บท 33: GrandBrand
To get his mind off things, Prince Qui busied himself into making the princess' ointment. He took one of his shorter swords and skillfully cracked the coconuts open, pouring its contents on the jugs that they kept.
"Are you even sure that this is going to work?" asked Bolin to Feng.
"This is the first time that I'm doing something like this. Hopefully it works. We don't really have the necessary tools to make this," answered Feng who was scooping up the meat of the coconut.
"Just make sure that you chop it up the smallest that you can," Doctor Jung reminded them, staying at the opening of his tent.
Prince Qui could not even look at him. For sure, the doctor knew why he was there. He wanted to push his annoyance on his father away but in the end, he would have to succumb to his orders.
Aiguo was already mincing the meat using a dagger. "This is too troublesome," he muttered under his breath.
Bolin said, "Hey, aren't you the one who said that we should not speak ill of the royals?"
"I'm not speaking ill of the royals. I was only saying that making this ointment is troublesome."
"It's for the princess," Bolin countered. "That's like saying that the princess is troublesome. It was not like it was her fault that she was allergic to some of the plants here."
Aiguo only sighed, he was in no mood trying to get into a conversation. As soon as the prince had come back, they were told about the invasion. Although, Prince Qui refrained from saying anything about the possible marriage. Aiguo wanted to get back inside the walls. He wanted to defend their people—his family. Now there was just constant worry in his heart.
"How is the princess' bath, General?" Feng asked the prince.
"She's fine," the prince answered, cracking more coconuts. The sweet smell of its water was tempting. He could already imagine how it would taste on his tongue.
"Has she went to the bathroom already? I'm worried about her stomach. It's been three days."
Prince Qui just wanted to curse. He didn't want to talk about the princess today. It was not like he was annoyed at her. He was annoyed that he might get married to her. His days would be filled with marriage and family sermons. Ugh, he groaned in his mind.
He answered, "I'm sure that she'd go if she really has to. It's not like she would be able to keep it inside."
Feng gave it some thought. "I don't think she would be ever comfortable in that bathroom. If you see it from her eyes, it probably looked like a monster that wanted to eat her."
Bolin interjected, "Do you think we should find her another bathroom?"
"Or we could just make the one here nicer."
Bolin was not someone who thought about decorations that much. "We should gather clay and water. Let's shape something that would resemble a proper seat."
Prince Qui almost scoffed. They sounded like they genuinely cared about the princess when in fact, they were just fearing for their lives because if something happens to her, they would all die.
Imagine that… The woman who was worth the biggest army…
Now that he was thinking about it, it was only reasonable if he married her because of emergency reasons. He was willing to sacrifice a huge chunk of his life if it would mean that they would no longer be at war with Shanmai and have access to their army.
"That's enough for now," said Doctor Jung.
Prince Qui joined the others in cutting up the meat into the smallest of slices. They didn't have cheesecloth and used the second sack of rice to filter out the water from the squeezed meat. They wrapped it in multiple clothes and buried it underground.
Then it was finally time to prepare for dinner. The prince looked at the closed door of the shack, wondering what the princess was doing inside to entertain herself.
**
Tianshi Xue was not doing anything else on her bed. After applying a nice coat of ointment on her itches, she was back to staring up at her ceiling. She knew she had to find something to do at one point. It didn't look like they would be leaving soon.
Her body would melt into this bed if she wouldn't separate from it soon enough.
The knock came a little before sundown. It was funny that she somehow already have an idea what time of the day it was.
She opened the door partially, knowing that it was dinner. A plate showed up and her heart jumped when she saw what they have for food.
"Is that the canned herring from GrandBrand?"
"Yes," the prince answered, confused. How on earth did a princess know about the brand?
Tianshi Xue gasped. It was her favorite sardine when she was younger!! Just smelling the oil, her mouth was almost salivating. She almost forgot this existed.
She quickly wrapped a shawl around her face and pulled the door opened. "Can I cook?"
"Cook?"
"Yes, I want this fried. It tastes better." She took the plate and saw that the others were already starting to eat. "Stop!" she said. "Can someone set up a fire? We're going to fry these."
The soldiers looked at one another before putting down their food and worked on the princess' order.
"What are you doing? It's almost sundown," Prince Qui said to her in a quiet voice. "We can't afford for smoke to show up in the sky."
"I know," she said, licking her lips. "It will only take a couple of minutes." She got down near the fire and poured the oil from her plate, collecting the others too. Once the oil was making the threatening 'tsk tsk' sound, she dropped the headless fish bodies on the oil.
One handed her a small spoon to flip the fishes. Multiple times, she yelped and jerked her hand back as the oil burned her. But she continued anyway. Once she was satisfied, she divided the food again and happily sat down near the already extinguished fire.
"Trust me, frying this is better. Go on have a taste," she smiled at them and sighed contentedly when the smell reached her nose. She took the small fish apart and took a pinch of her oil-covered rice and finally took a bite.
She could not help but smile under the cover of her face. Eating with a shawl on was proving to be a challenge but she managed. She sat quietly, eating as memories flashed back in her mind.
She had not always been rich… there were nights that her family survived on this sardine.
At least tonight when she get back on her bed, she would not be alone. She would be thinking about her family.
**
"The princess seems to be in a nice mood," Bolin commented, raising his voice so the prince would be able to hear him.
Prince Qui heard him loud and clear but he ignored his soldier.
"I hope she'll be able to sleep peacefully tonight. It would be a waste of a good day."
"I can hear you, Bolin," the prince said.
Bolin snuck up next to the prince, "I just think it would be a good night for you to try to make her sleeping conditions better."
Prince Qui crossed his arms over his chest. "And you're asking me to do what exactly?"
Bolin smiled at him coyly, "You already know, Your Highness."
He only raised an eyebrow.
Bolin stepped back. "As I said, it was nothing! Hehehehe. Enjoy your night, General!" Then he disappeared inside his tent.
Aiguo was the one on duty tonight. He didn't say anything. The prince turned to the princess' shack, moving his feet before he could change his mind.
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