Chapter 207 - Trouble in Prazia (Part 2)

"Achoo!" The old man suddenly sneezed while walking outside.

It was already dark when they finally reached Venetia. Jorick was able to remember some parts of his memory. He had lucid dreams about his past, and he believed that the things and places that he had seen in his dreams could help him regain his memories of the past.

They visited the places that he saw in his dreams. He could recover parts of his memory after they visited the place. He would describe the place in his dream to the old man, who was able to identify the place based on Jorick's description.

Jorick was really glad that he let the old man tag along with him.

"Old man, are you alright? Can your old bones keep up?"

"This brat! I told you to call me grandpa. What old bones? Someone must be cursing me behind my back."

Jorick let out a chuckle when he heard the old King sniffing once more.

"Admit it, ol…grandpa, you need to stay at home and just enjoy your retirement," Jorick teased the old man.

They had been traveling together for nearly three months, and they became closer. The old man noticed a significant change in Jorick's demeanor. He seemed lively and was beginning to see and understand his purpose. He finally accepted the fact that the Ninth Prince had no intention to help him regain his lost memory. 

"Before it gets really cold, how about staying in that inn?" The old man pointed at a posh-looking inn.

Jorick gasped when he saw the one that the old man was pointing at. With just one look, he could tell that the inn would suck them dry. The trouble with Venetia was that everything seemed expensive, but they truly offer the finest things.

"G-grandpa, are you sure you want to take a rest there?" Jorick took out his pouch and began counting his money.

The old man laughed and stopped him from doing what he was doing.

"Relax. I may have posed as a beggar before, but I have lots of money. You don't need to worry about anything. Come on." The old man began to walk in the direction of the inn.

The place was indeed luxurious. Both men had never seen anything like it before. The guests were well-dressed and seemed to be on their way to attend a King's banquet. They were all well-mannered.

Jorick looked at how they both dressed and felt ashamed. He turned around and was about to leave when the old man stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Grandpa, can't you see how grand they dress? Look at us! We look like beggars next to them."

The old man smacked Jorick on the head and pointed to a nearby shop, "Don't you see that?"

Jorick looked at the place where the old man was pointing his finger and gasped.

"That tailor shop looks so expensive. We will become beggars for real if you insist on going to that inn. Just to go to that inn do you mean to say that we need to buy ourselves a couple of expensive suits?"

The old man glared at Jorick, "Why do you keep complaining? I told you I will pay for our accommodation but when you saw the clothing of the guests you said we look like beggars. Now I'm taking you to have a nice suit you're saying we might end up becoming real beggars. When did I let you feel aggrieved? Just follow my lead and I will take care of everything."

"Why do you keep acting like you're some kind of rich man? Are you a king or something? Tell me the truth, are you a former king?"

The old man looked at the youth and shook his head, "Yes, yes, I'm a former king. Are you satisfied?" The old man went to the shop and left Jorick behind.

'Just what do you take me for? I believe you were once a king of thieves.'

Jorick followed the old man to the shop and did not say anything anymore.

* * * * *

Redivo and Ruvin agreed to spread the news that the supposed return of the Crown Prince and Princess had been delayed again for some undisclosed reason. The people of Tissuria began to have differing opinions regarding the matter.

"The Crown Prince must be being punished by his father-in-law because he took in a second wife."

"The Crown Princess will not return because the Crown Prince had finally filed for a divorce."

"They could be on a romantic vacation, and they did not want the Second Wife to know about it."

"The Crown Prince must've killed his wife somewhere, and he wanted to find a perfect alibi."

The people of Tissuria were highly imaginative creatures. They could come up with a good, believable story whenever possible. Even the originator of the story would believe the lies that he or she had concocted as absolute truths.

Since they were not supposed to be seen around the Palace of the Crown Prince, Ruvin and Zekiah spent their days exploring outside. However, Redivo would often summon for Ruvin to help him with Vaughn's work. Zekiah would often go to Zander, who would immediately send his little brother somewhere so he could spend some time with Odessa.  

