Isla marched straight back to that heavily mustached supervisor to demand the exact address of where Dorian lived. As soon as she got the directions, she turned to leave, but her steps suddenly faltered in the middle of the hallway.
'If dad finds out about this, he will be absolutely furious... and deeply hurt that I disobeyed him,' she thought, chewing her bottom lip in heavy hesitation.
'But... if I just sneak out quietly, in a perfect disguise, without letting a single soul know, then he won't get hurt at all!'
Determined, she secretly swapped her lavish, silken princess gowns for the simple, coarse linen clothes of a commoner.
With her natural brown hair, Isla easily looked the part; while she possessed the breathtaking beauty and refined features of a royal, her modern, unpretentious mannerisms made her blend in perfectly.
She had the face of a noble, but the grounded spirit of a commoner.
She navigated the winding, dusty streets until she finally reached Dorian's small, run-down home, but as she stood before the weathered wooden door, a wave of awkward hesitation washed over her.
'How exactly am I supposed to introduce myself?' she thought, pacing back and forth in the dirt. 'I am not really his friend, I'm certainly not just a classmate, and I absolutely do not want to barge in there acting like a high-and-mighty Princess.'
Suddenly, a woman's tired voice called out from behind her. "Hey, who are you?"
Isla jumped, her heart leaping into her throat. "Oh! I... um... I am Princess Isla..."
The woman's eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated disbelief. "You... you are the Princess?! What on earth are you doing here—!"
As the woman raised her voice to shout in shock, Isla frantically waved her hands, rushing forward to shush her.
"Please, please, don't do that! Please be quiet!"
"But why?" the bewildered woman asked. "I must announce your presence! Wait... what is your relation to my Dorian?"
Tears instantly welled up in the woman's eyes, spilling over her worn cheeks as she began to sob uncontrollably.
"I am his mother... a completely helpless mother who cannot do a single thing to save her dying child."
"What do you mean?" Isla asked, her chest tightening painfully. "How is Dorian? Has he regained consciousness yet?"
"No," the mother wept bitterly, wiping her tears with the edge of her frayed apron.
"The village doctor just left. He told us that the venom has spread completely through his body, and now... only an absolute miracle can save him."
Hearing those devastating words, a single, heavy tear escaped Isla's eye and fell silently to the dirt floor. Up until this very moment in her reincarnated life, she had never truly cried for anyone.
She, the fiercely independent girl who was ready to fight the entire world and punch out her bosses, was now weeping because she could genuinely feel Dorian's agonizing pain. This was no small matter; her heart was breaking for him.
Quickly wiping her tears away, Isla looked up at the grieving woman. "Can you please take me to him?"
"Yes... yes, of course. Come in," the mother whispered.
When Isla stepped into the dim, cramped room and saw Dorian, she gasped. His face was entirely devoid of color, looking as pale, hollow, and lifeless as a corpse.
Outside, the sky suddenly darkened. Thunder roared ferociously, and violent flashes of lightning tore through the heavy clouds. Remembering the laundry drying outside, Dorian's mother quickly excused herself to gather the clothes before the storm hit.
The very second the mother stepped out, Isla moved to Dorian's bedside. Acting on pure, desperate instinct, she pressed her heavy, enchanted ring finger firmly against his burning forehead.
Instantly, a blinding, fiercely intense light erupted from the ring. It was so impossibly bright that Isla had to squeeze her eyes completely shut against the glare. And then, just as suddenly as it began, the light vanished.
The room plunged back into dim silence. Isla lowered her head in crushing disappointment, hot tears streaming down her face.
'It didn't work,' she thought, her small shoulders shaking with silent sobs. 'My magic couldn't save him.'
Just then, Dorian's mother returned, standing by the doorway with an armful of rescued clothes. She saw the Princess standing there, head bowed in despair, and assumed the absolute worst.
But then, a weak, raspy voice shattered the silence.
"Mother...?"
The mother gasped so sharply that all the clothes slipped from her trembling hands, tumbling to the floor. She sprinted to the bed, dropping to her knees.
"My boy! Mother is right here! You're awake!"
Isla stood completely frozen, thinking she must be trapped in a bizarre dream. 'Did it really work? Did my magic actually save him?!' she thought, her heart swelling with an overwhelming, explosive joy.
With tears streaming down her face, she threw her arms around Dorian, pulling him into a fierce, relieved hug. Dorian's mother watched in absolute, paralyzed shock.
A royal Princess had not only come to visit a lowly commoner's house, but she was now physically touching him—hugging him, no less!
Dorian, still weak and thoroughly confused, managed to mumble in a frail, raspy voice, "Princess Isla... what are you doing here?"
Isla immediately pulled back, her old, fiery attitude flaring up to mask her overwhelming emotions.
"Idiot! Not Princess, just Isla! Have you already forgotten? If you ever call me Princess again, I swear I will throw you directly in front of a stampeding elephant, you bastard!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Dorian stammered nervously. "But seriously, what are you doing here? And how did you even know I was bitten by a snake?"
Dorian's mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario. He hallucinated Isla scoffing, putting her hands on her hips, and saying: 'I didn't even know you were bitten! I just wanted to tour the kingdom, and my father was busy, so I figured I could use you as a cheap guide so you could earn some extra coins! Do you honestly think I actually care about you? We are royals; we couldn't care less about the fate of commoners!'
"Dorian? Dorian!" Isla's actual voice snapped him out of his depressing hallucination.
"Where did you zone out to?"
Blinking away his dark thoughts, Dorian looked at her. "I... I was just wondering why you really came."
Isla's expression softened completely. "Because of basic human decency, Dorian. When I heard about what happened to you, I was so incredibly worried. That is exactly why I came."
Before another touching word could be spoken, a very loud, very distinct GRUMBLE echoed through the small room. It came directly from Isla's stomach.
"Ah," Isla chuckled awkwardly, rubbing her belly. "I was in such a frantic rush to sneak out that I completely forgot to eat breakfast. Do you... happen to have anything I could eat?"
Both Dorian and his mother stared at her, utterly horrified.
"What? How could you even suggest such a thing?!" Dorian's mother gasped. "You are royal royalty! We are mere commoners! You cannot possibly eat our lowly food, or eat alongside us! It is strictly against all the royal rules!"
Isla immediately crossed her arms, rolling her eyes in exasperation.
"Oh, please! In our grand, luxurious palace, every single meal we eat is cooked and prepared by commoners, and we devour it with absolute pleasure! So why on earth can't I eat with you here? Honestly, I am starving.
If I have to wait until I get all the way back to the palace, my hunger and I will both drop dead on the road. Please, just give me whatever you have!"
"But, Princess..." the mother hesitated, looking deeply ashamed. "We only have a single piece of hard bread left right now..."
"That is perfectly fine, I will eat it!" Isla declared cheerfully.
Minutes later, she was happily chewing on the tough, dry bread as if it were a five-star pastry. "Mmm, this is actually really good! Thank you so much!"
She wiped her mouth and glanced out the small window. The violent storm had completely passed, leaving behind a clear, quiet sky.
"Well, the rain and the storm have finally stopped," Isla said, brushing the crumbs off her simple clothes. "I really must get going now. My father and mother are probably searching for me, and it's already getting dangerously late. Bye, everyone!"
She turned back to Dorian with a stern, commanding point of her finger. "And you! You need to stay in bed and rest for a few days before you even think about continuing that terrible job of yours, okay? Bye!"