Chapter 43: Chapter 43

“Goddess! You look wonderful!” A few of the tribe ladies fussed as they tailored the dress that I was wearing to fit my size. Now, the dress has a few ruffles at the bottom where they sewed it since I refused to wear a kids clothing just in case I turn back to normal at any moment.

Trust me, babysitting the princes when they became kids taught me that it is better to always be prepared. I mean, it was easier for them since they have abs to show off.

“The goddess is beautiful when she’s older, but she’s so adorable when she’s a kid!” Another lady fawned as she braided my hair into two. I wasn’t happy about this at all that as soon as they were done, I asked Custard to escort me out of the hut. He was following closely behind me just as I exited the place.

“There she is!” I let out an irritated sigh as soon as I heard a fuss. The princes were outside waiting for me to finish and were all eager to follow me around. I gritted my teeth in annoyance and was about to make a run for it when I tripped on a rock. If Custard wasn’t there to grab the back of my tailored dress, I would have tripped and scraped my knee.

Nate was the fastest as he took me from Custard. “Sweet girl, are you okay?” He asked worriedly, but I can see the excitement in the vampire’s eyes as it was the first time that he was carrying me while I am in this form.

“Yeah. You can dwop me down now.” I said slowly and tried to make my look more menacing. I should have known that it had an opposite effect as Nate let out a squeal from the back of his throat.

“Don’t you worry, baby girl. I will never let a rock hurt you again.” He cooed as pulled me into an awkward hug.

I was kicking my legs because I badly wanted to hit-him-where-it-hurts-the-most part, but my legs were too short! DAMN IT!

BANG!

There was a loud sound that made Nate and I turned to the spot where I almost fell. The rock that tripped me was now broken into two and PRINCE Ace was standing there while dusting his hands. Ren stood a few feet beside him with wide and surprised eyes.

“What?” He demanded when he noticed that all of us were looking at him. “That rock looked annoying so it had to go!” He frowned.

“Okay…” Nate says as we exchanged one more glance before we decided to head towards the healer siblings.

But not before all of them argued on who would be carrying me on the way.

“I can walk!” I demanded. As my voice grew louder, the higher and pitchier it got. “And the girls gave me shoes!” I said and showed them the new gladiators on my chubby feet while Nate was carrying me.

“It will take us a long time if we let you talk.” Ren says and locks gazes with me as he used his Alpha’s voice to speak in my mind.

‘You’re safer with me! Come with me!’ He urged.

Unfortunately for him, Ace noticed what he was doing that the prince of elves poked his eyes. Ren let out a scream of pain as he covered his eyes with his hands.

“How dare you bribe a child!” He yelled at him.

“She’s not even a kid!” Ren argued and when he looked back at Ace, his eyes were watering.

I looked up at Nate who was calmly watching the exchange in front of us. When he saw me looking, he gave me a very sweet smile that made me hallucinate that flowers were blooming all over him in the background. “Yes?” He asked as I reached out and waved at the air around him to shoo away the pesky flowers.

“I go with Nate.” I said as I looked back at Ace and Ren, who were now bickering. But the moment that they heard me speak, they gasped and looked at me with wide eyes. Ren seemed sad while Ace looked like he was ready to murder the vampire. Nate, on the other hand, looked like he won the lottery as his smile widened. “Don’t you worry, little one, Nate will take care of you.” He cooed.

“Pwease...don’t wefew to yowself in thiwd pewson.” I grumbled silently as we finally started to move. Custard was walking in front of us while Ren and Ace stood guard on either side of Nate and I.

It kind of looked as if they were guarding a prisoner or something that I have to duck my head in embarrassment at the stares that the people were giving us. Maybe I should have ridden on Custard instead. That way I would at least look a little badass for riding a huge white wolf instead of a baby.

“The chief has given the orders to free the prisoners.” Ace said as soon as we arrived. I hadn’t noticed it since I was too busy keeping a low profile.

“Jalu and Cain? How can I be sure that it is the order of the chief?” The guard was skeptical. His tanned skin wrinkled in suspicion making the red stripe paint on his cheek angle a bit.

“You doubt my pwessence?!” I yelled and raised a hand as if to slap the guy, but Nate held my hand and tsked at me with a wave of his fingers.

“Now now, baby Rose. Let Nate handle this.” The vampire says with a toothy grin and when he turned to the man, he frowned and threw a quick punch at the man. I slapped both hands over my mouth in surprise as the other guards pointed their spears at Nate. “How dare you not acknowledge the cute goddess!” He yelled and you can see a vein popping on his head from his anger.

God, I wanna disappear right now. People were giving me looks as soon as Nate announced that I’m the goddess. To make things worse, the bastard raised me in the air for all to see. “Can’t you tell that she’s the goddess?”

Please...Kill.Me.

The guards let out a gasp as soon as they saw my features and immediately bowed in respect. “Goddess, we apologize. Please have mercy on us.”

Nate thankfully lowered me after that as I gave my reply. “Whaefffver.” I choked on the words as I bit my tongue and winced. The guards thankfully followed orders and went back inside to free the two healers.

