"There you both are."
We entered the brightly lit dining hall, Cosmo with both Lords sitting at the table for five people. The table was prepared and just waiting for us to place the food down and begin eating dinner. Lord Rhodon greets us first and Lord Ventura stares at us impatiently. "Forgive us." Me and Adam speak in sync, moving to our seats. I was seated beside Lord Ventura, the furthest from the King, while Adam sat beside Lord Rhodon, right across from me.
"I hope the exploration of the ship went well?" We both nod eagerly as servants move into the room, placing our plates down silently. I leave Adam to speak of our explorations. "We watched the ship cross into the Calm Belt and got to see the engine room and meet John." Our dinner was a medium-rare steak with a side of mashed potatoes with brown gravy, a bread roll, and a beautiful salad.
"John. One of the finest engineers in the Kingdom." Cosmo states as we begin to eat together. I took a bite of the steak, the meat basically melting in my mouth and flooding my tongue with flavor.
Dinner was filled with idle conversation, Adam talking more about the exploring and his plans for the next days on the ship, while Lord Rhodon spoke of his plans of idle wandering and conversation with Lord Ventura. Cosmo seemed pleased with the outcome of everyone's day, and dinner ended on a high note, Cosmo excusing himself to Princely duties with an apologetic grin and Lord Ventura and Rhodon leaving together to their offices and to work on paperwork.
"The dinner was so good."
Adam and I walked again side by side, heading back to our rooms in hopes of deep sleep. Adam held his stomach and back as if he was a pregnant woman. Having eaten as much as he could.
"This is the way we don't inhale our food." Muttering under my breath, earning a gasp from the man.
"I paced myself!" I glanced at him, my eyes going up and down in silent disbelief. He pouted as I 'helped' him back to his room, which was just him flinging his full body weight onto me as he forced me to walk down the hall, basically carrying him.
"Here."
Once outside Adam's bedroom, I dropped him, or at least tempted to, as he stumbled inside his bedroom with a goofy grin. "Night 12. Love you~" Waving him off playfully and traveled back to my guest room. Kicking off my shoes and making my way to my bed, a white silk robe, with clothing my exact size, sat draped over my head, with a little card.
I forgot to mention.
There is a bathhouse on the 1st floor.
Here are some pajamas and a robe that you can keep.
-Cosmo-
I read over the note before placing it on my nightstand and picking up the robe and pajamas. The fabric was extremely soft and made me sigh in delight. I'd feel a little guilty about laying down in such a nice bed, without properly washing. Draping the clothes and robe over my arm, I left my bedroom silently, walking barefoot down the empty halls and quickly heading downstairs. Just as the note said, there was a bathhouse. Pushing aside the curtains to the room, it was empty, with eight small lockers lined the way, each with designated names. Walking over to my locker, and opened it with ease. The locker is filled with several unique bottles, some for my hair, others for my body and face, with a towel for my face, body, and hair.
The King's bathhouse was similar to this one, with a large shower system that allowed a machine head to release water to pass through and look similar to rain. Which was all the rage for months within the kingdom. The shower was a gift to the King.
Placing my clothes in the locker and pulling out the towel and various bottles, I moved from the locker area to a separate room, finding several stalls. I pick the furthest one and quickly undress, excited to use the shower for the first time in my life.
I stepped into the stall, my eyes running over the several nobs, before turning one, a surprised yelp left my lips as cold water shot at my face and body. Leaping back and nearly falling, I turned and glared at the cold water. Stretching out, flipping on another nob, the cold water turning warm. After a few moments, I stepped back into the water. It felt like warm rain as I hit my back. It was enjoyable.
Grabbing a fresh rag and a bottle with body wash engraved into it, the soft smell of lavender filled my nose. I washed it. Taking showers was much easier than taking a bath to wash. I rinsed myself off before turning the water off and stepping out, wrapping myself in a towel and gathering my dirty clothes and the things I used, and placing them back in my locker, careful to keep my clean clothes from getting dirty.
Leaving the locker area again and moving into a different room, steam rose from the hot teal-colored bath, letting the towel fall, and I lazily draped it across a stool and moved towards the bath, using a hand railing and steps to sink into the warm bath. The floor is stone and the sides of the bath have seats. I move to the very center of the pool, taking a seat against the wall. A happy sigh left my lips.
"I see that you are enjoying yourself."
I scream leaves my lips, Lord Ventura revealing himself, the steam having hid him. I suddenly feel extremely exposed as I sink further into the water. The water up to my chin. "When...When did you get here?"
"Since you first arrived." He answers matter-of-factly, moving to a seat closer to me with a bored stare. My water suddenly seems extremely hot and I want to leave, but if I stand up, he'll see me naked.
"Calm down. If my being here aggravates you, you are free to leave." It wasn't a command as Lord Ventura leaned back, his eyes fluttering close. I watch him as I move to the farthest point from him. I was enjoying myself and would just pretend he didn't exist. The room again falls into silence and my eyes stare around the pretty bathhouse, the ways covered in decorations and murals, representing creatures of the deep. They all seem to bow at the King of Sea Demons, Leviathan, who stands tall with piercing green eyes.
"You and Adam appreciate the stories of the ludicrous pirates of the past, right?"
Lord Ventura spoke up, making me look at him. "They are interesting."
"Even if they are fabricated?" He asks genuinely, his eyes still closed as he looked like he was merely dozing. I lean back and entwine my fingers.
"Even if they're fake... I don't think they are, though." To me, it seems impossible that people could just make up stories based on pure thoughts and theories and for the idea to live so long, only for it to be proven false.
"People create things all the time. With little rhyme and reason. If you feed the idea of a cyclops and another person thinks they see one and shares the idea. The thought spreads and lasts ages, but how do you realize if it was someone's mere imagination?" Lord Ventura seems to respond to what I said in my head, shifting once again.
"Do you not believe in the stories?"
"That is not something I said, is it?"
I fall silent as Lord Ventura opens his eyes and glances at me, before shifting his head to the side, motioning me to come closer to him. That time it was a command and I reluctantly moved toward him, unless I wanted him to attempt to drown me for my disobedience. Clicks his tongue and mutters under his breath.
"Good Girl."
I ignore him and watch Lord Ventura move his hair to his side. Revealing three black claw marks upon his nape. The mark seems like the hand of a human and travels down from his nape to his lower back.
"You and Rhodon spoke of sirens..." My hand hesitantly runs along the marks. Ventura says nothing, but I piece the two together. The marks belong to a siren.
"...Why are you telling me this?" I ask quietly, and Ventura pulls away. He makes his way towards the railing and stone steps.
"You were almost inundated by one. It is solely something that just occurred in my mind. Nothing more, nothing less." He speaks indifferently and exits the pool, a soaked towel covering the bottom half of his body. He moves across the room and his knuckles tap against a damp paper hung on the wall.
"The towel in your locker is also practical in the pool, so stripping it away wasn't necessary, but thank you for the presentation."
My face fell and Lord Ventura left with a wide, mischievous grin.
Leaving me alone in the silence, a huff leaves my lips, but what Ventura said before popped back into my mind. I was almost drowned by a siren. My thoughts drift to the man that clung to the side of the ship, with bright glowing emerald eyes and long black hair with streaks of white that seemed to glow in the moonlight.