His presence. His demeanour. His words. His expression. And his attitude no longer matched that of a foolish Prince he knew before
Had he changed because of experiencing death experience?
I didn't know.
Although I have previously heard about such a thing being a rare occurrence, with people who had changed overnight after experiencing a near-death event.
So I quickly linked his change to that since there wasn't any other reasonable explanation to describe such a huge transformation in both character and attitude.
And soon, after a while, I didn't even know when is started calling him Captain.
The words I used to address him now alternated between Prince Wyatt and captain.
And it was only after we were alone in his room did I notice myself changing.
It wasn't due to suspicion or the uncertainties of the Prince's abnormal change, instead, it was a longing feeling of hope that I would be getting out of this ship alive and as a free man.
At first, I prayed for his death and came up with ways to get a hold of my slave contract so that I could be free.
But now, I was beginning to think otherwise.
I had nothing to run back to, and neither did I have a home to welcome me back.
My wife had married another man in-order to escape suffering the same fate as me.
My children wouldn't even look at me after they had seen their father being battered and disgraced in the slave market.
I couldn't even face them due to the disgrace I felt nor could I ask them to welcome me back home if I returned.
I was now a slave who had nothing to lose except my life. And nothing to gain except my freedom.
But now, the new Prince Wyatt had given me hope.
His new behaviour assured me that he was able to contend against his peers on the wide open sea.
Although it was minuscule, I still decided to grab unto it tightly.
And for the knight, I was sure that she too had already noticed his change.
I was the only one able to see through her fake facade and see the truth in her eyes.
She noticed, and she wasn't happy.
I was also sure that the new Prince Wyatt noticed it too. But some for reason, he looked like he didn't care.
Like her existence was nothing more than a pest that he found annoying while he contemplated what her purpose was.
He didn't even hide the expression on his face so it wasn't hard for anyone not to notice.
I noticed.
And so did Knight Camille.
After weighing my options and chances of dying and making it out of here alive, I choose to support the new Prince Wyatt and continue following him until I was free.
But still, I kept a close eye on knight Camille, because this was the first time I had seen her so upset about Prince Wyatt's actions.
And then, I concluded that for her to be so furious and upset to the extent that she had to intervene, implied that Prince Wyatt was finally doing something right.
There wasn't any need for me to think further or know which side I should join.
I was a simple man who only desired to live, so my choice was easy.
I chose to help Prince Wyatt and help him recover all the memories that he had lost.
I picked his side.
And as though my faith and decision were being tested by a higher power to either make me regret my decision or strengthen it, disaster struck.
We were attacked.
The first person that came to my mind the moment I felt the collision that almost tilted our ship to the other side.
The first person my body ran to even before my mind could register what kind of beast had attacked us was the knight.
Knight Camille.
How stupid!!
By now, I should have understood that she wanted nothing more than for us to perish on this sea with the Prince. Even the wide grin that I saw on her face when I entered her room to inform her about the attack confirmed my intuition.
I don't know who Emperor Brewer had sent to protect his son, but I knew that this wasn't a knight.
This was a demon.
She chuckled as though she had been expecting the beast to attack, and laughed incoherently when I had asked her for help in saving the ship and defeating the beast.
I should have known that this was all her doing.
I should have guessed that only she was capable of something like that on this ship.
And even if she wasn't.
Even if I was wrong.
The expression on her face and the words that came out of her mouth were enough for me to finally understand the kind of person she truly was.
She wasn't a knight.
She was a demon. A demon who was far more dangerous than the beast presently chasing us.
After seeing that my arrival here was in vain, I quickly ran towards Prince Wyatt's room before it was too late.
He was the only one that could do something to help or solve our current problem at the moment.
At most, I was hoping that the new Prince Wyatt could think of something.
If he truly had changed, now was the best time for him to overturn all the past misunderstandings I had of him and prove to me and everyone that he wasn't just a foolish Prince anymore.
And I would happily offer up my loyalty and full support to him if he could get them out of our current predicament.
Was I asking too much from an inexperienced Prince who seemed like he had just awakened from a ridiculous dream just a few hours ago?
Yes, I was.
He was the captain, wasn't he?
Although inexperienced as he may be, what manner of dignity would he keep as the 'Captain' of his ship if he stays hidden and watches as his crewmen were killed by a mere sea beast?