Chapter 94: I Don’t Like You
I quickly reached for the biggest red fruit in the fruit bowl.
It’s you! I’ve endured you long enough!
The fruit was round and plump, nearly the size of my face. After a couple of failed attempts to grasp it with my tiny hands, I panicked, lifted my little b*tt off the lounge chair, and used my other hand to support myself on the table, finally managing to lift it out of the bowl.
I held it gleefully in front of me and took a sniff, then opened my mouth as wide as I could and took a big bite.
Sweet juice burst forth, trickling down the side of my mouth.
Delicious!
I quickly swallowed the pulp, raised my head, and looked eagerly at the blonde woman sitting across from me.
“What’s this called?”
“Acria Fruit, a specialty of Silgaya.”
A Silgaya specialty? Why did I miss that!
…Oh well, at least I can eat it here. I’ll tell Carlos when he gets back and make him buy me some.
Crunch.
I bit into the fruit again, savoring the rich juice spreading in my mouth. The sweet and slightly sour taste was simply irresistible. I just wanted to swallow quickly and take another bite.
Maybe it’s because I was starving; I overslept and didn’t have dinner yet.
I began to munch away at the fruit with great gusto, the crisp “crunch” echoing loudly in the quiet round pavilion. The blonde woman took delicate sips from her wine glass, her starry golden eyes occasionally glancing at the two bright moons hanging in the sky. She looked aloof, lost in thought—I couldn’t tell what was on her mind.
Before long, I finished the fruit and, feeling somewhat unsatisfied, I clapped my small hands and stared at the bowl for a moment. Turning to look at the woman, I noticed her attention was elsewhere, so I hastily grabbed another fruit.
Holding it in my palm, I took a big bite and chewed slowly, while my thoughts began to wander.
This woman… had been silently staring at the moonlight for a while, neither making small talk with me nor showing any desire to build a neighborly rapport. It seemed she called me over on a whim, and upon my arrival, she suddenly lost interest. Now she was simply drinking her wine, treating me like I was part of the furniture.
Geez.
Are beautiful and wealthy women in this world all this willful?
…But she did give me fruit to eat, and if I continued in silence, I would feel too embarrassed to keep munching—a bowl this full still had plenty left!
I should say something.
“Who are you?”
The woman turned her head and gave me a cold glance.
“Victoria.”
“Uh… I mean, what kind of person are you?”
“Does it matter?”
“…Alright then.”
Why would I care who you are? I was just feeling awkward! Now I didn’t know what to say—topic killer…
After nibbling on my fruit for a bit more, I started to feel fidgety.
This woman had an icy demeanor that made it impossible to hold a normal conversation with her.
Thinking back, those mysterious people I saw earlier should be her guards, likely the kind that never leaves her side—they were probably still hiding nearby.
She clearly had companions, yet here she was, drinking alone at night while singing a lonely tune.
Maybe to her, those people weren’t good enough to share a drink with her… With this thought, my opinion of her dropped another notch.
What a proud and arrogant woman… I regretted coming here.
After finishing my third fruit, I eyed the fruit bowl longingly, hesitating before finally speaking up again.
“If nothing’s going on, I’ll head back.”
There was no point in staying anymore.
Compared to her, Carlos was much more pleasant to be around, even if he always pissed me off… By this time, he should be back soon, right? I wonder what tasty treat he’ll bring me…
Hearing me, the woman shifted her gaze back to my face.
“Why did you become a Pope Knight?”
What a blunt question.
It seemed she had no notion of ‘politeness.’ We just met for the first time, and here she was, probing into my life in such a direct manner—was that really appropriate?
Clearly, it was not a concern of hers at all.
She didn’t care about anyone else’s opinions.
“I know your surname is Winter Moon, and you are the little princess of Shanter Castle. You could live without worries, your father is preparing for a rebellion supported by the Church, and he has a good chance of succeeding. And you’re just a girl; why would you choose the path of a knight?”
…That was something I really didn’t want to hear.
“My father is not a rebel.” I frowned tightly and said seriously, “You know nothing.”
“I know more than you think.”
The woman named Victoria maintained her indifferent expression and spoke lightly, but when she saw I wasn’t going to answer her question, she thought for a moment and then raised her hand to cover the fruit bowl, blocking my reaching hand.
“No more eating.”
“…Fine, I won’t eat!”
I stubbornly pouted, and feeling unsatisfied, I added huffily, “Stingy!”
“Call me whatever you like; I don’t mind.”
“You dare to defame my father.”
I fixed my gaze on her.
I thought a person like her would never take responsibility for her words or actions, but to my surprise, she met my gaze without flinching and nodded gracefully.
“Sorry, I won’t do it again next time.”
That took me by surprise, and I couldn’t help but hold her in a slightly better light.
