Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 70

The little fox tilted her head up and blushed, making patterns on the floor using her leg.

“Miss Lara,” they heard the maid call out, “Let me finish brushing your hair.”

Astoria stood up and held Lara’s hand, walking towards the maid. She sat the little fox down.

“I will continue brushing her hair,” she told the maid, her palm facing up for the maid to hand her the brush, “So you may leave. Thank you for your help.”

The maid handed Astoria the brush, bowed, and left. She smiled at Lara’s mirrored reflection and began to brush her silky white hair.

“Do you want a specific hairstyle, or should I just brush it down?” she asked the little fox.

Lara nodded. “Pigtails, please.”

Astoria brushed the little fox’s white hair and braided it. She smiled when she was done with the pigtails, placing her hands on the little fox’s shoulders.

“Do they look fine?” she asked the little fox.

“It is perfect. Thank you,” Lara smiled, touching her pigtails and staring at her mirror reflection.

“We have about fifteen minutes left before we go have breakfast,” Astoria said, staring at Lara’s reflection, “Today, the king and queen will find out about you. I am pretty sure they must have heard that there is a child kitsune in the palace.”

Lara pressed her lips together, feeling nervous and scared.

“No matter what their answer will be about you staying here,” Astoria continued, turning Lara around so that she could look her dead in the eyes.

“Just know that I will be by your side, fighting for you, and so will prince Yashiro and princess Ai. Okay?”

Lara enclosed Astoria’s hands with hers and nodded.

“Yes, princess Nexi,” she tilted her head and gave Astoria a closed eye smile, “Thank you.”

They stayed in the room and chatted for a while until it was time for breakfast. They walked to the dining room and found the siblings seated next to each other, engaged in a deep conversation.

“Honestly,” Astoria and Lara heard Ai say,” I still cannot believe you did not let me join you and Uncle Adam for dinner.”

“Why are you still stuck on that?” prince Yoshito rolled his eyes.

“Because I wanted to spend time with uncle Adam too!” Ai retorted, throwing her hands in the air, “It is not like I was gonna keep following you guys afterward. I do not want to see what freaky stuff you guys do.”

“Hey!” prince Yoshito angry-whispered, nudging his sister’s side.

He crossed his arms and let out an exasperated sigh. He looked up and found Astoria standing with the strange child kitsune.

“Well, you can spend time with uncle Adam today at the festival,” he said, eyeing Lara as she sat next to Astoria, across from them, “And you can join us for dinner next time.”

“It will not be the same,” Ai murmured, then turned her attention to Astoria and Lara, “Morning, you two cuties!”

Astoria smiled. “Good morning to you both.”

“G-good morning,” Lara softly greeted, a blush creeping her face.

‘She actually looks adorably cute,’ thought prince Yoshito.

“I am pretty sure you both slept well,” Ai winked at Astoria, who stared at her with a confused expression, “I saw how cute you guys were lying on the bed like a family.”

‘Oh,’ Astoria thought, ‘That is what she meant.’

She laughed and rested her chin on her hand.

“We did not hear you knock or even call out to us, Ai,” she said, sighing, “Sorry, but we were all dead tired since we had a long day yesterday.”

Ai nodded, and the butler opened the dining-room door, allowing the king and queen to step inside the room. Astoria immediately sat up straight like a lady or princess ought to.

“Good morning to everyone,” the queen sang, her face beaming.

“Someone is in a good mood this morning,” prince Yoshito whispered to his sister, who nodded.

“It looks like we have a special guest who will join us for breakfast,” the king said, taking a seat next to his wife.

The queen smiled at Lara and placed her hands on the table, resting her chin on them.

“What is your name, little one?” she asked Lara.

Lara sat up straight and bowed her head.

“My name is Lara,” she began, “Lara Marbita, your highness.”

“My, my, what a pretty name,” the queen complimented.

Just then, the dining-room door opened, and prince Yashiro walked in, taking a seat next to Lara. The little fox sat between Astoria and prince Yashiro. When Ai saw this, she closed her eyes and internally squealed at how they looked like a family.

