The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Seventy Six

The Crown Prince wasted no time. He immediately gave orders to his Royal Guards and one of them was tasked to find any information about this man called Jack Bloomfire. Then after that meeting between him, Steffan, and Harvey, he planned his next move. And to be honest, it pissed me off when he went outside of the house together with Steffan to talk about what they are going to do next. I felt left out. 

"You look defeated," said Harvey to me, who was still here despite now being free from the obligations that the Crown Prince gave him. We were sitting on the cold floor too as we were not both part of the Crown Prince's mini-meeting with Steffan. "I found out about your Aunt. I hope that you will be able to find her."

"Thank you, Harvey." he smiled at me weakly, and that's how I noticed how tired he looked. "What happened to you? Did you not take a rest while you were looking after that man?"

"I did," he answered, "but he was just a difficult case. I had sleepless nights because of his condition. It turns out that he had this rare condition that made him like that."

"Like what?"

"Like what happened to him. He lost consciousness after being exposed to the cold, right? At first, I thought that it was because he was weakened from the fight with the Royal Guards before they were able to capture him. But according to the Royal Guards who captured him and hid them at that well, he only received minimal injuries as the Crown Prince had ordered not to kill him. So he did not fall unconscious because he was weak."

I could not understand what he was trying to say. "Maybe it was too cold there? You know that Plumba and the areas around it suffer from colder temperatures due to the frozen sea near it. Maybe he was susceptible to the cold as being inside the well made it a lot colder than usual."

"Well, he was susceptible alright, but only because he had a condition that made him like that. It turns out that he was not used to the cold, even the regular cold that our kingdom is submerged in."

That caught me off guard for some reason. "What do you mean? People like that exist? But how is that possible? The Eternal Winter has been raging on this kingdom for a hundred years already."

"That is a very good question," he told me. "From my observations, while I was his doctor to the tests that I ran on his body while we were at Aurville Health Pub, I found out that his body was a little less resistant to the cold. That is why he fell into a coma when he was exposed to extreme cold for that long period of time. It was too much for him. But it was odd because that man is only in his early forties. Meaning, he should have not suffered that much. In my experience, older people can even withstand that cold if they were healthy enough. We, the people of Aure had quite adapted well to our environment, thus giving us higher resistance against the cold. But that man had a condition which is only present in people who have never been exposed from the cold in a long time, so that puzzled me."

"Wait, wait..." I stopped him before I forgot what was on my mind already. "You mean to say that that man has lesser resistance to the cold because he was never exposed to it for a long time?"

Harvey nodded. "That is what is mind-boggling about that man. It was as if he is not from Aure himself, but that's impossible too. He told me he used to be a water boy in the outskirts of Aurville, fetching water for wealthy families.`` 

"Ah yes. I know what a water boy is. But if he was a water boy, then he should be normal. But why did he have that condition?"

Harvey shook his head. It was clear that he had no idea himself about the background of that man. "I don't know. The only logical answer to that mystery is that he might have stayed in a place where cold had a hard time penetrating it. Maybe he lived somewhere with a lot of columbars for a long time. That is the only possible scenario that I can think of."

"Oh, right. That could be it."

"Weird, right?" he said with a grin on his face. "Even with the cold that has been here for the last one hundred years, there are still people who are able to live like that, where they almost never experience what it's like to be cold."

"You're right. It feels kind of off to me too. he is so lucky to have lived a life like that."

"I'm not sure about that," Harvey said. "That's disadvantageous too, you know. Living in a place where warmth is always available in great amounts will not give you resistance to the cold, which is what happened to him. I don't think that it is wise to have a disadvantage like that in a kingdom that is submerged in an eternal winter. That is almost like making yourself weak to diseases..."

"Oh yeah, right," I said, nodding. I now understand why this was a big deal to him. As a doctor, Harvey must have been concerned about that man's condition. "But did you not ask him where he lived before doing what he did? Maybe that would give us a lead as to who his boss really is? I bet there are only a few families and personalities who have enough columbars set up in their houses for their servants to have a rare condition like that."

"I did ask him, but he would not reveal to me where he got that condition. I think he is trying to protect his boss. That's why I am skeptical about the name that he gave me. Jack Bloomfire is a common name. I think he was trying to mislead me by saying that name."

 "Do you think that he just made up that name?"

"I don't think so," he said. "He might have been confident enough that the name of his boss was hard to search, so he just told me without fear of getting caught. But I don't think that he was lying. He was aware that I was working for the Crown Prince, and even after he got out of Aurville Health Pub, he would be taken by the Royal Guards and take him into their custody, so lying to me would only endanger him more."

"So that name he gave might be just an alias then?"

"That is my hunch," Harvey said. "But I trust the Crown Prince's network to get the information about that man named Jack Bloomfire. The Royal Guards are as good as the Royal researchers when it comes to gathering data, maybe even better in some cases. So I have faith that the Crown Prince will be able to find out who that man is. Either way, please be careful, Rainha. It is too dangerous. I suggest that you just go back to the Palace and just let the Crown prince handle this."

"Oh no, not you joining the Crown Prince in convincing me to drop this mission, Harvey. I need to find my Aunt!"

"But in exchange for your life?" he asked. "Is it really worth it?"

That was a good question, to be honest. Was it really worth it to risk my life for this journey? Of course, I would be a lot more comfortable if I will just heed their advice, but waiting at the Palace for news about my Aunt would also kill me. Besides, I have already made up my mind. I have decided to finish this journey up until the end. 

"I will not go home until I find my Aunt, Harvey," I said in response. "But thank you for the concern, anyway. I am happy that you are well. Thank you for what you did for us too. You were very helpful with what you did."

