Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 74

‘Let me just say thanks and leave,’ she thought, ‘Who knows, maybe it is fate. Maybe the Goddess, Lumina, sent her to me to assist me with summoning the Silver Ocean.’

She held her pink cotton candy, which was wrapped tightly in a plastic bag.

“Thank you,” she told the woman, who nodded enthusiastically, her face beaming with happiness for a reason Astoria did not know, “Well, we’ll take our leave now. Take care.”

With that, the werewolf lady watched as Astoria turned her back and walked away from her. They walked to an empty bench and sat down, placing their sweet snacks on the table.

“Don’t you ladies think we bought too much candy?” Astoria asked them, staring at the candy-filled table.

“Nonsense,” Ai replied, dismissively waving her hand, “You can never have too much candy.”

“Uh-huh,” Astoria said, not sounding convinced by Ai’s remark.

Ai opened the plastic bag with the Fairy Rings in them. The Fairy Rings were basically like candy canes, except softer and not shaped like a cane, but like a ring. She took one Fairy Ring and gave it to Lara and took another, giving it to Astoria.

“Thanks,” Astoria and Lara said in unison.

Astoria bit into the candy, and she almost choked on her saliva. She was in a coughing fit for a good few seconds while Ai and Lara stared at her, completely worried.

“Are you alright, Nexi?” she heard Ai ask her.

She nodded and lightly hit her chest.

“Yes. The sweetness just caught me by surprise,” she told them, licking her lips.

“Sorry,” Ai apologized in a sad tone, slumping her shoulders, “I forgot that this is your first time trying out Fairy Rings and forgot to warn you about the excessive sweetness.”

And Ai was right about the excessive sweetness. Fairy Rings were one of the sweetest candies in the world. Well, in this world, that is. Many children loved the candy for that reason, much to the dismay of their parents because too much sugar means their children would be overly hyper.

“Don’t worry about it, Ai,” she told the fox princess, “I like the sweetness. I just didn’t expect it to be at this level.”

And she did like the sweetness. After all, she had a sweet tooth ever since she first tasted chocolate ice cream when she was two years old. Since that day, she has loved eating candy and sweet flavored drinks and snacks.

‘Ah,’ she came to realize, ‘Eating this reminds me of fudge. The level of sweetness is almost the same except this here is sweeter.’

Lara was absorbed in her Fairy Ring and did not pay attention to their conversation. When she had finished eating the candy, she opened her pink cotton candy and consumed it. A happy glint was in her eyes as the little fox hummed a tune while she ate her cotton candy.

“Was the Fairy Ring delicious?” Astoria asked the little fox.

“Yep!” Lara replied, giving her a toothy grin.

“I’m glad you liked it,” Ai added.

They ate the rest of their candy while engaging in small talk. Ai spoke about how Lara would be sent to study magic at the kingdom’s private magic school, Yokore, the Academy of Magic.

“My mother said so,” Ai said, “They have already enrolled her, and she will start attending the academy tomorrow.”

Lara blushed and bent her head down. She had always heard of Yokore. It was an expensive academy with only the best wizards and witches. It was also known to have the best magic trainers. To think she would be attending such a prestigious academy. It all seemed too surreal.

“Listen, Lara,” Ai said, placing her hands on the table and resting her chin in them, “If anybody bullies you, tell big sis, alright?”

Lara pressed her lips together as Ai pointed to herself. The little fox nodded. Ai grabbed the remainder of her pink cotton candy and stared at it.

“I’ll make a potion which will turn them into frogs if they bully her,” she chewed the cotton candy.

“Frogs?” Astoria asked with a laugh, “That’s a bit…”

“What?” Ai asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking, “Mean? Evil? Would you prefer I turn them into mice?”

Astoria sighed.

“I don’t know which is worse between the two.”

Ai laughed and pat Lara on her head.

“Big sister Ai,” she said, pointing at herself, “will look after you. You just work hard at the academy. Do your best and do not hesitate to ask for help, okay?”

Lara stared at the fox princess wide-eyed. Princess Ai looked like a Goddess who was on her side. She was like her prince charming, except Ai was a princess and not a prince.

“Yes, sister Ai!” the little fox said happily, bobbing her head.

After a few minutes, they gathered the empty plastic bags and threw them in the nearby bin.

“Now then,” Ai said, placing her hands on her hips, “since we had our fill, let’s go play some games.”

“I love games!” Lara chimed in, spinning loosely.

“Great! Let’s go!” Ai yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

“Let’s go!” the little fox repeated, copying Ai’s hand motion.

They began to walk side by side. Astoria watched them from afar and could not help but laugh. It was funny how quickly the two foxes had bonded, but she was glad this happened. This way, when she leaves, she will know that Lara has an older sister to look up to. A female figure she can count and rely on.

“Ladies!” she yelled, chuckling, “Wait for me!”

She ran to them, giving them a smile each. They found a variety of games one would find at an amusement park. She and Ai had played Balloon and Dart, a game where you throw the dart at the balloon to pop it. Ai was horrible at the game but was mesmerized by Astoria, who popped each one with great precision. Lara cheered her on.

“Go, princess Nexi!” the little fox cheered, “Just one more balloon left.”

Astoria grabbed the dart and lifted her arm in the air. She closed one eye and stared at the red balloon, focussing. To her, the dart was like a bullet from a gun, and the balloon was her target. Once she set that idea, she could burst all the balloons.

“Wow!” Ai and Lara exclaimed in unison, slack-jawed and unable to move.

“You are amazing!” Lara complimented.

“Where you an archer in your past life or something?” Ai asked her, clapping her hands in awe.

Astoria gave a nervous laugh and ran her hands through her hair.

“Me? An archer in my past life?” she asked rhetorically, “Of course not! No way.”

She nervously laughed again and cleared her throat. Ai crossed her arms and smiled.

‘I was a police officer,’ she thought, ‘Well, I still am…I think.’

“Well, I think you were,” the fox princess stated, “Either that or you just unlocked a hidden skill you never knew you had.”

Astoria nodded and nervously smiled.

“Yeah, I think it’s the latter.”

They got a prize: a light blue teddy bear with a red heart on its chest. Astoria grabbed it and knelt, holding it out for Lara.

“Here you go, little fox,” Lara heard her say, ushering for her to take the toy.

“B-but you won it,” Lara stammered, “A-are you s-sure I can have it?”

The little fox’s eyes looked hopeful, and Astoria nodded.

“Yeah, you can have it,” she placed it in Lara’s arms, “Something to remember me by whenever you miss me.”

Lara stared at the blue teddy bear and hugged it tightly, her lips curling into a smile.

“Thank you,” she told Astoria, giving her a quick hug.

“Aww,” they heard Ai squeal, “You two are so sweet.”

Astoria smiled, and they went to play a few more games. Checking the time, it was now around 2:30 PM. They had to head back to the palace to pack her stuff and get ready to leave. She still couldn’t believe that she had to go back to that wretched palace in Ashen, where she was unwanted by the king and his two children. She could just picture the siblings’ disgusted faces when they would see her come back. Their faces would probably spell out, ‘Oh, she is back. Great.’

‘What a wanted lady I am,’ she thought sarcastically as she sat in the carriage that was heading back to the palace.

“I wish you could stay for longer,” she heard Ai say, causing her to look up at her.

“Mhm,” Lara agreed, her body drooping from sadness at the thought of her saviour leaving her, “We didn’t even get to spend enough time together.”

Astoria smiled and held each of their hands in hers, leaning forward.

“I’ll be back before you know,” she assured them, and they nodded.

“After all,” she leaned back and crossed her arms with a slight close-lipped smile, “My fiancé is here.”