“Good morning, father, mother,” prince Yashiro greeted his parents.

“Morning, son,” his father replied, “Mind explaining who this child is?”

He nodded, and Astoria reached out her hand and enclosed it on Lara’s to reassure her not to worry. The fox prince began to explain, leaving out unnecessary parts like how his fiance had to seduce Lara’s uncle to get him to spill the truth. She carefully examined the king and queen’s expressions as he explained to them. Their faces remained neutral throughout his whole explanation.

“Ah, you poor thing,” the queen said after a minute of processing the information she had just received.

She was holding back tears.

“Mother,” Ai said in disbelief, her eyebrows raised, “Are you about to cry?”

The queen shook her head ‘no’ and blew cold air onto her eyes by waving her right hand in front of her eyes.

“N-no,” the queen stammered, “I just sympathise with her, and well, it is sad for a child to go through a traumatic incident like that. I would know since I also went through a traumatic incident.”

The king placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder and stared at Lara with a genuine smile.

“Do not worry, little one,” they heard him say, “You can stay for as long as you like.”

Lara’s eyes widened in shock, and she glanced sideways to stare at prince Yashiro and Astoria. She did not know that it would be this easy for her to stay with the royal family. Prince Yashiro stared at her and gave her a closed eyes smile. She began to sniff as she held back tears that were gathering in her eyes.  Astoria caressed her cheek and gave her a smile.

“Any update on Lara’s grandmother?” the king asked prince Yashiro.

“Doctor Xion said she will undergo oral surgery next week,” prince Yashiro said.

“That’s great news,” Ai said, clapping her hands in delight.

Prince Yoshito nodded. The king loudly clapped his hands, and the maids stepped in with their breakfast. Prince Yashiro helped cut the sausages into tiny pieces for Lara. The queen smiled, imagining how fatherly her son would be when he has a child of his own in the future.

There was sauce on the side of Lara’s mouth. Astoria noticed this, grabbed a serviette, and gently cupped the little fox’s chin. She gently wiped the sauce from her mouth and smiled when Lara gave her a cute smile. Prince Yoshito smiled at the cute scene.

When they finished eating, the king and queen took their leave, saying they were going to the festival to do some shopping. The children waved goodbye as they walked out the door. When the parents left, the siblings let out a sigh of relief.

“Man,” Ai breathed out.

“I know, right,” prince Yoshito added.

Astoria stared at them, her eyebrow raised, wondering what the two were on about.

“They cannot believe that our parents agreed to let Lara stay,” prince Yashiro told her, “Frankly, even I cannot believe it.”

Astoria nodded, she too not believing it but feeling relieved at the favourable result. Prince Yoshito and Yashiro stood up.

“Well, ladies,” prince Yoshito spoke, “My brother and I have important business to attend to.”

Prince Yashiro nodded. “Duty calls. We will see you before you leave for Ashen.”

‘Ah,’ Astoria realised, ‘I forgot that I am leaving this afternoon. Somehow, I was starting to get comfortable.’

“Bye,” Ai waved at her brothers.

When they left, she turned her attention to Astoria and Lara.

“I need the help of both of you in making potions,” the fox princess told them, “After that, we can head to the festival just to have fun and make sweet memories before you leave, Nexi.”

Astoria and Lara exchanged glances.

“Sure,” Astoria smiled, “Why not?”

Ai jumped up and down in excitement. “Yay! Let’s get to work, ladies.”

They arrived at the room Lara used for potion-making. It was a big room filled with glass jars and bottles. Ingredients were labeled and stacked all around the room. Astoria and Ai walked to Ai’s workstation. A potion book was placed atop the work desk.

“Handbook Of Potions?” Astoria read the title of the potion book.

“Yes, it contains potion recipes. We are going to make a tranquility potion. The recipe is by Doctor Ano N.. Ymous,” Ai began to explain to Astoria and Lara as she paged through the book to find the tranquility potion.