He scooped me up into his arms, bridal style, and carried me all the way to the infirmary. Between his natural good looks and his prestigious position as Prince Dario’s personal bodyguard, Ray attracted attention like a magnet everywhere he went, and I could feel everyone staring at us as we passed. Ugh, how humiliating.
“Doc, you in?” Ray called as he opened the infirmary door and carried me inside. Sure enough, there stood a gentleman in a white coat—forty-something, unshaven, his clothes messy and wrinkled—presumably the doctor.
“Well, if it isn’t our very own Sir Ray Alide! What happened to your lady friend there?”
“She has heatstroke. Please examine her.”
“Heatstroke? Strange... She must be quite sickly for a Dragonkin.”
“She’s a Flowerfolk, actually. Now please examine her—I’ll put her down on this cot.”
“Wh—You can’t just—Well, all right. Have you given her any water?”
“Yes, sir.”
Once Ray had laid me down onto the medical bed, the doctor came over, removed the towels, and felt my skin directly.
“Please don’t touch her too much.”
“Do you want me to examine her or not, boy?” the doctor snapped back. “At any rate, she’s going to be fine, thanks to your excellent first aid. This was your doing, right?” he asked, holding up the hand towels. “Come to think of it, you came and asked me about heatstroke just the other day, didn’t you?”
He did? I turned and looked at Ray.
“Even on the hottest summer days, Dragonkin scarcely ever get heatstroke, so I admit I was confused why you’d want to know. Now it all makes sense. You were concerned for this Flowerfolk,” the doctor concluded.
“You don’t mind if she rests here for a while, right?” Ray asked in a hard voice that suggested he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Evidently he was in no mood to respond to the doctor’s comments.
“Be my guest,” the doctor permitted.
Just then, another knight entered the room, and the doctor left to attend to his injury. Ray pulled the bed curtains shut, then sat down beside me and took my hand. I glanced over at him to find that his fretful expression had now hardened into anger.
“Not as frail as we imagine you to be, huh? What a joke.” He was quoting the statement I’d made to Rebecca and Mona yesterday. “I understand you felt obligated to honor a request from our Queen, but you need to be aware of your physical limits when you work.”
“How was I supposed to know? I’ve never gotten heatstroke from curling hair before!”
“Because you were living in Myulan. But you’re in Vaxwald now, and Vaxwald gets hot. You have to be more careful,” he snapped. “When we first met in Myulan, you told me you didn’t really think of yourself as a Flowerfolk. You grew up surrounded by humans, so you felt like you were one of them. I get that. But know this, Mayna: you may look human, but you’re not.”
At this point, he noticed that I was on the verge of tears, and he stopped short.
“Don’t yell at me,” I whimpered.
“...Sorry.” He squeezed my hand apologetically.
He’d been holding my hand an awful lot today. What are you, my mom?
✦ ✦ ✦
❀❀❀
THE next day, I felt much better. I was on a walk with the Princess out in the castle’s massive front garden. Together with Rebecca, Mona, and Sari, the five of us walked along the edge of the moat and stared down at the fish swimming within. The servants were carrying all the necessary implements to have a tea party in the gazebo afterward.
“It’s nice to step outside and get some fresh air,” I commented.
“Quite,” Patricia replied.
The two of us were holding parasols, shielding ourselves from the sunrays. Normally I wouldn’t have brought one, but after yesterday’s heatstroke incident, I figured it couldn’t hurt to err on the side of caution.
Still, I could feel Ray’s gaze boring into me as he and the other bodyguards trailed behind us. I knew he was just keeping an eye out lest I pass out again, but I felt like a criminal under surveillance.
He’d been overly concerned ever since yesterday, and it clearly wasn’t an act. So what was going on? Was he trying to be my new overprotective father or what?
As we approached the front gates, I noticed there was a bit of a commotion going on. In the distance, I saw a crowd of people gathered outside. The gatekeeper was gesturing for them to leave, but they ignored him and raised their fists in perfect sync—
“ANNUL THE MARRIAGE!”
“Cancel the wedding between Dario and Patricia!”
The second I registered what they were saying, I felt the impulse to clap my hands over Patricia’s ears. Unfortunately, she had already taken notice, and her expression stiffened.
“Our Prince deserves better than that sorry excuse for a princess!”
Thank heavens the crowd didn’t seem to notice that Patricia was out here. Perhaps the parasol had kept her face hidden, or maybe they couldn’t see through the garden trees.
“Let’s get you back inside,” Ray told the Princess.
Staring down at the ground, she nodded, practically hiding under her parasol.
“Don’t let it get to you, all right? They don’t know the first thing about you. They’ve been hoodwinked by those false rumors, that’s all.”
“Yeah, what Ray said,” Rebecca chimed in. “These protesters are a bunch of idiots who can’t think for themselves. They’re just a particularly loud minority, that’s all. Trust me, the vast majority of Dragonkin know better than to take rumors as truth. Besides, unlike them, we actually know what you’re like...and we all think you’re a wonderful princess.”
Patricia merely slumped her shoulders. “I know it’s unrealistic to want every single person to like me, but...this really breaks my heart.”