Saving An Old Man

"Come, let's go. We shouldn't waste much time." All the maids became happy. All the sailors who come from the north or south would bring many new things with them, and with the princess around, the maids could also take a first look and purchase before they went to the local market to sell.

At the deck.

"My lady, look here. This fabric is so smooth."

"And this silver necklace is so beautiful." the maids started to look around excitedly.

Silja walked around the black serpent cave where some sailors had set up a small market just in the morning.

Some of the maids and royal guards were with her to protect her.

In the Atlanea kingdom, the legend of the black serpent sea was very famous. It said that a black serpent lived on this abandoned and isolated island thousands of years ago.

Until some of the sailors forgot the way and accidentally came here. The beauty of Atlanea caught their eyes.

But apart from the beauty, the island was filled with many secrets and darkness.

It was the residence of a big black sea serpent. To get to the island, they defeated the serpent and started their lives there.

Thus the kingdom of Atlanea came into existence.

The Castemont family were the descendants of those who set foot on this island for the first time and defeated the giant snake.

When few merchants recognized her, they tried to impress her with the unique things they bought from across the sea.

"I think I have something that can catch your interest, my lady." Seeing that the princess wasn't taking an interest in anything, one of the merchants came forward with a small bag in his hand. He opened the box and laid the stuff inside it on the small table. The box was full of small fish bones and skulls. There were also one or two vails of thick white liquid.

"This…?" Silja extended her hand to take one of the skulls to take a better look at it.

"These are the bones of Groskol fish. They have some rare properties that help to cut any poison." Said the man. Silja took one of the skulls to examine.

"Any poison?" Her eyes were glued to the small skull in her hand.

"Yes, my lady." Said the man with confidence.

"How much?" Silja asked the price.

The man lifted His fingers, showing the figure he wanted.

"Expensive." Commented Silja.

"Rare things are always costly," the man replied with a slight smile. Silja nodded and gave the money.

"Collect the goods," she said to one of the guards and walked away.

"Hahahha, come catch me.." after returning from the dock, all of them went near a small forest.

It was Silja's favourite place. The greenery of trees and peaceful surroundings were her favourite places to spend time.

"My lady, wait... " The seventeen-year-old princess started to play around with her maids.

Suddenly, they heard a commotion from the other side.

It caught their attention, and Silja ran to see what was going on.

Maids and two guards follow her behind.

Not far away from there, a man was lying on the floor, shivering; Saliva was dripping from his mouth.

The other two people were trying to help him.

"What happened?" Silja asked.

"He was bitten by a snake just now." said one of the men trying to save the person.

Both of them looked like sailors.

The man who was poisoned looked like he was in his late sixties, and the person beside him looked much younger. They looked like foreign sailors.

Silja sat down and checked his symptoms.

"Did you see what type of snake it was?" She asked while checking the man's pulse.

"It… it was a small snake of green colour." Replied the man. The younger man looked much panicked.

He was bitten by a normal snake commonly found in the area. It wasn't poisonous enough that a person could die. However, the effect of poison can take a longer time to wear off.

"Please help us, my lady." Pleaded the younger man, who was on the verge of crying.

"Don't worry about the snake poi…" One of the maids was about to say that they didn't have to worry, but the princess stopped mid-sentence.

"Go get the vial we have bought..."

Silja, who was sitting on the ground, gave the order. And the maid complied immediately. Her intention was clear. She needed to check how affecting Groskol fish's medicine was. Here, she got the test subject for that.

It didn't take long for the maid to come back with the vial, although it cost them a fortune. It will be worth it if it's useful.

This island was filled with many rare herbs, but it was also laced with poisonous creatures.

So it would be worth it.

Silja opened the vial and poured the contents into the mouth of the old man.

The man started to cough hard at first, but soon his condition started to improve.

In just the next five minutes, he was fine.

Silja slowly stood up, satisfied with the results. Things would have turned hard for that merchant if the medicine was fake.

The man who was poisoned earlier stood up, too, with the help of his man.

"This lady here helped you, my lord." The younger man informed him.

Silja looked at both of them and assumed the older one was the master while the younger one was the servant.

"Is that so?" The man asked and glanced at the young girl standing in front of him. The man held years of experience in his eyes and looked much calmer.

The younger man nodded.

With just one look, he could tell the girl was different, not just in looks but in terms of nature too. He could feel her different energy. And was also impressed by the way she handled the situation just now. 

"Thank you, my lady. May I know who you are?" said the man with a little bow despite his age.

"You are in the presence of Princess of Atlanea. Silja Castemont." One of the maids introduced Silja to the man. The man looked a little shocked hearing that.

"It's nice to meet you, princess. My name is Zack. I didn't know the king of Atlanea had this beautiful daughter." The man said. Silja smiled at his comment.

Suddenly, they heard the neighing of the horses.

"Nighhhhhh." All of them turned in the direction from which the noise came.

Two beautiful horses came running in their direction.

One stopped a little away from them while the other came and stopped in front of the old man.

One of them was white, and the other was pitch black.

They were beautiful. They breed horses in Atlanea, but the breed wasn't very popular; most people here like to purchase fine breed horses from the North or southern region and bring them here via sea.

It was known that the North bred the best horses in the world, and these two were one example of that. Although Atlanea has enough cattle and other animals to sustain their daily life.

Silja was mesmerized by the beauty of the white horse standing not far away from them.

"You like her?" The old man asked as he noticed how the little girl's eyes shone brightly Looking at the horse.

Silja nodded her head,"She is beautiful," 

"She is yours then. Take it as a gift for saving my life." Zack said with a smile.

"That will be too much as a gift," Silja said. She could tell that the horse was one of the finest.

"I insist." The older man said.

"Really?" Silja asked again, her face brightening up immediately.

"Yes." Zack extended his hand towards the horse. Silja took a quick step and stood near the horse.

It was eating the small grass from the ground when she sensed Someone near her she lifted her head.

Silja lifted and tried to put her hand on her head to feel the soft structure of her hair.

"Hello there.." Silja spoke softly.

But as soon as her hand was placed in the horse the eyes of the horse changed color.

From black it became red and in the Next second, the horse neighed loudly while jumping in her two feet. Silja staggered back in surprise.

Two men and all the maids turned immediately on alert mode.

"Princess….." the maid yelled loudly.

Mira ran towards her to save her.

Silja, who was standing near the horse, stood there shocked. She saw a horse lifting its two feet in the air and jumped.

She was too terrified and confused to understand what was happening.

Suddenly a horse who was now out of control ran towards her. The distance between them lessened and Silja closed her eyes too shocked to move an inch.