Pillar of Yita

After that day, time seemed to fly by unusually quickly.

”Mr. Ade, your boots.”

Fang Hong watched Pasha use her thin, dark hands to polish his boots until they shone brightly, then respectfully handed them to him. He looked up at her clear black-and-white eyes with a hint of expectation, unable to stop himself from gently shaking his head: ”They look great, but it’s not necessary. I’ve said before, Pasha, if you want to stay, just stay, but we don’t do things like this here.”

”But Miss Hilveld told me, you’re the Lord Captain. Also the captain of this ’ship’, and as a captain, you should be dignified. You need a servant or some kind of attendant, right? Mr. Ade, you don’t need to worry, I’m not at all unwilling. Everyone’s been very kind to me here; besides my mother, no one has ever treated me so well, and I’m already very satisfied.”

”This isn’t about satisfaction,” Fang Hong couldn’t help but rub his forehead. Hilveld was great in every way, except her ideas often bore remnants of this world’s inherent views. She frequently told him to be more authoritative in front of everyone, especially after they had sailors. The noble lady was peculiarly stubborn about this matter—

”Some things, you don’t have to listen to everything Miss Hilveld says, her ideas have quite some issues...”

”But everyone says she’s the matriarch.”

”Matriarch, what matriarch?” Fang Hong’s face turned red as he stammered.

”The matriarch, Lord Captain,” Pasha replied weakly, ”Your wife.”

”Wha, what? Does everyone know...?”

Pasha shook her head: ”No, Miss Elisa told me.”

Fang Hong smacked his forehead.

Elisa said it, which is like saying everyone knows. Who else in the group loves to dig up gossip and share it more than Elisa? Perhaps it’s the nature of the Nightingale profession because this obviously included Parker, the natural big mouth.

Of course, the destructive power of that Papalarian was much greater than hers.

He had been fooled enough by that smiling lady earlier, always thinking she was sincere and willing to listen—

But thinking back to his experiences in Fenris, Fang Hong felt like the world’s biggest fool. At that time, he was almost twisted around by those sisters. He only regretted not realizing this sooner.

By the time he did realize, it was too late—

”That’s two different things,” Fang Hong felt a headache: ”First of all, I haven’t married Miss Hilveld. Secondly, I’m not your master... My God, what exactly are you thinking?”

”Pasha is a slave, isn’t it normal for him to think like this?”

A voice came from behind him.

Fang Hong turned to see a small princess with braids, the daughter of the current King of Sand from Istania. Seeing her, he couldn’t help but sigh—another problem child, and compared to the little princess, he’d rather deal with Pasha.

This Sand Princess perfectly illustrated what it meant to be at odds—she and Tianlan were like two little firestorms, igniting at the slightest provocation. Fang Hong glanced at her and sighed: ”Aren’t you chasing after the person you’re interested in?”

”Luo Yu, he’s ignoring me,” Affia angrily fiddled with her little braids: ”Hmph, it’s just because he’s bigger, has fairer skin, so annoying. Just because she knew Mr. Luo Yu earlier, ordering Mr. Luo Yu around, Mr. Luo Yu will tire of this jealous woman one day.”

Here it comes, again.

Fang Hong looked out into the undulating Sand Sea, deeply speechless.

Since the little princess temporarily boarded the ship, Mr. Greyrock’s back had not seen a moment of peace. The jealousy between her and Tianlan threatened to overflow the entire Silver Sand Sea. In fact, the Big Cat People jokingly said the sour jealousy between the two little girls could be smelled even in Tansnier, though he didn’t say so aloud, he secretly agreed.

Tansnier is a port city in Istania, not far from here.

Moreover, this Princess Affia inherited the boldness and passion of a desert woman, straightforward and frank. In Fang Hong’s view, if it weren’t for Luo Yu being so focused on Tianlan, Tianlan wouldn’t stand a chance against this sharp-tongued princess.

Fortunately, it seemed, given Luo Yu’s current state, winning this long-drawn contest remained a distant prospect.

And as the captain, he certainly wouldn’t let this happen.

No matter what, Tianlan was his team member, and he wouldn’t elbow out externally. Fang Hong had already made up his mind to let the restless princess disembark as soon as they arrived at Tansnier, seeing as she seemed close to reaching her limit aboard.

That would spare him the daily complaints about the accommodations and the food onboard, her princess maladies.

However, Affia seemed entirely unaware of her unpopularity. She stepped forward, eager at the railing, watching the undulating desert scenery beyond—the platform wasn’t going deep into the Silver Sand Desert, nor were there any foolish travelers to do so.

The Seven Seas Travel Group was moving east near the Dwarf Rose Mountain Range in the direction of Hanruina’s Sky Sea coast, diagonally crossing from the desert’s edge. This was an ancient trade route, originally traveled by Bunigu and his people.