The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Eighteen

I have to admit, I feel like I was not having an ordeal right now because the Crown Prince is like a beautiful distraction personified that help me adjust to the situation nicely. It was already a given that he would never bore you with his looks and gestures, but it was also fun watching him act awkwardly while trying to live the life of a lowly researcher named Travor Dubstein. It made me feels less scared and anxious for the safety of my Aunt.

I had to stop myself from giggling too much when he complained that the terminal was too narrow for all the people that were waiting for the public snow carriages to arrive. He also kept on going how cold was the public snow carriage itself despite the fact that several Heatcatchers were already attached to it.

But he praised the snack trolley that the public snow carriage has because he claimed that the food they were selling there was the best. He was immediately fond of the caramel pies and cake pops, two of the most popular desserts that came from the bakery where my Aunt works. We were there before we rode this snow carriage that was going back to the Palace and it was quite the story of what happened there.

When we talked about the possibility of my dead mother having a hand in the Queen's death, the Crown Prince could not help but get curious about what I might find at my Aunt's workplace. So even if his original plan was to went straight to the terminal to rent a private snow carriage, he opted to join me in going to the bakery, which was the biggest one in all of Aurville.

The bakery had almost a hundred workers and it usually serves hundreds of customers daily. This made Prince Kao's jaw drop. He said that he had never been here, which was the best option possible because his presence would have thrown the place into chaos. This bakery was called Girdle House, as all of the bread and pastries here were made on hot girdles that are actually Heatcatchers that were customized for cooking and baking. And as this was our staple food, almost everyone in Aurville buys and eats here too.

When the two of us entered a lot of people were staring at us, but for all the wrong reasons. They looked at me because they knew me. Aunt Milca is widely known by many, so that makes me widely known too despite my dislike for attention. She would always talk about me when she serves the bread to her friends on their tables and that was enough to make everyone remember my name and face.

Then they were also staring at Prince Kao because of his outfit. He was still covering half of his face, though it's not that uncommon as people usually cover themselves from head to toe due to the weather. But this time they were staring because they wanted to see his face. They wanted to see the face of the man that I was with because of course, they are curious if I had a boyfriend.

"Why is everyone staring? Do they know who I am?"

I looked straight ahead while we walk to the counter. "They are staring at you because they are intrigued by you."

"Really? Because they can't see my whole face?"

"Yes, and also because you are with me," I whispered and he chuckled.

"This is the first time that someone is looking at me and it is not because of me."

"We better act like we are a couple," I told him. "We have already lied back at our neighborhood and it would not help if we become inconsistent."

"Okay." Then he put his around me which made my whole world spin like crazy. It was enough to make me faint, so I wonder how did I manage to still walk straight when he was this intimate with me.

When we reached the counter we didn't even have to ask for my Aunt. One of her close friends here, Mrs. Ruffian, went to us when she saw me. She was clearly stressed out by what was happening. She asked where my Aunt was and when I told her that we were also searching for her, that's when we all knew that she was not here or anywhere we know.

According to Mrs. Ruffian, Aunt Milca seemed to have felt that she was in danger because she was worried about going home alone. She goes home alone so that's something that she would not usually worry about. But last night she wanted to go home early so their boss allowed her to. This means that she was able to leave the bakery without anyone hounding or following her.

After we confirmed that she was not there, I wanted to go back to our house, but Prince Kao stopped me. He said that it was dangerous, as the unidentified men that tried to abduct me might be still around just waiting for an opening to take me. I agreed with him out of fear, so I joined him in returning to the castle. Prince Kao promised me that he would send some Royal Guards back to our house to assess the situation. I figured that this was the best option that I have so I decided to go back to the castle with him.

Which leads us back inside this public snow carriage where the two of us were sitting side by side at the back. He was the one sitting by the window and he was reading his book again. I did not want to interrupt his reading time but I wanted to ask him some questions.

"Travor, is there something in that book that tells about the ancient elixirs?"

He looked around us before answering my question. I guess he was worried that someone might overhear us, but I was confident that no one will know about his real identity. He was disguised so well and he was acting just like a regular person so it was okay.

"There are some texts about them," he told me quietly. "But I haven't really read about them."

"Really? Why?" This surprised me because I always thought that aside from being a voracious reader, he is also an intellectual person who loves to know about everything. But there are still topics that he doesn't read much just like the ancient elixirs.

"I did not believe in them, to be honest. I always thought that the potioneers were not actually capable of making such concoctions. This was because I find it hard to believe that drinks such an elixir that can grant you immortality actually exist."

"But right now that you know... do you already believe in them?"

"Well, not entirely. I have still have to read and do some research about them. I think there are confiscated texts about them at the libraries back h-home... I will read them as soon as I can."

"That's good. Then do you mind if you share with me what you discover about them?" I asked and one of his eyebrows arched.

"Why are you so interested in them?

I shrugged. "I just want to know how logic works on them because I think they are something that we should know better."

"I agree. I was thinking the same thing too. The ancient elixirs do sound very enticing. And if they are real then we should have all the knowledge about them. Who knows, maybe we can make a potion that will reduce the cold that we feel from the winter right?"

