Chapter 402: Restrained Desires (2/2)
Despite his ability to teleport, Arthur knew he couldn't barge into the city like that. Thus, they had to take a carriage and go on land, an uncommon route to visit the city of Aquamia. It couldn't be helped since they didn't have ships or a dock yet.
”Phew, at least we are on schedule,” Ma sat on the opposite side of him. ”I never thought that Miss Dia would...” the young man said as he adjusted his glasses, which he recently began to wear.
”Am I bothering you?” Dia looked at him arrogantly, and the man trembled in fear. The fact she was called a weapon of mass destruction because of her strength justified his fear.
”No, not at all!” his voice turned a pitch higher out of fear, and Arthur almost laughed.
”Hey, don't terrorize my people,” he knew that she didn't do it on purpose, but her cold attitude was still one of the reasons that people feared her.
”I'm sorry,” after a short silence, the princess apologized. Arthur and Ma were both shocked, and the latter almost stood up to kneel on the ground.
”Forgive me, your highness,” Ma was more terrified by her apology than her displeasure. Arthur could understand the sentiment, but he could tell that Dia was getting angrier because of his reaction.
”Alright, shut up and sit down,” Arthur waved his hand at the man, and he glanced at the princess and sat down, fidgeting.
”Can you kick him out?” the princess turned to Arthur and asked, and he could do nothing but look at his follower helplessly.
”Sir, I still have to report...” Ma began to appeal, but he got teleported into another carriage. Then, seeing that the girl beside him was satisfied, Arthur smiled.
”I hate everyone,” Dia leaned back in a relaxed manner when they were alone. ”They treat me as if I'm a beheading demon, while you are the one going around beheading them.”
”I did that for you, did I not?” Arthur smiled as he looked out of the window. ”A daughter of a wealthy family never has it easy,” as he muttered the words told to him long ago, a wave of nostalgia flooded through his mind, bringing back all the happy memories he shared with Emma.
The last time they met, she was crying because of the prince. Despite nobility being indifferent to polygamy, Arthur knew it was hard for her to accept that her fiancé was going around with other girls.
Who didn't dream of love?
Now, they were a world apart, and Arthur had no time to think about her. It made him guilty to be sitting here with the princess while forgetting about her, but there was nothing he could do.
He never asked to be thrown into another world, and it's not like they were together. Emma had her plans, and they included marrying someone he hated, so Arthur had to respect that.
”I sadly agree,” Dia muttered as she turned to him, her blonde strands falling beside her. ”I just wish that I'm more than Princess Dia to others, an epitome of fear.”
”Do you want me to call you by your name only?”
”Do you even know it?”
”Uh,” Arthur paused. As he thought about it, he only referred to her as Dia. His title was always called the Duke of Fire, and he never got to learn of his name. ”It's not Dia?”
”Dia is what my father calls me, and it stuck that I'm Dia, the cold princess. No, I was the blind and helpless princess before. My given name, the one my mother called me with, isn't Dia.”
”I'm sorry,” Arthur felt quite embarrassed that she knew his name, and he never bothered to ask for hers. She was always Dia for him, and it never occurred to him that she had a different name. ”May I ask, my lady, what is your honorable name?”
”Pff,” she chuckled and looked at him with a sweet smile. ”My name is Diana Eistar,” she paused before adding. ”The last name is one belonging to my mother, not my father.”
”Diana,” Arthur repeated it, and he could tell that she wasn't used to it. ”Eistar... what does it mean?”
”The Frozen Star,” Diana answered as she turned to look through the carriage's window. ”It belongs to the family of Ice Spirits living in the north of Alva, and it's the reason my father married my mother.”