"Well, I am glad that I was able to be of help to you," he said to me while scratching the back of his head. He looked shy but rather pleased that he really was able to help us and I found it cute. Seriously, Harvey is so kind and cute and I am sure that if I was not just into the Crown Prince, maybe I have liked him as a man. That's how adorable Harvey is. 

"So, what are you going to do next?" I asked him. "If you want more jobs like this, I can ask the Crown Prince to let you work for him. You will benefit from it and you will be able to help lots of people."

"I like the sound of that," he said, "but I want to go back to Plumba as soon as possible. My father is already old. I can't just leave him alone like that."

"Oh yeah. I'm sure he's waiting for your safe return. Say hi to him for me."

"Sure. And if you happen to be at Plumba, just visit my father's inn and we'll have some fun for a change." I agreed because he was right when he pointed at how we met in a serious circumstance and we really never had a chance to have bonding moments. As new friends now, I think that would be great. 

"I will! When are you leaving then?"

"Maybe the same time as you and the Crown Prince's departure time from here. He had already said that my part of the job was finished so I can now go anytime I want."

"That's good then! I hope I really see you around again!"

"Yeah, me too, Rainha." We hugged after that friendly exchange and I was just happy that I came to know someone like him. I certainly will miss him too so I hugged him as tight as I can. We were in that position when the main door opened again and the Crown Prince went in. I saw him stopping in his tracks as he stared at the two of us. Seeing the shock on his face I immediately dropped my hands and took a step back from Harvey, who did the same."

"Come on, Rainha. Let's go. We will go to the Fire Academy now to talk to Calyx's father." And then he went back to the door and shut it loudly. Harvey looked at me and then to the door and back to me again. 

"Was he jealous that we were hugging?" Harvey asked innocently.

"Oh no maybe there are just a lot of things going into his mind right now."

But Harvey smirked. "Really? That's not what I saw Rainha," he added and that made me blush.

***

The Crown Prince was silent all the way to the Fire Academy. I wanted to talk to him about what he saw earlier at Steffan's old house, but he was not speaking to me. Was he really jealous? Was he mad that he saw me and Harvey hugging? A part of me is so happy about that possibility but I did not want to assume that much. 

He just read his book while we were in the rented snow carriage that we now used. This made the move harder, as the Royal Guards had to leave us and watch us from afar, but this also gave us the time to be alone for a while. He was reading the book about Aure's folklore again but I knew that he already finished reading it so I confirmed that he was just avoiding talking to me.

But I could no longer keep it in, so I went and berated him bravely as if he was not the next King of Aure. "Are you seriously going to ignore me until we reach my old school?"

"I'm reading."

"You already know it by heart."

"I'm resting Rainha."

"No, you're not," I contradicted him. "You were upset with what you saw earlier. You got jealous."

He closed the pages of the book with a loud snap. "Well, who wouldn't? You two were initiated with each other."

"We are friends," I told him. "We were just saying goodbye to each other."

He looked like he was not buying my explanation. "Do you have to hug a man when you say goodbye to them?"

"Not necessarily," I said half-amused by his sudden childish act, but also half-irritated that he was questioning my actions towards Harvey. "You and Millicent did that too and I did not say a single word about it."

"But that was before we admitted that we like each other!" he insisted. "It is a different scenario now!"

"Then just tell me that you did not like it!" I told him. "You don't have to sulk there and pretend that I am not here."

"I was just trying to avoid another fight," he said. "I did not want to say things to you while I was jealous and mad. I might have told you things that I will regret later on."

"Okay. Fine. But next time, I will prefer that you tell me what is wrong, Prince Kao. I am not a fortune-teller. I could not tell what you were thinking." 

"I'm sorry. I just did not like that a man can hug you like that in front of me and I can't even stop him because I am not yet your boyfriend. I hate being that helpless." 

I was secretly touched by what he said. "He is just a friend. I don't see him the way I see you."

"You better not, Rainha."

"Again, Harvey is just a friend. There is nothing wrong with what I did. Friends hug each other you know."

"I just wanted to make sure that no one gets your attention. Harvey is the kind of guy that makes me insecure. He is nice and well-mannered. You also seem to enjoy talking to him. And what's worse, he is not going to be the next King, so he can be with you every time he wants. So can you blame me if I got jealous of him?"

 I shook my head in disbelief. "I could not believe you are this possessive. And why do I feel that we have exchanged roles? It is usually the girl who ignores the guy when they have a little misunderstanding. And it's usually the guy who is clueless. Don't you think we are somewhat...odd?"

Finally, he laughed at my quip, and then the tension between us just disappeared out of thin air. It was then that I had proven that constant communication will save a relationship. So after we cleared that out, we began talking as we traveled to the Fire Academy. When we reached the gates of my school, Prince Kao was already in disguise just as we planned for we were going to meet Calyx. 

And he was there at the gates waiting for us. Calyx waved at us as we walked to him. He looked rather surprised that we came to see him at this time of the night, but he was glad that someone was visiting his father. "Why are you that happy that we are going to see him?"

He shrugged. "Nerd stuff going on. When I told him that you sent me a message informing me that you have a map that came from the Snow Gypsies, he jumped with joy, Rainha. That was the first time I saw him that happy, so thank you."

"It's nothing," I told him as we walked to their house. I saw Prince Kao watching us closely. He was next to me but his attention was on Calyx and I think I know why. He was again guarding me against other males. 

"He's waiting for you two at his office," said Calyx and he led us there. Their house was neat and simple as always, and his mother greeted me warmly when she saw me. Then we went straight to the room that Calyx was talking about and we saw his father sitting behind an office desk. 

"Finally, you're here," said Artholdt, who was a professor that specialized in Aure's history. We sat at the seats in front of him, and even though Prince Kao was wearing his half-mask, Artholdt recognized him easily.

"It is my pleasure having you here in our humble abode, Your Highness."