Chapter 56: Rando
"Uh... well, yes. N-nice to meet you, Princess Aria..." said Kale, stammering, looking at the Princess.
He scowled internally, not understanding why he was acting like a fool. Until Renard punched his sister on the shoulder and said, "Stop using your Charm on him, damn it."
Princess Aria mumbled to herself with a thoughtful expression, still looking at Kale, "You seem quite resistant to my charm."
Kale said confusedly, "What?"
But right at that moment, the beautiful princess held his hand; Kale was taken aback by how soft and moist her hands were, but he gritted his teeth and hurriedly tried to pull his hand away from the Princess, yet found himself unable to do so; he actually did not have the strength to pull his hand away from the princess.
The princess bent down slightly and, like a knight, took Kale’s hand.
Aria kissed the back of Kale’s hand, and the Cursed Tamer was completely stunned into disbelief by what just happened. The soft lips of the princess just touched his hands.
As he blushed furiously, he finally found the strength to pull his hands away from her. Kale looked at her skeptically and asked with some hesitation, "Princess, why are you ...?"
She chuckled like a blooming flower, "Why? You don’t like being kissed by the most beautiful woman in the world...."
Kale clenched his jaws, finding that every minute gesture of the princess was making his mind slip more and more, without him even realizing it. He closed his eyes for a moment and uttered mentally, ’System, protect my mind from outside influence....’
System prompted, [Host’s mental barrier is being strengthened.]
[Culling the external stimulation magic for the opposite gender.]
And when Kale opened his eyes once more, his expression was calm and collected as if the flustered boy mesmerized by the princess’s beauty was completely gone.
Aria’s smile strained a little; she put a hand on his shoulder and got straight to the point, "Kale Ardentis, swear your loyalty to me; I will definitely see to it that your curse is broken."
Kale said flatly, "With all due respect, Princess Aria, my answer is no, and that wasn’t a very bright move of yours to use such a strong charm on me."
The smile on Aria’s face vanished, replaced by a cold look; she leaned closer to Kale, who did not move, only stared at her gem-like yellow eyes.
The princess asked dryly, "How did you even block my charm?"
"I have my ways," answered Kale curtly.
The Princess then asked with an enchanting smile, "Well, it doesn’t matter if I use my charm or not; am I still not the most beautiful woman in the world?"
To the Princess’s surprise, Kale answered straightforwardly, "You are...."
Even Renard was taken aback by those words, and the two royal siblings fell silent; the Cursed Tamer stood and left without a word, unwilling to entertain the strange princess.
For a moment, his gaze went towards the back of his right palm where the princess had pressed her lips. Kale swallowed, but he quickly shook his head and resolved himself mentally, ’No, I can’t afford to think about those things as long as the death alarm hangs over my head.’
He said to himself tentatively, ’Maybe when most of the problems are over.... I’ll do something about it.’
Meanwhile, within the inn, Renard wore a frown on his face, ’Did that bastard just flirt with my sister?’
But that blame quickly went to his own sister sitting across; he asked her confusedly, "I have never seen you behave like that? All the heirs of the five noble families are well head over heels for you, and you don’t spare them a glance, but now?"
"You just flirted with a 12-year-old when you are 17, just a month away from 18. Have you no shame?" he added with disgust on his face.
The Princess, for the first time, responded to her nonstop blabbering brother with a scoff, "Do you think I care about those things? Besides, if you see how special he is, I can also feel how special that boy is."
She added, tracing her fingers through the lines of woods, "He would be far more useful to me compared to the trash of the Noble families; those dogs don’t know anything but endless flattery; rarely any of them can resist the slightest bit of my charm."
Aria chuckled, "This has me more intrigued that Kale could withstand almost the full force of my charm, considering I’m at the Grandmaster rank and he is merely in the Apprentice rank."
"Hehe, sorry, little brother, but sooner or later I will be taking this golden goose of yours for myself."
"The goose hasn’t started laying the golden eggs yet, but he would do so soon enough, I can tell, and he would be mine, not yours, just like the throne," she said to Renard in a challenging tone.
Renard’s expression was dark; he sneered, "If you think you can seduce him or buy him out, you’re wrong. Such simple things won’t sway him."
The prince also left the place, not bothering to continue wasting time talking with his lunatic sister. And he had to hurriedly make all necessary arrangements for Kale to reach the Tigerwood forest by tomorrow.
Only Princess Aria was left in the place; her gaze seemed to peer through the walls of the buildings, streets, and people.
Eventually, landing upon the walking figure of Kale Ardentis.
She mumbled to herself, her tone containing a trace of desperation, "Are you truly the Chosen One as Father beholds you to be? Or are you just a fake?"
***
After exactly three hours...
Kale was back in front of the same inn, just like Renard had asked him to do so.
Before he could knock on the wooden door, a tall hooded figure came out. The man said, "Hello, I am a loyal subordinate of Prince Renard... you can call me Rando."
Kale nodded, "I’m Kale."
He examined him, and the man was at the rank of peak Master.
The man gave him a black colored hood and said, "Please wear this..."
Kale did not object. He did indeed need to hide his face and identity for his own safety.
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