Chapter 247: 23. Favoritism
“I understand. Where is Isabel now?”
“They are fighting in the cabin below deck. After the conflict, the other crew members pulled Higar out. Isabel hasn’t let anyone else in, and she should still be alone in the cabin.”
“Hmm, I’ll go talk to her.”
“I’ll go with you and apologize to her as well.”
But Fisher shook his head after hearing this, glancing at the crew member being scolded by Paz, and said with a smile, “I’ll go alone. She is definitely no match for your crew member and will have been beaten badly. The ladies of Nali aren’t as strong as those from the Kingdom of Sardinia; this is also to take care of their pride. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”
In reality, Alagina was also worried that Isabel might exaggerate her words to Fisher, which was why she wanted to go see Isabel with him; she didn’t want to create a rift between them.
But looking at Fisher in front of her, she suddenly didn’t believe he would easily believe others’ words. She trusted his judgment and felt she should believe in him.
So, she nodded, staying where she was and only said, “Alright, I’ll wait for you here.”
Fisher waved his hand and entered the cabin below deck. The corridor under the ship was not wide; the walls and doors on both sides were made of iron plates. Near the stairs leading to the deck, Old Jack stood at the door of the room where several mouse daughters were peeking inside.
Old Jack, holding a lit cigarette, gestured towards the room’s direction with his chin, indicating that Isabel was inside.
Fisher didn’t respond at first but looked at the cigarette in his mouth with some confusion, asking, “What brand of cigarette is this? It smells strange. Where did you get it?”
“Some weird brand from the Northern Region. I’m not sure, as long as it works. It’s from Paz; if you want some, you can ask her for it.”
Hearing how Old Jack referred to Paz, Fisher’s expression became somewhat odd. The thought of asking her for a cigarette disappeared without a trace. He patted Old Jack on the shoulder ambiguously, then knocked on the closed cabin door amidst his confused gaze.
“Knock knock.”
“Can I come in?”
Fisher asked, but there was complete silence inside, with no response at all.
After waiting a second without an answer, he pushed the door open directly. Fortunately, the door wasn’t locked; otherwise, he would have had to force it open.
The cabin’s space was relatively spacious, originally intended for crew dining. Although it wasn’t mealtime, the fruits Fisher and Paz had collected on the island were stored in a small room in the corner of this cabin, frozen with the ice generated by the Ice Prince.
At this moment, the outside of the cabin was chaotic, with broken fruits scattered everywhere, and even the tables and chairs fixed to the ground showed scratches from collisions, clearly indicating a conflict had occurred while they were moving supplies.
Fisher raised his eyebrows slightly, then turned to see Isabel, wearing crew attire, curled up with her arms around her knees against the wall near the door.
Her face was buried in her thighs, and her long golden hair fell forward, partially covering her visage. However, through a small gap in her hair, Fisher could still see a noticeable bruise on her exposed cheek.
“Isabel.”
Upon hearing Fisher’s voice, her body trembled slightly, but she still didn’t look up, maintaining her position.
“Teacher Fisher.”
Confirming she was okay, Fisher sat down beside her and asked, “What happened? How did you get into a fight with the others?”
Isabel didn’t respond but gently clutched her pants. As her grip tightened, she suddenly asked Fisher a question, “Teacher Fisher, do you hate my sister Elizabeth?”
Fisher didn’t expect her to ask such a sudden question. He fell silent for a moment, then leaned against the wall like her and replied, “Hate, but not hate; however, the reasons for resentment and lack of hate are different. It’s a deeply contradictory thing, and even I can’t escape this entanglement.”
He didn’t look at Isabel but observed the scattered fruits on the dining hall floor, “Your sister is undoubtedly a ruthless person. She can raise the slaughter knife indifferently towards life and enemies, and will resort to any means to achieve her goals. This should be why I harbor resentment toward her.”
“If I had never loved her, if I had escaped from her without her lowering her guard against my blade, if she could have resented me as well for my negligence over the years, then perhaps I wouldn’t have such conflicting concerns today. After all, her tenderness has all been bestowed upon you and me, and those who enjoy favoritism are not qualified to speak of objectivity and fairness.”
