"S-So cute…" Both Henry and Elsa cooed in unison, their eyes tantalized at the sight of the small creature.
Henry descended on the crater, crouching on the process as he gently picked up the baby Scylla.
On its smooth face, its eyes turned into crescents, a telltale sign when it's happy, "Kyuu!"
The baby Scylla raised her tentacles and slowly wrapped them around Henry's arms. The latter felt a soft pull coming from the baby Scylla.
"Is this the monster that we just fought earlier?" Behind him, Elsa held disbelief in her eyes.
Henry nodded his head and replied, "I think yes? Though I doubt it can be called a monster anymore. There's no way someone this cute can be a monster." As if to contradict his words, the baby Scylla suddenly opened her mouth and to their shock, it was filled with razor-sharp teeth.
And if that's not enough, the tip of her small tentacles suddenly opened, wearing the same teeth as the baby Scylla, "Guwaah~"
Henry instantly felt the urge to pull the creature into a crushing hug. Thankfully, he resisted.
"How about I bring you back with me, yeah?" Henry treated the Scylla like an infant, cooeing it while wiggling his index finger in front of its eyes.
"Kyuu!" Henry took that as a 'Yes'.
After that, Henry carried it like a baby before turning to Elsa, "Let's go back. I have so many questions."
Elsa smiled at him, "I feel the same way too."
———
Thanks to the ice bridge that Elsa made earlier, they crossed the sea without any hurdles. By the time they arrived at the Lioncrest Ship, Henry found himself frozen on the deck.
"Ser Liam?" He uttered the name in surprise. Who would've known that Liam would be the one manning the ship?
Liam stepped forward, his face filled with intense emotions, before he knew it, the man hailed as one of the greatest knights back in Lioncrest Kingdom suddenly broke down, "P-Prince Henry! Sniff! I'm so glad you're alive!"
"It's all my fault! I shouldn't have left you in the ocean! I should've stayed to find you! I deserve the harshest punishment for treason!" Liam fell on his knees and bowed his head, clutching the wooden floorboard.
"Are you out of your mind?" To the man's surprise, Henry's reply contained contempt.
"Huh?"
Henry stepped forward and repeated, "I said, are you out of your mind?" He continued, "The punishment for treason is execution. After almost drowning myself to death to save your arse, you're just gonna go ahead and throw it away? Then what's the point of saving you?"
Liam and everyone including Elsa, were surprised.
Henry then turned around, "Don't say things like that anymore, Ser Liam. Your life is valuable, everyone's is. It is my responsibility to protect those who follow me."
Behind him, not only Liam but also the retinue of knights felt emotional at his speech. Truly, their Prince is the kindest.
"Uhm…" The emotional atmosphere was suddenly interrupted by Frank, the old sailor, who pointed his finger at the weird creature on Henry's arms, "If you don't mind me asking, Lord Henry. But what is that…animal in your arms?"
Only now did Henry finally notice that the baby Scylla had her head held high, her round eyes staring at everyone around.
"This?" Henry's lips quivered. He can't just tell them that this is the same scary monster that he just fought earlier, right?
That would cause them to panic and Henry hates that.
'A name. I can just tell them her name and leave her existence up to their imagination.' Henry mentally tapped his chin and contemplated.
He could just name it Scylla as it used to but that's too plain. Henry has been thinking of keeping Scylla with him as a pet and it needs to have a name unique to it.
'What even is its gender?' Henry confused asked no one but himself. He raised it above his head, taking a peek at its bottom, to which the baby Scylla responded with a shy attempt to cover its bottom with its tentacles.
Too late though. When Henry saw a weird hole below, he quickly came to the assumption that the baby Scylla was a female. Another contribution to this assumption is how the baby Scylla's previous form had a female face.
'It's a Her then.'
After a bit of contemplation, he finally came up with a proper name for her.
Raising her above his head, he loudly declared, "Her name is Aqua!"
"Kyuu!" The baby Scylla, now named Aqua, raised all her tentacles with a happy squeal.
"Aqua…" Elsa's eyes gleamed in amazement.
The others also stared at Aqua, fond of her cuteness.
———
Unfortunately, Aqua can't stay out of the water for too long so Henry had Liam fetch him a barrel before diving into the sea to fill it to the brim and then he placed Aqua on the barrel, watching her swim around and even fill her mouth with water and spit it back out towards his face.
She made her tentacles do the same and now there are ten small streams of seawater flying out of the barrel.
Now that she looked to be settled just fine, Henry turned his attention to Liam, who seemed to be dying to have a long talk with him.
"It's been a long time, Ser Liam. You look thinner than the last time I saw you." Henry pointed out with a chuckle.
Liam could only scratch the back of his head and as he joined Henry in his chuckle, "Well, I have no one to blame but you, Prince Henry. Your father gave me an impossible task to find you alive after watching you….die." Then, he raised his head and looked straight into Henry's eyes with a proud smile, "But I guess there's nothing impossible when it comes to you."
Henry snorted, "You flatter me too much, Ser Liam. I was just…lucky to be saved by a friend. If it wasn't for her, maybe I would still be deep in those depths, rotting and being feasted on by sharks."