It had been three days since Zander accompanied Odessa home. He could tell that the Baroness was someone conservative, and he asked for her permission to visit Odessa regularly. The Baroness agreed without hesitation. She knew that her niece was in good hands.

Zander became a regular visitor of the Muncheforts since then. Zander never failed to visit Odessa every day in her home. He even accompanied her almost everywhere she went.

Zekiah feared that Odessa might get bored with Zander, and she might find him too clingy. Zander remembered Zekiah's advice.

"If you cling too much to her, she might think you have evil intentions toward her. You need to let her have her own space and don't show your ugly face in front of her every now and then."

The Left Minister had not yet returned while the King had been sick for more than two weeks. King Tarendino was already ill when the Left Minister went to Prazia. None of the royal doctors could tell the reason for his illness. The senior doctors were the only ones allowed to treat the King's illness. Odessa was more than glad that her promotion to the senior doctor level had been postponed.

"Why is the King sick?" Zander was visiting Odessa and enjoying a lazy afternoon.

Ever since the Baroness approved his request for visiting Odessa, he went there every day despite Zekiah's reminder. Zander thought that he was just making up for their lost time together. 

"No one knows why he is like that. I felt his pulse once, and I can't understand the abnormal rhythm that I picked. I even tested him for poison, but I did not find anything."

"Do you think that King Tarendino had been poisoned?"

"Hmm. I cannot prove it, but my gut feel tells me that he is. It is possible that the poison is hard to detect. I heard an unconfirmed report before that Prazia is always developing new drugs – cure and poison. In fact, many poisonous elixirs came from Prazia."

"I remember that there was an envoy from Prazia who presented us with different poisons and antidotes. They even introduced Lotharia to Ishelon. Luckily, the military men of Ishelon had been trained from young to suppress the effects of any poison. We could counter it somehow, but we still need some time to eliminate it totally out of our system."

"Just what do you do to become that formidable?" Odessa asked in a playful manner.

She already asked Zander about it when they were young, but she got ignored.

Zander got closer to her and said, "If I tell you, I may need to kill you." He flashed a beautiful smile, which startled Odessa.

When Odessa came back to her senses, she suddenly recalled what Zander had said.

'K-kill me?'

Zander noticed that Odessa turned pale, and it looked like she forgot how to breathe. Zander panicked.

"I'm just joking," he reached out to tap Odessa's face.

But, he accidentally knocked down the cup when he tried to reach out to Odessa's face. The teacup shattered into smithereens when it touched the ground.

Odessa got back to her senses and looked at the shattered teacup. She turned to look at Zander, who turned pale this time.

"I-I'm sorry. I was only joking earlier. I did not expect that it might give you a shock. We are like this because we had been training our bodies since young. Even Zenzen started her training when she was around three or four."

"Zenzen started training that early?" Odessa seemed to forget what just happened when Zander mentioned something about Zenia.

The awkward atmosphere disappeared just like that when Zander mentioned Zenia. Zander discovered the quick way to get and divert Odessa's attention – talk something about Zenia. 

'I must give Zenzen a generous gift when she returns.' Zander smiled inwardly as he kept telling Odessa about Zenia's adventures.

Crash!

Damien was once again in a bad mood. He could not locate the Left Minister and the King was ill. If anything bad would happen to the King, Vaughn would surely inherit the throne. 

His mood became worse when he received a message demanding for Jorick's return. He did not know where the heck Jorick was at the moment.

The story about him being Jorick's benefactor was all fabricated. The truth was he happened to be in the right place at the right time when he took in Jorick. Damien had a hunch that Jorick's entire family was annihilated by the man who gave Jorick to him. He could still remember what that man had told him.

"Here is the address of the safe and the key. That money is yours just take good care of this lad for me. Me or one of my men will find you later."

"Why do you…"

"Entrust that lad to you? Because we are the same, Your Highness. The money in the safe can help you a lot, Ninth Prince of Tissuria."