rubbing her cheek, “I think I can use it to track him down.”

“Is that possible?”

She nodded. He was once a good God, but because he wanted to be known by everyone and be extremely powerful, he chose to be evil and sell his soul. He was now broken.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling, “I think it is possible. He became broken after choosing to sell his soul to Hades. He is soulless.”

“I see,” Yashiro said, shaking his head.

He strolled back to his seat and sat down.

“You say you need allies?” he asked her.

She nodded. She desperately needed allies to be with her during this treacherous journey.

“Yeah, but I only know Keya and Laurelai,” she said, “and that’s only if they agree. That makes three of us, and that is not enough.. Even if I were to take guards with me, something tells me that they will be of no help.”