<Episode 568> Quicker-than-expected situational awareness
“Your Excellency, the Duke!”
Irene cried out in deep emotion. However, Irene was not important to Bianca.
Bianca repeated to herself.
'The second-in-command of the kingdom must be the Duke of Taranto.'
It would be the icing on the cake if the liege she served as her right-hand man was Alfonso, but even if it were Leo III, that position had to be hers—no, the Duke of Taranto's.
She could not hand over the privileges of the Southern Admiral, steeped in history and tradition, to a Northern Grand Duke who was like a white fly rolling in from nowhere.
'I'm taking a gamble on the odds.'
The pride of a Southerner. A bold bet—this was Bianca's first political decision.
***
It was a long time later that the man and woman trapped on the island discovered the woman's burn wounds.
"What...is this?"
Julia Helena lifted the hand on the cuff where it had caught fire earlier. She had been disoriented when escaping the tent engulfed in flames, and since then, she had cried because there had been no pain. But... something felt strangely off. She had no sensation.
"My finger... won't bend."
There was a black lump on her left ring finger.
Caesar instinctively sensed that something was amiss. However, trying hard to shake it off, he deliberately spoke brightly.
"Isn't that soot on you? Come here, I'll brush it off for you."
He took Julia Helena's fourth finger. Her ring finger was black on the outside and red on the inside, like burnt charcoal. Julia Helena did not scream even though Cesare held her.
"See? It doesn't hurt. There must be something on it..."
However, that thing was the Princess's skin. Even though Cesare pushed it gently, it did not fall off.
The first and second joints of the circle, where the fingernails were, were hardened like leather.
"Oh, my heavenly gods..."
Julia Helena also turned pale.
"Burn, is it a burn?"
"I need to see a doctor first."
However, it was a situation where the fake patient had bitten the boat and left, leaving the real patient behind.
"How can I see a doctor?"
The Princess asked with a tearful expression.
"Will a ship to rescue us arrive within an hour or two...? We have no fire or anything, so this is troublesome."
"It has come to this point, and you're looking for another fire?"
“I don’t like being cold.”
Cesare sighed and took off his thin jacket, handing it to the Princess. Since it was tailored to fit snugly, it could not be worn over the Princess's thick sable cloak.
Julia Helena carefully removed her cloak, gently put on her own jacket so as not to touch it with her fingers, and then draped the cloak over it again.
While she was putting on her clothes, Cesare looked at the sun and tried to gauge the time.
It was early afternoon, just after the sun had peaked, when they were left all alone on the island.
Behind them, the remains of a tent that had been completely burned and collapsed in an instant were squirming.
The Princess shouted as if she had suddenly realized something.
"Well, I guess the embers are still there!"
Due to the sheer size of the tent, although the western fabric and pillars were completely burned, the remaining sections collapsed onto the sand, and the flames were roughly brought under control. Meanwhile, red embers flickered in the areas not fully covered by the sand.
"I'll go to the forest in the center of the island and gather some branches! If we light a campfire together, we should be able to hold out until sunset..."
"Princess."
Cesare interrupted Julia Helena.
"This isn't the time to light a campfire. We—no, you—must escape this island before the sun goes down."
“Because of my hand?”
'No, I was worried that you might be forced to marry me.' Just as Cesare was pondering what excuse to give, the sound of an animal crying was heard from a distance.
It was the sound of a pack of dozens of dogs howling. Cesare licked his lips and spoke.
"...for many reasons."
One more reason was added on top of the numerous reasons to return to land quickly. Julia Helena asked back with a terrified look on her face.
"Do wild animals live on this island?"
The reason he did not answer, 'Can't you tell even after hearing that?' was purely because Cesare's patience exerted a man-like strength. At the sound of wild dogs in the distance, Cesare fumbled with his waist.
At least he had a bow and a sword during the hunting competition, but now, due to the ban on carrying swords issued by Leo III, all he had was a club that he always carried.
"It sounds like a pack of wild dogs. They were raised at home, but the people left, and the dogs remained."
Auuuuuuu!
A sound closer to that of a wolf than a puppy was heard. Julia Helena's dark complexion turned pale. Taking advantage of this moment, Cesare made a suggestion.
"Let's find the boat."
“A boat?”
"It hasn't been long since this island became uninhabited. There are likely boats or tools that the former residents used."
At those words, the Princess was terrified. Her reaction was almost as startled as when she first heard the sound of a pack of wild dogs.
"Even if there is a boat on the island, it must be a small one! Are you saying we should go back the way we came on that huge sailing ship in a small boat?"
"We won't know what kind of boat it is until we get there."
In fact, even if there were a ship exactly like the sailing vessel they had arrived on, two complete novices could not operate it. However, the Cesare of today was more enterprising than ever.
"I know how to look at most ships."
Julia Helena's eyes widened for about the fifth time today.
"Yes?"
"It's a hobby. Don't ask for details."
