Chapter 94: I Don’t Like You
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I imdiately reached out toward the largest red fruit in the fruit bowl.
It’s you, I’ve been putting up with you for a long ti!
The fruit was plump and full, almost as big as my face. After grabbing at it twice, I realized my hands were too small to hold it properly. Getting anxious, I lifted my little bottom from the lounge chair and simply stretched my other hand onto the table as well, finally managing to cradle it out of the plate.
I held it up to my face with satisfaction and sniffed it, then opened my little mouth as wide as possible and took a big bite.
Sweet juice overflowed, trickling down the corners of my mouth.
Delicious!
After quickly swallowing the pulp, I looked up and gazed eagerly at the blonde woman sitting across from .
“What is this called?”
“Akri fruit, a specialty of Sylgaria.”
A specialty of Sylgaria? How could I have missed this!
…Well, it’s fine that I can eat it here. When Carlos cos back, I’ll tell him to go buy so for .
Crunch.
I took another bite of the pulp, feeling the rich juice fill my mouth. The sweet taste with a hint of sourness was irresistible, making want to quickly swallow this bite and take another.
It might also be because I was hungry, I overslept and haven’t had dinner yet.
I began devouring the fruit with gusto. The crisp “crunch” sounds were particularly clear in the quiet pavilion. The blonde woman sipped her wine in small mouthfuls, her star-like brilliant golden eyes occasionally gazing at the two bright moons embedded in the sky, her expression indifferent, lost in unknown thoughts.
I quickly finished one fruit, patting my little hands with so lingering desire. I stared at the plate for a while, then turned to look at the woman. Seeing her attention wasn’t here, I quickly grabbed another one.
Cradling it in my hands, I took a big bite and chewed slowly, while my mind began to wonder.
This woman… had been silently staring at the moonlight for quite a while. She didn’t seem to have anything to say to , nor did she have the attitude of trying to build good neighborly relations. It seed like she had called over on a whim, but after I sat down, she suddenly lost interest and just ignored , drinking her wine alone and treating like air.
Really now.
Are beautiful and wealthy won in this world just as capricious?
…But she did give fruit to eat. If we continue in silence like this, I’ll feel too embarrassed to keep eating, and there’s still so much left in the plate.
I should say sothing.
“Who are you?”
The woman turned her head and looked at coldly.
“Victoria.”
“Uh… I an, what kind of person are you?”
“Does it matter?”
“…Alright then.”
As if I care who you are! I just felt it was very awkward! Now I don’t know what to say again, conversation killer…
After holding the fruit and gnawing on it for a while longer, I gradually began to feel like I was sitting on pins and needles.
This woman had a kind of icy aura that kept people at a thousand miles’ distance, making it completely impossible to have normal communication with her.
Thinking about it carefully, those mysterious people from earlier should be guards or sothing responsible for protecting her, probably the kind that never leave her side. They should still be hiding nearby and wouldn’t have gone far.
She clearly wasn’t without companions, yet she was drinking alone in the night, singing songs that sounded very lonely.
Maybe in her eyes, those people’s status wasn’t worthy of sharing a table and drinks with her… Thinking of this, my evaluation of her dropped another notch.
A proud and arrogant woman… I really regret coming over.
After finishing the third fruit, I looked longingly at the fruit plate, hesitated for a mont, then spoke to her.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back.”
There was no point in staying any longer.
Compared to her, Carlos was much more pleasant to look at, even though he always made angry… At this ti, he should be coming back soon, right? What delicious things did he bring …
Hearing say this, the woman finally moved her gaze, which had wandered off to who knows where, back to my face.
“You, why did you beco a Pontifical Knight?”
A very abrupt question.
The words “courtesy” or “politeness” were completely absent from her dictionary. This was clearly our first eting, and we were clearly in such a… romantic city, yet she was so direct in probing into others’ privacy. Was this really appropriate?
Obviously, she wouldn’t consider these things.
This wasn’t a woman who would care about others’ opinions.
“I know your surna is Wintermoon, the little princess of Shanter Castle. You could live a worry-free life. Your father is preparing for rebellion, he has the Church’s support and good chances of winning. And you’re just a girl, so why would you choose the path of a knight?”
…Now this was sothing I really didn’t like hearing.
“My father is not rebelling.” I frowned tightly, looking at her seriously and said, “You don’t know anything.”
“I know more than you imagine.”
The woman nad Victoria still had an extrely indifferent expression, speaking in a light and breezy tone. Seeing that I didn’t want to answer her question, she thought for a mont, then raised her hand to cover the fruit plate, blocking my little hand that was reaching over again.
“No more eating.”
“…Fine, I won’t eat then!”
I stubbornly pouted, and after saying that, feeling it wasn’t satisfying enough, I huffily added another sentence: “Stingy.”
“Say whatever you want, I won’t mind.”
“I won’t allow you to slander my father.”
My eyes stared at her intently.
