Episode 95. Misha's Coming of Age Party (3)
"Aaah!"
I screamed, not sure if it was a scream or something, and kicked his butt with all my might, and Prince Kydel turned around and swung his sword.
And then, suddenly, everything became quiet.
Prince Kydel didn't even look at him and stepped on his back and approached me.
He struck the back of the pillar with his sword to release the rope, then grabbed one of my shoulders and brought me right up to his nose.
Only then did I open my mouth.
"Your-Your Excellency?"
"Are you okay? Tell me!"
"Oh, I'm not okay. It hurts."
Prince Kydel finally let go of me, flinching. The pirate's blood splattered on his cheek as he laughed.
I thought he was very excited, but his eyes, looking up close, were filled with fear.
Maybe because of me. Maybe something happened to me because of him.
He shouted.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay now. How about you, lord...?”
I answered with a bashful smile.
In fact, I wasn’t okay at all. However, no matter how much I hated him, I didn’t want to bother him with my worries right now. Only then did he sigh and say,
“I’m grateful that you’re so brave in this situation.”
“I'm not.”
I was serious, but my vision suddenly dropped. I collapsed in relief, my legs giving out.
He strode over to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and clicked his tongue.
I was so embarrassed that I groped and averted my gaze.
“Are my legs giving out? Haha...”
“It’s natural for you to be scared. If you weren’t scared at all, I would have been worried instead.”
He led me to the damp straw piled in the corner, took off his jacket, and laid it out for me. Then he sat me down on it.
“Thank you...”
Prince Kydel smiled bitterly and said,
“Miss Misha Loire will be disappointed.”
“Ah. Misha. Coming of Age! Ugh! We have to go, Your Excellency!”
But Prince Kaidel looked at me with a tongue-clicking expression.
“Just sit there. You can’t even walk.”
“...”
I didn’t have the energy to protest.
As silence fell between us, I could hear sounds from far away.
He was staring at me quietly.
“You’re worried about Miss Misha, aren’t you?”
“Not worried... Actually, I think Misha and I made up a while ago. It’s just a little bit, but for the first time...”
Prince Kydel made a complicated expression for a moment.
Then he said softly,
“Congratulations.”
I shrugged. I snickered.
“But this is what happened? Misha would never believe me if I told her I couldn’t go to the coming-of-age ceremony because I was kidnapped by pirates.”
“I would do the same.”
“How did the pirates know about you and come all the way to Tagar? And treasure...”
Prince Kydel flinched like a child caught doing something bad.
“Your Excellency...?”
“That...”
As I waited for his answer, my mouth went dry.
“It was a pity to end the last time at the public sea like that...”
“Huh...! Did you rob their treasure? Because the owner was gone?”
You damned frugal person!
“Hmm. It’s hard to talk to you at times like this.”
“Ha, haha... Really, Your Excellency, you really...”
He frowned and asked,
“Really what?”
“Really...! Don’t you smell something strange?”
I stretched my neck to smell something, and Kydel got up from my seat to survey the situation.
Smoke was flowing into the shabby warehouse floor.
“They set it on fire! I think there were more people!”
Kydel quickly ran to the door and shouted.
“It’s locked!”
“Damn it!”
I walked around the warehouse, looking for any holes or buckets. But there were only a few old buckets.
I looked at the warehouse door that was starting to spit out flames, and my eyes filled with tears.
I was panicking. I hated hearing my own voice in my ears, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“I have to save Prince Kydel right now! That way, I can pay off a debt, but why is there no water? Are there no animals in this neighborhood? Why aren’t there any dog holes?”
The flames spread to the walls of the warehouse, and the inside gradually became brighter.
And in the middle of it all, I saw Prince Kydel standing there, looking at me with a face that looked like he was going to die from being dumbfounded.
I just wiped away my tears.
He sighed deeply, then came over to me and patted my shoulders. It seemed like he was telling me to calm down.
Then he turned around, stuck his shoulders out, and rushed toward the door.
With a crackling sound, the inside of the warehouse suddenly became brighter. He kicked the burning door open with his foot, clearing the way, then came back and grabbed my hand.
“Let’s go! I’ll let you enjoy the fireworks next time.”
