"You look worse than I thought you would." Michelle said with a smile, "Good thing I am here, wouldn't you agree? Oh, right. I forgot you can't speak."
Ashton was shocked to see the princess of Lycania standing in front of him again. He didn't know why she was there, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good. After all, their last meeting had ended up with concealed hostility from both of them.
'Could she be the one behind all this?' Ashton's mind was in overdrive.
If it was the princess, then she certainly have enough money as well as influence to do kill someone in secret without worrying about the consequences. Even if someone were to confront her, her father could have easily either silences the opposition or make a false culprit take all the blame for her wrongdoings.
Also, if she was involved in the 'accident', then the hope of Ashton's re-entry in the academy was as good as gone. Since Ashton could not turn his head to get a good look at her, he could only see her from the corners of his eyes.
But even that was enough to see all of the doctors and nurses Ashton had seen in the days he had spent there, standing behind her. However, all of them were in chains and handcuffs. Seeing them like that confused Ashton even more.
'They weren't working for her?' He thought as the princess slowly walked up to his bed.
She looked all over him with a repulsed look as if she was looking at a pig covered in mud. However, her expression of disgust soon turned into that of anger as she turned around to face the doctors and the nurses.
"I am no specialist in the medicinal field, but even I can see that you all have been neglecting your duties as healers." She scolded all of them before slapping the doctor right in front of her, "You are the head doctor here, aren't you?"
"Y-Yes, your highness. That would be me." The man who had just been slapped mumbled.
"Then would you mind telling me why is this patient in such a terrible condition?"
If someone would have seen the princess they would think the doctors had done something wrong to her lover or a close friend. But Ashton saw right through it. She was behaving like this for a reason.
As for what that reason could have been... he couldn't come up with a single reason. The princess was supposed to hate him. After all, he was a person who served the mistress and the relationship between the king and her was no secret. Yet there she was, acting like a messiah.
"Y-your highness, there must have been a mistake in his-"
He was barely able to get a word in before the princess kicked him right in the chest. The kick sent the doctor flying away. However, he wasn't the only one who got flung away. Since all of the staff members were chained together, all of them got knocked back.
"Excuses, all you can offer me are excuses but no explanation." She then nodded at the soldier she had brought with herself and they immediately forced the doctors back to their feet, "I don't care why you did what you did, but I am going to find out about it all, and when I do, dying would be the last thing in your minds."
Hearing that, all of the staff members went down on their knees and started begging the bloodthirsty princess for mercy. But their blabbering only made Michelle even angrier. She reached into her inventory and took out a rapier and then in a flash stabbed a nurse right in the chest... killing her right then and there.
"If any of you wanna live to shed your filthy furs again, then treat the patient correctly and without any malicious intent. My bodyguards will stay here to ensure his safety and if anything happened to him, not only you but your entire family will die a miserable death. That is my royal oath."
'What a lame-ass speech...'
It was a good thing Ashton's mouth was shut or else he would have inevitably ended up yawning. He did not believe that people could change, especially not within a few days at least. Although he didn't know why the princess was going through so much trouble just for him, he knew that there was some sort of selfish motive behind it all.
'It's clear she wants to get on my good side. The question is why? What would a princess want from a mutt either way?'
While Ashton might have to wait for some time to uncover the princess's true intention for doing all this drama, the princess turned to check on him once again. Only this time, her eyes were full was compassion and pity.
'Damn... if I didn't know she has a rotten heart, I would have ended up believing her acting is real. No wonder she has so many followers by her side, she's quite a good actor.'
While Ashton was thinking all that, Michelle unexpectedly grabbed his hands in hers and started stroking them gently. Ashton immediately felt uncomfortable and wanted to withdraw his hands. But his paralysed ass could not do anything but look at her wondering just what was going inside her head.
"Don't worry. I came here to apologize for my... unjust treatment of you the last time we met. Only when I got here, did I realise something worse was going on here at the moment. I hope you can forgive my past transgressions and accept my help in the form of my apology."
'Yup, she's an actress alright. Well, considering she's royalty, it's one trait she would obviously have.'
She held his hands for a couple of more minutes before leaving. But before she did that she told Ashton one thing. Just by hearing it, Ashton's worries about not being able to return to the academy were... nullified.
"Don't worry about the trial. Everything will be taken care of. In return, I hope we can get a new start for our new... relationship."