|🌴| Shipwrecked Princess |🌺| A Novel |🌺| Complete |🌴|

🌴 Chapter Twenty 🌴

The end of the week had come and the Oshiappan royals were preparing to disembark on the journey to Bowlivekeya. It had been a busy last few days, trying to prepare and make sure everything would go smoothly. It would be a long journey, and they would not see land for quite some time. So, they needed to make sure they had all their bases covered.

The ship they had chosen was called: Fēi Hǎitún which translates to Flying Dolphin, which was a Bǎochuán or Chinese Treasure Ship, and quite different compared to the Ocean Gal. It had taken over two years to build with very specific modifications that would help prevent what happened to the Ocean Gal. The towering junk masses were quite beautiful, compared to the previous plain white masses. It may have been a bit smaller than others, but it was still a sight to see.

Although they had been working on the ship the whole week before they left, the ship needed some maintenance work to make sure everything was in tip-top shape. So far, just since the morning, the ship had been checked over fifteen times. Every little inch had been gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Not one inch was left untouched, unsearched, everything was checked.

They made sure to store some spare parts in case something were to happen to the others. They were hidden in a compartment down in the hull so that if their ship was raided no one would find it. They did not need a repeat of what happened with being stranded in the middle of the ocean. If only they had some spare wood, wheels, and masses, they could have fixed things, but at the time it never crossed anyone's minds.

They had sent ahead two naval ships to make sure things were clear. They had anchored 40 nautical miles away from shore, waiting for the royal ship to begin its voyage. A red cloth would signal to the naval ships that they were approaching and to get ready to follow in tandem with them. It might have been a little overboard with everything, but it was what needed to be done to help everyone feel safe.

Nori stepped out of the carriage and looked around in dismay. "Has anyone seen Yohan? I checked his room, he wasn't there. I checked the art room, not there either. The crew had checked the ship, still not there! This is my third time back. Where is he?" She asked no one in particular, anyone in her proximity could answer her question.

Mark walked down the ramp and over to his wife. She was asking about Yohan? She couldn't find him? "You can't find Yohan?" He questioned, he hasn't seen him either. He hadn't taken much notice since he had been occupied with helping check the ship. "He has to be here." He mused, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

Nori sighed, shaking her head. "No, I can't. Akira is with Daiyu, bringing their horses, Mingmei is helping with the gifts, but I can't find Yohan." She put her hands up and let them fall to her side. She was at her wit's end with her youngest son. He was making her worry. She knew nothing bad had happened, but she didn't want to leave him behind.

Mark patted her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find him." He said then some palace staff who were helping load some food were having trouble. "Hold on, let me help." He called rushing over and helping them. It was the least he could do, they had been at this since before the sun was up. It may have been mid-morning, but it had been a while.

Mingmei passed by her mother, she stopped and turned towards her. "Mother, he's hiding in the crow's nest. One of the crew members saw him load his stuff up and climb up there before the sun rose." She replied, pointing to it, while she carried a few wedding gifts. They might have gone overboard with the gifts.

Nori sighed. She was surprised he had come onto the ship that early? He must've spent all night trying to gather enough courage to get himself on the ship. And because of that, he probably was too worried to go to sleep. "Oh goodness." She murmured making her way up the ramp. She had always felt bad for her youngest son, he was like her, very sensitive.