We left the warehouse just like that. We were at the end of a quiet forest path. We were clearly on the outskirts of the capital.
I turned my head at the rustling sound and screamed.
“Your Excellency!”
Two huge shadows jumped out of the bushes, and Prince Kydel immediately swung his sword and struck them down in one fell swoop.
My mouth fell open.
At times like this, this guy was truly a great knight.
I was staring blankly at the warehouse that was burning more and more, and then I realized something.
“If we leave it like this, it’ll turn into a forest fire!”
“Damn it!”
“Your Excellency!”
Prince Kydel ran into the warehouse without giving me a chance to stop him, and I barely managed to hold back a scream.
He appeared with shovels and buckets, threw a bucket at me, and said,
“Hey, do you hear the sound of water flowing?”
After hearing him, I could faintly hear the sound of a stream flowing.
“Water, I’ll get some water!”
I ran, holding two buckets in each hand. Then he shouted,
“Just one bucket at a time. Don’t use up all your strength at once.”
“Just this much! Do you think I’m just a bunch of daffodils?”
While I ran to the stream and scooped up water with both arms, Prince Kydel was destroying the burning wall with a shovel. He was throwing the burning boards onto the grass to reduce the fire that was burning the warehouse.
In the meantime, I was pouring water on the warehouse. Prince Kydel soon came with water and started putting out the fire.
We repeated the same thing like a pair of madmen.
***
We sat side by side on the grass and watched the dawn break over the forest. Our appearances were inhuman, covered in soot and sweat, and we were too exhausted to stand up.
“Whew.”
With a sigh of relief, Prince Kydel pulled my head to rest on his shoulder.
I didn’t have the strength to refuse, and his thick muscles made his shoulder fit perfectly as a pillow, so I had no choice but to stay still.
I coughed lightly, feeling the smoke still in my lungs, and looked at the half-burned warehouse.
The forest was now safe from the fire. And beneath the bushes on the other side was the pirates’ graveyard. Prince Kydel’s shovel had done a lot in one night.
I muttered dryly.
“We did it.”
“We did it.”
Silence again.
“Aren’t there any more pirates?”
“There won’t be any.”
I wondered what he meant, then I remained silent because of the eerie murderousness in his voice.
The pirate remnants would be destroyed even if they were in the hands of the Kydel family. I did not doubt that fact.
After regaining my composure, I raised my head and said,
“I’m sorry. For swearing.”
“That’s not the courtesy you have to show to those kinds of people.”
“No, that letter.”
“...!”
Prince Kydel slowly turned to me with a face that seemed about to pop out.
I felt his gaze sting, so I glared at the rising sun and said,
“Misha asked me to write a letter for you, Prince... I was angry at Misha at that time. That’s why I said, “Oh, my God. I thought you would never find out, but I didn’t know you would be so hurt. I’m sorry, Prince.”
“Ha! I knew it!”
Prince Kydel shouted and swung his fist in the air.
This time, I looked at him with eyes like a puppy that had been splashed with rain. Because I didn’t want to get hit by that fist.
“Forgive me... will you?”
Prince Kydel said with an extremely arrogant expression, his hair all disheveled and his face covered in soot.
“If you had confessed tomorrow, I would never have forgiven you, Miss Lorisha Loire.”
“Ah... yes...”
“I may be being too generous in these instances, but since you have confessed, I will forgive you.”
“Thank you.”
I answered softly, feeling embarrassed.
But then, laughter erupted.
Even though Prince Kydel glared at me, my laughter became a huge roar. Big enough for the sun rising in the eastern sky and the dead pirates to hear.
Prince Kydel was laughing with me.
I knew that his hearty laughter would bring about the clear blue sky today.
Prince Kydel swept his bangs with his hand and roughly straightened them, then said. His smiling face was really pretty.
That bastard was a pervert, thinking that he could be handsome even with his face covered in soot and sweat.
“Then, I will confess to you, Miss Lorisha.”
“What, Prince?”
“Labor Siha. I know that’s you. ‘Labor Siha’ is an anagram of ‘Lorisa Loba,’ right?”
“...!”
I jumped up from my seat. All thoughts disappeared from my head.
But he said with a calm face.
“Sit down.”
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