A few km away from Evelynn and Davis, near a natural hot spring, a little tent could be seen. Inside that tent was the Cauldon family youths.
"Damn, this roasted meat of the Crimson Ape sure is delicious!" One of the youths exclaimed.
"Too bad, we didn’t bring any seasoning..." Another youth sadly muttered.
For some reason. the atmosphere was quite awkward because of a certain someone.
"Haha, come on Zara, cheer up, competing over a Prince is quite normal. No one is going to look down on you! To each their own! After all, you have to depend on yourself to carve a path for your future!" Kent Cauldon looked at the disappointed and sad Zara who wasn’t herself for the remaining days, except for hunting beasts, which was her only stress relief.
Zara lifted her face as she heard that, she then narrowed her eyes and glared at Kent with a grieving expression, "If it weren’t for you, would I have even acted on my thoughts? I originally didn’t have any plans for offending her, but with your intervention, I am now a hindrance to her. In fact, you must have even totally squashed our non-existing relationship as well."
Kent laughed dryly, "Well if you’re worried that Evelynn will make a move on you then you don’t need to worry about it. As far as I know, she isn’t that kind of a person."
Zara smiled at him sarcastically, "As far as you know huh? Meaning, that you are not sure."
Kent’s mouth closed up as he thought, ’Well, how am I supposed to understand you, women? One moment, you are all kind, and the next you decide to go bonkers!’
"No, no, you really don’t need to worry. I can assure you!"
"Assure what?" A calm voice echoed inside the tent which alarmed everyone. But they soon calmed down as they recognized this voice.
"Evelynn, you’re back!" Kent Cauldon stood up and exited the tent as the others followed suit.
"Hmm, I hunted down a Peak-Level Earth Beast Stage Magical Beast. My rank is now 32nd."
"Eh?" Kent and the others were astonished. Not at her rank, but the little kid beside her.
"Prince Davis, what a coincidence for us to meet again! You must be really fated to be with Evelynn!" Kent, as shrewd as he was, didn’t forget to heat things up between them.
Davis’s face which was calm, lit up with a smile while Evelynn blushed as she thought about her involuntary confession during the preliminaries.
Even though he could guess what kind of person Kent was, he couldn’t help but smile when he heard that.
*cough*
"That conversation should be spoken only after I reach adulthood. This is too soon." Davis coughed and casually replied. He gave an image as if he was reserved.
"Of course, your highness," Kent replied with a polite tone.
"Right, get ready. We’re leaving the Island," Evelynn said as she walked into the tent.
"Alright, wait for me here, I’ll go get Ellia," Davis said as he dashed off in a direction.
The youths then entered the tent as they got to ask the details of their encounter. Evelynn also explained it to them as there wasn’t anything to hide.
Besides that encounter, that whole short journey was silent as they didn’t converse during that time.
"Well, that’s that. What are you guys staying here for? Go prepare yourselves!" Evelynn said as she looked at Zara. Everyone noticed it and went out of the tent promptly.
A moment of silence passed by as Zara started sweating a little. She had her head down and didn’t dare to look at Evelynn.
"Look at me, Zara." Evelynn calmly said.
Zara lifted up her head and looked at her with a puzzled expression on her face. She was puzzled because she didn’t detect any anger coming from that voice.
Evelynn sighed as she asked, "Do you love him?"
Zara was startled but shook her head, "No."
"Then why are you after him?" Evelynn asked
"I... Because I can increase my standing and strength with the Prince by my side." Zara thought for a moment before answering truthfully.
Though she was quiet, she was quite short-tempered as well. Even though she eyed Evelynn’s position, it still didn’t make her a wicked person.
"With that kind of thought, you should stop pursuing him. Even though he is a child, I can say that he is as sharp as a hawk."
"... Even if what you are saying is true, didn’t he still fall for your figure? What makes you think that I won’t have a chance with him?" Zara looked at Evelynn as she pointed at herself.
She was in only a level inferior to Evelynn in body shape, but in terms of beauty, she wouldn’t lose to Evelynn either.
Evelynn sighed, "I see, you still won’t give up?"
"How can I back down? Not after Kent revealed my thoughts which I haven’t acted upon!" Zara shook her head slightly.
"Why? Don’t you think that you should love a person before you spend your life with them?" Evelynn asked as she could not grasp her thoughts.
"There’s no need to think like that! Love can be nurtured after marriage as well. In fact, this is how people flow, and you are the one who is thinking out of the box. What? Are you afraid that I will steal him from you?"
Evelynn froze when she heard the sentence "Love can be nurtured after marriage.", she then realised something and laughed as she replied. "It’s not like I am afraid of you stealing him from me. After all, he will have many concubines with him in the future as a Prince. The reason I hesitated to marry him was also for this reason."
She then stopped laughing as her eyes turned sad, "Is it wrong to have him all for myself? I did decide to annul the marriage, but I don’t know now. My heart can’t decide, it doesn’t accept marrying him, neither does it accept giving him up. ...I am a mess now."
Zara grinned as she said, "Isn’t this a sign that you have already started to like him to a great degree? Isn’t that why that you’re all the more reluctant to share him with others or me?"
Evelynn thought for a moment before she recognised, "... That may probably be so."