Chapter Twenty-Nine: Enemy Attack?
“She… isn’t she your sister?”
My thoughts were a chaotic mess, so I rubbed my forehead, filled with a tangled mix of feelings, and let out a soft inquiry that even I was unsure about at this moment.
What in the world is going on with the Ethanbel royal family…
“Pfft, she’s just my… distant relative, you know~”
The woman picked up a wine bottle, looking around as if searching for spare wine glasses—but clearly, the balcony had no wine cabinet. After a few seconds of realization, she waved her hand dismissively and mumbled, “Wait a sec…” then turned around, lifted the curtain, and wobbled her way back into the room.
Before long, she returned with two new goblets.
During this time, I had been wanting to leave, but for some reason, my feet remained glued to the ground.
“My father is Prince Andrew of the Ethanbel family.” She returned to the terrace, placed the goblets on the table, and began pouring wine with a graceful yet slightly tipsy demeanor. While pouring, she turned to me with a smile and asked, “I’m sure you’re familiar with that name, right?”
Huh?
“Who?”
I instinctively shot back.
After thinking it over, I realized I had no clue who this person was. I didn’t recognize him at all!
“Oh, that guy—”
I saw the woman pour a glass half-full, wobbling as she raised the wine bottle to start pouring the second glass, splashing some wine on her hands and the table without a care: “Your sister must call him uncle, right? You’ve been hanging around the royal city for so long, you’ve probably seen him… Though for someone so unremarkable, a failure at everything, it’s only normal that someone of Miss Silvya’s caliber would forget him… Pfft! Anyway, not long after that, he ended up in jail thanks to your sister.”
A failure at everything?~
Don’t talk about your father like that; what kind of “good daughter” are you?
“…Oh.”
I suddenly realized, “Is that him?”
Now that you mention it, I remember.
Viki’s uncle isn’t that glorified lapdog of the Clive Family? Willingly used as a pawn without a backbone, that cowardly loser who would flaunt his uncle status to bully Viki… If I’m not mistaken, he was last seen being taken away by Margaret’s people, right?
Wow, so that’s your dad, huh…
Thinking it over, it makes a kind of twisted sense.
Inherently, a tiger parent wouldn’t raise a kitten of a daughter…
“Is he still alive?”
I raised an eyebrow and asked reflexively.
“Of course he’s still alive! What kind of question is that…” The woman rolled her eyes at me.
I felt amazed.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have even thought about it if she hadn’t brought it up… What kind of good-for-nothing prince has been locked away for years? The underground prison or wherever… and he’s still alive?
Did Viki go soft and let him off the hook?
“Hey hey hey, what’s with that look on your face?”
Aiyarela continued, “I know my father is an annoying guy, but he’s still my father! Seriously, everyone in front of me… pfft, stop acting like you’re wishing d*ath upon him. Although I think that sometimes too…”
Huh?
What is this—
“That selfish j*rk, so self-absorbed and irresponsible… Not to mention a coward, ignoring me when I was a kid, growing up and insisting I should be engaged to the old duke’s second son… what was his name, Alex? Forcing me to marry that delinquent, that’s ruining my life, isn’t it…”
Alex?
Who the heck is that…
Stop throwing around names and nonsense I don’t know! As if I cared who your dad wants to marry you off to… I mean, if your dad’s been sent to prison by your sister, you’d think you’d want to get back at her instead of running into the Empire to be a stand-in for the woman who put him in jail…
“I can’t escape, my mother is just as spineless, locking me up with shackles… otherwise, you think I’d be stuck here with your sister all day cooing and all… hmph…”
As she continued, she grew more indignant, her tipsy face flushed, she took another sip of her wine, pouting her lips: “Enough about that, it makes me mad thinking about it.”
She looked at me and gestured to the other glass and the lounge chair: “Come sit with me, you’re looking for your sister, right? Maybe she’ll be back soon.”
Back?
Back to this place?
I couldn’t help but frown: “You… really like Viki? Your sister? Uh… like, that kind of liking?”
For some reason, I found myself sitting across from her.
“It’s the kind of liking a man has for a woman.”
The woman locked eyes with me, emphasizing every word.
Under the moonlight, her face bore a striking resemblance to Viki, a beauty that could be found in a thousand, with those dazzling golden eyes slightly squinting, sparkling with a childish cunning that a queen like Viki would never possess.
“Of course, I like her—a whole lot… so much so, I want to peel her clothes off and pin her to a soft bed, touch her silky skin… kiss her lips, see her blushing like crazy and gasping for air… want to on her—”
“Enough already!”
As she spoke, her description invaded my mind, and I couldn’t shake the imagery off—it felt like I had just bitten down on a fly. I didn’t want to hear any more: “That’s disgusting.”
“Eww~”
Then I noticed her brow arching slightly, her right index finger dipping into the glass of wine and popping into her mouth, lightly moaning: “You seem… quite into this, huh?”
The woman seemed to take note of something and looked a bit smug.
“……”
She was probing me.
Viki isn’t coming back to this place tonight.
What she just said was probably a big fat lie.
Quickly coming to a judgment, I nearly grabbed the wine bottle and smashed it on her face but then thought better of it. No need to argue with a lovesick drunk. The gap between a deity and a madman is unbridgeable; there’s no way to have a proper conversation.
“Stop with the ridiculous probing.”
I lifted my glass, pouring the wine all over my feet, giving her a cold look, and warned: “For Viki’s sake, I’ll let this slide this time, but there won’t be a next time.”
“What a waste…”
The woman looked down at the spilled wine, covering her mouth in faux shock, “If you don’t want it, you can give it to me! There’re only these two glasses left, and I haven’t had enough…”
“Go rest in your room, you drunkard.”
“No way! I want you to keep me company~”
“Ha.”
“Hey hey, do you want to know about her childhood?”
“If I wanted to know, I’d ask her myself.” I stood up, ready to leave and not engaging with her any further.
“She wasn’t always this cold, you know? No matter what happened, she seemed unfazed…”
However, the woman kept pressing, tossing out bait: “She was actually kind of silly and cute as a kid~ When Mr. Ryan scolded her, she’d look like she wanted to cry but wouldn’t back down, hee hee…”
“Oh right! There was a time when she was crazy about knight novels, the ones even girls love to read… After reading so many, she thought she was a love expert and told me a bunch of silly and funny theories, you want to know? I can tell you all about them!”
“……”
Honestly…
For a fleeting moment, I was tempted.
But in the next second, I turned on my heel, a smirk creeping up on my lips as I told her: “You better remember what you said tonight; I guarantee it’ll reach your sister’s ears tomorrow.”
“Uh…”
The woman’s expression froze in shock.
She sat there for a moment, her drunkenness suddenly sobering up, her mouth twitching as she forced a mix of awkward and terrified smile: “Don’t, please. I was just joking with you…”
But I had already walked back to the edge of the terrace, not looking back.
As I pondered whether to head back to my room or stroll around in the night, my peripheral vision caught a glimpse outside the city, faint yet shocking flashes of thunder lighting up the night sky.
…It’s Anna.
Is there an enemy attack??
