Free Web NovelChapter 347: New Home
Princess Christina Rockwell had visited Misty City a number of times in her life and had even spent a whole month in the Balfour Family’s Manor here once, so it took her far less time to adapt to this environment than the rest of the river convoy.
That being said, it wasn’t like she didn’t need any time to adjust at all.
Christina had no idea how long the Imperial Envoy would loiter in the capital.
Lord Ateo might be a guest in her home for another day, or another decade; there was simply no way to tell.
As long as that man was in the Royal Palace, though, Christina would have to stay away.
On top of that, now that she had officially become the Disciple of Celestina Balfour, Tina would likely be spending much of her time accompanying her Master regardless of the Imperial Envoy’s whereabouts.
Understanding all this, Christina mentally prepared herself to make the South-East Province her new home, at least temporarily.
Was she sad she couldn’t see her family whenever she wanted?
Yes.
However, the presence of her Senior Brother and Sister Disciples, as well as all the new acquaintances she had made over the past few months, eased her loneliness.
Christina was eager to experience what life was like outside the palace when there wasn’t a life-threatening crisis looming over her head, so she decided to make the most of what the Heavens had given her.
She would learn, laugh, and maybe even lov...
In any case, after ’seeing off’ the Saberclaw Raptors, Christina found herself busy helping out both her Master and her Senior Brother dealing with the refugees from the South-West Province.
There was no need for a princess to get involved in such mundane matters; after all, a genius’ only job was to cultivate and improve her strength. After going through so much together with these people, however, Christina couldn’t just see them as nameless commoners her family ruled over.
She had worked together with some of them, fought together with others, and even become friends with a few. Abandoning them now that they were ’safe’ didn’t sit right with Tina, so whenever Lucas, Sasha, Celestina, or anyone else asked her to help out, Christina agreed without hesitation.
Unlike her Senior Brother, though, the amount of help Christina could actually provide was limited, making her schedule much less packed.
Of course, there were also certain things Christina had to do as a royal, and there were also a fair number of restrictions on places she could go or work she could participate in, all of which made her life no less complicated than Lucas’.
Overall, though, Tina had much more personal time and freedom to engage in none-critical activities, something she took full advantage of.
First and foremost, she redoubled her efforts in her training.
Having been hailed as a prodigy since birth, Christina had always been proud of her strength; no one in her generation, and few if any in the generation above her were her match.
Even if it wasn’t conscious, and certainly not something she boasted aloud about, Christina really believed she was strong.
That delusion had been utterly shattered by the events of the last few months.
Yes, Christina was a genius, and yes, she stood head and shoulders above her peers, but before any true master or monster, she was still nothing more than a child that could be crushed at will.
The subtle arrogance that had begun to take root in Christina’s heart had been ground away by the harsh reality she was forced to face.
Being proud and confident was one thing, but allowing that pride to blind her to the world around her and lull her into complacency was completely unacceptable.
To that end, once she got settled in Misty City, not a day went by that Christina didn’t spend multiple hours practicing the True Unarmed Foundations Art, building up her base physical strength, and honing her combat skills through sparring.
Celestina might not have been around much due to all the work she needed to attend to, but there were plenty of Initiate-rank masters around, so Tina could always find an instructor to help train with her.
It was tiring, and oftentimes painful, but Christina was determined.
She had experienced what despair and helplessness felt like and absolutely hated it. As far as she was concerned, if suffering a little now could help her avoid feeling that way ever again, it was well worth it.
After she was done helping with the refugees and with her training, however, Christina found herself a bit lost as to how to spend the rest of her time.
Back in the capital, there had always been some function she needed to attend.
A birthday here, a banquet there, tea with noble daughters, competitions with noble sons, etc. etc.
There were also endless lessons on history, manners, politics, academics, and so on and so forth.
But none of those existed in Misty City, at least not yet.
Christina had no doubt that, in due time, she would have to deal with those tedious and boring events, possibly even seeing an increase in their frequency thanks to her new status as Marquess Balfour’s Disciple, but for the moment, she was freed from them.
Knowing that training too much was just as bad as training too little, Christina had to find something else to occupy herself with, preferably something that she could both enjoy and would be helpful in some way to either her Master or Senior Brother.
For a while, the princess was unable to think of anything that fit, until one day she went to visit some of her new friends and an idea came to her.
.....
Christina met Jake, Jenny, and Jessie shortly after she arrived in Redwood Town. They were among the first ’helpers’ she enlisted to help her catch Lucas after their initial spat.
After that somewhat embarrassing incident, Christina had interacted several more times with Baker Jerry’s kids, eventually forming a rather tight bond with the two sisters.
Jenny and Jessie had both been somewhat star struck by the noble girl from the capital at first, but after getting to know ’Tina’ better, they realized that she was as kind and friendly as she was strong and pretty, allowing them to open up to her.
Even Jake had managed to develop some immunity to Christina’s beauty and could now interact with her without tripping over his own feet. He still found himself dazed when she smiled or laughed at him, but at least he wasn’t making a total fool of himself anymore.
The terrifying strength Christina displayed every now and then also helped the young man keep his head screwed on straight.
After witnessing Lucas being thrashed, then left bruised and twitching in the dirt by the silver-haired girl one day, all while Tina wore a happy, innocent smile on her face, Jake deeply understood that she was not someone he could afford to pursue.
He wasn’t a masochist like the young blacksmith’s son, after all.
Aside from Lucas and Eris, Jake, Jenny, and Jessie were probably the closest kids in her age-range that Christina had befriended from Redwood Town, their relationship growing even closer after the princess discovered her talent in the kitchen.
The idea of a royal princess baking bread together with ordinary commoner children seemed almost comical, but Christina, Jenny, and Jessie had done just that on multiple occasions.
Unfortunately, on the night of the Spatial Storm, Jerry and his wife Dorothy had been swept away, effectively turning Jake, Jenny, Jessie, and their 3 much younger siblings into orphans.
These 6 certainly weren’t unique when it came to having lost their parents in this disaster, but that didn’t make their situation any less tragic.
For a princess, supporting the lives of 6 commoners couldn’t even be considered a burden, but Christina knew that if she just gave money to them, they wouldn’t really be her friends anymore.
On top of that, Jake and Jenny were already considered adults by the Rockwell Kingdom’s standards and they had their own pride. Christina suspected that had she offered ’charity’ to them, they would have refused, wanting to stand on their own two feet and support their family themselves.
The 3 older siblings were also quietly informed by Lucas that there was a good chance their parents were still alive, just stranded somewhere very far away.
Lucas also told them that one day he would set out to rescue all their parents, so they shouldn’t lose hope.
Knowing this, Jake, Jenny, and Jessie had all vowed to do anything they could to help Lucas achieve that goal. Unfortunately, the only thing the three of them knew how to do was make bread.
Even if they used the entire 5 Gold Coin incentive they had received for moving to the South-East Province, it would probably be impossible for them to successfully open a new bakery in Misty City.
Not only were the prices of land and ingredients much higher here than in Redwood Town, there was also much more competition from already established shops.
Without strong financial support, someone of real status to serve as a backer, and some kind of new, attractive product to bring in customers, the best Jake figured he and his little sisters could hope to do was bake some bread in the garrison kitchen then sell it by the roadside.
Whether they could break-even doing business like that was highly questionable, but what other option did they have?
