"Y-Your Highness. You must come aboard..."
"No... I'm okay."
Despite his encouraging words, Julio was feeling desperate himself. It had already been more than ten hours since their ship was destroyed, and they'd all been cast out to sea. They'd survived one hellish night of fear and freezing water, but there was still no help in sight. No one had imagined this possibility.
After being informed that the sea dragon may have become active again, Eva and Julio had set out to investigate. They'd brought along an escort of three warships as a precaution. No one had underestimated the danger of a sea dragon. It was simply that even the best precautions possible were still not good enough.
Their father had told them all they needed to do was confirm whether or not the sea dragon was active. The reason they'd been selected for the task was their innate ability to use magic that utilized sound, which made conducting a search of the ocean a piece of cake.
If they'd made one miscalculation, it was that the sea dragon had been attracted by the sounds. They had angered it. The sea dragon then caused a storm, and the storm had demolished all of their ships. Fortunately, the sea dragon had retreated at that point, but that did nothing to save them.
"Woah?! Was that a monster?! I just saw a shadow down there!"
"Calm down! It was just a fish!"
The surviving crew members were fighting against a host of fears, including the fear of death, the fear of never being rescued, the fear of freezing to death, and the fear that more sea monsters could come and devour them. All of those fears compounded, leaving Julio and the rest of the survivors weak and weary.
Still, Julio cried out. "Someone will come rescue us...! Think of your families...! We're going to make it out of this alive, each and every one of us...!" He continued to encourage the survivors. He was also yelling to keep his own spirits up.
In normal times Julio would never have done something like that. Or rather, he couldn't have. It wasn't in his nature to be assertive. Despite being the prince, he was unable to act authoritative or self-important.
It had always been Eva who took control, but she was currently asleep in the skiff.
When they'd all been tossed overboard, she'd hit the water hard trying to protect Julio and lost consciousness.
Since then, Julio had begun acting bravely, acting like Eva. He felt strongly that, for the sake of his ailing sister, he had to live. That budding sense of responsibility combined with the emergency situation allowed him to act like the prince he was. That said, it didn't change the fact that all of his encouragement did precious little to improve morale.
"No one's...going to rescue us. Even if they left last night...it would take a day or more to reach us..."
One of the crew responded pessimistically, saying what everyone else was thinking.
Albatro's rescue ships wouldn't reach them in time. However, Julio had one last hope.
"Considering the size of that storm, it's possible Adrasia's ships were also caught in it... Prince Leonard will come save us..."
"The empire, save us? For years we continued giving support to the country Adrasia was at war with. Our nation profited off of their spilled blood. There's no way they'd go looking for our survivors in such dangerous waters."
"Prince Leonard is said to be kind—someone who won't abandon those in need. We're going to be okay! I know he'll come to our rescue!"
"Do you really think so? Even one of our allies would likely abandon us in a situation this dangerous."
"I know I'd be out of here as soon as the storm passed. I don't want to be anywhere there might be a sea dragon."
"Come on, guys..."
Everyone was starting to lose hope. The same was true for Julio. He'd stayed strong for Eva's sake, but both his physical and mental fortitude were close to running out.
Crisis aside, Julio had significantly less physical strength than the other crew members, so it was only natural for him to succumb first. Yet, he'd managed to hang on by the strength of his will alone. That was rapidly depleting, however, dragged down by the despondency of those around him.
Maybe this really is the end.
Just when that thought crossed his mind, he saw something out on the horizon. It looked like a ship.
"A-a ship! There's a ship out there!"
"I see it! We're saved! ...Hey! Over here!"
Everyone's flagging will to survive was immediately revived. They all shouted at the top of their lungs and waved their hands, hoping to be noticed. They continued like that for several minutes until someone murmured.
"I-it's one of the empire's ships..."
That knowledge was enough to make everyone stop waving. The ship was flying the flag of the Adrasia Empire.
Judging by its silhouette, it was one of the two imperial ships they'd come upon the day before.
If they'd also gotten caught in the storm, it made sense that their ship would be in the area. It also meant that they'd been blown off their original course. Everyone here knew that the Adrasia ambassadors had been headed for Rondine.
Would they waste even more time on a rescue mission when they were already late?
Not to mention the fact that there was a sea dragon somewhere in the area that could attack at any moment.
There were more than enough reasons for the empire not to help them.
At that moment, the bow of the imperial ship swung in a different direction. Despair crept into Julio's heart.
But then Julio heard a voice. It had been amplified using a magical tool.
"This is Leonard Lakes Aadler, Eighth Imperial Prince of Adrasia. Our ship is currently searching for survivors from the Grand Duchy of Albatro. We will come to your rescue in due course, but if you are able to swim to us, we ask you to do so now. Those who are too weak, please stay put. We will save you."
Upon hearing those words, tears started to stream down Julio's face. He quickly wiped them away.
"Let's go, everyone! We need to get help for those of us who are injured!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Let's go! Just a little farther!"
And so, Julio and his crew hurriedly made their way toward the imperial ship.