Chapter 86
The Reincarnated Princess’ Astonishment“…”
I slowly gathered my consciousness.
An unfamiliar ceiling appeared in my blurry vision as I gradually woke up. It was completely different compared to the grand ivy carvings of the castle ceiling I was used to. Instead, simple beams adorned the flat ceiling of the room.
Where am I? My mind posed a curious question. My eyes were better now, but my head still didn’t work properly. For a short while, I daydreamed without purpose until my brain decided to function again. I then remembered my escort’s pale, faded complexion.
“Klaus!….Ow…?!”
A dull pain hit my head when I tried to get up.
This is… probably that. A migraine from when you had either slept for too long or woke up halfway through your sleep.
Holding my forehead with the tips of my fingers, I waited for the agonising pain to pa.s.s and breathed a sigh of relief.
“If it’s Klaus you’re thinking of, he’s fine. Don’t worry.”
A voice came as soon as the pain had subsided. I scanned the room but saw no one.
Over here.’ I looked out the window towards the direction of the voice and saw a hand waving from outside. I got up from the sofa and approached the window sill.
When I peeked outside, I was greeted by a pair of honey-coloured eyes belonging to a young man. He was sitting on the ground while staring at the sea with his back leaned against the outer wall.
“Wolf.”
“Morning. Seems you’re having trouble getting up.”
As he laughed out loud, I could see the hidden fatigue on his face.
“Did I pa.s.s out?”
“Don’t you remember what happened?”
“Err… Just a bit… Here and there…”
I tried to recall my memories while trying to talk, which resulted in a jumble of nonsense.
After Klaus regained consciousness, I had then laid down from exhaustion. I couldn’t remember if I had pa.s.sed out after that.
According to Wolf, I stepped outside for a drink and then felt a terrible headache. When that happened, he carried me to another room and I ended up sleeping on the sofa.
“You slept for so long. Everyone was worried, you know?”
“I have nothing to say to that…”
I hung my head in shame.
Although he was concentrating on treating Klaus, there were still many others who were injured. He probably treated them too while I slept through it all. I wish
I could disappear. Rather, can someone please take me away from here right now?
“What are you feeling down for?”
“Because I haven’t done anything to help. I’ve been saved many times and yet I didn’t even say thank you.”
The doctor and Michael saved Klaus’ life. Not only that, but the people who brought Michael to us, Georg and Miss Bianca, also helped greatly. Mia and Flora did their parts as well.
“You definitely said thanks to that young magician of yours.”
“Eh?”
“You grabbed that young man’s arm and repeatedly cried ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ over and over again.”
Through his words, I remembered more of that night.
The gentlemanly Michael offered to help me up on my feet. However, I instead grabbed his arm and repeated words of grat.i.tude many times like a broken record player. I remembered how his black eyes started to well up. What was I doing, making my benefactor cry?
“You also cried out ‘Thank you very much!’ to anyone pa.s.sing by when I carried you.”
Was I drunk?! I can’t accept that harsh reality!
If that was true, haven’t I dug my own grave?!
“It was pretty interesting. All the crewmembers were baffled. It was such a shameful sight that I couldn’t even bear to look. Even that handsome-looking acquaintance of yours was bright red, you know?”
“Please stop. I will die from embarra.s.sment at this rate.”
I covered my beet red face with my hands.
A hearty laugh roared over my head as Wolf bent down closer.
“I knew it. You feel nothing like a princess.”
He said in a firm voice.
Peeking from between my fingers, Wolf’s soft eyes stared back at me with a kind expression.
Towards his affectionate gaze, my body turned stiff from its charm.
I slowly lowered my hands and opened my mouth.
“Wolf.”
“Hm?”
“Thank you very much!”
I dropped my line of sight from Wolf as I sat down on the carpet with my back straight. Bending over slightly, I stretched out my hands on the floor in front of my knees and formed a triangle with my fingertips. As I deeply brought down my head, Wolf cried out in a panic.
“Oi! Mary! What the heck are you doing?!”
“Thanking you.”
“I can tell just by looking! But that’s not the point! You’re a princess! How can you lower your head to a mere apothecary like me?!”
“It doesn’t matter whether if
if I’m a princess or if you’re an apothecary, you have my grat.i.tude. Besides, we’re not in public. It’s just the two of us right now.”
“Even if you say that-!”
“The miracle clan, Kua.”
“!!”
Wolf’s eyes opened wide in surprise to my words.
“I heard that you’re from a mysterious clan that rarely gets involved with the outside world. Wouldn’t it make things difficult for you if you revealed your ident.i.ty?”
A clan that didn’t work for anyone despite having a vast knowledge of medicine and technology. It seemed my journey will be much harder than I first imagined.
Anyone can learn and inherit knowledge if they were enthusiastic enough. But for any further development, money was key. However, the clan didn’t seek out business or sponsors, nor did they raise the price of their drugs. After thinking up to this point, I still couldn’t come up with a good reason to explain why they chose to be so elusive.
Besides, even if the clan refused service, a man of powerful status wouldn’t give up so easily. Those sorts of influential people tended to be more stubborn than the average person, especially when it came to protecting their pride and honour. There will be someone out there whose intention is to monopolise the clan’s immense knowledge and skills.
