Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 336 Shard's Gift

After leaving the pirate ship, Shard felt hunger, but his physical and spiritual energy had normalized within minutes. However, even with a fourth wish and the healing at the end of the Maze Lock, Miss Princess took longer to recover, and after swimming continuously for so long, the sorceress from the Five Rings looked strong but was actually near her limit.

The people on the small boat promptly noticed the floating plank and the two people swimming toward them, and they quickly converged.

The maid on the boat reached out to pull Miss Princess aboard, but the sorceress was too exhausted, so Shard had to support her into the boat first before he could clamber aboard himself.

Someone immediately handed him a dry towel and a blanket while, with a dull roar, the small steam engine at the stern began to operate. As the boatman added more compressed charcoal, the ignited flames warmed the surrounding air. Plumes of black smoke blended into the night as the boat, powered by the small steam engine, swiftly moved away.

The steam engine used for small boats was a unique product of the world's steam industry development. This brass machinery, which required expensive compressed charcoal, had not been widely adopted due to its high manufacturing cost and complex maintenance—Shard had only read about it in the newspapers and never expected to see it here.

The cost of such a steam engine was probably equivalent to several hundred Mia's.

Thinking of this, Shard greatly missed his cat, his warm four-poster bed, and the blankets at home.

Apart from Shard and Miss Princess, there were four others on the boat. Two dressed as maids, one appearing to be about thirty years old and the other about the same age as Miss Princess. The other two were an old boatman, busy steering the boat, and a middle-aged man with a determined expression, obviously with a military background. He held a gun and watched the surrounding navy ships, which, despite being lit, were too distant to be clear in the dark night.

"Your Highness, Your Highness~"

Miss Princess was supported by the older maid, wrapped in a blanket, while the younger maid tried to give her water.

"She's hurt, let me do it."

Shard wiped his hair and moved closer, the maids uncertain whether to trust him, but Miss Princess's pale lips moved slightly, she spat out the leaf in her mouth, then whispered:

"Let Shard come."

After taking the cup, Shard gently tapped it to make the silvery spiritual light appear, then drank a small half himself.

He was really starving, although the hunger had significantly decreased after leaving the pirate ship, so he hadn't drunk seawater, but he felt uncomfortable not eating something.

The maids looked somewhat reproachfully at the "bold" Shard. He ignored them, as Miss Princess wasn't much injured and had been continuously keeping an Ever-Youth Leaf in her mouth; she didn't need Satiety Food.

Taking a deep breath, Her Highness the Princess couldn't help but shake her head:

"That's really in character for him, Shard..."

The older Maid hesitated briefly but still spoke her last line:

"The gentleman said that he knows who you are now. Also, he had a very pleasant day today and left you a gift..."

The Princess turned to her, slightly surprised:

"A gift? The clothes he was wearing were given to him by me. What gift could he possibly have?"

The two men on the boat dearly wished they were not here at this moment.

The Maid lowered her head and carefully took out a small box from the pocket in the front of her skirt, whispering:

"The gentleman said that while at the souvenir shop, he bought shell bracelets for his friends and this for you. He originally planned to give it to you after the tour ended, as a memento of the meeting between two strangers in an unfamiliar city. You mentioned you liked it,..."

The Maid dared not look at the Princess's expression, while Lecia Cavendish took the box, snapped it open, and inside were ruby earrings in the shape of a mermaid.

"He..."

Taking the earrings, she thought of the passionate encounter in the noon alleyways, the card games in the tavern, the casual chats by the docks, the sunset by the lighthouse by the sea, the stories blown by the sea breeze, the dance on the deck under the night sky, the look exchanged in the cold boat cabin, thought of...

The red hair fluttered slightly in the wind, her eyes narrowed slightly, dimples appeared on her fair face, and the corners of her mouth curled up.

Holding the earrings tightly, she stood on the small boat looking toward Coldwater Port not far away. Clad in a blanket, although her still damp dress clung uncomfortably to her body, Lecia Cavendish, the Female Sorcerer from Zaras Literary Academy, the Third Princess of the Empire, the Red Rose of Tobesk, Rossell's eternal Guardian, felt very content at this moment:

"Dorothy, at least this time, I must admit your taste was really good. You won't be angry because I fell asleep just now and didn't ask you to temporarily take over for me, right?"

The boat quietly sailed into the brightly lit Coldwater Port. Despite the dangers encountered, for Her Highness the Princess, this was truly a "Coldwater Port Getaway" to remember for a lifetime.

Especially this story, rich in romantic colors, personally experienced by her, and not the kind of tragedy she abhorred.