Chapter 25: Back To Millbrook Village
The decision to escort the three rescued captives to Millbrook village had been swift and necessary. Arlos might have fled, but I couldn’t shake the nagging doubt that he might return—likely with reinforcements and a thirst for revenge.
Walking beside Lisa, I became acutely aware of the weight of three pairs of eyes boring into my back. Their gazes felt almost physical, a constant prickle between my shoulder blades that had nothing to do with the afternoon sun filtering through the canopy above. I could practically hear their unspoken questions buzzing in the air like persistent insects.
It was Riley who finally broke the awkward silence. "Why do you have white hair?"
I glanced back to see him staring at me with the unabashed curiosity that only children possessed, his light brown eyes wide with fascination. Behind him, both Judith and Zoey wore nearly identical expressions of barely contained interest, though they were trying to appear more dignified about their curiosity.
"Because my mother has white hair," I replied simply.
Riley’s brow furrowed as if this explanation somehow raised more questions than it answered. "But why do you have pink eyes?"
I suppressed a sigh. "Because my mother has pink eyes."
Princess Judith, who had been maintaining what she probably thought was a regal silence, finally couldn’t contain herself any longer. "I have never encountered individuals with such... distinctive features," she murmured.
Her admission gave me pause. If even royalty—someone who presumably had access to the most diverse courts and traveled extensively—had never seen this combination, then perhaps my appearance was more unusual than I’d realized. Back on Earth, unusual hair and eye colors were just genetic quirks, but here... here it might mean something more significant.
The thought of my mom, Isabella flickered through my mind. She had always been evasive about her family, her past, deflecting Rosaluna’s and my inquiries with gentle smiles and subject changes. Even now, I had no idea where these distinctive features came from or what they might signify in this world.
"Well," I said, shooting Judith a pointed look, "I’ve never seen a princess get herself kidnapped before, so I suppose we’re all encountering new experiences today."
The effect was immediate and dramatic. Judith’s pale cheeks flushed a deep crimson that spread all the way to the tips of her ears, and her mouth opened and closed several times before she managed to sputter out a response. If looks could kill, I would have been reduced to ash on the forest floor.