Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 44

On their way to the palace, some of the citizens were outside. Some were busy setting up their shops for the festival, while others added the finishing touches to theirs. They bowed when they saw the prince pass by with his guards. Looks of confusion were plastered on their faces when they noticed that he, together with the guards, were injured. He smiled as he passed them, and they reached the palace gates.

They put the horses back to where they belonged and walked to the palace infirmary. The doctor and nurses were waiting outside. They each clasped their hands and bowed when they saw the fox prince.

“Nurses,” he said, “attend to the wounded guards.”

The nurses nodded and walked towards the guards, guiding them to the infirmary beds. The royal doctor, Dr. Xion, approached the prince, a look of worry on his face.

“Are you okay, your highness?” he asked.

He scanned the prince from head to toe, noticing a few bruises and open wounds here and there. Although the injuries were not fatal, the doctor could not help but worry.

“You didn’t get bitten, right? There’s no venom circulating inside you? Do you feel nauseous? Dizzy maybe? Anything at all?”

The doctor gushed, asking question after question. Yashiro smiled internally. He then pretended to feel dizzy and leaned forward as if he was going to faint. Doctor Xion quickly caught him, shock and worry plastered on his face.

“Your majesty!” he exclaimed, placing his hand on the prince’s forehead to examine if he was burning up.

Yashiro let out a soft chuckle which then turned into a loud one. He sighed and stared at the doctor.

“I’m just messing with you, Dr. Xion,” he said, smiling.

The doctor frowned. One thing about Dr. Xion was that he was loyal to the Kuba family. He has been the royal family’s doctor for more than 100 years. He was well-known throughout the kingdom and other kingdoms as one of the doctors with a brilliant mind.

“Your highness,” he said sternly, a look of disapproval on his face.

He was also like a second father to the Kuba children, and they all loved and cherished him.

“I don’t think now is the time to be making such jokes,” he finished, crossing his arms and letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Yes, yes,” Yashiro said, patting the doctor’s shoulder.

Dr. Xion sighed again. He knew how much the oldest son of the Kuba family loved making jokes and teasing others. Sometimes, he wondered if Kuba Yashiro was a sadist.

“Excuse me for a minute,” the doctor heard the prince say and watched as he walked towards one nurse who was attending to a guard.

He stood next to the first nurse, staring at the wounded guard lying on the bed with a grimace on his face.

“Is he going to be okay?” he asked the nurse, a hint of worry in his voice.

The nurse smiled and nodded.

“Yes,” she replied, “They all will be okay. Some of them have a few broken bones, but it’s not anything fatal to their health. Most of them just have bruises or wounds that can heal in a few days.”

He nodded as he stared at the other guards who were lying on their beds and getting medical treatment.

“There were some who were trapped in acidic spiderwebs,” he told the nurse, “Will they not be severely affected by that?”

The nurse stared at the guards he was talking about. She had noticed that some of them looked more wounded than the others. She then turned and faced the prince.

“We performed some cooling magic on them as the acid burnt through their armour and some of their skin,” she said, injecting her patient with pain relief medicine.

The guard’s face went back to normal, and he let out a deep sigh. His eyes felt droopy and, a minute later, he fell asleep.

“Their skin wasn’t severely damaged by the acid since it did not penetrate deeply, so they will be okay,” she continued, “However, they need to be monitored for a few weeks before they can go out and perform their royal duties.”

He nodded and sighed in relief. He was glad that they were all going to be okay. You are probably wondering why they don’t use magic to heal them, right? This world is different in that although there is magic, they still use aspects like doctors, medication, infirmaries, and the sort for healing purposes.

This is one of the things that makes this world similar to Astoria’s. Magic cannot always cure or solve anything. There would be no fun, a sense of suspense, or tension if that was the case, don’t you think?

He watched as Dr. Xion examined each guard and scribbled notes in his file. Knowing that his guards would be okay and in good hands, he walked towards the door, ready to leave.

“Now hold on a second!” he heard Dr. Xion yell, rushing towards him.

“Where do you think you are going?” the doctor asked.

He rubbed the nape of his neck and smiled sheepishly. Actually, he desperately wanted to see Nexi. He wanted to tell her that he was back and in one piece. He wanted to tell her the good news. That they defeated Saxhish. That thanks to her, they were able to defeat the monster that had been terrorising the kingdom.

He hoped that she was worried about him. He wondered if that was the case and internally wished so. The doctor cleared his throat, and he focused his attention back on him. He knew that he had to get his injuries checked. He, too, was in pain, after all. However, the pain he was feeling was the last thing on his mind. He just wanted to see her.

“Are you just going to stand there and smile like a little child?” the doctor asked him.

“I wasn’t trying to run away or anything,” he began, placing his hands in front of his chest, palms out and waving them at him.

The doctor tilted his head and lifted an eyebrow.

“I never said you were trying to run away. You cannot go without getting checked first,” the doctor stated.

“I’m fi-”

“And don’t lie to me and tell me you’re fine,” the doctor added, interrupting the prince.

He knew how the prince was. He always behaved like this whenever he came back from a mission or battle. He would let his guards get medical treatment first before him. Sometimes, he would not get medical treatment at all. He would just numb whatever pain he was feeling and sleep it off like it was nothing.

“I’ll be back,” he assured Dr. Xion, “I promise. I just need to see Nexi and let her know that I’m okay.”

The doctor placed his free hand on his chin, stroking his short beard.

“Fine,” he said, after a minute of contemplating, “I’m sure she is worried about you. You can go.”

“Thank yo-”

“But you better come back!” the doctor cut him off again.

Yashiro vigorously nodded.

“If you don’t,” the doctor added, “I’ll come there and drag you here.”

He laughed at Dr. Xion’s statement, knowing that he really would come to him and drag him back to the infirmary. He nodded and patted the doctor’s shoulder, and left. He headed for his bedroom, wondering if Nexi was awake or still sleeping. The Festival of Paint was going to begin at 9 a.m., so there were still two hours left before it would start.

‘I wonder if she is with Ai and getting ready for the festival,’ he thought.

He now stood outside the bedroom door, his hands firmly clasping the doorknob. Somehow, he was nervous, and he said a silent prayer to the Gods, asking them to let Nexi be in the room. He breathed out and opened the door. He walked inside and, to his relief, found her sitting on the side of the bed. She was rocking back and forth, biting her bottom lip.

She did not notice that he was standing by the door as her head was far up in space. Anxiety, fear, and worry were written on her face. Astoria wondered what was taking the fox prince and his guards so long. She had gone to ask the king and queen about him. However, there was no news about whether their mission was a success or whether they were back yet.

He cleared his throat, and she jumped, startled by the sudden noise since the room was quiet, with just her breathing being the only sound you could hear. Tilting her head up, her cobalt eyes widened in shock as they met his gray ones. She abruptly stood up and ran towards him, her arms spread out.

To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him with such an impact that his back hit the wall. He let out a short grunt of pain, not because of the impact of his body hitting the wall but because of the injuries on his back. She gasped and let go of him.. He watched her cover her mouth with her left hand.