Cesare was skilled in drinking, women, and miscellaneous arts. While everyone focused only on the 'drinking and women' aspect, his talent actually shone most brilliantly in 'miscellaneous arts'.
In the Republic of Porto, a boat race called Regatta Repubblica was once popular. It is a game where players row small boats to compete for speed.
This game soon made its way to San Carlo and became a common pastime enjoyed at the mouth of the Tiber River.
Cesare liked winning races, but he absolutely hated rowing.
While Ottavio was diligently practicing rowing, Cesare pondered how he could use the Cero flower to build something resembling a miniature galley.
In the end, he was too busy playing card games to persuade the organizers to let him participate in the sailing and rowing race, but he gained experience taking apart all kinds of small boats.
"But we can't row back to the water! If the boat has been stored on a deserted island for so long, the sails must have already completely rotted away and become unusable!"
"Damn it, Princess, why on earth do you only look for reasons why it won't work?"
At Cesare's furious voice, Julia Helena was startled and fell silent. This was the first time he had shown genuine emotion.
"Don't you want to leave this island?"
...Julia Helena could not answer.
'Should I leave?'
Julia Helena was quickly recalculating the situation since her finger injury.
'Would this burn wound heal if I went back to the mainland and saw a doctor right now?'
She had seen Countess Contarini's facial scar completely heal. However, that was not within the realm of ordinary medicine.
'She must have been walking around with something like flour stuck over the scar.'
Besides, even if the potion magic wielded by her Moorish subordinate was truly miraculous, Julia Helena would rather die than beg that woman for help.
'When my fingers become crippled, what options are left for me...?'
Suddenly, Julia Helena and Rubina's goals converged on the same point.
In fact, the Princess wasn't a complete fool either. She had a vague idea why Rubina had stuck her and the Grand Duke here.
It was simply because she loved this moment so much that she put aside her anger toward Rubina and was enjoying the present.
'Lighting a bonfire with him, digging up fallen leaves to prepare a sleeping place, catching fish, roasting them, and eating...'
She wanted to close her eyes for a moment.
However, looking at the serious wound on her finger, she thought that it might leave a permanent scar. That would be a huge flaw in the marriage market. Suddenly, anger welled up towards Rubina, who had scammed her.
"Grand Duke, aren't you even sorry for me?"
However, that anger flared up as it came. It was a disciple's ritual.
"What?"
Julia Helena was hurt by the fact that Cesare didn't like her. She certainly had the thought, 'Do you think I'm going through all this trouble because of you!' and above all, Cesare was right in front of her.
"I mean this burn."
Cesare was dumbfounded.
"Princess. Have you forgotten that I threw myself in front of you to save you when you were about to suffer full-body burns exactly like that?"
"But..."
Julia Helena did not want to bring herself to reveal Rubina's true intentions out loud. It would have been a good way to attack Cesare, but saying so would make her own situation too miserable.
She was in a position of power. She had come to charm the Grand Duke of a great nation as a beautiful Princess from a foreign land. Becoming a pitiful girl to gain pity was not what she wanted.
Instead, tears began to fall in droplets. But those tears were bitterer than a hundred words.
"Oh, dear."
Cesare took a deep breath.
"Will the Princess be resting on the beach? I will take a look around the docks and then go to the center of the island to see if there is anything else."
Julia Helena, who had been crying, jumped up like a spring.
"I absolutely hate it!”
What she wanted to be with on this very brief, romantic island was Cesare, not a pack of wild dogs or endless waves.
"What if a pack of wild dogs comes down to the beach?! What if pirates appear?"
"That looks tastier than the Princess, so I don't think we need to worry too much about the pack of wild dogs."
Cesare gestured with his chin toward the mountain of food lying overturned at the entrance of the collapsed tent.
"Pirates are certainly a problem."
Julia Helena whined once again.
"Can't we just stay on the beach? Even if we look for the boat, getting lost at sea would be an even bigger problem!"
"If you get shipwrecked, just stay afloat. This is near shore. People will find you somehow."
"I don't want to go out. I'm scared. Let's wait together at the beach."
"Princess."
Cesare, suddenly exhausted, pressed his fingers to his forehead and interrupted her.
"The rescue ship won't come today."
Cesare was convinced. His mother's objective was to keep him and Julia Helena locked up on the island all night. So the ship wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. Of course, that meant they would end up performing ancestral rites instead of having their first night together.
Cesare pressed his throbbing brow once again. This woman must have absolutely no idea what situation she is in.
"I am your guardian now, and I will take you to the burial site before the sun sets."
He pronounced it with emphasis on 'before the sun sets'.
It is now two in the afternoon. Since it takes two hours by sailboat, it will take twice as long in a small boat, so you should allow about four hours.
If they could arrive at the port around six or seven in the evening, it would be a close call. He would be able to protect the woman's honor and rectify the absurd thing his mother had done. To do so, he had to find a ship within an hour.
Cesare took Julia Helena's healthy right hand.
"No rebuttals allowed. Let's go. Unless you want to be alone."
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