The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Forty Five

The rest of the day did not sit well for me, but not because I was not enjoying the festivities that we were attending. It was more personal, as the idea that the Crown Prince was going to have a woman pretend to be his girlfriend just struck me hard.

If I could just sulk all day in the guest room, I would have done it already. We were now in the town proper to celebrate the harvest festivals and the Crown Prince was already mingling with the townspeople while drinking their booze. Lots of seafood were on the tables and everyone was having the time of their lives.

But I was beside the Crown Prince forcing myself to smile at anyone who meets me eye to eye while maintaining my distance with Prince Kao so that I could do my job well. Despite the literal heartbreak that I was feeling right now, I have to be mature about it because Madame Morris will not forgive me in any lifetime if the Crown Prince gets hurt or felt neglected.

My main concern is to help the Royal Guards around the Crown Prince control the crowd that is trying to interact with him. Prince Kao might be friendly but we have to make sure that he does not get hurt. My role is to act like his other pair of eyes and ears, but it was a little bit harder to focus on it now that something is still circling on my mind.

"You have to try this," Prince Kao suddenly told me while offering me a giant shell that looked and smelled so good. It was shaped like a ceramic plate and its meat looked tender and delicious.

"What's that?"

"It's a Glacier Clam," he explained. "That's a high-quality seafood that could be found in the mouth of Plumba's icy glaciers in the west."

"Oh. So it must be hard to get, right?"

"It is. And looking at it, isn't it delicious? Pumba is famous for its steamed dishes. So come on, try it." He offered a fork to me while still holding the shell which was bigger than the size of our hands. I don't know what I was thinking, but I immediately grabbed the fork from Prince Kao because he seemed to be cutting the meat for me, and I don't want anybody else to see him do that for me, especially that Millicent was looking at us like a watchdog of some sort.

She was still looking at me as if I did something that irritated her, and maybe I did. I knew too well why she was being this way because I am a girl too, so it was not a shock for me that she disliked me. But the feeling is mutual. In fact, I don't even know who I dislike better. Is it her or is it still Blasie? Maybe it is still Blasie because that sick excuse of a woman is trying to take my brother away from me just like that, but Millicent comes extremely close at second.

"How is it? It's good right?" I was flattered that the Crown Prince was actually waiting for my response so I did chew the seashell meat vigorously.

"Hmm! It's exquisite! It melts in the mouth!" I was shocked at how good the shell meat was and I could not help but exclaim that way. Prince Kao clapped at my reaction and that earned us a couple of stares from the people around us, including Millicent and her parents.

But that was enough for her as she suddenly stood up and offered Prince Kao with a rice and squid dish that looked charred. She went up next to him and tried to make him taste it. "This is my family's old recipe. I'm sure that you are familiar with this already since we always serve this whenever you visit us at our mansion back when we were kids! Come on, have a spoonful!"

The Crown Prince obliged, but I could immediately tell that he did not really like what he was eating when he took a spoonful of it in his mouth. But the Forresters were watching so he had to praise them and swallow the damn food that looked more like a diorama of a terrible child's art.

"Oh, isn't it good, right?" said Millicent's mother. "That recipe has been handed down to in my bloodline. It is said to have first made by my great, great ancestor who was said to be a Snow Gypsy! You know how Snow Gypsies were said to have cooked the best meals that no other tribes could even imagine back then!? This is that recipe so it is as authentic as it can get! So it is extremely precious and rare!"

That blurb from Millicent's mother got my interest. What did she just said? Did she just tell everyone who can hear her that they are descendants of a Snow Gypsy? Because if that is the case, then I might be related to them in some way!

But when I thought that she was already finished boasting about her lineage, she suddenly went into detail about how her family owned a lot of ancient artifacts that no one could find in any other place. According to her, it was the ultimate proof that came from an ancient, prominent family, and thus they are different from anybody else.

Good thing her husband finally decided to turn the conversation to his own lineage. It was much better because he did not boast about anything that his family owned or what, but instead he told stories of how Plumba was said to be the most beautiful coastal town before the eternal winter happened. His great ancestors were the first people to settle in this town, that's why their family had always been in power. He also shared that it was his family who invented the fishing ice kayaks that can move in frozen water.

Millicent was going to share her own stories when the people interrupted her by making loud sounds from some traditional musical instruments. The town presentations were about to start to we have to stay quiet. Everyone waited and watched as kids and teenagers performed first with their folk dances and tribal chants. It was pretty, but my attention was with the Crown Prince. He did seem to have enjoyed the show that was going on, but he kept on looking at the people watching because a lot of them were shivering from the cold.

I know why he was doing this. He was concerned about them, especially with the kids. It was still cold even if the Forresters have decided to put some of their columbars in the corners of this hub where we were gathered so that everyone can get warm while the celebrations are being held, but the cold was still omnipresent enough to counter the heat coming from the columbars.

I could also not help but notice how most of the townspeople were taking turns in going near the said columbars, a gesture that warmed my heart as everyone was trying their best to take the opportunity to feel the heat coming from it. This was a scene that I would never find back at Aurville.

"This is our anthem, this next one. It is about two lovers who got frozen alive in the icy ocean," said Millicent when a drama started to be performed by the young people in front of us. "It is a tragic love story that is said to have been cursed by the deity of winter."

It was a good performance. However, my attention was somewhere else again because I just noticed someone staring at me. At first, I thought that he was looking at someone near me or next to me, but when I changed positions with one of the Royal Guards, I noticed that this man also shifted his gaze and position so that he could continue watching over me.

It gave me goosebumps. He was there, standing by one of the columbars, his arms stretched while staring at me intently. I could not make out his face as he was wearing a fur coat with a thick hood. All I can be sure of was that he was a middle-aged man.

He was watching my every move and I was about to tell it to Prince Kao when everyone went noisy to applaud the performers at the center of this huddle. Prince Kao stood up from his seat to give the children a standing ovation while clapping at them earnestly for their wonderful performance, and because I looked at what the Crown Prince was doing I did not notice that the man suddenly disappeared.

"He went that way," I heard the Crown Prince said to one of the Royal Guards that were just standing behind him. "Go and catch him."

Two of the Royal Guards backed away and then went out of sight. There were so many people that I did not know where direction they went. They just melted in the sea of people. Then the Crown Prince suddenly whispered in my ear. "That man was one of those who tried to kidnap you back at your house. I recognized him," he said and that sent me chills down to my spine.