Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 53

“What?” Yashiro asked, wide-eyed, “Are you sure? I have tried this game before, and the bottles move at an incredible speed.”

Astoria smiled and nodded. “That is fine with me. Sir, I pick the hard level.”

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 strange. First of all, not even the male customers chose the hard level as they knew how difficult it was.

Moreover, even if they did select the hard level, the success rate was always 0%. No customer has ever succeeded in shooting all the bottles. The most challenging level customers picked was the intermediate level, and even that had a low success rate.

‘Yet this woman chose the hard level without hesitation? That is quite interesting,’ the owner thought.

Her eyes widened in shock upon seeing the speed at which the bottles were moving around. The bottles moved in the air as they were held up by magic. The shotgun itself did not have any real bullets but had magic pebbles that were strong enough to break the bottles but not strong enough to harm a living thing.

“Wow,” she breathed out, her eyes darting back and forth at the moving bottles, “You were not kidding when you said they move at an incredible speed.”

Prince Yashiro nodded. “If you want to change to the easy mo-”

“No,” she said firmly, an excited smile plastered on her face, “I am going to stick to this level.”

Her eyes held a glint of excitement at the current challenge in front of her. She wanted to beat and win this game at all costs or try to. She had learned self-defense at the young age of ten and how to shoot a gun when she was sixteen. Her father used to take her to the indoor shooting range in Leadville.

She became a rebellious teenager when she had turned sixteen, so her father thought that the only way to control her rebelliousness was to take her to the shooting range. Of course, you might think that her father was an irresponsible parent for thinking of such a coping mechanism for his rebellious daughter.

However, she had always been interested in things that men would be interested in. Things like self-defense, weapons, war movies, martial arts movies, and wearing tomboyish clothes and the sort was part of her daily life. When her father noticed that she became less rebellious thanks to the shooting range visits, he was relieved and made it a monthly activity.

Prince Yashiro watched her as she gripped the handle of the gun tight. She raised the gun, which was in her right hand. Her cobalt eyes steadily watched the bottles, and she let out a soft sigh. She closed her eyes, concentrating all her energy on the sound of the bottles. Upon opening them, she pulled the trigger, and both the owner and Yashiro’s eyes widened in shock.

Two bottles had shattered at the same time as the bullet had gone through one and into the other. Her lips curled into a smile. She fired the shotgun again, carefully and steadily aiming at the bottles. The bottles cracked and broke one by one with every shot. The fox prince watched in awe, unable to move his gaze at the breaking bottles.

Astoria stood tall as she continued to make firm and precise movements with the plastic shotgun in her hand. Her eyes were darting back and forth. For a moment, it felt like she was alone in the world. Like she was a policewoman again. Like she was at the academy doing target practice.

With one last bottle moving at an incredible speed, she furrowed her brows and pulled the trigger. The broken glass shattered into pieces, and the game was over. She let out a long sigh of relief and smiled with her eyes and mouth.

“Yes!” she softly cheered, tilting her head back.

She pumped her fist in the air, feeling triumphant and shocked that she could shoot fast-moving objects like that. She had no idea she had such a talent, or was it not her talent, but Nexi’s? Either way, she was feeling happy about the outcome of the game.

‘Well, looks like I still got it. My shooting skills are still great, even in a foreign body,’ she thought, holding out the plastic shotgun to the owner.

“Thank you,” she said, tilting her head and offering a satisfied smile to the owner, “That lifted my mood and made me really happy.”

The owner was too stunned to speak and just blinked multiple times, unable to fathom what he had just witnessed. Who was this woman, and how did she manage to succeed? How can a princess be so great at shooting? These were the kind of questions that ran through the owner’s mind as he took the shotgun from her.

“H-how?” Prince Yashiro let out a gasp, totally speechless.

Astoria laughed and placed her hands behind her back, beaming at the owner.

“What’s my prize?” she asked, totally curious.

‘Am I gonna get a big ass teddy bear? That would be nice,’ she wondered.

“Huh?” the owner was in a daze, still shocked at what the princess managed to accomplish that the male customers could not.

“Oh, right. Since you chose a hard level and managed to succeed, you can choose between a gem-encrusted necklace or bracelet.”

“A gem-encrusted necklace or bracelet, huh?” she repeated, tilting her head and pressing her lips together, deep in thought.

The owner nodded and took out the necklace and bracelet. Both pieces were equally beautiful and looked rather expensive.

‘Is it okay to offer such expensive items as gifts just for winning a shooting game?’ she wondered.

Prince Yashiro was silent the whole time and watched his fiancé pinch her nose as she thought of which one was better. Personally, he felt that the necklace would be better as it was a simple yet elegant piece of jewelry compared to the bracelet, which seemed rather extravagant in his eyes.

“Which one do you think I should pick, prince Yashiro? I am not really a materialistic person, so whichever one is fine with me, but which one do you prefer?” he heard her ask him, her eyes staring into his.

He flinched in surprise when he heard her ask him that question and avoided eye contact. He was still bewildered by her, so his mind had been far away. Coming back to reality, he bit his lip and stared at the two beautiful pieces of jewelry. He pointed to the necklace and saw a smile curl up her lips.

“Yeah,” she said, “I was thinking the same thing. The necklace looks simple but elegant.”

Astoria pointed to the necklace, and the owner nodded, taking it and placing it into a small pink box with a silver ribbon wrapped around it. He handed her her prize, and she smiled, thanking him.

“This necklace,” the owner said, “is not an ordinary necklace as this Ametrine gem has a princess cut and is fairly popular in this kingdom because it contains defensive properties and wards off a certain level of evil spirits.”

Astoria listened attentively and nodded as the owner spoke.

“Wow,” she beamed, “So it is almost like a protective charm?”

The owner nodded, and she stared at the pink box in her hand.

“Well, thank you for the prize, sir. We will get going now. Have a great day,” she bowed at the owner, and he bowed back.

They left the stall, and she was in a great mood, softly humming a tune. She was walking with a bit of a bounce in her steps, happiness radiating off of her body.

‘Man,’ she thought, ‘It felt great holding a gun again even if it was a fake. Pulling the trigger felt amazing too.’

She continued to walk with a bounce in her steps but then abruptly stopped.

‘Now hold on, the prince has not said a word to me since we left the game,’ she thought, biting her lip, ‘He does not think I’m weird or acting strange, right? I did not blow my cover, right?’

She then turned to face him. His brow was creased, and he was examining her intently. She gulped and held her breath as she watched his mouth open, about to say something to her.

“You,” the fox prince began, “Are you the Nexi that I know, or has something changed?”

“What do you mean?” she asked him, trying to sound as calm and collected as possible.

There was no way she could let him find out that she was not Nexi. That she was a policewoman from a different world. That her soul was stuck in this princess’s body and that she had no idea how to go back home or how to bring Nexi’s soul back. He should not find out.. It would just make things complicated, and honestly, things are already getting complicated as is.