371 Zero Apologises (1/2)

It took Zero three days to finally arrange a private audience with the princess. King Darius had been petrified when Zero made a request to see the princess alone in the salon for a chat. Even the chancellor started to plead on behalf of their princess and Zero had to spend hours convincing them that he wasn't angry anymore.

After talking to the King and the chancellor about why he lost his cool and why he wanted to keep his adventurer ranking a secret despite his frightening ability, they were finally convinced. The only delay was waiting for the king to finally persuade his daughter to agree to the private audience with her teacher in the salon.

Zero felt bad when he saw how frightened the girl was. Even though Princess Dorothy was no longer dieting, she had lost the weight she gained back. In fact, she looked pale and Zero worried for her health.

”Are you alright, princess? You look worse than when we first started lessons.”

The genuine concern that Zero showed went over the princess' head. Her head was hung so low and she wouldn't meet Zero's eyes for the first ten minutes, only replying to Zero's questions with perfect manners but not opening up to him.

Zero took his time and brewed calming tea. He was reminded of their first meeting where he also used tea as an excuse to bond with his student. Princess Dorothy accepted the cup of calming herbal tea from her teacher who looked slightly different from usual. Ever since that day, the princess had always been too frightened to look at the healer in the eyes. Zero's magic was able to shake the entire Rocket Mountain and thankfully, the healer calmed down quickly. If Zero hadn't calmed down fast enough, the princess didn't know if this mountain would still be standing.

”Teacher, I'm very sorry...” the princess apologised again, nursing the teacup nervously.

Zero sighed. ”Stop apologising. It's not your fault for not knowing. I was wrong to react so badly to something you didn't know better. I-I was never a teacher before so I don't really know how to be a good teacher,” Zero admitted.

This time, the princess looked up in a mix of amazement, respect and joy that Zero wasn't blaming her. Princess Dorothy might still not know what she'd done to warrant such a reaction in the healer but Zero's sincere apology over a cup of tea in an empty salon made the dwarf feel relieved.

”You've been a great teacher so far to me,” the princess smiled and Zero looked at her with uncertainty.

Instead of going straight to the point and telling Dorothy what she'd done wrong, Zero decided to try a different approach. He told her a story about something that happened to him in the past when he was still a student under Hua Tuo.

Although Princess Dorothy didn't know where Zero was going with the story, she had a feeling she was listening to something that was personal to Zero. The elven siblings were mysterious. Nobody knew anything about them apart from the fact that they were envoys from Magnus Hilda. When the princess understood that Zero was telling her a story about his past, she felt a sense of closeness like never before as if they were finally walking on the same bridge.

”The art of resurrection was difficult to master. There were also many criteria before it could be executed successfully. Her master gave her some rules to abide by. One of the rules was to complete resurrection within three minutes of death or to never use this healing art. The dead can only be brought back to life if their souls were still attached to their bodies. Once the soul leaves, a person will truly die. No resurrection art will bring them back.”

The princess listened attentively and even helped to refill their empty teacups. ”What happened after that? Did the healer manage to bring back the dead to life?”

Zero smiled mysteriously. ”She did. At the price of creating chimaeras and zombies that slaughtered villages.”