Ren was now in front of me. “What happened? What happened?” Ren attempted to open my mouth to check but I snapped at his hands with my teeth.

This was too much!

“I wanna see Ingkwa! He has to bwing me back! Change me back!”

“NO!” They all yelled in unison.

I gritted my teeth in annoyance and looked at my familiar, who was now regarding me curiously. ‘Get me out of here, boy.’ I commanded using my full authority as soon as I saw the slight hesitation in his eyes.

Thankfully, my authority towards my familiar did not change at the fact that I turned into a child. The princes did not expect it when Custard tackled both Ren and Nate and snatched me away with the back of my dress before Ace could even get to me. He threw me over his head and ran away in a blind direction since our main objective is to get away from the princes.

‘Take me to wherever they are keeping Ingka and leave me there and keep on running to lure the princes.’

‘Master, I don’t think it is safe for you to be doing that.’

‘If I want to get back to normal then I need to see Ingka and lose those damn simps! They are creeping me out, especially Ace!’

‘I thought you would be enjoying that, master?’

‘And why should I?’

Custard did not answer as he was busy trying to track down the scent of Ingka as soon as possible. Once he did, he did me beside two large clay pots and I handed him a ball of cloth with my flower crown inside. Custard carried it both in his mouth as he rushed towards the princes, who were all alarmingly fast to catch up to us. They all ducked as Custard jumped over them and ran towards the opposite direction.

‘Call me when you need me, Master.’

Those were his last words as he and the princes continued to chase each other around the village. I, on the other hand, looked up at the cave where Ingka should be and cursed when I saw that there were guards in front of it.

Damn it!

‘Custard? I may need your help on another distracti-’ I didn’t get the chance to finish what I was about to say to Custard since my wolf itself went in and used his massive tail powerful enough to send the guards flying towards the princes. Ren and Nate fell to the ground while Ace managed to step back and glare at Custard. My familiar, on the other hand, lowered his front body to the ground and wiggled his butt and tail in the air teasingly. Then he lightly shook the sack that he had in his mouth that was supposedly me.

I feel like I am getting a sense of deja vu here. Breaking into prison, Custard distracting the guards. Reminds me of the rogue I visited back in Thalia.

“BE CAREFUL WITH HER!” Ren yelled and once again, the princes were furiously chasing my familiar, who was clearly enjoying the game himself.

I looked at the guards, they were still on the ground and were massaging their sore back from Custard’s hit. I kind of felt guilty about it, but I really need to get past them without anyone noticing me.

Uttering a silent ‘Sowy’ I ran at full speed inside the cave as fast as my short legs can carry me. Inside, it was dimly lit by torches. I thought for sure that the place would be a bit like the prison where the healer siblings were being kept, but this place looks like an evil lair.

Well, he is an evil uncle so I guess that this place is just fitting for him.

“...is that noise?” I heard someone say and I immediately hid behind three massive clay pots. Someone is here aside from Ingka. I tried to sneak a peak in between the gaps but all I can manage to see through the dim light are his feet. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” He chuckled. The voice was deep, powerful, and hungry. And now I immediately knew that this is a conversation that I shouldn’t be hearing right now. Nor is it the right time for me to be wandering in this place. “I thought for sure that I got the formula right, but I guess even with the goddess’s blessing upon drinking from it, the cup is still cursed.”

Too late for that.

Ingka was looking fearfully at the man as he sat on the ground. “That chalice is not for us to play with. Give it back to the chief!” Ingka yelled at him.

“That old fool has no idea that he has a powerful weapon in his hands.” He yelled loud enough that Ingka flinched. “Unlike him, you are no fool. You know the power that it holds. If you join me then I will set you free.”

“I don’t know what kind of evil spirit is inside of you right now, but you have to snap out of it! That Chalice is not a joke, boy!”

“It can restore us to our old selves! To what we once were!” The boy said. “Powerful and feared enough. We can return back to the surface and claim what is ours. We can finally have our revenge on those who destroyed our old home.”

“There is nothing that you can do. Only a royal family can use the Chalice!”

“LIES!” The man yelled and I had to fight the whimper that was trying to escape my lips. “We have the goddess! If only I could bring her to my side then maybe it will have a chance of working.”

Sweat started forming on my forehead. Whoever this guy is, he is after me, whether he knows that I have royal blood or not.

Screams were heard outside and I could hear Custard letting out a loud howl. And then there was a loud crash. I sure do hope that he is not having too much fun out there.

“That’s the goddess’s wolf. She must be near!” I could hear the excitement in the man’s voice. “We’ll continue this conversation at another date. I have some charming to do.” As he was talking, his voice started to go lower until I could somehow hear the familiarity in them. I heard footsteps coming in closer and I made myself smaller just so the man wouldn't see me.

As soon as the flickering light touched the man’s face, I could see shadows retreating themselves into his eyes as his features returned to normal. I bit my lips and was starting to shake a bit as I recognized the face.

“See you soon, uncle.” Fical said as he left the cave.