Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 52

‘Wow, Nexi,’ she thought, ‘This wounded prince is totally smitten by your very existence.’

“Again,” Ai said, clearing her throat to get her brother’s attention, “I asked you what you are doing here? You’re wounded and should be in the infirmary or in bed resting.”

He threw his head back and laughed. Leaning forward, he smiled at his little sister.

“Yes, yes,” he agreed, shaking his head.

He crossed his arms. “I should be in bed, but…”

He tilted his head up and stared into Astoria’s cobalt eyes.

This caused her to stare back into his gray ones. Her mouth slightly parted as she felt like his gaze bore into her soul.

“…there is someone I really, really I want to spend time with.”

She became nervous and licked her lips, averting her eyes when she snapped out of the staring contest  they were having.

“Uh-huh,” Ai mumbled, staring at her brother and his fiancé.

Prince Yashiro sat up and leaned back with his hands behind his head.

“So you want to take princess Nexi from me?” Ai asked, a pout on her face.

Yashiro nodded.

“Well fine,” Ai nodded, standing up.

“Wait. What?” Astoria asked, darting her eyes back and forth at the fox princess and her older brother.

“You can have her,” Ai stated, finishing her Strawberry Wacker.

Ai threw the plastic cup in the bin, crouched down, and grabbed her belongings. She stood up and smiled at Astoria who had an expression that yelled, ‘Please don’t leave me. I wanna go with you.’

“I’ll leave her in your care, big brother, ” Ai began, “but you better buy her whatever she wants.”

Prince Yashiro shook his head ‘yes’ and crossed his arms.

“If I hear that she was unhappy with you for any reason,” she emphasised, crouching down so that she could whisper in her brother’s ear, “I will make you drink a potion that will turn you into a frog for a day.”

Her brother threw his head back and shook with laughter.  Astoria stared at him, wondering what his sister said that was so funny.

“Have fun, Nexi,” Ai said, “If you get bored with him, you know where to find me.”

Ai winked at her and walked away, leaving Astoria alone with the wounded fox prince.  He sighed and turned his attention to the Ashen Kingdom’s princess.

“My sister can be so scary sometimes,” he told her, resting his chin on his hand.

“Oh, r-really?” Astoria asked, drinking her Strawberry Wacker.

“She said she’ll turn me into a frog if I make you unhappy today.”

Astoria could not help but smile. He watched her lips curl into a smile and his heart did a little jump. Of course, Doctor Xion had yelled at him for wanting to go to the festival. However, he let the fox prince go on condition that he should return to the infirmary the minute he begins to feel a sudden rush of pain.

Prince Yashiro stood up and held his hand out for Astoria to take. She stared at his hand which was slightly bandaged as a result of the fight with Saxhish. In fact, a bandage was slightly wrapped around the fox’s neck. She could tell that he was in some level of pain because of the fight.

She hesitantly placed her hand in his and he beamed. She stood up and they stood facing each other. Feeling the heat radiating from his hand, she blushed a bit.

‘This is all so foreign to me,’ she thought, ‘I have never held a man’s hand unless it was when I was cuffing criminals.’

“What do you want to do, princess?” he asked her.

Being called ‘princess’ made her heart do a little jump in excitement. She did have something she wanted to try out. When she had been passing the stalls, she noticed a sniping game. It reminded her of being a policewoman and she wanted to hold a gun again, even if it was a toy gun.

“There is something that I want to do,” she smiled, looking into his gray eyes.

He wondered what she wanted to do that made her smile like that. He also noticed that her eyes held a glint of excitement and anticipation in them. He’s wearing a plain shirt and left it unbuttoned at the top for a more casual look. On top of the shirt he’s wearing a trendy vest with 7 buttons, it has a fairly deep v-line, which causes the vest to line up perfectly with the jacket’s v-line when it’s button up.

The jacket was clearly made for him, it’s a perfect fit. It has an intricate rope strike pattern which makes it look stylish and graceful. The 4 buttons of his double breasted jacket are all buttoned up, it’s the best way to wear a jacket like this after all. The jacket is the same length all around, it has a vent at the back, there’s a single pocket on one side and there’s a breast pocket which has been left empty.

He’s wearing pants which have the same pattern as the jacket, but a different, complementary color and they create a perfect balance with his shoes. He’s wearing a chich pair of plain toe monkstraps. To top it all off he’s wearing a sleek belt, which can be accompanied by a hat and a watch.

“Are you all right, dressed like that?” he heard her ask him as they walked to their destination.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well,” she replied, “as far as I can tell, you are badly injured. Dressing like that while being injured is a bit…”

“Crazy?” he stated, finishing her sentence.

“Well, it is not crazy,” she answered, biting her lip, “but it is not wise. You should have worn casual clothes since you are injured. Nothing fancy like what you are wearing now. Maybe some loose fitting clothes that are easy for you to walk in?”

He crinkled his eyes and nose, smiling at her. When he had given her his hand for her to take and she had stood up, he was left awestruck. She looked like a Goddess in her goldenrod-coloured boobyube dress. The way the small, stylish black ribbon accentuated her tiny waist was breathtaking.

He noticed that as they walked, many eyes were on her. Male creatures stared at her in list, while women envied her. Seeing the hungry eyes of men on his fiancé almost caused him to growl in both anger and disgust.

This woman walking next to him was his. Nobody would take her away from him so they should keep their eyes to themselves.  He let out a soft growl which he could not hold back and Astoria stared at him in confusion.

“Are you feeling pain anywhere?” she asked him, worry evident in her voice, “Do you want to maybe sit down?”

He stared at her and shook his head ‘no’. He was glad she thought that he growled because he was in pain and not that he was angry at all the lustful eyes which were piercing her body.

“No, I am okay,” he replied, a smile on his handsome face.

She nodded and they walked further, finally reaching their destination. Prince Yashiro’s eyes widened when he saw that they were in the game area.

‘So, she wanted to try out a few games?’ he thought.

“I want to try this game,” she exclaimed, pointing at the game.

His eyes widened in shock when he saw the game she was pointing at.

“A sniper game?” he asked in disbelief.

She nodded and asked the owner for a try at it. The winter too was surprised that the princess wanted to try such a game. Usually, the men would play the game for their partners so it was a first to see a woman wanting to try it out.

“Yes, your highness,” the owner said, grabbing a plastic shotgun.

He handed her the shotgun.

“If you hit all the moving bottles,” the owner began to explain, “then you will win a prize. You are intially given three tries. When your tries are over and you did not manage to hit all of them, you can try again and get three new tries. However your previous successes will not count as you will have to restart.”

Astoria nodded, completely understanding how the game went. It was just like the games they had at the circus or amusement park. She took the plastic shotgun from the owner and smiled as she examined its pearl decorations.

“Well,” she said, staring at the fox prince and then the owner, “here I go.”

“Before you begin, there are three levels, easy, intermediate, and hard. The level you choose will determine the speed of the bottles movements,” the owner stated.

“Hmm,” Astoria said, placing the plastic shotgun on her shoulder, “Give me the hard level.”

“What?” Yashiro asked, wide-eyed, “Are you sure? They will move at an incredible speed.”

Astoria smiled and nodded. “The hard level, please.”

The owner nodded and hesitantly pressed the button which caused all the bottles to move at an incredible speed. He found this woman standing next to the prince to be a little wierd. Not even the male customers chose the hard level as they knew how difficult it was.

‘But this woman chose it without hesitation? That’s amazing,’ the owner wondered.