**Chapter 60: Late Night (Part 2)**
“Why don’t you try it first?”
She furrowed her brows, but despite her words, she still took the smoked fish.
“Are you hungry? I thought I’d let you eat first,” I said, scrunching my little nose and looking at her with eager eyes.
Victoria glanced at me briefly.
She clearly knew what I was thinking, so hiding it was pointless. But if she just opened her eyes wide and blinked a few times, she might… just might… do as I suggested.
And as expected, she took the smoked fish, hesitated for a moment with it near her lips, then tentatively licked the sauce with her pink tongue. After seemingly finding no weird taste, she opened her mouth and took a small bite.
*Crunch.*
Hearing the crisp sound of the fish skin breaking made my mouth water.
“Is it good?” I couldn’t wait to ask her.
Victoria didn’t answer immediately; she chewed slowly while continuing to walk. I trotted beside her, eyes glued to her face, eagerly waiting for her to swallow before asking again, “Is it good?”
“Not bad.”
She replied nonchalantly, not even looking at me, as she took another small bite of the smoked fish and gazed off into the distance.
She seemed to be enjoying it.
“Are there a lot of bones?”
“Very few.”
I stared at the smoked fish in my hand, brought it up to my nose, and inhaled… no matter how I sniffed, it smelled really fishy.
But since Victoria said it wasn’t bad, the taste should be okay… could it be one of those stinky tofu types of food?
Time to take a bite!
“Ah-woo.”
*Crunch—*
I bit down hard, practically swallowing a chunk of the fish’s back meat, revealing a smooth surface of bones. The sauce landed on my upper lip, and I licked it off, then started to chew.
It’s salty, a bit sweet. Sweet with a hint of sour… a taste I had never experienced before, but it was okay.
Feeling Victoria’s gaze on me, I puffed my cheeks and grinned at her.
“Hu hu—”
But before I knew it, I couldn’t smile anymore.
Because it was really fishy.
Once the taste of the sauce faded, the fishiness exploded in my mouth, flooding my nostrils and leaving me gasping with that terrible fishy smell. The dry white meat in my mouth started to taste bitter, with a little spiciness—an indescribably intense flavor.
What the heck…
What is this?!
I quickly turned my head to the roadside, intending to spit the fish out, but before I could even open my mouth, Victoria swiftly covered it with her hand.
“Don’t waste food,” she told me.
“Mmm-mmm—”
My eyes were wide as saucers, with my mouth tightly covered and unable to say a word, only shaking my head vigorously. But Victoria was surprisingly firm, feeling like my cheeks were about to be squished flat. I tried to bite her hand, but accidentally gulped down all the fish meat with a *glurp*.
Only then did Victoria let go.
“Ugh—”
I couldn’t help but dry heave, frowning as I tilted my head back, holding the smoked fish in my hand and complaining loudly, “This is so disgusting! What is this?!”
“Saber River fish,” Victoria responded, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “A fish commonly eaten by the people in the Royal City; it frequently appears on their tables. Although it’s river fish, it’s quite fishy, so they usually cover it with a thick sauce to mask the smell.”
My eyes widened even more. “You knew it was disgusting and didn’t tell me!”
“You didn’t ask,” Victoria replied nonchalantly, taking another bite of fish and chewing it slowly.
How can she still eat it…
I looked at the fish that was missing a bite, stared into its **whitish eyes**, and felt the residual fishy taste in my mouth; I smacked my lips but just couldn’t swallow it anymore.
“Ugh—”
I was getting angrier.
“You’re not throwing that away,” Victoria said softly.
“…I wasn’t planning to.”
“The Saber River fish is very wary; catching one can take half an hour or even longer. Don’t casually waste someone else’s hard work. Since you’ve bought it, finish it.”
“……”
But I really didn’t want to eat it. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have bought it…
Thinking hard, I turned and offered the smoked fish to Victoria, looking at her pitifully.
“I can’t eat this…”
Victoria met my gaze for a moment before finally reaching out to take it. She didn’t say a word, just walked beside me along the bustling street, each of us holding a skewer with smoked fish, taking small bites as she tucked her golden strands of hair behind her ear, revealing her lovely earlobes.
I suddenly felt a bit guilty. Here I was dragging a queen out, making her wear plain coarse clothes and eat this horrendous food…
“Morm sausage! Freshly grilled Morm sausage, come smell this aroma, I promise it’s unforgettable—”
Suddenly, I heard someone shouting not far away, and I froze.
Sausage…
Following the sound with my eyes, I saw a greasy meat sausage in front of a stall uncle, my eyes lighting up.
I remember this; Carlos bought it for me once. Although it was a bit greasy, the taste was indeed very good.
“Victoria, want some sausage?”
“I don’t eat sausage.”
“Why not?”
You can choke down that horrible fish, but won’t eat something delicious… Are you like Sophia, who doesn’t like greasy food?
“That Morm sausage over there is really good. I heard the noble ladies love it.”
After I said this, I noticed Victoria hesitating before putting the fish in her mouth.
“Who told you that?” she asked.
“What?”
“Noble ladies like to eat Morm sausage.”
Victoria’s expression suddenly turned icy, and I sensed she was a bit upset. I didn’t understand why but instinctively blinked. “Carlos.”
“…He’s lying to you.”
?
What does he mean lying? Lying about what…
I didn’t grasp the meaning of Victoria’s words, my little brain still turning, mumbling, “No, it really is good…”
Victoria shot me a flat look.
“Don’t talk to him casually in the future.”
“Why…”
I was a bit dazed.
Now that I think about it, I vaguely remember when I first entered the Royal City, Carlos seemed to have said that Queen Elizabeth was a troublesome woman… could it be that these two don’t get along? Did something secret happen in the past?
“Because noble ladies in the Royal City wouldn’t like Morm sausage. Quite the opposite, it’s the male nobility who love Morm sausage, and they don’t eat it themselves, they just enjoy watching the ladies eat, especially when they eat messily… do I need to clarify further?”
“Uh—”
I suddenly froze.
“Carlos has enough romantic history to fill a volume of ‘Floral Appreciation,’ he knows all the underhanded tricks to deceive foolish girls like you.”
“……”
Rage started to bubble up inside me, and I was so furious that my breaths were coming fast.
Carlos—
How dare he mess with me!!!
That j*rk!! Stinky dog poop!!
“I want to k*ll him.”
I was itching to run back to the Valen Empire right now, drag that guy out, and give him a good beating — black and blue and break his legs!
How despicable! That j*rk is so disgusting!
No wonder he stayed in the Valen Empire for so long, and although he was quite familiar with my father, he’d never met me before… it meant my father had never introduced me to him!
No wonder I always felt my mother had some reservations about him; they surely know that guy too well!
b*stard…
Making me do something so disgusting. The next time I see him, I’ll make sure to break his little brother!
Just wait!
Fuming inside, but still unable to contain my anger, I opened my mouth to curse again, but Victoria suddenly held my hand, quickly leading me toward a roadside stall.
What is she doing…
Pouting, I followed her, my face full of displeasure.
