Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 81

“Maybe they are in disguise?” the fairy raised her eyebrows.

“I do not know,” Astoria bit her lip, “I have been looking and looking, but I do not see them. Plus, it is hard for me to know their faces because there are so many guards at the palace, and they could have used magic to disguise themselves.”

The fairy pat her shoulder.

“Do not worry,” the fairy told her, “They are definitely here. Probably in disguise, though. Do not overthink it.”

Miss Yalvina had told the students that today would just be a day for them to prepare themselves for the race as well as their upcoming test. The riddle race will begin tomorrow morning at 9 AM. When the students finished their dinner, they went to their rooms.

“Tomorrow is race. I cannot believe we only get to find out who is in our team tomorrow,” Laurelai sighed as she sat on her bed.

“What happens if we get someone we do not like? Like someone incompetent?” Astoria asked, lying on her bed.

The green-eyed fairy shrugged and crossed her arms.

“I do not think we have a choice in the matter,” she told Astoria, “We just have to make it work and finish the race with the incompetent team member.”

Astoria sighed. When she was in high school, she hated group assignments the most because sometimes you would get students who did not do their work on time or did their work incorrectly. Sometimes, the students would not even do their part, and she would end up doing it because she did not want to fail the subject. Group assignments were the worst for her, so she preferred individual assignments.

“I hope we have Davitt in our team,” the fairy said, staring at the ceiling as she lay her head pillow.

Astoria sat up on her bed and crossed her legs. She stared at the fairy and gave her a knowing smile.

“Hey Laurelai,” she said, causing the fairy to look at her.

“Hm?” the fairy responded, raising an eyebrow.

“You like Davitt, don’t you?” Astoria smiled.

The fairy immediately stood up and waved her hands, denying even the thought of liking a gargoyle.

“No way!” she replied, her face flushing as she had trouble maintaining eye contact.

“Oh come on, fairy princess,” Astoria laughed, nodding her head.

“I absolutely do not!” the fairy affirmed, “Even the thought of it is absurd.”

“So,” Astoria smirked, “If I asked him out, you would not mind?”

The fairy quickly looked at her, her gaze fixed on her best friend. Her mouth was open, but no words came out.

‘Got ya,’ Astoria thought in triumph.

Of course, she was not planning on asking him out. She did not like the gargoyle. In fact, she had no interest in love right now. It was entirely out of the picture because of the current situation with the Dark Lord. Well, maybe there was some type of love with prince Yashiro, but his love belongs to princess Nexi. So yes, love is completely out of the picture for her.

“Yes?” Astoria asked again, tilting her head.

“I…” the fairy struggled to speak and clenched her fists on the bed, “Well, I guess not…”

Astoria could not help but let out the chuckle she had been holding in.

“Hahaha,” she laughed, causing the fairy to look at her in bewilderment.

“What is so funny?” she asked Astoria.

Astoria shook her head and wiped some tears from her eyes.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you are a bad liar?” she told the fairy.

Laurelai pressed her lips together.

“Me? Bad liar?” the fairy asked wide-eyed, “What did I lie about?”

Astoria stared at the fairy and smiled.

“I think the whole class knows you like Davitt,” she told the fairy, crossing her arms.

The fairy sighed after a minute and shrugged.

“Is it that obvious?” she asked Astoria, who nodded.

“Pretty much so. Yes,” Astoria replied.

“Well, fine,” the fairy resigned, “I do like it. I was gonna tell you, but I was still trying to figure out if my feelings were real feelings of love or admiration. I mean, that guy is amazing. He is good at sports, and his academic record is outstanding. Plus, he is pretty cute.”

“Look at you praising your boyfriend,” Astoria teased, causing the fairy to blush and cover her face with her hands.

“He is not my boyfriend,” the fairy bowed her head in embarrassment.

“Yet,” Astoria added, grinning.

The fairy looked at her in shock. She sighed and lay her head on her pillow again.

“The thing is,” she heard the fairy begin speaking after a few minutes of silence, “My father will not be happy that I like a gargoyle or that I want to date such a creature. As you can tell, my father is extremely protective of me.”

Astoria nodded in understanding.

“But,” the fairy continued, a smile plastered on her cute face, “I really, really, really like him, Astoria. I have liked him since I came to Leararts Academy. I just find him so interesting. He knows that he is smart and athletic, but he is humble about it. He never boasts like other students do.”

Astoria nodded. She agreed that Davitt was a good student and had a friendly personality. She also noticed that he seemed to treat Laurelai differently. He was like a tsundere, cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He pretended not to care about the fairy, but he actually liked and cared about her on the inside.

“Anyway,” Laurelai said, clearing her throat, “Let us talk about you.”

“Me?” she asked the fairy, confused.

“Yeah. Any possible suitors for you?” the fairy asked, “Or maybe a potential husband? I mean, we are both at the age where we can get married, so…”

Astoria wanted to tell her about the kitsune prince of Chesropis, prince Yashiro. Still, since nobody knew about the engagement yet, as it was a secret that would only be revealed at the banquet this evening, she shook her head ‘no.’

“Not yet,” she told the fairy.

“Want me to introduce someone to you?” the fairy asked, “I have a very handsome fairy prince friend who I think would look good with you. He belongs to the Winter Court. My father wanted me to marry him, but I refused because we went on a blind date, but I found that we had clashing personalities.”

Astoria shook her head ‘no.’

“Nah, I think I am good. I do not think I will like him, plus,” she told the fairy, “I am not interested in relationships right now.”

And she was not lying about that. Astoria had more significant issues to deal with, and relationships were not one of them. The fairy nodded.

“We should get some rest since we have a busy day tomorrow,” the fairy said, “We need to wake up feeling energized and ready. Good night.”

With that, the fairy went under her covers and turned her body to face the wall.

“Good night,” Astoria said with a smile.

They had a pleasant sleep. They could hear the sound of night insects as well as tourists and citizens enjoying themselves at the lovely hotel. The following day, they went to go have a shower. After heading to breakfast, they were told to get ready by 8:30 AM and meet in the conference room.

“I wonder who will be in my team,” Astoria heard some students say to each other.

“I hope it is not one of Misty’s gang,” one student mumbled to another.

Astoria could not agree more. Having a group member of Misty’s gang would be a whole other problem. They would bully the rest of the members. If a member from their gang joined Astoria’s group, they would definitely bully her since they bully the Ashen princess Nexi.

When Astoria walked next to the fairy, she noticed that as they headed to the conference room, she got some weird looks from some men. They all have her a subtle bow that only she would witness. She raised her eyebrows, confused at first. When she had arrived in the conference room, she then realized that those must be the royal guards because there were five of them who had subtly stared and bowed at her.

‘So they really are here?’ she sighed in relief.

“What is wrong?” the fairy whispered to her as they sat down in the conference room.

“My royal guards are here,” she whispered back to the fairy princess.

“See? I told you they were in disguise,” the fairy smiled at her, and she nodded.

“All right, students. Hurry up and take your seats,” Miss Yalvina told her students, We do not want to waste time.”

When all the students were seated, she gave a student a stack of maps and brochures to pass around the class.

“Make sure you take one map and a brochure,” the teacher instructed, crossing her arms.