“So, for me, whether I resent her or not, it would be more accurate to say I resent myself, resent my debts to her, resent myself for not discovering her mistakes earlier.”
Isabel pressed her lips together, and a few teardrops slid down her cheek before hitting the ground, “I…I feel the same. In the past few days, I often dream of how my sister raised her sword and killed my brother and father. Their expressions were so grim as they looked at me. But sometimes I also recall how she stayed by my bedside when I had a fever, how she encouraged me to attend university and study, how she encouraged me to befriend people who aren’t nobles and go out to play with them.”
“I keep wondering what I would become without my sister. Would I be as happy as before, as oblivious as I was before?”
“Teacher Fisher, in the eyes of most scholars and magicians in Nali, you are a very talented person; in my eyes, you are an unattainable mountain. Yet, clearly, such an excellent person, whose accomplishments are far beyond my brothers, is looked down upon by them.”
“What you don’t know is how angry my father and brothers were when my sister announced that legendary ‘Universal Request’ in front of the whole school during the Gryphon Competition, as if she belonged to them, as if her actions had disgraced them. Who they wanted to marry my sister and me for, and what for, I know nothing.”
“I’m just too overshadowed by my sister’s figure, unable to see the filth that lies hidden. So I genuinely don’t know what I and my sister mean to my father and to Godlin.”
Fisher’s gaze became somewhat distant, seemingly recalling Elizabeth, who once stood before the whole school with a gentle smile to announce that “Universal Request.” The eldest princess, who seemed so glorious,
A Nali orphan without parents, and a penniless boy, managed to gain the favor of a national princess, fulfilling all the tragic prerequisites in a drama.
But Elizabeth did not believe in tragedy; the rules and patterns were mere shackles to her, so she forcefully distorted and destroyed the tracks that led to tragedy with her will.
Just as Fisher said, those who enjoy favoritism are unqualified to speak of objectivity and fairness. This is the source of conflicting thoughts.
“So, I also just resent myself, resent myself for being unable to do anything.”
“Actually, just now, those ladies merely said a few teasing words, but they were about my family, and that’s why I lost control and grabbed and hit her. It was completely unnecessary. I was just so eager to vent my inner dissatisfaction; it was my fault.”
She sniffed and then raised her face. At this moment, her beautiful cheek was swollen, her right cheek was visibly puffed compared to the left, and her left eye was completely covered with bruises, barely able to open, squinting just a little to look at Fisher.
Clearly, the delicate ladies of Nali would not be the match for the soldiers of the Kingdom of Sardinia, let alone this long-pampered jewel of Godlin.
Other people had only been scratched twice on their faces with no issues, while Isabel was almost beaten into a pig’s head. This was still the result of being pulled away by other crew members right after the fight broke out. Probably after a few more exchanges, Isabel would have been completely dismantled.
Fisher’s expression of astonishment at Isabel’s face only made her tears flow even more. She sadly covered her face, but then accidentally touched the swollen wound, causing her to suck in a breath and sniffle from the pain, making it all the more miserable.
“Wuwu… Teacher Fisher, don’t look anymore. It really hurts.”
Fisher found it somewhat laughable, then took out a jar from his bosom filled with powdered magic materials, which he had plundered from the wealthy Valentina.
“Stop crying. I’ll cast a healing magic for you later, and you’ll be fine by tonight.”
“Really?”
“I’m a student of Grand Mage Heilson and the youngest senior member of the Nali Magic Association. Do you think what I say is untrue?”
Seeing Isabel nodding foolishly after being beaten up made Fisher want to laugh a little. He shook his head, got up, and walked to the door.
“Alright, I will help you with the magic later. As for now, I believe you’ve woken up and realized how vulnerable you are. If you want to do more and not resent yourself later, then put in some effort, as both of us have a lot of room for improvement, don’t we?”
It was unclear whether the previous sentence was meant for Fisher himself or for Isabel. After he finished speaking and pondered for a second, he couldn’t draw a conclusion, so he turned to Isabel and said something more straightforward.
“Also, if you know you were wrong, go apologize to that crew member who hit you.”
Isabel, feeling aggrieved, bit her lip. Although her face hurt terribly, she still nodded and said, “Mhm!”
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(The End of This Chapter)
