Since she rarely visited, Joanna walked around the city for a while to see what was new or strange.
While strolling along, she saw a lot of interesting things and quickly bought them before placing them in her little handbag. Ian, who was in the small bag, stared dumbfounded. He was unable to figure out how those items disappeared into thin air once they entered the bag. Ian was afraid that he too might fall into some unknown abyss, but after seeing that he was still sitting firmly at the bottom of the handbag, he began to feel safe and secure.
"The King"s List?" Joanna"s doubts caught Ian"s attention. At that moment, even though he was a little tired, he eagerly climbed up to the edge of the bag and look up at the King"s List.
"That"s unusual." Joanna curiously looked up at the yellow poster that the city council had posted; the King"s request for a search was especially eye-catching. "What could possibly cause the King to add a search request on such a lowly billboard?"
An Imperial Wanted List was a rare notice. The city"s bulletin board was usually dotted with portraits and rewards for wanted criminals, or a notice of replacement for the city"s officials, or even a new round of recruitments. It was rare to see the royal family issue a notice, which is the so-called "King"s List." Usually the King"s list notified the citizens of an upcoming dance or some kind of compet.i.tion in order to perform in front of the king. However, this time the notice was to search for something.
"Search List….Take note… do not kill any frogs….search for a missing frog?"
"Oh!"
Joanna saw the frog poking his head from the bag and she smiled at Ian. "What does the little frog want to see? Come on, you can take a look—although I"m not sure if a frog can see all of these colors…"
Ian quickly read the imperial list and noticed the royal seal below, along with the signature of the prime minister……His father knew that he had become a frog! Now he was trying to find him and bring him back!
"Does the lady want to give it a try?" The soldier who stood by the bulletin board probably felt bored, so he opened up and suggested, "Doesn"t the lady have a frog right now? It says on the poster that if you manage to find the frog that the king wants, then there will be a reward of Ten Thousand Gold!"
Joanna shook her head. "No, I wouldn"t do such a thing. But why would the king search for a frog?"
The soldier shrugged. "Who knows? The king suddenly issued such a list, and yet he doesn"t even know what the frog looks like…..The Young Miss doesn"t know this yet? After the King had issued such a request, so many people came by and took the opportunity. Many frogs were brought to the palace, but each time the king claimed that it wasn"t the frog he was looking for. The people asked him what kind of frog he wanted, but the King couldn"t respond.
"Isn"t this strange?" Joanna"s cautiously looked at the soldier and said in hushed voice, "Everyone has a special hobby. Maybe this was the king"s new hobby?"
The soldier glanced at Ian, who sat quietly in his little bag. "Lady, do you really not want to try present that little frog with you? Who knows, you could get the reward of 10,000 gold."
"Just as you said, this is my frog." Joanna gently touched Ian"s head. "If such a reward would take away my frog, then I would rather not partic.i.p.ate. The little frog once waited for me by the pond for months. For so long, it only had me in his world….I would rather not let his world be destroyed."
Joanna gazed seriously at Ian, as if her words weren"t just casual remarks, but rather, an oath that carried much weight…..When the soldier saw the lady say such an oath to a plain frog, he rolled his eyes thinking that the young girl was crazy. To Ian however, he felt as if he has got the whole world.
Although he feels sorry for his father…..but even if he can reach the palace, he may not be able to find someone who can solve his curse. What"s more, a dignified prince had once turned into a frog. How can other servants and knights follow his orders willingly?
So please, let this maiden continue to watch over his little world…….His world only has his G.o.ddess.
GROUP TRANSLATIONS: (for other translated works)