Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 38

Yashiro stared at the stunning princess, who seemed like she had a favour to ask him but was rather unsure of whether to ask. He observed her nervously bite her lip. She was staring at her hands.

“Do you need my help?” he asked, leaning his head in his left hand.

She tilted her head up and looked at him. She desperately needed his help. Her gut told her that he would be a huge help in sorting this whole thing out. She stopped biting her lip and nodded.

“Yes,” she said softly.

The black, long-haired fox grinned.

“I’ll help you,” he stated.

“What? Really?” she asked him, quite amazed.

The fox prince nodded, leaning back on his chair.

“Yes, really,” he said.

He knew that she was dreading asking for his help because of how dangerous the Dark Lord was.

“Look, I know how dangerous loacting and destroying in the Dark Lord will be. I believe you will need a strong, handsome man by your side,” he added.

She lightly chuckled, a sudden wave of relief washing over her.

“I’m glad you are willing to help me, but what if something bad happens to you?” she asked.

That was one aspect that stressed her out. What if the people she goes on this mission to destroy the Dark Lord with end up getting hurt because of her? What if they get killed like Nexi’s mother and the queen?

“Are you worried about me?” the long, black-haired fox prince jokingly questioned.

“What? Well, yes,” she replied all too quickly, “Of course, I’m worried. I’m worried about everyone that will accept my deadly mission. I’m worried that they will get hurt, or worse, die!”

He watched her worried expression and felt his heart soften at the thought that she was concerned about him and everyone else. He leaned forward and smirked. He was now in the best of moods because of her.

“Listen,” he said, his smirk still evident on his face, “I’m going to help you because as much as I’m worried about you going through this alone, the Dark Lord bringing chaos into this world will also affect my people.”

“And you care a lot about your people,” she added, a smile on her face.

“Yes,” he said, nodding his head, “It’s not just about me fulfilling my royal duty, but I take these people like they are my second family.”

She found his sense of duty quite admirable. It reminded her of herself as a policewoman. She frowned at the word policewoman because of Cosmo X, that darn, corrupt company.

‘Just you wait,’ she thought, eyebrows furrowed at the thought of the crooked company, ‘I’m going to destroy you till there’s no way for you to ever set foot in the pharmaceutical industry. You will never harm innocent people ever again.’

“Thank you,” she told the prince, “I’m truly grateful that you will help me, considering how risky it will be.”

He nodded and sighed.

“It will be very risky, but I’m going to help you get through this because you’re precious to me,” he said with a thumbs up.

She internally laughed at his words.

‘Wow, Nexi. You got this prince head over heels in love with you. The fox prince is completely smitten with love for you.’

“Thanks, Yashiro.”

Now, when would they deal with Saxhish. She ought to be locked up as soon as possible to prevent further disappearances of men and, sometimes, women.

“When will you deal with Saxhish?” she asked, placing her hands on the table.

“Tomorrow,” he responded immediately.

“Tomorrow? During the Festival of Paint?” she asked, baffled.

He nodded as he knew that the sooner they dealt with her, the better it would be for everyone.

“Yes, it has to be tomorrow morning before the festival starts.”

“Will there be enough time to deal with her? I mean, as I said before, she is powerful. Hmm, maybe she looked powerful to me because I can barely use magic,” she said, sighing deeply.

“We’ll try to make sure we are done before the festival begins. We’re lucky that most citizens have set up their shops, so we won’t have that many citizens around the area,” he replied.

“That’s good. You should also prohibit anyone from coming anywhere near the barrier,” she advised him.

He nodded, knowing that preventing citizens from coming near the boundary is essential for their safety. He began to move the fingers on his left hand. His gaze briefly wandered over her beautiful face. The hand motion caused a vibrant, teal surge of particles to slowly burst from his hand.

“This,” he said, “is a magic spell which I will cast tomorrow. It’s called Repaesco Strixulus, created by Maediv. It creates a barrier that prevents people from entering the area in which it is cast.”

He watched as Astoria leaned forward in her chair to stare at the vibrant surge of teal particles floating in his hand, a glint of fascination in her eyes. He smiled at her curiousness and closed his hand.

“This world really has weird and complicated names for magic spells,” she stated, leaning back on her chair.

He laughed at her statement, thinking that the ‘world’ Astoria meant was his kingdom. He did not know that she meant this world she had transmigrated to.

“But that’s a great idea,” she added, “I mean using a magic barrier.”

“Using a magic barrier will prevent anyone from disrupting you guys because I’m sure there will be citizens who will come and see you guys out of curiosity or something. Putting something like a tape will be useless, so a magic barrier is a better option.”

She sighed in relief, knowing that no more citizens would disappear and leave their families distraught. To say that she did not find all the creatures she had encountered to be interesting would be a lie. She found this world to be quite magical and intriguing. Well, that’s if you take out the fact that a crazy, psychotic, evil, soulless God was after her, wanted to kill her, and take away Nexi’s Silver Ocean.

“Anyway,” he said, standing up, “let’s go back to the room because I need to sleep as soon as I’m done having dinner.”

She stood up as well and watched as he headed for the door.

“Sleep? So early?” she asked to which he nodded.

He opened the door, and she stepped out. Closing the door, they walked to their room.

“Yeah, I need to boost my energy levels, considering I will leave in the early mornings around 2 a.m. The earlier we deal with her, the better it is for everyone,” he said.

They reached the door to their room, and he opened it for her. She walked inside and watched as he moved the fingers in his left hand. A cluttered, cobalt blaze of particles materialised on his hand, and he pointed his hand to the area in front of the bed.

“Decimundo Padlenis,” he uttered.

Suddenly, a chabudai, a short-legged table used in some traditional Japanese households, appeared. There were two tatami mats which would be used as their seats. She opened the door and found one of the servants holding a tray with their dinner.

She stepped aside and let her in. The housemaid walked to the chabudai and arranged the dishes on the table. When she was done, she bowed and left the room. Seeing the food caused Astoria to salivate.

“Come sit,” the fox said, “you must be starving since you were asleep for so long.”

“Well, yes. You’re right abot that,” she said, walking to the short table.

Yashiro sat in seiza while she sat cross-legged, setting her dress so that it does not make her uncomfortable. How woman could wear such dresses was beyond her. Her stomach, softly growled as she skimmed all the different dishes. She blushed in embarrassment, hoping that the fox did not hear that.

The fox internally laughed but kept a neutral face on the outside. He took a bowl and dished some rice for her. He picked up his chopsticks, grabbed some meat pieces from another dish, and placed them on her rice. He then passed her the dish.

“Thanks,” she said, taking it from his hand.

Their fingers briefly brushed each other. She did not pay any attention to it as she was focused on the food she was about to eat. On the other hand, the gray-eyed fox was deeply affected because he felt a sudden jolt of electricity during that brief contact. He cleared his throat, smiled, and dished his food.

Astoria began to eat the pieces of meat. As soon as it touched her tongue, she felt an unexpected burst of flavour she had never felt before. The meat was absolutely delicious as she tasted a bit of saltiness and sweetness, which was well balanced. Mixing the meat with rice made it taste even better.

“Is it delicious?” he asked her.

Clearly, it was, judging from her happy and pleased expression. He smiled when she nodded, and they ate in complete silence. The silence felt rather comforting and not awkward. A part of her felt happy that she now had an ally who would stand beside her and take down the Dark Lord.. Knowing that made her extremely content.