Liam can sense something amiss in Henry's tone and doesn't press further about it, "Then whoever this friend of yours is, she has the entire Lioncrest Kingdom's gratitude." Henry gave him an appreciative glance at that.
"She'd be happy to know it." Knowing Ariel's personality, no doubt about it that she'd be overjoyed to know that people are thankful for her act of kindness.
She's almost the same as Henry.
The two of them leaned on the ship's railing, staring at the ocean waves pushing back and forth.
A few minutes passed, and Liam broke the silence between them, "Did you know?" Henry turned his face to him and the former continued, "Lioncrest must've been in chaos by now. Your siblings…I have a feeling they're behind the shipwreck."
Liam's gaze went down on the floor, "I can't prove it back then but now, things are different. You're alive and together, we can put the missing pieces together and bring them down and secure you in your rightful throne."
Henry stared at him in confusion, "Why do you seem eager for me to take the throne? Don't tell me you don't like my father's rule?" He jokingly said in a passing way, but there's a hint of curiosity in it.
Liam smiled and shook his head, this time, there was melancholy in his eyes, "It's a long story…"
"I believe I have all the time in the world." Henry shrugged.
"…When I was 12. My father left my mother. She's been taking care of me for years, doing several odd jobs just to provide a roof over my head and food on the table, " Liam's grip on the wooden railing tightened, "But all of a sudden, that all vanished when a noble settled in on the town."
"He drove the merchants away, and instead, he replaced them with his own people. Everything we needed, food, clothes, and tools was sold by him but tenfold the price…"
"His reason? He said that his products are higher in quality. Much better and good for us. But we know it's a lie. It was just the same as what the previous merchants had been selling us for years."
Liam choked, "My mother. She couldn't afford them and had to get another job. And then another, then another. Before I knew it, she was barely coming home anymore. When I wake up, I would just find food on the table." Henry could tell that Liam was on the verge of sobbing, "One day. When I woke up, I just found her lying on the doorstep. She died from overexhaustion…"
'I see…' Henry could already see where this is going.
With a grit of his teeth, Liam continued, "I was angry. At the noble. I wanted to strangle him, kill him for what he did. But I can't. Not when I'm a mere peasant. So I trained to become a knight, not to serve the people but to find the person who will help me get my revenge against him."
All of a sudden, his grip on the railing loosened and he stared at Henry's eyes, "Then I met you, Prince Henry. During the time I've been by your side, I noticed the changes you made. You implemented a law that targeted all the nobles who lived like tyrants, including the same noble who indirectly killed my mother. You stripped them of their power and distributed them to other nobles who actually do good to their people, so the rest will follow their steps."
"That's the day that I finally realized that my revenge is petty. If I ask you to help me enact my revenge you would definitely say yes. But I was too narrow-sighted. That petty revenge will only appease a single man. But if I were to help out you on the throne, you would help the entire Kingdom in its entirety."
With determined eyes, Liam stared at Henry's and said his last words, "That's why I'm eager to make you the King, Prince Henry. I believe that in your hands, you would contribute not just to our Kingdom but also to the others."
Facing such a confession, Henry found himself speechless. He never knew Liam, that same knight who would whoop his arse every day to train him, would actually have a deep reason behind his support towards him.
Henry both felt grateful and an obligation at the same time. He can't back out now, can he? He would hate to disappoint someone who put his entire trust in him only to deliver a lackluster result.
"Ser Liam…" Henry stared at him in all seriousness, "Thank you for trusting me, Liam. Promise me you'd be by my side when I stir the changes in this world."
Liam's lips thinned before nodding his head. It was a promise, right here on this very ship.
———
After he was done talking to Liam, Henry roamed around the ship, noticing how some of the retinue were looking at him in respect and reverence while the crew and former slaves were dodging his eyes, guilt-ridden in their faces.
Henry stopped in front of them, everytime his eyes scanned each of them, they would deliberately avoid him.
"Earlier on that island, some of you blamed me. For bringing you to your deaths…" This time, the guilt has started to eat them from the inside, it has become evident on their faces and postures.
But to their shock, Henry's next words caught them surprised, "And you're right. I was indeed the one who brought you to your graves and almost had you all killed. And for that I'm sorry."
They raised their shocked faces and stared at him in disbelief. Clearly, it was their fault for blaming Henry and yet why was he apologizing to them?
"But just as I was at fault. So are you all. Blaming someone else to let them take the fall for something inevitable is not the right thing to do."
"So we're all at fault for what happened before. I say, let bygones be bygones and we start anew. There's no point regretting what you did earlier and I won't let the guilt eat you from the inside." With an honest smile on his face, Henry continued with a soft-spoken voice.
"So I forgive you all. And I hope you all would find it in your hearts to do the same to me."
With that, Henry left the deck, not fully knowing that Frank, along with some of the crew members were silently holding back their tears. While the former slaves wanted to shed tears but unable to since they've been doing so for the past few days.
Behind it all, Liam stood with his arms crossed, a proud smile on his face as he watched Henry's departing back.
'You've been touching people's hearts since you were a child, Prince Henry…'