He knocked lightly at the door of the room Velakia chose earlier.
"It's me," Blanc said after knocking twice, "Can I enter?"
"What do you want? Care to argue and insult each other some more?" The voice of Velakia came from behind the door.
"I'm here only to talk and apologise this time. We can argue later," Blanc replied.
At his words, the door handle lowered, making the door open slowly.
"Say what you have to say then," Velakia said, moving away from the door and going towards the bed on which she sat down as Blanc entered, closing the door behind him.
He cleared his throat before beginning, "You are an annoying attempt at a princess, that would have most likely been assassinated if you were born in the Empire."
"What a fucking apology that is…" Velakia sighed, baffled by his words.
But Blanc continued, "With a mouth as foul as your snoring."
"I-I do not snore," Velakia argued, "How dare you utter lies?"
"Woman, I once woke up worried we were being attacked; that's how bad your snoring is," Blanc muttered, "But that is not the point. The point is, you insulted everything about my homeland, without trying to understand things from our perspective. Which only adds to your foulness."
"If that is your attempt at an apology, then please, leave the room," Velakia said, her pink eye staring into Blanc's gray ones.
"Despite your foulness, I have to say, I also exaggerated, especially about the marriage part, and for that, I apologize." Blanc lowered himself into a slight bow before continuing, "All I know is the person I see, but in reality, I do not know you, your past, or what you have gone through, yet still spoke as if I did, in an attempt, as I said before, to make our journey somewhat pleasing."
"It is pleasing," Velakia muttered, "But you do not know when to stop."
"On that, we are both to blame, Velakia," Blanc smirked lightly, "You do not know when to let go of the ego you hold onto for dear life, even when you do not need to."
At that, Velakia had nothing to argue with.
Which allowed Blanc to dig deeper, "Tell me, how is starving yourself and your people to the point you did, not foolish? Why do you not ask for help when you see I have enough food for all of us?"
"Back home, a year before I was sent here, I got engaged to the man of my dreams," Velakia said, her voice warm as she stared at the wall in front of her, despite her eyes seeing the pictures of those memories painted in her head, "He was handsome, strong, with a smile so cute it eclipsed the sun in my eyes, but… he was the son and heir of a boyard family, the nobles of our Kingdom. He was the one who proposed the marriage, and since we basically grew up together back at the castle, both our families agreed happily. I was the happiest woman, the target of deep jealousy from many noble women, as he was a favored son of our Kingdom, and it was all for free. No strings attached."
"What happened then?" Blanc asked, knowing that was not the end of the story.
"There is a word in our Kingdom that says 'There are no free meals under the Sun,' and truth it spoke," Velakia giggled to herself before continuing, "We were so in love… or at least I was. Until the marriage was a week away, and I caught him in bed with two women. When I confronted him about it, after he struck me, he had tried to assault me and succeeded, but was caught by one of my uncles in the act, and he and all of his close family were stripped of their titles, their islands, and sentenced to death. Hanged by the castle walls, the punishment for rape, for all to see what happens when you try to fool royalty. I think they are still there, hanging. His once beautiful smile, now rotting flesh and bones, as birds pick at their bodies. From the day he raped me, two things happened. One was Lendros and Tahreni never leaving my side, despite each of them having lives and families of their own, and two, I stopped trusting 'free' things, for they are never really free. "
"I…" Blanc muttered, not expecting the depth of her story, and what he heard, "I am beyond sorry for what happened to you, Velakia."
"If not for half the Kingdom saying the same thing, only to forget about it a day later, I would have believed your words, Blanc," Velakia scoffed, "After all that, in an attempt to make me forget I was sent here to broker an alliance with the Warlords and Warmongers of the West, as we call you. An alliance through marriage, as your High Monarch was without a wife, since they all passed away… but, well, he killed himself, didn't he?"
"He did…" Blanc sighed.
And so, Velakia continued, "Then, we traveled through the Empire as the Iron Line began ravaging, trying to make as much distance between ourselves and the war, in hopes that we could somehow return home. But nobody was brave enough to traverse the open waters of the Dark Sea, so we were stuck here for months until Lord Maroux found us, with another 'free' proposal to remain in his care until he can send us home, only for us to, unwillingly may I add, become bodyguards to a man tasked with rescuing his sister, after they married her off to the wrong people, doing all that only for the promise of seeing a boat that would take us home."
"If it consoles you, it is in our best interest to have you sent home," Blanc said gently, "We do not want war with your people if they were to think something happened to their princess. But…"
"But you couldn't just send me home without gaining something," Velakia finished his sentence.
Blanc nodded honestly, "Yes, that is what was decided."
"So you see why I would rather starve than ask for help? Not because I am not hungry and I would not eat, but because I've seen enough to know that 'free' is but a lie. Even you showed me that with Olivia and her family," Velakia explained.
Blanc did not know what to feel bad for.
His earlier insult? His judgement of character?
"I am so sorry for making you remember all these heartbreaking things, Velakia," Blanc muttered, bowing again.
"The day the man I thought of as the love of my life betrayed me never left my mind," Velakia waved him off, "No need to apologise."
"In that case, let me say this," Blanc began, "You are right to think that there are no free things under the sun, but some things are cheaper than others. Would you not ask things of Lendros or Tahreni if need be? Not even for the slightest inconvenience?"
"Of course I would, they are my protectors, my friends," Velakia nodded.
"See? Cheaper, not free," Blanc replied, "They do it because they want to do it, perhaps with the hopes that one day, when they need your help, you would be there, happy to reciprocate all their help. You only need to understand when that 'free' is cheap enough for you to accept it."
Blanc's words brought Velakia back to the room they were in as she turned to look at him, her pink eye looking over the man in front of her.
Seeing that he had her full attention, he continued, "You are my companions for the time being, even if you did not wish for it. And for that, I want to help however I can, be it with a plate of food when in need, as you already paid the price for this 'free' by being with me on this journey. And I promise to you and the Vita above, I will get you on a boat home by the end of it. Until then, accept the help I am offering."
"... Fine," Velakia sighed, finally looking away, "If you mention anything I said now, I will kill you myself and feed your body to sea beasts."
"You remind me of my wife with all these threats," Blanc chuckled, "But I am happy to see our arguments won't cease now that I understand your reasons."
"Now that you mention your wife, I have to say, having two wives is…" Velakia muttered.
"Not with that shit again," Blanc sighed, interrupting her, "I get it, but as I told you before, everyone sees relations differently."
"I am joking," Velakia laughed, placing a hand over her mouth, "You get mad too easily, haha."
"Because you always know how to attack things important to me," Blanc clicked his tongue.
"Only because you make it obvious," Velakia kept on laughing, letting herself fall back first on the bed.
The rising sun illuminated the room they were in, making the sight in front of Blanc's eyes hard to ignore.
He looked at the princess in front of him, her darker skin a beautiful contrast to the clothes she wore as she was laughing, her mouth open wide, eyes closed, trying to hold the tears in from leaving her eyes.
Whether they were of sadness at the story she told, relief at finally telling it to someone, or laughter at the man in front of her, neither of them knew. But it was heartwarming for both of them, regardless of the reason.
A minute later, she calmed down.
"Thank you, Blanc," she said, both eyes in the man's direction, "Really, thank you for this."
"For allowing you to laugh at me?" Blanc sighed.
"For listening," Velakia replied, her eyes steady, "But now, what were you saying about buying food? I am starving."
Hearing that, Blanc couldn't help but smile as he pointed with his head towards the door, "Let's go then."