I had thought that soone like her would never take responsibility for her words and actions, but unexpectedly, she looked at without flinching or avoiding my gaze, and nodded quite graciously.
“I’m sorry, I won’t do it again next ti.”
This made feel quite surprised, and my impression of her improved slightly.
So she’s not completely unreasonable after all.
After thinking about it, I decided to talk with her a bit longer.
I was just curious about this woman called Victoria, that’s all. It definitely wasn’t for any other reason.
“I want to kill monsters.”
Upon hearing this, Victoria moved her hand away from the fruit plate.
“Monsters? You an those from the Abyss?”
“Mm.”
I nodded and took the opportunity to pull the fruit plate toward myself.
She wasn’t eating anyway, and since I didn’t like her, I didn’t need to be polite with her.
After achieving her goal, Victoria didn’t pay attention to my small actions and asked a new question.
“How do you view The Gate of Truth?”
“The Gate of Truth?”
With my mouth full of pulp, my pronunciation beca mumbled, and Victoria obviously didn’t understand what I was saying, her brow furrowing slightly for once.
“Do you really like eating that much?”
I shook my head like a rattle drum, quickly swallowing what was in my mouth.
“No.”
Crunch.
Then I imdiately took another big bite.
This kind of inconsistency between words and actions, this lie that was casually spoken, obviously couldn’t convince her. Victoria stared at silently for a long while, then suddenly spoke.
“If I told you right now that I’m a council mber of The Gate of Truth, what would you do?”
My wide-open little mouth froze mid-chew, unable to take the next bite.
I stared at her with wide eyes, vaguely rembering what Carlos had said.
mbers of The Gate of Truth had indeed infiltrated Order City in more than one group, and there must be people in high positions providing cover for them. Otherwise, with Order City’s strict entry inspections, how could a group of heretics from the Eastern Continent have mixed in so easily just by themselves?
And this woman nad Victoria in front of …
I was here because I had Engel’s letter of recomndation, which made Queen Elizabeth arrange this residence for , and even so, the Church had paid gold coins. But she lived right next to , and according to the normal numbering, this should be residence No. 2 on Londor Street, positioned even closer to the front than mine. So her identity must not be simple.
Such a young woman, living alone here… it should count as living alone, right? With so many people secretly protecting her, she must be an important figure in Order City. And judging from what happened on the rooftop earlier, it seed very likely they were guarding against sothing. If it were her… it wasn’t impossible.
Thinking of this, I beca secretly vigilant. I put down the half-eaten fruit in my hand on the table, looked up and stared at her flawless face, when a na suddenly popped into my mind, so I decided to test her.
“Are you Elna?”
That person Valarr couldn’t forget even before dying. If she was as beautiful as the beauty before , it would be easy to understand.
This kind of rare specin in the world, even if soone told half the city’s n were fighting desperately for her, I wouldn’t find it strange.
“Oh?” Victoria looked at with interest, “You think I’m Elna?”
“Aren’t you?”
“I’m called Victoria.”
“Just a fake na.”
“It’s my real na.”
“…Elna Victoria?”
“Your imagination is quite rich.”
Wait. Wind Order, can fly, female… combining these points…
“Are you Elizabeth?”
Victoria’s lips curved up slightly: “Then you’d have to call Your Majesty.”
The conversation couldn’t continue.
This was terrible. I had a feeling of being completely seen through by her.
This woman was very smart. She was good at observing people and could judge what I was thinking from my every move, even a single glance. Talking with her made feel like a little mouse being stared at by a cat. This feeling was really uncomfortable.
“It seems this is more important than eating after all… I was lying to you, continue eating.” Victoria said indifferently.
…Lying to ?
In a daze, I actually felt relieved, and my subconscious thought was: she’s not an enemy.
After that, anger at being played with surged up.
“Why did you lie to ?”
“Which part are you referring to? telling you I’m a council mber of The Gate of Truth, or saying I was lying to you?” Victoria lifted her wine glass and took a small sip. “How do you know what I’m saying now is the truth?”
“……”
What’s wrong with this woman?
“Is it that no matter what I say, you’ll subconsciously choose to believe it?”
…Damn it.
Is it fun to ss with ?!
I felt like I really couldn’t stay here any longer, not even for delicious fruit.
“Are you angry? You barged into my residence without greeting and disturbed my people. Why should you be angry instead of ?”
Hearing her indifferent question, I was silent for a mont.
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”
Then I stood up and walked toward the main gate of the residence without hesitation. After taking two steps, I suddenly turned back, grabbed the fruit plate from the table and held it in my arms.
“I don’t care who you are, I don’t like you.”
“We’ll et again.”
“No, we won’t.”
Walking to the main gate, I turned back once more.
In the pavilion, under the interweaving of dim lamplight and silver moonlight, the woman drinking alone in the huge courtyard had a sowhat lonely silhouette.
Her soft blonde hair lazily cascaded from the chair back, almost dragging on the ground, but she paid no attention to it.
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