NOVPUB"That ship..."
[Oh? Is something the matter?]
"It’s... something about it is rubbing me the wrong way...but I don’t remember why..."
[Don’t remember or...don’t want to remember?]
"...what are you insinuating?"
[Nothing really, just...it’s very funny how people’s behavior can be influenced by events and yet claim to never remember what caused the behavior in the first place...or something like that.]
"..."
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<<Huh? Oh, it’s nothing, my son. It’s nothing,>> Zhen Shi told his son as he shared a look with Bai Hua.
In reality, it wasn’t nothing but it was definitely something that shouldn’t be brought up with the children present.
<<Mama, what’s that symbol on that big blankety sheet?,>> Zhen Long asked.
<<Those are called sails, honey,>> Bai Hua answered, <<and as for that symbol...that is a poppy flower.>>
<<Oh...I think real ones are prettier though.>>
<<Me too.>>
To most people, the poppy flower emblazoned on the ship’s sail didn’t really mean anything. It was just another coat of arms, a symbol for a merchant company and nothing more.
In the case of Bai Hua and Zhen Shi though, this particular poppy flower had a deeper meaning.
<<Hmmm. I do believe it’s lunchtime. How do you kids feel about getting kebabs?,>> Zhen Shi suggested, looking for an excuse to get the kids away from this boat as quickly as possible.
<<Yay!>>
It’s public knowledge to those from the Pearl Scale Empire that the Royal Bai Family had two rather public subordinate clans in the form of the Zhen Clan and the Zhu Clan, but like every good royal family, they also had subordinates that were in charge of their more...unsavory enterprises.
For example, one such clan was known as the Dreaming Flower Clan.
This particular group specialized in the art of alchemy and medicine, with the royal physician always being a member of this illustrious clan. Of course, such medical practices warranted the usage of rare and sometimes dangerous materials that could only be acquired through illicit ventures, immoral means or questionable connections. Luckily, this clan was also well versed in the goods that made the underworld.
Like a certain family of pharmacists in a small frontier town, the Dreaming Flower Clan implicitly understood that medicines in the wrong dosage were simply poisons while poisons in the right dosages were a most effective medicine. It was from this understanding, that the Dreaming Flower Clan chose a most innocuous flower, that could be refined to a rather potent tincture: the poppy flower.
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Meanwhile, aboard the ship with the sail emblazoned with a poppy flower...
<<Are you sure the princess and that traitor are all the way out here? Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to be in Pearl Tusk Harbor?>>
<<Yes, I’m sure they’re here. But you are right about them being in Pearl Tusk Harbor, before now. That bounty hunter from the Creeping Ivy clan, what was his name...Bo Feng? He reported them being there to his superiors...prior to us finding the poor sap’s corpse being feasted upon by seagulls.>>
<<Seriously? Damn. Isn’t the Creeping Ivy clan supposed to be good at this whole bounty retrieval thing? Literally mastering how to use that freaky-ass chain arts of theirs? How the hell did those two manage to beat him?>>
<<Two versus one and they’re both Aether Masters at this point. Not a massive stretch of the imagination to assume how they managed to win. Besides, we won’t have to worry about participating in a direct conflict anyways.>>
<<Oh? How you figure that out?>>
<<The Creeping Ivy clan tried to capture those two based on outdated information, thinking they were still Aether Acolytes and didn’t have anyone that they could use as leverage against them. We on the other hand know they’re Aether Masters, brought appropriate manpower to deal with that, and we know that they have two little bastard babies that would make excellent hostages.>>
<<Ah...>>
<<Once we capture the aforementioned bastard kids, the princess will be forced to surrender to us, the Zhen clan bastard will be easy pickings and our Dreaming Flower Clan will be handsomely rewarded by the king, the Zhen clan and the Emperor. It is fool-proof.>>
<<Ah...so what do we do with the kids once this is all over? I’m not a big fan of killing children...>>
<<Don’t worry, I’m not a big fan of killing kids either...we’re just going to sell them into slavery after removing any possibility of people being able to identify the two of them as being descendants of the Emperor...that or keep the features and see if we can get a higher price for them.>>
<<Oh...well, I guess that’s why you’re the captain.>>
<<Damn straight. Now then...do you think they decided to set up their new home in the Tidepool town or elsewhere?>>
<<Well...>>
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[So this is how Saint Sapphire looked all those years...what a lovely city! I must make it a point to visit this place in the future when I have the time and see how it evolved since then,] the debonair bug (Lacerage) said in amusement.
