Now it would be a great time to make some tea.
Adding a few snacks and it would be perfect.
But I have neither tea, nor snacks, only two turpins and water... Should I offer them instead?
No, no! No matter how I think of it, offering raw vegetables to a princess simply doesn't sound right!
Forget it! Let's just offer water instead!
Using the Mana trick and building mode, I quickly make two stone cups and a Jar.
"Blue!"
The Water Sprite stops playing with the kids and flew over to me.
"Yes, Master!"
"Please fill this jar for me."
"All right!"
Blue conjures some water and easily fill the jar for me.
"Good, you can go back."
"Yay!!!"
Seeing our interaction, the princess seemed curious about Blue and even slowly moved her hand a bit toward it, probably wanting to touch it.
Then, as Blue flied away, she quickly took back her hand and acted like there was nothing wrong but if one was to observe her closely it was easy to notice she was actually pouting for losing her chance.
After taking the jar and filling the cups with water, I handed her a cup of water.
"Here you go. Drink slowly and calm yourself down. When you feel comfortable to talk, we can start."
She took the cup and slowly drank it while using both hands to hold it.
As she finished her cup, I filled it again.
Then she drank it again...
And I filled it again...
And she drank it again...
And I filled yet again!
Finally the jar was empty and she seemed ready to talk.
Or not, as she still didn't say a single word but she started to gesticulate instead.
"Hmm... I see, so you can't talk?"
She nodded slowly.
Well, I could try guessing but I am not good at these guessing games...
How about writing the answers?
That would be OK, but where will she write?
Maybe I should make her some tool to write?
No, that's too much trouble. There should be a simpler way...
I looked to the side and saw the kids drawing in the empty field.
That's it!
OK, let's try writing first! If she start appearing tired we can stop and try something else.
"Can you write?"
The princess nodded again.
Well, of course she can! If she couldn't I would begin questioning her identity...
"All right, I will be right back!"
I run all the way to the cave's entrance and go to the woods.
There, I break two long straight branches of a tree and craft two sticks out of them by cleaning out the unnecessary twigs.
With the two sticks in hand, I ran back inside.
As I arrive I see the princess is watching the kids play.
I hand over a stick to her and pull her to the empty field.
Instead of talking I start writing in the ground.
"Hello. My name is Plate."
She smiles and write below it.
"Hi. My name is Alice."
"Alice? That's a beautiful name. If I'm not mistaken, one of the heroes was also called Alice."
The princess blush and biting her lips starts writing her answer.
"That's right! My father gave me this name so I could grow strong and courageous."
"I see, he must be a really great father."
"Yes, my father was "
I noticed as she was writing she started trembling again, it got worse and worse with each letter she wrote, and finally she was unable to write a single letter, much less finish her phrase.
Her tears started falling nonstop, her body lost strength and she fell down on the ground.
It seems like something happened to her father and made her leave home...
I was one step closer to the truth but seeing the result of my actions, the girl crying in front of me, I couldn't help but reprimand myself for touching her wound.
I slowly approached her and gave her a hug, whispering in her ears while patting on her back.
"It's all right, cry all you want now, let it aaaaaaall out. It's not good to be holding back."
The crying girl hugged me back and cried for a long long time.
When she finally calmed down, she fell asleep.
I had mixed feelings here.
On one side, I felt glad she trusted me and was able to let it all out. I'm sure she will be feeling better when she wakes up and there is something in her that makes me just want to protect her.
On another, I felt bad because I got almost no information and if I wanted any more now, I will have to go back to that angry guard dog.... And I do want more.
Well, first things first! Let's make a room and a bed for our princess here...
I tried getting up but it seems like even though she was now sleeping, she was still holding me as if her life depended on it.
Having no choice, since I didn't want to wake her up, I took a hold of her in a princess carry and got up.
Damn, this feels really like I'm taking advantage of the little girl. Thanks god Bia and Leticia aren't seeing this or I would never hear the end of it...
Arriving at the warehouse, I used my Mana remotely with the help of the building mode to make a small room to the south, a rock bed, which was better than nothing, and a small window that was just enough to add a little light to the room while keeping it comfortable to sleep.
As I laid the princess in the rock bed, she seemed to feel my intentions and tighten her hug to not let me go.
"Papa, don't go!"
It seems like she is dreaming...
What to do now...
Then some vague memory appeared in my head.
Yes, this should do it.
I approached her face and kissed her forehead while slowly petting her head.
"It's OK Alice, everything is fine now."
...
The trick worked and she finally relaxed, letting me go.
Sigh...what did this cruel world do to this little girl?
Well, time to talk to the guard dog and find out...
Stepping out of the room, I carefully closed the door and went back to where I left the other elves.