Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 45

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.

“Oh my gosh,” she said, “I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you? I did, didn’t I? Dear Neptune, I’m sorry.”

His face lit up when he realised that she was actually worried about him. She must have felt anxious when she saw the time passing and him not returning to the palace.

“I’m alright,” he said, placing his hand on her cheek.

Her face flushed, and she pursed her lips together. For a while, all they did was stare into each other’s eyes. None of them blinked or broke eye contact.

“No, you’re not,” she said after a minute, “You’re full of bruises and wounds. Why did you not go and get treated first?”

“Because I wanted to see you,” he bluntly stated, “Something told me you were worried. I had to assure you that all the guards are okay. That Saxhish is no more and most of all, that I’m okay. That I’m back home.”

“I see,” she softly said.

They continued with their steady contact. He gently kissed her forehead, sending a shockwave of electricity throughout her body. She stepped back and blinked rapidly in total disbelief of what had just happened. She blushed profusely, too stunned to utter a single word.

“I’ll be going now,” he told her, a satisfied smile on his handsome face.

With that, he winked at her and left before she could even say anything. Not that she had anything to say. She was still too stunned by the sudden kiss on her forehead. She slowly moved her hand and placed it above where he kissed her. She could feel the heat radiating from it and gasped, covering her mouth in disbelief.

“W-what just happened?” she blurted.

Her legs gave out, and she fell to the floor. Her heartbeat was beating at a crazy speed, and she thought it was going to burst at any moment, leading to her unexpected, tragic death. She clenched her nightgown and shook her head.

“I just got kissed by her fiancé,” she said.

Even the words that came out of her mouth sounded unbelievable. Now, she really felt like a homewrecker. No, she was a homewrecker, according to herself. She sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. There were about two hours left before the official start of the festival.

She gasped at the time, having no idea that she had been awake thinking and worrying about the prince for so long. She abruptly stood up and went to take a cold shower, feeling that she needed to cool her overheated body. When the cold water hit her body, she flinched but slowly got accustomed to it.

She stood under the water, her mind far away. The prince really loved Nexi, was all she could think. The fact that he came to her before getting medical treatment for his injuries and wounds proves it. He must have been enduring so much pain walking the palace stairs to the bedroom. After all, their bedroom was on the fourth floor.

‘Oh,’ she thought, ‘he could have teleported.’

But then again, he must have used up a lot of his magic energy fighting Saxhish.  Performing a teleportation spell would cause him to faint or really drain the last ounce of energy he had left. She sighed and closed the shower tap. She walked out of the shower and dried herself and her long blue-black, wavy hair.

Now, what was she supposed to wear since she could not wear one of her dresses, seeing as the queen had stated that she would provide Ai and her a dress to wear for the festival? She walked to her suitcase and quickly chose a simple casual dress. She quickly dressed, not wanting Yashiro to catch her half-naked if he came back sooner than she expected.

Closing her suitcase, she put it away and walked towards Ai’s room. It was a floor below the fox’s older brother’s room. Reaching the young fox’s room, she knocked and heard Ai yell for her to come in. She sounded like she was far away, like in the bathroom maybe. She stepped inside Ai’s room, and it was aesthetically pleasing with colours that complimented each other.

Artworks were plastered on the walls, and there was a work table with art supplies in the corner of the room. It was a very spacious room where you could fit two queen-sized beds. Yashiro’s room was bigger, though, since he sometimes used the room for combat practice to brush up on his fighting skills. She looked around but could not see the fox princess.

“Ai?” she called out.

“In here!” Ai exclaimed, peeping her head out an entrance.

Ai signalled for her to come through. She walked towards Ai and was amazed to see a spacious walk-in closet. Shoes, bags, sunglasses, and headbands of every kind were found in the closet. These were placed to the left of the closet. The right side of the closet had her clothes set neatly in their hangers. The middle of the closet had a sizeable wide mirror, a rose pink soft chair, and a white dressing table with gold linings.

“Sorry,” she heard her say while putting on an ornate bracelet, “Couldn’t get to you because I’ve been busy getting ready. Mother left your dress in my closet. It’s that one in the blue cloth garment bag.”

The fox pointed towards the bag, and Astoria walked towards it. She held the bag in her hand and walked to the bathroom to change. Opening the garment bag, she found her dress and carefully took it out. To say it was gorgeous would be an understatement. The dress was clearly made from the best materials from the best tailor in this kingdom. Her jewelry was also placed inside.

Her dress was a goldenrod-colored boobtube dress which left her slender shoulders uncovered. It was a tight but comfortable fit, making the dress look comfortable yet elegant and stylish. Her arms were uncovered, and the dress’ waist was wide. A small, stylish black ribbon was all that was needed as a perfect adornment. Below the waist, the dress widens into a ball gown style dress.

The dress reaches all the way down, almost covering her feet, and is longer at the sides. She wore black slingbacks, which further added to the elegance and class. She wore a simple but stylish necklace and an opulent bracelet to top it off. The necklace accentuated her neck. She sighed, feeling a bit uncomfortable as she was still getting used to wearing dresses and sometimes heels. The last time she wore a dress was during her mother’s funeral.

She was a policewoman who usually wore pants, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Even on her weekends, she would stay home in her pajamas. Now about her hair, she was unsure what to do. She walked back to the walk-in closet and stood at the entrance. She watched as Ai finished up. Ai stood up, stared at the mirror, and made eye contact with her as she had been staring at Ai’s reflection. The fox smiled at her. They both walked out of the closet.

Ai twirled and placed her hands on her hips. Her lavender dress covered just one of her slender shoulders, leaving the other uncovered, and flowed down into an elegant jewel neckline. It is a tight fit on her hourglass figure and covers up her breasts but does so without making it look awkward or messy. Her arms have been left uncovered, which not only helps accentuate her gorgeous, tanned skin but also keeps the focus on other parts of the dress.

The waist of the dress is thin, but it is a comfortable fit. An elastic band within the dress perfectly accentuates her waist and breaks up the dress nicely. Below the waist, the dress widens and has several asymmetric layers towards the bottom. The dress reaches just above her ankles and is longer in the back. She chose to wear white pumps to add simplicity and elegance. Another reason for the pumps was that she was a clumsy person who did not take heels all too well. She wore a gorgeous white wide hat to top the whole outfit off.

“How do I look?” she asked, doing model poses.

“Like a Goddess ready to rule the world,” Astoria replied with a thumbs up.

“And you look like a born queen who is fated to be with my brother,” Ai complimented her.

They both threw their heads back and laughed at each other’s compliments. They hugged their chests as they shook with laughter. Ai then stared at Astoria’s hair and walked to the closet.. Grabbing a brush and some pretty, silver flower hairpieces, she ushered for Astoria to come and sit on the chair in front of the wide mirror.