Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 50

“Wait, Ai. I’m about to fall!” Astoria blurted as Ai dragged her away.

Ai let go of her and bowed several times apologetically.

“Sorry, I got too excited and couldn’t wait any further. My stall is a little further. Let’s go.”

Astoria laughed and followed close behind while examining the stalls as she passed them. The stalls sold clothing, plants, potions, flowers, weapons, herbs and spices, and food. She made sure to take a mental note of the stalls that caught her eye.

She saw some equipment and prizes for fun games which were set up. She definitely wanted to try those games out. Ai was also examining the stalls and smiled at the citizens and tourists who bowed at her and Astoria as they walked past.

“Here we are,” Ai said, pointing at her stall.

It was a flowery decorated stall. She had placed her painting kit in the corner. This was in case a customer wanted her to paint something for them on the spot or if she ran out of paintings to sell.

“Your stall is beautiful,” Astoria complimented, running her hands gently over the flower petals.

Ai smiled, crinkling her eyes and nose. “Thank you. Decorated it myself.”

Ai began to put some paintings on display, and Astoria helped her. They stood behind the table and waited for customers. The fox princess was rubbing her hands in anticipation and licked her lips. Astoria noticed that she was unable to sit still.

She smiled at her. After five minutes, potential customers gathered in front of her stall. Ai could not help but smile at the sight and began to attend to the customers.

“May I help you?” she asked one customer, a male dwarf.

The dwarf nodded. “How much for this painting?”

He pointed to a red and white mushroom house painting with a rainbow in the background. Ai smiled and stood next to the painting.

“This painting is GZ50,” she replied, pointing at it.

The dwarf grinned in delight upon hearing the low price. Astoria was wide-eyed, shocked at the meager price.

‘A beautiful and meticulously painted painting like that should not be sold at such a low price,’ Astoria thought.

The dwarf paid Ai the money, and she carefully gave him the art piece. She bowed her head at the dwarf, her hands clasped in front of her.

“Thank you for buying,” she beamed as he walked away.

Ai attended to the customers, and Astoria helped bring the paintings to them. By the time thirty minutes had passed, Ai had sold most of her paintings.

“Let’s take a break,” Ai said, grabbing a sign that said, ‘Will be back soon.’

She hung it on the side of the stall. Astoria nodded, and they sat down. They stretched out their hands and legs as they relaxed.

“Why do you sell your paintings at such cheap prices?” Astoria could not help but ask.

Ai smiled and raised her chin.

“Well,” she began, “to me, it’s not about how much my paintings are sold for. The mere fact that other creatures genuinely love my paintings and acknowledge my artistic talent makes me content.”

“I see,” Astoria smiled, “It’s amazing how quickly they got sold.”

“I know, right.”

“You are amazing,” Astoria cheered, giving the artistic fox a thumbs up.

Ai chortled. “Thank you, and thanks for helping me.”

The fox stood up and held out her hand for Astoria. She took it and stared at Ai in confusion.

‘Is our break over already?’ she wondered, totally baffled.

“Let’s go take a look at the other stalls and grab something delicious to eat. Once we are done with that, we will get back to selling my paintings,” Ai suggested.

Astoria nodded but then realized something. “But Ai, you only have three paintings left out of your thirty paintings. Is that not too little?”

Ai shook her head. “Don’t worry. When we come back, I’ll start painting new ones. Let’s go.”

They then left and stopped at a stall that sold plants. An old fox was the owner. Ai turned to Astoria.

“I use plants, herbs, and spices when making my potions, so we’ll stop by stalls that sell that and buy some. Once we’re done, we can get something to eat and do whatever we want. Does that sound good to you?” Ai stated, wanting to make sure the princess Nexi was okay with her suggestion.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Astoria agreed.

Ai smiled and nodded. They stared at the different plants displayed on the table. Some of the plants looked exotic, while others were ordinary. Ai stared at a light red plant. She pointed to it and looked up at the owner.

“Is this a Euryale Palustris plant?” she asked, her voice showing a glint of shock and amazement.

“Yes, your highness,” the owner answered.

“Wow,” was all Ai could utter as she stared at the plant.

Ai definitely wanted it. No, she needed it. It can be a powerful plant to add to her potions.

“What’s so great about this E-euryal-”

“This Euryale Palustris plant?” Ai assisted Astoria, who was struggling to pronounce the plant’s name.

‘Man, I’ve said this, and I will say it again,’ Astoria thought, ‘This world really has unusual and hard-to-pronounce names.’

She nodded at the fox. Ai smiled and carefully held the plant in her hand.

“This, Nexi,” Ai began to explain, “is an extraordinary plant in that it is a common, medium-sized plant and can be found in most forests. It only blooms once every two years and only for a month.”

“Once every two years and for one month?” Astoria asked, raising her eyebrows in awe and shock.

Ai nodded. “I’ve only read about it in books I found in the palace library.”

“This plant,” the owner continued explaining, a smile plastered on his face, “has narrow, fan-shaped leaves and grows decent-sized flowers which are either dark silver, gold, or dark purple in colour. The flowers can be used for medicinal purposes while the plant can be used for potion making.”

“Wow,” Astoria said, that’s truly amazing, “But what kind of properties does it have to be used for potion making?”

“Healing properties,” Ai answered.

She watched as Ai asked for that plant and if he had any Ember Moss, Fade Chicory, Arctic Creeper, Blister Mallow, and Hybernation Tarragon plants. She wondered what potion Ai was going to make with these plants. The owner had everything she asked for except for the Hybernation Tarragon plant.

She watched as the owner put the plants in separate bags with labels on each. Ai paid the owner GZ250 and they waved him goodbye.

“Huh,” Ai breathed out as she turned around and began to walk away from the owner.

Astoria looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

Ai squinted her eyes and frowned. “I forgot how expensive ingredients for potions are. If only my father would help me out!”

Astoria nodded, understanding how hard it must be for the princess to follow her dream with insufficient funds.

“Thankfully,” Ai said, stopping at an owner who was selling Hybernation Tarragon plants, “I have a source of income from the paintings I sell.”

Ai pointed at the plant and held out two fingers. The owner nodded and placed two Hybernation Tarragon plants into a plastic bag and labeled it. She paid, bowed, and thanked the owner, taking the plastic bag from him.

“At least my mother helps me,” she then laughed, “Although she has to hide it from my father. I think he knows, though, but isn’t saying anything which is kind of strange.”

“And a bit scary if you think about it,” Astoria added.

“Tell me about it,” Ai agreed, laughing.

They then stopped at a stall that sold glass jars and potion bottles. Ai pointed to three small potion bottles, and the owner put them in a plastic bag. She paid for it and held the plastic in her hand.

“I’ll help you carry some of your stuff. Let me hold the plastic bag with the plants,” Astoria suggested, and Ai nodded, handing her the plastic bag.

They stopped at a stall selling herbs and spices. The owner took Astoria by surprise as it was a birdfolk. This creature had a humanoid body, a bird’s head, and feathers. It was a bit disturbing for her to see a humanoid bird, reminding her that there were many creatures she was yet to see.

“Hi, sir,” Ai greeted the blue and white birdfolk.

“Good day, your highness,” the birdfolk greeted back.

Ai stared at the different herbs and spices, biting her lip as she carefully examined them. She was like that for a good five minutes until the birdfolk cleared his throat. They both looked up at him.

“You can’t tell the herbs and spices apart, right?” he casually asked Ai, to which she nodded, blushing.

There were just too many herbs and spices to memorise. Ai was still working on memorising herbs, spices, and plants.. She still had a long way to go before knowing all the herbs, spices, and plants that exist out there.