190 The Black Creese
(Jane’s PoV)
Siji didn’t say anything after that, but my mind had started to guess and imagine the kind of consequences of how they would treat me later. Just say, I thought a lot; from the normal ones to the thing I was worried the most.
And yes, it included some perverted or lewd kind of punishment.
Don’t blame me, after all both of them were healthy men with healthy appetite. With how naughty Tom could be with me, combined with Sanji’s frustration over me -plus my perverted mind, of course- I couldn’t help but think about that.
I didn’t indulge myself into that imagination further, of course.
“Milady, we are here.” Siji’s voice made me realized that I had been walking while daydreaming.
There were some people around me, and I noticed they had been staring at me in a weird way. Probably it had something to do with how I was walking while daydreaming, that’s why I didn’t bother to greet them. Instead, I hastened my steps and went into the place called Elderly Hall.
Main Hall where the banquet was being held last night was a type of open space hall, with only pillars and roof above the head to shelter from rain or harsh sunlight. This Elderly Hall, on the other hand, was a close type hall. It looked like a house from outside, but inside it had vast room that could accommodate around three hundred to five hundred people.
Trust me, it looked like a common house from outside.
.....
This house must have been connected to a space in other dimension. Somehow, it reminded me of a certain magical movie that included wizards in a well-known school of magic... Oh, whatever, it’s Harry Potter. Now you get it. They had this small looking tent which had spacious rooms inside.
It was this kind of feeling that I got after I stepped into the house. In the middle of the house, there were some people sitting in a circle with serious expression on their faces. I noticed Sir Ahmad was one of them and even though they were sitting in a circle, I could still see the hierarchy clearly.
Sitting on the furthest end from where I was standing was Sir Ahmad. On his right and left were some older people, were they the Elders of this village?
“She is here.” Sir Ahmad was the first one to notice my arrival. He stood up and came over to fetch me. “Princess, come and join us.” He said as he pointed at the circle politely.
“Sure.” I nodded awkwardly. I followed him towards the circle and sat down beside him, on a soft cushion.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Did you sleep well?” Sir Ahmad asked.
“Yes, thank you very much.”
“Princess, are you aware of what we are doing now?” One of the Elders asked me with serious expression. His tone was neither overbearing nor displeased, but he was indeed emphasizing the importance of the meeting.
But, I had just arrived. How could I know what they were talking about?
“I’ll aware of it after I learn what you guys are talking about.” I answered him calmly.
The man didn’t show any displeasure, instead he nodded his head. He even looked like he was smiling.
No, he was indeed smiling.
“Princess, what happened to Lord Satya?” asked one of the Elderly.
I looked at them one by one, considering whether I should tell them about what happened to my father or not. In the end, I spilled everything I knew to them.
As expected, they were shocked when they heard the Queen of South Sea took my father and even asked me to bring his Black Creese to South Sea.
“But, the Black Creese is always with Lord Satya. It’s not here.” Sir Ahmad frowned in confusion.
I arched my eyebrows, finding it somehow strange. “Are you sure it’s not here? As far as I know, the creese can disappear at will. How do you know it’s not here?”
They were all stunned when they heard what I said. It seemed like they had not checked on it yet. Well, since the creese was always with my father, they must not think that it would return here.
“I’ll check on it.” Sir Ahmad got up and ran into a room nearby. A minute later, he came back with a black box covered with white silk in his hands.
Putting it in front of me, he had a deep frown on his face.
“What is it?” asked one of the Elders.
“I think... it’s inside.” Sir Ahmad softly said.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s open it.” Another Elder urged him.
I watched silently as Sir Ahmad carefully pulled the box from the white silk covered. The box was in deep shade of black, but it looked glossy. It had a sophisticated feeling if one was to see it.
To be honest, I had seen the Black Creese once. I even pulled it from its scabbard. When I told it to my father, he asked me whether I was okay, I said I was. I was just curious since I heard him talking to his friend once that the creese couldn’t be pulled out easily from its scabbard. At that time, the thing that came into my mind was Excalibur.
No one could pull it out from the stone, unless the person was the destined one.
So, I wanted to give it a try. But, I simply pulled it out from its scabbard with just a minimum effort. I thought I needed to put more efforts into it, but before I could exert more of it, the creese was pulled slightly. I remembered stopped pulling it because of the strange feeling I had inside.
Wasn’t it supposed to be hard to pull out? Why did I do so easily? My father must have told lies to his fried!
Since I had pulled it, might as well go all the way. So, I pulled it out from its scabbard completely. The cresse was neither heavy nor light. The color was black and it was not glossy or smooth like knife or sword. It had rough texture and other than the pointed edge, it wasn’t sharp like any blade or knife or sword. To be frank, it was ugly.
So, I put it back into its scabbard, covered it carefully with the cloth, and put it back to where my father kept it.
I only said it to my father later on while we were watching TV.
Now, I was about to see it again. Was it really the same with what my father had at home? I watched intently as Sir Ahmad was about to open the box.
However, soon I frowned when I saw the expression on those Elders and Sir Ahmad’s face. What’s wrong? Was the lock broken?
“I can’t open it.” Sir Ahmad said as he gave up trying to open the box.
I did witness how he tried so hard to open it, so I was sure he wasn’t pretending. But, why didn’t it open up? All the Elders gave it a try to open the box, but it was still to no avail. Then, the box was put in front of me.
“Lord Satya isn’t here. How could we open it, then?” One of the Elders complained.
“Princess, just give it a try.” The one beside me pushed the box closer to me.
“I have never heard a descendant of the King could do the same with how her father did.”
“She is still so young, after all. What could see do?”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“How will she bring the creese out if she can’t open the box?”
“Don’t push her around. If she can open it, it’s good. If she can’t, it’s no problem at all.”
“Even though she is the Master of White Army, it doesn’t mean she can pull out the creese.”
“Silent, please!” The one beside Sir Ahmad bellowed slightly. “Whatever the reason is, Princess should be given the same treatment.”
All the gossipy older men went quiet all of a sudden. I looked at the box in front of me. Did they really expect me to open it?
I reached out to the box, picked it up carefully, and put in on my lap. My hand fiddled with the lock for a while.
It wasn’t locked! Why did they find it hard to open it? I pulled the lid slowly as the others’ jaws went slack. They looked at me in surprise as I opened the box really quickly and carefully.
But, it was not the time for me to think about them.
Lying inside the box was the same Black Creese my father kept at home. The pattern, shape, and aura it emitted were still the same with the ones back then. I picked the creese and pulled it out slightly.
“No!” All of them shouted in unison when they saw me pulling the creese out from its scabbard.
I stopped as I looked at their terrified expression. Why did they have that expression on their face?
“Princess, don’t pull it out!” Sir Ahmad looked at me in horror.
“Yes! No, don’t pull it out!” An Elder almost shrieked in fear when he saw me.
“Why?” I asked, feeling confused with their warning without explanation.
“Just... don’t!” Sir Ahmad emphasized his words.
“What are you afraid of? See?!” I pulled out the creese easily and showed it to them.
In instant all of them stepped backwards after making an embarrassing sound in their throat. But, the fear was too big that it clouded their rationality and to feel ashamed.
“H-how could you do it?”
How? Grab the handle and pull it. That simple and you asked me how? I didn’t realize that I had that ‘you’re stupid’ expression on my face. If it were any normal situation, I would be lectured for hours and reflected on my mistakes. But, under this fear that I didn’t know coming from whom or where, all of them trembled and nearly prostrated themselves in front of the creese.
I curiously looked at the creese and my eyes found the rough texture on it. Ah damn, it’s still ugly as ever.