1053 The Candidate for the Goddess (1/2)
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
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A rose-colored boat slowly drove past the riverbank under a bridge and the blue moon. The miserable Prince Beny tried to cover his face with his hands. He was utterly furious.
”That asshole, I will not forgive him!” Beny snapped angrily.
The two bodyguards were drenched too. They stood beside the prince in silence.
A bigger crowd had gathered, and some of them eventually recognized Prince Beny. The man had a fair reputation in society, so someone still managed to recognize him in his current state. People eventually took out their phones and started recording.
Beny realized the situation he was in. He quickly used his long wet hair to cover his face.
With his identity, he would easily make headlines after someone had tossed him into the canals off the streets of Venice, just so he could enjoy himself a little bath. He did not want something so embarrassing to spread to the public.
”Are you Prince Beny?” a pleasant voice came from the boat. ”Come on in.”
Beny did not hesitate, and quickly hopped onto the boat. The voice of the woman in the boat sounded familiar, but he was having trouble recalling who it belonged to. Either way, he would worry about it after escaping from the crowd.
The two bodyguards were extremely slow in their reactions. They did not board the boat in time, thus they could only watch it drifting into the distance along the canals.
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”Miss Conti, thanks for lending me a hand there. Otherwise, I was to end up as a laughing stock to the people for quite some time,” Beny said gratefully in the boat.
The space in the boat was bigger than he had imagined, and inside was a woman in luxurious attire, brewing tea. She placed a cup of tea with a pleasant scent in front of Prince Beny and said in a gentle voice, ”Here, warm yourself.”
”Thanks, I appreciate it,” Beny emptied the cup, but he was still feeling uncomfortable, as his clothes were soaked through.
”Who's reckless enough to treat Prince Beny in such manner?” Conti asked.
”A condescending representative of the Chinese team! I will not forgive him!” Prince Beny snapped angrily.
”I bet it's the usual quarrel between young men like you. Prince Beny is supposed to behave like a member of the royal family,” Conti said.
”It has nothing to do with my behavior. He was disrespectful toward the royal family, there's no way I can ignore what he did!” Beny answered stiffly.
”So what are you going to do then?” Conti asked.
”I...I haven't decided yet,” Beny suddenly felt awkward.
”Instead of doing it yourself, why don't you let the national team settle the debt for you instead? After all, he's a member of the Chinese team. It's better to defeat him officially in a match,” Conti said.
”You're right! I remember that if our team wins the next match, our next opponent is likely going to be the Chinese team. I'll let the team know, so they can make the imbecile pay on my behalf. Miss Conti is intelligent as always; the others won't be able to criticize it,” Beny agreed happily.
”Prince, I wasn't asking you to take your revenge. I was hoping you would be tolerant, and even if violence is unavoidable, you should only do it in an official match. I hope you're not thinking of doing something that will bring shame to the royal family's name,” Conti said seriously.
”Miss Conti, why would I do anything like that? Don't you worry,” Beny replied, yet he had already made up his mind. In order to prevent Conti from reading his mind, he quickly switched the topic, ”Miss Conti, did you come to Venice to watch the tournament?”
”It's only one of the reasons. Apparently, the Mediterranean Sea hasn't been peaceful lately. There are signs of something that shouldn't be here. As a member of the Shoreline Alliance, I have an obligation to patrol the area,” Conti said.
”Oh, I see. Could it be a misbehaving sea monster?” Beny said.