Chapter 67 - Suspicions

It was as if someone had stuck a cue in Reynard's bum. 

"Tell me, lad," Mister Verel muttered as he instantly lowered his voice and leaned in. "Did you steal this?"

Reynard's eyes hovered over the brooch, and he gulped. What to do? What to do? What to do? What to do? What to do? Reynard gulped again and the insides of his dry mouth.

"So?" Mister Verel probed. "Did you?" 

"No," he replied, trying to remain level-headed. The crack in his voice did not go unnoticed by either of them. "Can I get it back now? My mother must be awaiting my return."

Mister Verel stared suspiciously at Reynard as he turned the white brooch around in his hand. There was absolutely no way he's telling the truth, he thought to himself. He'd be naïve if he believed this baseless claim. Mister Verel looked down at the flower in his palm and scowled. If he kept it, he would be considered a thief upon its discovery by others. Yes, yes, it'd be best to feign ignorance for the while and return it to the lad.

"Alright, alright, hold your horses, boy," Mister Verel muttered as he leaned forward and dropped the brooch in Reynard's eager palm. "Now don't go getting in trouble, do you hear me? I don't care where you got it from, but be wise while you still have time."

Reynard clutched the accessory and put it deep into his pocket, a wave of relief washing over him. He had been having thoughts about snatching it and running away, but that would make him seem like a criminal, which he wanted to avoid at all costs. 

"Yes, of course," he cried as he tipped Mister Verel some coins for his aid. "See you soon, then." With that, he turned on his heels and walked off as fast as his legs would allow him, all the while not seeming suspicious. When he was a safe distance away from the jeweler's stall, he crouched and sighed a long, deep sigh. 

"Good god, that was a close call," he whispered to himself and felt the brooch in his pocket just to be safe. "That princess owes me. Big time."

✿

[Back at what once was Ogden Cove]

"Y-Your Highness, may I… May I come in?"

I wiped sweat off my forehead with the back of my arm and looked at the door. The smoke around the room made my vision quite limited, and the loud flickering fire that crackled behind my back made me unsure of who had spoken.

"Yes, come on in."

It was Sven. He opened the door very slowly and peaked in uncertainly. Ever since he had found out about my secret, he had become rather distant from me. Formal, in speech and action. Even though I told him countless times to call me Ashli (just to be safe), he would always go back to calling me 'Your Highness', or 'Princess'. 

Sven opened the door further and walked in, looking around the kitchen with curiosity. 

"I've told you so many times that calling me 'Your Highness' is unnecessary," I muttered as I rolled out dough. "And it's not even my room you're asking permission to enter in! We're in the kitchen, for goodness' sake. And open the windows, please? I can't figure out the latch."

He jumped to it while I stretched out the dough over the counter. Mama was out today. Before leaving, she had told me to make something for dinner if I can manage, or if all fails, send Sven out to buy some goods. I had found some flour and yeast in one of the cabinets overhead and I decided...why not make some pizza? It'd been a while since I had pizza. 

I rolled the dough into a circular formation and slid it onto a large metal plate that was resting between the space of the counter and the wall. I had washed it, of course, and greased it a bit to avoid it sticking to the dough.

"What are you making?" Sven asked as he leaned back after he had pulled open the windows. All the smoke drifted outside while I finally breathed a clean sigh. 

"You might have not heard of it," I mumbled as I topped the dough with some sauce I had made up of tomatoes. It was the first time I had done that, so I had no idea what I was doing. I sprinkled on some salt (because why not), and decorated it with different vegetables which we had in store. 

"Do we have cheese?" I asked no one in particular. 

Sven nodded as he opened a cabinet far off near the wall. "I think so…?" He pulled out a black chunk of something and started peeling the blackness away from it. It was actually some kind of wrapping paper under which was slightly grey, but pale yellow cheese. 

"How old is this?" I asked as I took it from him and sniffed it. 

Sven shrugged. "I have no idea. Probably about a month."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Well, since it smelled fine, I started shredding it with a razor-sharp knife and then spread the cheese shreds on the pizza dough. Since there was no deep-bake oven, I folded the pizza dough over the other half into a semi-circle. Now I would be able to flip it and cook it from each side over the stove. 

I covered the metal plate with a cover and then put the whole thing with Sven's help over the stove. 

"Easy there," I mumbled as I got closer to the heat and stood back when the pizza was on its spot. "Finally… Now let's get out of here."

So we did. Once outside, I fanned my face and patted at my sweaty neck with a flannel. I didn't even notice that Sven was staring at me.

"What?" I asked self-consciously as I patted dry my face, looking at him from the corner of my eyes. 

He shook his head as he turned red. "How come a princess knows how to cook?"

I scoffed. Why do people assume royalty can't do nothing? I always did every other household chore when my siblings and I moved to Incheon. And the sense of accomplishment I got after seeing the house clean, it was unmatched. 

"I'm not your usual princess," I said with a smile as I put the flannel in the pocket of my pants. Sven had lended me some clothes after he had realized I'm a princess and princesses should never be filthy. So today, I donned a long white tunic hanging lower than my knees like a dress, clenched at the waist with a black leather belt. The tunic had pockets on both sides so it felt easy to store things in it. 

"Let's go back and flip the plate," I said as I pointed towards the kitchen. "Or else the food will burn."

Carefully, we went inside again and did what we had to. Soon, we both sat on the little crates with each a pizza sandwich in hand. 

"I haven't eaten anything like this before," Sven mumbled through a mouthful of cheesy goodness. "What did you call it again? Pitta?"

"Pizza," I corrected as I popped a chopped tomato in my mouth. "Good, isn't it?"

He nodded as he chewed in awe. Finally, I sighed, I was doing something right. But now as I ate in silence, the sound of crickets buzzing outside, I wondered where Mama had gone. And why had Reynard not returned yet? It was all a bit mind boggling. 

I sat in silence as I thought about what to do next with my life. I can't remain hiding and free-loading off of Mama Ruth forever. She had been much too generous as it is. Imposing any more trouble on her would be a bit too much, even for me. And there was the mystery surrounding her brooch as well. How can it be that it was exactly identical to mine? A coincidence? I think not. There has to be a reason. 

As I peeked over at Sven (who was picking at his pizza), something dawned to me. I still didn't trust him. Not completely. I had no idea if he was gonna report me in the coming future. What if all our efforts go to vain just because of this little, accidental slip? I can't let that happen. I needed to do something. Soon.