Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 64

They found an area with five benches, and they sat on one of them. They sat across each other and looked up at the blue evening sky. Astoria placed the plastic bag with medication on top of the table, and they gazed up at the beautiful, starry night with the stars that twinkled like lamps along the edges of a clear river. It felt good to relax and sit in comfortable silence.

“Um…” Lara softly spoke minutes later, causing Astoria to turn her attention to her, “T-thank you f-for everything. I d-do not know h-how I can ever repay y-you.”

Astoria leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, and waved her free hand.

“Don’t worry about it, Lara,” she told the little fox, “I am just glad that you and your grandmother are safe and that your uncle will pay for what he has done.”

“Sorry about ruining your dress,” Lara added, bowing her head.

“It’s okay,” Astoria smiled, tilting her head to the side.

“Will the rest of the royal family be okay with me living with them until my grandmother is okay?” Lara asked, rubbing the nape of her neck.

Astoria raised an eyebrow.

‘Good question,’ she thought, staring at the plastic bag of medicine.

“I mean,” Lara continued, “I am just a poor commoner and have nothing to offer them in return, so-”

“They will,” Astoria replied firmly, although she was actually unsure, “If not, you will come home with me.”

Lara stared at her wide-eyed. Astoria was unsure if the Kuba royal family would allow Lara to live with them. However, she knew that prince Yashiro had no problem with it. She also doubted that Nexi’s father would allow her to bring home a foreigner, let alone a kitsune. He would probably be furious. Let’s not even get started with the way Nexi’s siblings would react.

Either way, she was going to fight for Lara no matter what. As a policewoman and an acting princess, there was no way she was going to ignore the life and safety of Lara. She will do whatever is in her power to convince the Kuba family to keep Lara Marbita with them until everything is sorted.

“So this is where you guys were,” they heard a male voice say.

It was prince Yashiro. He had had a shower and changed into comfortable clothes as well, sweat pants and a short-sleeved t-shirt. I guess sweatpants and t-shirts are the nightwear trend right now. He was in his kitsune form, and she found out that he was a silver-coloured fox. She stared at him as he approached them, her mouth wide open.

‘So this is what he looks like in his true form,’ she thought, ‘He looks so…so…dominant.’

He sat down next to her and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Why are you staring at me like it is your first time seeing me in my kitsune form?” he asked her, his hands in his pockets.

‘That is because it IS my first time seeing you in your true form,’ she thought, glancing away.

She looked away.

“Where were you?” she asked him.

“I was instructing a maid to buy Lara clothes and whatever other things the maid saw fit to buy for her since she cannot wear those clothes,” he replied.

“That’s great,” Astoria replied, clapping her hands, happy that Lara would have her own necessities to use as well as proper clothes to wear.

Meanwhile, Adam’s business was booming, and all his jewelry was sold out, including the ones he told himself he would not sell as they were just there for display.

“Wow,” Prince Yoshito exclaimed, clapping his hands in amusement, “I am not surprised that everything is sold out.”

Adam smiled. “Well, of course, everything would be sold out. After all, it was made by yours truly.”

He pointed to himself with a confident smile on his face. Prince Yoshito playfully rolled his eyes and nudged Adam’s side.

“Yes, yes,” the fox prince said, beginning to help him clean up his stall and pack things away, “You are really, really great.”

Adam softly chuckled and folded the table and tablecloth. When everything was packed neatly in the corner, he stood next to the fox prince. He stretched out his hand, his palms facing the folded table and boxes.

“Mobilashio Arachio,” Adam uttered, causing an interwoven, orange stream to snake its way around his palms.

The orange stream then drifted to his belongings, and they shrunk into tiny-sized versions. He walked to his shrunken belongings and carefully placed them in his bag.

“So that is how you managed to bring such enormous boxes here,” Prince Yoshito stated, pressing his lips together, “I was wondering whether you had instead paid to have them delivered.”

Adam shook his head. “That is a waste of money when I have a spell that can shrink them.”

“But that spell drains a whole lot of magical energy since it is not an ordinary shrinking spell,” the fox prince added.

Adam nodded. “Lucky for me, I have an incredible amount of magical energy, so it is A-OK.”

The fox prince smiled at that statement. It really was true. Adam had been blessed with a large amount of magical energy, which surpassed some of the greatest kitsune warriors that ever lived. The reason for this large amount of magical energy was unknown, though, as he was born with it. His father took him to many witches and wizards to consult this phenomenon, but they had no answers. It was really a mystery.

“Wanna grab dinner with me?” Adam asked, his gaze fixed on the fox prince.

Prince Yoshito clasped his hands behind his body and tilted his head to the side.

“Well,” he began, “If you are paying-”

“I knew you would say that,” Adam interrupted, his hands on his hips, “I am paying, but do I get something in return?”

Adam raised his eyebrows, a mischievous smirk on his handsome face. Prince Yoshito playfully rolled his eyes again and leaned forward.

“Shriulao Relortis,” the fox prince uttered.

Vibrant, violet twisting waves emerged from his palms, creating a barrier around them. When others saw them vanish, they thought the fox prince and the businessman had teleported to another place. Well, that was not the case. The guys were still there, but the barrier made it seem like they had disappeared, so everyone walking by only saw what was behind Adam and the fox prince.

“Well, aren’t you brave,” Adam smirked, “What if someone mistakenly walks towards us and hits the barrier?”

Prince Yoshito wrapped his arms around Adam and shook his head.

“Then we better make this quick,” the fox prince simply replied with a playful wink.

Adam leaned forward, his hand caressing prince Yoshito’s face. He then kissed the fox prince softly and slowly. Prince Yoshito smirked as he returned the kiss.  After a whole five-minute make-out session, they pulled apart, fixing themselves.

“I really did miss these lips,” Adam stated, brushing his finger along the fox prince’s lips.

Prince Yoshito smiled and later undid the spell. The barrier disappeared, and some citizens walking by almost screamed as they saw the two appear from what they believed was ‘out of nowhere.’

“Let’s go see my sister,” prince Yoshito said, “I am sure she wishes to see you.”

“And hopes I have a gift for her,” Adam added, a chuckle escaping his lips.

Prince Yoshito nodded and smiled. They made their way to Ai, who was sitting on her chair with a sour expression. The fox prince and Adam exchanged glances. When Ai saw them, she stood up.

“Uncle Adam,” she breathed out, a hint of excitement in her voice.

“What’s with the sour expression?” Adam asked, “You are ruining your beautiful face.”

Ai smiled and walked towards him, giving him a long hug. She smiled at him and walked back to her chair, taking a seat.

“When did you come back from your business trip?” she asked him, her arms crossed.

“Not too long ago,” he replied, taking an empty chair and ushering prince Yoshito to sit on it.

The fox prince sat down and watched as Adam playfully winked at him. Ai smiled, her heart beating fast at the romantic, cheesy scene unfolding in front of her. She had a goofy smile on her face. Her brother looked away from Adam and stared at her, an eyebrow raised.

‘They really are a good fit,’ she thought.

“What?” her brother asked her, tilting his head.

It was now late in the evening, and the city was filled with coloured lights. Some stalls had already closed down, while new ones had been set up. After all, the festival of paint ends at midnight, and well, the night was still young. Moreover, there were still many citizens, tourists, businessmen and women, and noble families walking about.

“Oh nothing,” she sang, “Anyway, I am like this because princess Nexi was supposed to be back by now with bigger brother. However, I do not think she is coming back.. Bigger brother stole her from me, so I was by myself the rest of the day.”