I believed that the Kua Clan had more reasons for keeping its whereabouts secrets other than cultural traditions.
“You could have kept your ident.i.ty a secret, and you were also well-aware of the risks that came with exposing it. Yet, you still chose to save Klaus. For that, you have my sincere grat.i.tude for saving my precious escort.”
I lowered my head one more time.
Silence fell upon the room. Only the sound of the distant sea waves echoed in my ears. What finally broke the gentle calm was a long, long sigh.
“…?”
Was he surprised? I raised my face up a little to confirm the situation and noticed that Wolf had also bowed his head towards me.
“Wolf?”
“Stop it. I’m not a man that deserves your grat.i.tude.”
Wolf raised his face back up as he spat out those words bitterly. The lingering sharpness had a hint of self-loathing mixed within.
“Whether it was the servant girl who collapsed or the sailor that was injured, I was the one who forced them all on you, remember?”
“That couldn’t be
couldn’t be helped because you were trying to hide your ident.i.ty. If I hadn’t pulled through, you were going to treat them yourself anyway, am I right?”
It was certainly true that Wolf entrusted me to treat Mia and Kurt. But if I had refused, he would have taken over immediately. I believe this to be a fact, and not mere speculation.
“I was using you! Don’t you get it?!”
“Me?”
Listening to his words, my eyes widened in surprise.
But why? A simple question came to mind. I wonder what he had to gain by doing something like that. As if he was reading my mind, Wolf spoke further.
“I dropped by Nabel to meet the rumoured G.o.ddess.”
Apparently, Wolf had been gathering up information at the harbour for a while. He heard that a ship, the Julius zu Eigel, was departing in the name of the previous Marquis Eigel’s second son. He also heard that the Marquis was related to the G.o.ddess in question and that she was aboard the ship.
“I was on a return journey back home anyway. When I heard that the G.o.ddess was going to be on board, I thought of how lucky I was. Well, I found out the truth soon after though.”
After Wolf realised that Flora wasn’t the real G.o.ddess of the rumours, he had decided to go on a different journey. However, he met me in the ship’s kitchen first.
“My hair colour should have been different then.”
“That’s right, but I was still curious. Besides, it doesn’t matter much if you’re the G.o.ddess or not, because the thing I’m trying to find is not just the G.o.ddess herself.”
Something else he wanted to find?
When I probed him further with my eyes, for some reason, Wolf’s facial expression became sour. Since he always had a reliable look on his face, the sour expression made him look like a child being scolded.
I didn’t want to ask him directly, so I rephrased my question.
“…Was I able to fulfill your expectations?”
I asked with a smile, half expecting him to respond with ‘Don’t be silly.’ like usual.
But instead, his facial expression became even more clouded. With an exhausted look, Wolf brushed away his bangs and scoffed.
“Not exactly. Are you serious? Why did you have to be a princess? It’s good and all to have power, but I wished you had been born withbeen born with a lower social status.”
At first glance, it sounded like something out of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. However, it didn’t sound like he was speaking to a lover. I felt as if I was being blamed for some reason.
“If you’re a princess then act like a princess. Be more honourable. If you had been a spoiled brat, ignorant, vulnerable, and arrogant… then I would’ve tried to find someone else. I’ve always believed that anyone with power wouldn’t have much good in them.”
“Wolf…?”
I didn’t know what he was talking about.
Wolf stared at me, but I was still confused.
“…Hey, Mary.”
His large hand extended and grabbed my arm.
At this point, my confusion turned into bewilderment.
“Do you know what will happen to you after this?”
“Well, since I’ve exposed myself as a princess, I would probably be taken to Flamme’s Royal Palace. After that, I would likely be deported back to Nabel.”
The royalties of Flamme would practically be saying ‘We’ve taken care of our guest before sending them back home’ by doing so.
Even though I’ve finally met someone from the Kua Clan, I lost the chance for any meaningful negotiations. Furthermore, since Wolf’s ident.i.ty had been exposed, it would be impossible to keep him by my side any longer.
I would return home without having achieved anything.
“Just to be sure, can you come back?”
“I don’t think so… Even getting out of the castle will be quite a task.”
‘I don’t think Father would give this failure of a daughter another chance to redeem herself.’
I muttered ruefully with a smile. Wolf then breathed out another long sigh and turned towards me, his expression surprisingly serious.
“Very well… Then it can’t be helped.”
“Eh…? W-Wait!”
My field of view was suddenly reversed. My line of sight that stared up at the sky through the window was now gazing at the ground.
Wolf picked me up and carried me on his shoulder. He grabbed my luggage that I had set aside and pulled a cloak over me.
We disappeared into a back door.
Wolf descended down the flight of stairs without any hesitation.
“Eh?! What’s this?! What are you doing?!”
Why am I being carried?!
Besides, where are we even going?!?
Confused, I looked to Wolf for answers, but he covered my eyes instead.
“Would you mind being kidnapped by me for a little while?”
“…Huh?”
A bewildered cry escaped my mouth.
What was this guy saying?