She wasn’t entirely unreasonable after all.
Thinking it over, I decided I might as well talk with her a bit longer.
Just out of curiosity about this woman named Victoria—nothing else, definitely not for any other reason.
“I want to k*ll monsters.”
Hearing this, Victoria moved her hand away from the fruit bowl.
“Monsters? Are you talking about the Abyss?”
“Uh-huh.”
I nodded and took the opportunity to pull the fruit bowl closer to myself.
She wasn’t eating, and since I didn’t like her, I didn’t have to be courteous.
After achieving her goal, Victoria stopped paying attention to my little actions and asked another question.
“What do you think of the Gate of Truth?”
“Li Junhong paper?”
With fruit in my mouth, my words came out all slurred, and Victoria clearly didn’t understand me, her brow slightly furrowing.
“Do you really like eating?”
I shook my head vigorously, like a bobblehead doll, and quickly swallowed my mouthful.
“No.”
Crunch.
Then I took another big bite.
This kind of contradictory behavior, casually spoken lies, clearly didn’t convince her. Victoria stared at me in silence for a while and then suddenly said.
“If I told you right now that I am a member of the Gate of Truth, what would you do?”
My mouth dropped open mid-bite, and I couldn’t take another chew.
I stared at her wide-eyed, vaguely recalling what Carlos had mentioned.
Indeed, there were multiple members of the Gate of Truth that had blended into the Royal City, surely backed by powerful figures—they wouldn’t have gotten in so easily otherwise, especially with the Royal City’s strict entrance checks. Just a bunch of heretics from the Eastern Continent couldn’t simply slip in.
And this woman named Victoria…
I was only here thanks to Angel’s recommendation, which got me a place from Queen Elizabeth. Even then, the Church paid in coins. Yet she lived right next door to me. By standard rank, this should be residence No. 2 on Longdoll Street, a spot closer to the front than mine; therefore, her identity couldn’t be simple.
A young woman living here… well, at least I assumed she was living alone. She had so many people secretly protecting her, so she must be a significant figure in the Royal City. Judging by the earlier rooftop incident, they were likely on high alert for something, and if it were her involved… it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.
With that thought in mind, I became warier, putting down the half-eaten fruit in my hand, looking up at her exquisitely flawless face. Suddenly a name popped into my head, so I decided to bluff her.
“You’re Ailna, aren’t you?”
The person that Valar couldn’t forget until he died; if she looked as stunningly beautiful as this woman, I’d totally understand.
A rare species seldom seen in this world—if someone told me there were half the city’s men fighting for her, I wouldn’t bat an eye.
“Oh?” Victoria looked at me with interest, “You think I’m Ailna?”
“Aren’t you?”
“I’m Victoria.”
“Just a fake name.”
“It’s a real name.”
“…Ailna Victoria?”
“Your imagination is rather vivid.”
Wait a minute. The Order of the Wind, capable of flight, a female… considering these points…
“You are Elizabeth.”
Victoria raised the corner of her mouth, “Then you should call me Her Majesty the Queen.”
The conversation could not continue.
Oh no, I had the distinct feeling she could see right through me.
This woman was smart; she was great at observing people, able to judge my thoughts from every single movement or even a glance. Talking to her made me feel like a little mouse under the stare of a cat—very uncomfortable.
“Seems like this is more important than eating… I’m joking, carry on eating.” Victoria said lightly.
…Joking?
In my haziness, I oddly felt a sense of relief, an instinctive thought: she wasn’t the enemy.
After that, however, I felt a surge of frustration from being toyed with.
“Why did you lie to me?”
“What do you mean? Is it about me telling you I’m a member of the Gate of Truth, or that I told you I was lying?” Victoria picked up her wine glass and took a small sip, “How do you know if what I’m saying now is the truth?”
“……”
What’s up with this woman?
“Is it that whatever I say, you will instinctively choose to believe?”
…What the heck.
Are you having fun messing with me?!
I genuinely felt I could no longer stay here, not even for the delicious fruit.
“Are you angry? You barged into my residence without knocking and surprised my people. Why is it I who isn’t angry, but you?”
Upon hearing her indifferent question, I paused for a moment.
“Sorry, it won’t happen again.”
Then I stood up and walked straight to the door without hesitation. After taking two steps, I suddenly turned around, grabbed the fruit bowl from the table, and hugged it tightly.
“Whatever you are, I don’t like you.”
“We will meet again.”
“No, we won’t.”
As I reached the door, I looked back one last time.
In the round pavilion, under the dim yellow lights mingled with the silver-white moonlight, the woman who sat alone in the grand courtyard, sipping her wine, looked a bit fragile from behind.
Her soft golden hair carelessly slid off the back of her chair, almost touching the ground without a care.
