Chapter 874 Charlotte's Story
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"How long until we arrive?" Wondered Benladann.
"Hmmm… Roughly two hours, maybe? If we are no longer interrupted by any marine wildlife at that. We already got past the area where Triton's Abyss is located, so we should be alright from now on. It is just a relaxing trip over the sea for now." Charlotte replied.
"Well, that's good, let's talk for now and adress the elephant in the room." Miranda said.
"Hey, Miranda, don't be rude…" I sighed.
"E-Elephant in the room?" Asked Charlotte.
"That you're a girl! A girl! It's obvious! Your scent is indescribable that of a girl." Yuki suddenly spoke, surprising Charlotte.
"*GASP* How did you found out?!" Charlotte asked in disbelief.
We kind of knew from the beginning. Since we found her and since we decided to embark with her in this journey that we noticed was a girl. Also in her Status it said "Sex: Female", so its not like I could do anything about it. But I wasn't going to rudely tell her "Hey, you're a chick?!" or something stupid. Maybe she was a transgender man or something, and that would be extremely rude, so I just let her/him be.
But now that Yuki addressed it, it was quite obvious this was going to end into some explanations, I suppose. Even though her disguise was pretty alright, her features were still quite not rough like the men in the seas, she took care of her skin and her face looked awfully feminine, especially her big and beautiful lips. She also had long blonde hair which she wrapped around below her big sailor hat. And her wide hips weren't easy to ignore either. She might had wrapped her breasts maybe, but the rest was quite given.
"Sorry about her being rude, it's okay if you don't want to adress this." I said while sighing and shutting down the rude Monkey Chinchilla. "Yuki! Shut up for once, will you, little monkey?"
"W-Who are you calling monkey?!" Cried Yuki while feeling frustrated. "I am no monke."
"No, it's fine. I don't really mind it… that much." Charlotte replied quickly after. She seemed slightly flustered but at the same time, not as badly as I had imagined. "Since I took into the seas that I've been disguising myself all the time. My real identity might be… recognized by some, especially those that go into the sea."
"What? Really?" Wondered Benladann.
"Now you got us intrigued." Added Miranda.
"Calm down you two… Erm, Charlotte, are you okay with telling us this?" I wondered.
"You've saved my life and even showed me things that might be your secrets, those two people that turned into weapons and your amazing near divine magic… I think I can trust you some secrets as well, perhaps to make myself feel better." Charlotte said.
"Huh, so who are you then?" Wondered Yuki.
"Erm… I am the Half-Dwarf Princess of a big Kingdom back in my continent, Svartalfheim." Charlotte said. "This is why I must keep a disguise. This Kingdom is named the Blue Mountains Kingdom, and is where the biggest port at Svartalfheim is located." Charlotte added.
"Eh?!"
Everyone quickly reacted the same, even me.
I was quite surprised, I had to admit it. Out of nowhere she revealed to us she was a princess?! And half-dwarf at that! Is this why she's so petite for human standards?
"I can pass as a small human girl most of the time… Hahah. I guess my dwarf blood is not as strong as that of my siblings." Sighed Charlotte.
"S-So you're telling me you're a half-dwarf girl that cross-dresses as a young man and crosses the sea with your own unique skill as a sailor?!" Asked Benladann.
"Y-Yes…" Charlotte replied timidly.
"That's so cool!" Benladann said.
"Eh?" Charlotte asked in surprise.
"Yeah, that's pretty cool, you're a brave girl." Said Miranda.
"I agree, that's quite amazing. I can already imagine you might had ran away due to being tired of your royalty life." I said.
"Yeah, I did… And more than that, my siblings were a nuisance. And my half-blood was also seen badly amongst the more conservative dwarven nobles. Being talentless at forging was the cherry on top." Sighed Charlotte. "Unlike most dwarves, I always looked into the sea with a strange and near-bizarre attraction, I loved to go swimming and to fish… I don't remember my past life but I do have a Unique Skill, which it helped at riding all sorts of boats, and enhanced their power and defense in the sea as well… My father and siblings naturally disliked this side of me. Despite belonging to a Kingdom whose major source of income was the port town, my family was very stuck in traditions, and disliked my adventurous soul. Dwarves are often stuck in their mountains after all… even nobility is very prideful about it. Perhaps even worse than the commoners."
"Huh, I see…" I said. "So you just escaped? I wondered.
"Yes… A bit because of various things. My mother died when I was a baby due to a disease. Because my mother was a mere concubine of my father, who has an official wife, I was always seen as lesser by my pure-blooded dwarf siblings." Sighed Charlotte.
"Whew, Dwarves aren't that perfect as they picture them, huh." I said.
"What?" Charlotte asked while being weirded out.
"Uh, no, nothing, go on…" I said, quickly averting my gaze from her.
"Well, after years of bearing with discrimination and the cold gaze of my father, I armed myself with bravery and set into the seas one night without telling anybody. I had grabbed a lot of money from the treasury as well to secure my travels and get a good enough ship, and I was running away from soldiers pursuing me for a while, but after the years, this persecution ended and things are alright for now!" Charlotte said. "I've even wandered around the port town of my former Kingdom sometimes, but I often leave soon after anyways… I prefer life at the sea than enclosed in the mountain's castle."
What a curious story. I wonder if we could make Charlotte our employee or something, so we could always ask for her assistance at moving across the seas.
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