"We definitely need a drink like that. The Ruthless Blizzards' season is coming and we can use it to stay warm."

The Crown Prince did not reply to this. I saw him looking over the window but his eyes were unfocused. Maybe he was thinking about the Ruthless Blizzards. Its season is fast approaching which means that everyone have to work double time, especially us.

The Ruthless Blizzard is the set of snowstorms that keep on blowing on the entire country. They are the reason why we cannot go out of the borders and vice versa. It produces a lot of the hailstorm and intensifies the freezing temperature of the place. But normally it is just concentrated on the borders, so it is actually less colder inside the country. But during its season, the Ruthless Blizzard gets intense and it just spreads all over the atmosphere of Aure. This causes the country's temperature to dip.

During this season the whole country is in a much colder weather. Even our sweat freezes and people often get sick because of this. It is also during this time that reports on people freezing to death get an all-time high. This is because the Ruthless Blizzard freezes everything, even people who are warm enough but their homes don't have enough coalstones to counter the cold.

This is why coalstones are very important to us. It stops unnecessary deaths. It stops young children and the older ones to succumb to the cold. It warms everyone's stored food so that they will still be edible. It lets you move properly in a place where even the empty space around you is much colder than ice. In short, the coalstones let you live.

And now that the new season of the Ruthless Blizzard is about to start, I can't help but get worried for my Aunt. I hope that she can come back before it gets too cold to move around. I have no problems with the new season since I usually stay in the Palace during the whole period, but if my Aunt is gone I don't know if I can stay there while worrying about her whereabouts. I think aside from the cold, that would kill me too.

After an hour I woke up to find myself leaning on the Crown Prince's shoulders. I silently giggled at this and I found him sleeping too, his head leaning on the glass window of the public snow carriage. I watched him silently while he sleeps. Even though three-fourths of his face was covered I still found him very handsome.

But I did not stare too much at him (even if I wanted to, as the other passengers might freak out) so I just took the book that he was reading which was on his lap. I read the opened page where he left off and saw that it was about the Scarlet Phoenix.

According to this book, the Scarlet Phoenix has the ability to be reborn from its ashes when it dies. However, no one knows now how that thing could possibly happen. Aure's folklore had numerous stories about this process, and each and every one of them tells the same thing. It usually takes a hundred years for the Scarlet Phoenix to be reborn again in her true form.

"True form?" I repeated what I read in confusion. I did not understand it. "What does it mean 'true form?' So it has another forms too?

That is possible. Maybe if it is still not revived from its ashes it takes another form. Maybe a rock or something. Maybe it becomes an animal? That is also possible. All I know is that as a deity she can live long enough to witness a dozen of generations of mortal humans be born and die.

To be honest I got envious of the Scarlet Phoenix's ability to get revived. If that is only possible for us humans too then my parents wouldn't have died when I was young. Then Garreth and I would not have to live with Aunt Milca. Prince Kao would not have to grow up motherless too. Everything would have been different.

I flipped through the pages of the book and found out that it was not only the Scarlet Phoenix who was mentioned here. There are other deities too aside from it. One of them is the deity of winter, which according to this book was supposed to be the Royal Family's ancestor.

Now, that was interesting. If that's true, then Prince Kao is a descendant of a deity? That sounds plausible, but there is also something malicious to that theory. I bet I will get punished if I said this aloud. People will get outraged that I am linking the Royal Family to an entity that we aren't even sure if they still exist or not.

Because if I was to be asked, if these deities really exist, then I say that they probably are all dead. Deities are supposed to be extremely powerful. Their absence alone greatly affects the place and their people. Look at how we are suffering from just the Scarlet Phoenix's absence. There is no fire everywhere. And I think I will die not knowing how hot are the flames.

When the snow carriage stopped at the station just outside the Palace I had to wake up the Crown Prince who was still in deep sleep. It looks like he was tired from everything that has happened yesterday so I gently woke him up. He woke up with a smile and I swear, I would do everything just to have this scene with me forever.

He ushered me to come with him when he entered the Palace through one of the minor entrances at the back, where Madame Morris was waiting for him at the top of the steps going through one of the iron doors of the castle.

"Your Highness! Thank goodness you are alright!" Madame Morris said to him rather dramatically. "I was ready to report what you had done to your father and face the consequences! You said that you'll be gone for just half a day! But look at the time now!"

"Come on, Madame Morris, please scold me later. I am so tired."

"I think I will scold you later!" she agrees and that earned her a chuckle from the Crown Prince. Then she finally noticed me and saw that Prince Kao was holding my hand, so I jerked it off and blushed profusely.

"Rainha. You are here. Jang is waiting for you at the Hall," she said sternly to me and I nodded. I began walking to the iron door when Prince Kao called me.

"Rainha."

I stopped and looked back at him. He was smiling widely at me and it melted my heart into goops. "Y-Yes, Your Highness?" I was nervous of what he was going to say to me in front of Madame Morris because even though I would have wanted him to be close to me like this even in front of other people, Madame Morris is my superior and I don't want her to misunderstand.

"We'll discuss what happened, okay? Come to my room later."