The Cursed Insignia

Chapter 10: The Voyage

Chapter 10 – The Voyage

Never in my entire life did I ever expect myself to be seasick. Here I am, with my face glued to the toilet bowl, with an extremely queasy stomach, and puke flowing out of my mouth. I wanted to vomit in peace, but how can I when I have one of Aries’s guards behind me, continuously mocking me?

“Now, you resemble a girl.” He commented once again.

“Shut up and leave me alone.” I said for the umpteenth time.

“I’m just obeying orders. I can’t leave you alone with your hands freed.” He said once again, like he wasn’t sick of repeating the same words all over again.

“Please.” I begged him. “I’ll give you one gold tael.” I turned to look at him, and there was a slight shifting in his expression, showing that his resolve was being swayed by my attempts at bribery.

“No.” He replied me, but I know he didn’t mean it. He just wanted me to raise the amount. If he was going to get screwed by leaving me alone for awhile, he wants more money to make it worthwhile.

“Five.” I offered him this time.

“Fine.” He finally conceded with a smile on his face. With that, I reached for the pouch that was attached to my long necklace, concealed under my clothes, and retrieved five gold taels. I hadn’t used this to pay for the fish, because who the heck pays gold for barbecued fishes or give gold as tip for young female couriers? Nobody does, though I had been tempted to give the young Aries one earlier on, and I’m glad I didn’t. I had set this aside in case of emergency, and now was the perfect time to use it.

The guard finally left when he collected the gold taels.

Taels aren’t used as our currency anymore, as we have cash now. However, it can be traded for a large fortune. That guard can probably quit his job once he trades the gold taels I gave him for money.

My father earns gold taels besides the cash, as he had always been highly-sought by wealthy government officials who want their weapons forged by the greatest blacksmith of the city. And with the lifestyle we lead, the taels are only made to collect dust. See, most of the time, we hunt for our own food, make our own clothes and other essential household appliances. Father’s earnings were spent only once in a blue moon.

The ship we were on had begun its voyage. The moment the anchor was pulled back, I found myself dashing to the loo. Before we boarded though, Jonah and Aries had parted ways from me, and I saw them head to a carriage that was being carried by some bulky men. I knew that they were somewhere in this ship now. And that the prince, in his shiny carriage was somewhere here too. 

“Hey, can you get me a cup of tea or anything warm? Giving you five gold taels, I’m sure it’s sufficient for you to do me this little favour?” I yelled out, hoping that my voice was loud enough for the guard to hear.

“Hey?” I called out once again. When there wasn’t any response, I decided to stand up and see if the guard was still there. If I don’t do something about my nausea, I am going to puke out my guts pretty soon. And we all know that wouldn’t be a pretty sight.

The moment I opened the door, a beautiful sight greeted me. Though a simple action, it radiated with so much serenity. Standing there was a man with long and straight hair, concealing his face from my vision as he looked straight out the window, unmoving.

On this night, the wind was nonexistent, if there was, it would have blown his hair and I could have taken a good look at him. His hair appeared silver with the moon casting its light on it. My eyes trailed down the splendid maroon robe he was clad in. Before he noticed that I was scrutinising him, I immediately slammed the door shut and locked it, afraid of what would have happened if I had met his eye.

The royal crest of the monarchy of Yuri was sewn on the sleeve of his robe. That man was the prince. I felt my knees buckle from fear and shock, and I allowed myself to slump on the floor, leaning against the door for support. The violent rapping on the door caused my heart to almost leap out of my mouth.

Had he seen me? I asked myself as I stood up in a panicked frenzy and propelled my entire body weight against the door. I tried to contain my violently shaking hands, as it would weaken my strength. Though the door was locked, I was paranoid. A few more sets of stubborn knocks on the door came again. I wanted to ask what he wanted, but fear had made me mute.

“Open up!” A voice soon bellowed. “It’s Qinto! You know the guard just now!” I let out a huge sigh of relief when the voice was indeed familiar, and belonging to the guard who had been watching me earlier on. I twisted the doorknob open, but stepped back behind the door and hid myself in case I would see the prince standing on the same spot.

My nerves relaxed when I saw Qinto walk through the door. “You look like you’re going to faint anytime soon.” He said while he shoved a warm flask towards me. I twisted it open and gulped it straight down. My stomach instantly warmed up and felt much better.

After finishing the tea, I put the cap back on and gave it back to him.

“You heard my request and you didn’t even let me know that you actually went to get tea for me?” I asked him soon after. He returned my enquiry with an amused laugh.

“You must be delusional if you think I would listen to a request of yours. Even if you literally gave me a livelihood when I get back home with the amount your gold taels would fetch.” He replied.

“You are just too humble. If that wasn’t the case… How did you know I had wanted tea then?”

“Hah.” Qinto scoffed, his breath reeked of beer. “I was in the tavern having a drink with the guys when the prince suddenly came in and ordered me to send you tea. Weird, but oh well… An order’s an order.” He walked out again, before turning his head one last time, and said, “I’ll send you to your room now, but please get cleaned up. You look like you’ve been in the bloody gutter.”

With that, I began cleaning myself up as I recovered from the shock of what just happened. Somewhere in the back of my mind, something was telling me that the prince wasn’t all that bad. I mentally slapped myself before I expurgated the sinful thought from my head. It was just the curse thinking this time, I thought and instantly forgave myself for that tiny blunder in thought.