In response to this statement, Zhen Hou proceeded to give the bug woman a strange look.
As of this moment in time, Zhen Hou and the debonair bug had been trailing after the phantom baby version of the former.
It was a literal walk down memory lane as it were.
While some would find such an event amusing and perhaps downright insightful, Zhen Hou was feeling a bit..strange about the whole thing. Namely due to the fact that he was trailing behind his younger self as opposed to just..being inside his own brain.
He figured that if he was going to be reliving these moments from his past, wouldn’t make more sense for him to actually be reliving them?
Why was he getting this outside point of view?
[Because there are things in the world that we can swear up and down that we did the right thing when we’re in the heat of the moment. It’s only when we’re outside of it that we can get clearer picture.]
"Are you going to be reading my mind the whole time we’re here?," Zhen Hou asked in slightly annoyed tone of voice.
[Seeing as we’re already inside your mind, it’s a bit redundant asking me if I’m going to read it, no?]
"That’s...a fair point."
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"Here you are. Four Rock Raptor kebabs, and an order of Silver skinned potatoes."
"Thank you."
Soon after leaving the vicinity of the poppy-sailed vessel, Zhen Shi and Bai Hua had taken their sons into the market district in order to get lunch.
Partially because they were actually hungry, partially because they needed an excuse to distract their kids a bit.
After all, they had important matters to discuss.
<<Here you Xiao Long, Xiao Hou. Make sure to chew your food properly, otherwise you’ll get stomach aches,>> Bai Hua said as she handed her adorable bundles of joy a singular kebab each.
<<Yes, mama,>> Zhen Long and Zhen Hou managed to squeak out before ravenously eating their kebabs.
Bai Hua let out a sight of amusement as she watched her sons eat like this. This was how children should act, wild and free, not like dolls to do their parents’ bidding.
As their children ate their food without a care in the world, Zhen Shi and Bai Hua finally had a chance to talk about their immediate plans.
Or to be more specific, whether or not they could continue living in Saint Sapphire.
<<You know...we just finished paying off for the house, right?,>> Zhen Shi asked.
<<Indeed we did,>> Bai Hua agreed.
<<We finally got around to meeting our neighbors.>>
<<That family from the Flooding Plains were very nice.>>
<<And we just got word that the local academy is finally accepting students again.>>
<<Just in time for Xiao Long and Xiao Hou to apply...,> Bai Hua said while imagining her greatest treasures in this world dressed in adorable little uniforms.
<<Yup...so what do you want to do? Do we want to try and keep running and hope we finally managed to loose these pursuers once and for all? Or do we try and go for the less...pacifistic route?,>> Zhen Shi finally asked.
Bai Hua was silent for a while as she stared at her two sons still eating their kebabs.
<<A hell of a question to ask, don’t you think?,>> Bai Hua asked her husband.
<<Yeah...one that we’ll have to keep answering until we have one that sticks, no less.>>
<<Indeed...>>
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[Oh how sweet! No wonder you Zhen Clan fellows care so much about family, your founders and parents were willing to give up a whole settled life to keep you all safe! Ah! How dramatic!]
Zhen Hou watched the scene unfold before him, a neutral expression on his face.
He remembered hearing this conversation so, so many years ago, but didn’t understand what they had meant at the time.
’Damn...looks like there were some merits to the bug woman’s words...’
