Prince's Identity Vol. 2

4. Brief encounter

"Lian fast! Common faster!!"

"Slow down, it's not good"

"No way, we must catch up with him, common" Navah pulled the reins of the horse increasing the speed.

A handsome rider, his chiselled back made a beautiful arch, sweat formed between his thick brows. But there is no sign of stopping.

One hottest summer in five decades, three horses in white, three handsome youth in excitement, three red flags with an orange sun fluttered non-stop.

Navah and Erci made a bet on horse riding for fun and Lian accompanied Navah. But the sun is at its high and Lian is not sure if it's a good idea. His horse got tired and he had to stop eventually.

Erci is in the lead but suddenly, his horse had come across a wire trap and lost its balance. He fell down at once, his head hit the ground forcefully and the impact knocked out Erci. 

After some unknown time, suddenly a delicate fragrance surrounded Erci and he could feel a pair of soft hands tending to his wound. He opened his eyes slowly. A lady in red is tending to his wounds attentively.

A face as fresh as the morning dew and a voice as melodious as the bird made the prince of Nives speechless for a while.

"Not to worry, you're feeling dizzy because of the heatwave, the injury from the fall itself is a very small one" she's trying to calm a patient who just woke up in a strange environment.

But Erci being a profound medical exerciser already knew the case yet he just foolishly nodded his head at her words. Not only an ethereal beauty, a compassionate medical exerciser as well. The prince of Nives's heart skipped a beat. He stood like a block of stone staring at her intentively while she is giving him instructions on how he should avoid riding in the sun this summer. 

Suddenly a pair of horse hooves brought Erci to this world.

"Brother, what happened?" Navah's leapt down at once as he rushed to Erci's side.

The lady in red startled yet soon identified Navah as a family member and relaxed.

After making sure Erci doesn't need her help any longer, "Gentlemen, I'll take leave now then, I have urgent matters to tend to" with those words the lady in the red disappeared in a second even before Erci could react.

"Brother, you lost" Navah pulled a face at him to make lite of the mood.

"Yes, I did" Erci nodded his head like a fool his eyes not leaving the traces of the path the lady just left through.

Navah eyes twinkled. "Looks like Prince of Nives is in great trouble" he smiled mischievously while Erci blushed unconsciously.

In the coming days, Erci tried his best to inquire about the whereabouts of the lady in red. But he couldn't find any records of such a female medical exerciser. Some encounters are meant to be short-lived while others accompany us till the end of our lives. Maybe the fate of this encounter is the former one, thought Erci. 

Until one fine day, when Lord Merlin's son invited Erci to celebrate his birthday. But much to Erci's despise, the venue is a brothel house. Erci didn't want to go but Stian insisted that he shall maintain good connections with the families of the royal house members.

The smell of alcohol, ecstasy made Erci's face twist in disgust. On the other side, Lord Merlin's son couldn't stop but gushing about the fact that Lady Mi sho Fang from Fairy court of Fairy shores came today as their dance hostess. 

After a while, a lady in red appeared in their room with a bottle of fine wine. Erci felt his heart drop to the ground. It is her, the same lady who saved her a few days ago. She...how can she be here?..

Just when countless questions are crossing through Erci's mind, Lord Merlin's son's advancements towards the lady in red escalated.

Erci felt like his internals are going to burst out of anger at such a sight. But before he could do anything, Lord Merlin's son's milky cheeks turned blood red. The sound of the slap shocked the other big shots in the room.

"How dare you low life touch me?" Lord Merlin's son spat fire cupping his puffed-up cheek.

"How dare YOU low life touch me?" the lady in red got back at him, disgust and despise written all over her face and voice. 

"What are you doing?" an older lady suddenly broke into the room noticing the commotion from outside. Her face turned pale, and she looked like she is going to faint.

"Quickly apologize" she ordered the lady in red. Let alone apologize the lady in red didn't even flinch an inch and her rage-filled gaze is still fixated on Lord Merlin's son.

As Lord Merlin's son was about to express his grievances to the old hostess, Erci stepped in casually, "Young Lord, it's your birthday today, a time for celebration, do not spoil your mood, I will personally take care of the matters" he stood between the lady in red and Lord Merlin's son.

Lord Merlin's son's face is bubbling with happiness that the prince of Nives stepped in for him. "My prince" he thanked Erci profoundly while the old hostess brought in other girls to entertain the guests and the celebration atmosphere restored again like that.

A small pavilion outside the brothel, with a view of the water poppy pond and black rose trees around, the lady in red looked delicate and graceful and had no signs of fear on her face.

Erci took a step towards her still maintaining a respectful distance he asked "Do you know what wrong did you do just now?"

"I didn't do any wrong, your highness, the young lord was the one who misbehaved with me first, it is well known that guests cannot touch wine hosts or dance hosts except the bedding hosts here" the lady in red's eyes showed no fear even she knew she's being questioned by a prince.

Erci smiled a little as she appreciated her bravery. He understood she didn't recognize him. Of course, it's only natural as most of the royals disguise themselves when they are out in the public and Navah and Erci were in disguise on that day of horse racing. He chuckled "so you didn't recognize me after all"

The lady in red looked confused.

"What's your name, young miss?" He asked respectfully.

"Vera, Vera Nives" her lips quivered slightly as such respectful addressing. Growing up in the brothel, it was quite rare to see someone respect her like that.

After a while of talking, Erci came to know Vera was not actually a wine hostess but covering for one of her friends. She was born in the brothel and soon her mother died and she was raised by the members of the brothel. Vera displayed excellent skills at exercising medicine at a young age and always helped her sisters in the brothel with their health problems. When she grew up a little they urged her to go out so she can escape a fate like theirs, she could exercise medicine and find herself a good man. But Vera insisted that she want to repay her gratitude to the sisters who raised her by serving them as medical exerciser. Usually, it is costly for the members of the brothel to get any high-quality medicine or diagnosis as they cannot afford it.