Vampire Aedes
44. Vanessa Faithful Friend

Aster blinked his eyes. After his vision became clear enough, he opened the blanket and checked the wound on the stomach.

"You woke up early."

"Geez!" screeches while tightening the fabric that surrounds it. Though he was fully dressed, but the Seventh Prince's gaze seemed to be stripping the girl bare. "When were you there?"

"It looks like you forgot last night."

"I remember" Aster answered. Unknowingly fingered the side of the neck bitten by Prince Aedes. His eyes were perfectly rounded when the man had already blocked his hand. This youth movement was very fast.

"Don't touch! Later you can get an infection. Better put this on and don't take it off until I tell you to take it off." Prince Aedes draped his black scarf to cover the bite marks. Aster felt dejavu.

The Flower Palace was not as cold as the Floating Palace. Perhaps because of its location on a hill or near the mountains, Aster still remembers when Prince Aedes wore the scarf when he first littered his room. Despite the simulated dream, Aster still feels how the temperature there.

"Hot" murmured Aster who was still heard by Prince Aedes.

The thick-browed man raised his head. "We must leave before sunrise. Remember, that the journey to the Floating Palace is colder."

Aster finds the Third Princess and Cycy asleep in the next room. The two were hugging under a thick blanket.

"Should I bring a coat?"

"It's best not to bring anything."

"Are the Third Princess and Cycy coming with us?" ask again.

Prince Aedes did not answer. Precisely the man continued to look at him intensely to make Aster wrong behavior. Without answering, the girl understood that Prince Aedes would not invite the two of them to come to the Palace.

"okay." Aster nodded sadly. He should have taken Sari if only the child was alive.

***

The market full of people is very crowded. It is not far from the Palace gate. As if I had never slept, the place was always crowded. Since three o'clock at dawn, the traders have prepared shophouses in the middle of a cool breeze.

Some of the slaves shivered in the cold. Their legs were tied with a rope whose ends were again tied to the trunk of a tree. That way, the slaves can't escape.

It looks like some of the Palace's servants kitchen section choose cooking ingredients. Usually the palace workers would stop by the market before sunrise. He said they don't like jostling with sweaty humans.

Often the servants gossiped with the merchants. From this place, a slave got information about his little friend.

He looked at the waiter who was mobbed by a group of butchers. Some of them did not have time to put down their big knives. Government gossip is the best.

"So you guys haven't prepared Tympanuchus cupido yet? How, anyway? The Third Prince who told me to buy it to present to the Seventh Prince of the Floating Palace."

(Tympanuchus cupido \= prairie chicken)

"The animal you're looking for is only in the meadow. The Third Prince must be joking, right?" sahut guy with mustache.

"really. Moreover, the territory is not supervised by anyone, if you get lost until the kingdom next door you can die. I don't want to take the risk even if I get paid anything!" other traders' timpals.

"I heard that many people in the kingdom died."

"If that one I've heard of it too. He said the floating region was affected by a disease outbreak and there was no known cause."

"It's awful."

This time the girl was not interested in the topic the waiter brought. He thought of the continuation of the story when the Thirteenth Princess was rumored to have captivated the First Prince. It seemed like Aster had been lulled by the Palace people.

Does he still remember me?

Mr. Le appeared out of nowhere, instantly snatching it from his shabby hands. "Geez how hard it is to calm down Gallus gallus."

(Gallus gallus \= chicken)

The chicken continued to rebel at the hands of Mr. Le. Feathers fly. If there's Aster, he must have sneezed badly. The sound of the chicken made the situation a bit tingly, as a result the waiter was interested. "Aren't you Mr Le selling slaves? I don't know if you're in business with Gallus Gallus Gallus?"

"No, no. I'm still selling slaves with five-star quality!" says proud. "I only caught this one to sell to you."

Yesterday, Mr. Le deliberately went into the forest to hunt red chickens. Said the waiter could pay ten times as much for a chicken. He's still a double eye.

"But the kind is different from the one I'm looking for."

"Oh, the Third Prince won't get angry like you bought wrong. You yourself said that the Third Prince always smiled kindly, including a smile to the servants."

"What you say is true ...." The waiter was silent for a moment. "Because it's different, I can only pay you double."

"What?" ask Mr. Le. From ten fold to double. "Too little! Five times that."

"...."

"You wouldn't have gotten a living thing if it wasn't for me hunting in the woods."

"All right."

Finally, Mr. Le received a small bag of gold pieces. His eyes opened the bag. "Well, it's not in vain that I go all the way to the forest."

"By the way, do you remember the last slave girl who was raised by the King and Queen?"

"That kid? Sounds dangerous if you still call him a slave. She already got the title of Thirteenth Princess."

"It was just that he was your slave."

Aster? The girl who had been sitting hugging her knees, now started to raise her head. Her ears were sensitive when she heard the name of the Thirteenth Princess.

"What's wrong with the princess?"

The waiter opened his mouth wide. "This morning the Seventh Prince's entourage was intending to take him to the Floating Palace. Maybe to cover up if she was expelled from the Flower Palace."

"Mrs! Why, why was he expelled? Please tell me!" the girl suddenly pulled the waiter's skirt. Because of his disrespectful actions, he got a pretty hard kick. Knee's bleeding. "Aah!"

Be ill.

"Geez, Mr. Le. How the hell are you taking care of your slave? He suddenly pulled my skirt. Very disrespectful!" said emotion.

The girl immediately knelt down ignoring the still sore wound. "I'm sorry, Madam."

However, the woman in front of him did not answer the empu's apology. The slaves made the air uncomfortable. Unsettled, he rushed back to the palace. Her quick steps signified that the servant lady did not want to linger in the market.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said many times.

"What are you thinking? As punishment, keep kneeling until someone comes and hires you. If the Thirteenth Princess sees this, I'm sure she won't admit you as a friend."

Afterwards, Mr. Le left the slave girl. Let him kneel on the ground full of gravel.

He said Aster was expelled this morning. That's all he thinks about. His eyes glanced at the string that bound the ankle. Actually, the rope knot can be removed easily. Given the legs is only a formality that slaves who dare to escape, if caught will be whipped with the rope. Whipped, to death.