Chapter 75: Night Talks
I think, no matter how we change in the years to come, the words Victoria shared with me tonight will stick in my memory for a long, long time—probably until I kick the bucket.
It was a mix of touching and a bit of complicated emotions, swirling inside of me and refusing to calm down.
“Vido… Viki.”
I couldn’t respond to her feelings that were so pure, so unreserved, and perhaps a bit too accommodating. Because, as she said, I truly didn’t understand my own feelings. In fact, until this moment, I’d never really considered this issue.
It was an instinctive avoidance. I knew I wouldn’t marry a man, but my affections for women were nearly nonexistent—I rarely felt moved, even by a beauty like Victoria. It merely brought back a faint memory of that fluttering feeling I had when I was with Little Xi. But that was only for a brief moment, quickly drowned by an overwhelming tide of panic and confusion, not even causing a splash.
Thanks to this body, I could no longer like women. Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about suddenly developing a fondness for men either.
This was my current state.
In fact, if I remain like this in the future, I suspect I’ll probably never end up with anyone.
If it hadn’t been for meeting Victoria, if she hadn’t liked me, I might never have realized any of this. The very fact that I hadn’t realized it showed how indifferent I was to romance. And since I had no interest, I ignored it.
But even so, I still wanted to respond to her.
Perhaps I couldn’t do everything she hoped for just yet, but I want to give her a little something back.
“My father, mother… my family, they call me Pepé.”
Though I couldn’t force my emotions, Victoria made me realize my importance in her heart—at the very least, I had to make her understand that she was just as important to me.
“In the future… you can call me Pepé too.”
The woman named Victoria froze for a moment.
“Okay.”
She replied blandly, nodding.
Then she turned away to rinse herself off, saying no more. I silently scrubbed the foam from my head, splashing water on my shoulders absentmindedly, and after a while, I crouched down to blow bubbles underwater.
“Blub blub—”
“Don’t do that, it’s gross.”
“Blub… oh.”
When we were both mostly washed up, the maid named Shalman brought me a new dress.
The fabric of the dress was soft and smooth, a high-quality handmade court dress, beautifully adorned with intricate light red embroidery. Honestly, I quite liked it, but it was a nightgown.
It was thin, incredibly well-made, and almost see-through. The hem barely covered my thighs, and under the firelight, it looked as if I was practically wearing nothing—a rather racy nightgown.
Moreover… I wasn’t sure if it was Victoria’s idea or if that seemingly stiff yet sly and irritating maid acted on her own accord, but she hadn’t brought me anything to wear underneath, or even a corset. Even the one I had come in with seemed to have vanished—was Victoria really a creepy collector type?
I was no longer as tense as before. Sure, it still took a bit of time to get used to things, but our hearts had already opened up to each other.
Just as I was about to sh**t Victoria a scornful glance for preparing to change clothes, she said to the maid, “Get her a different one.”
“Yes.”
The middle-aged maid, as calm as Victoria, bowed slightly and took the provocative nightgown out of the washroom.
…Just as I thought, it was the maid’s own idea.
I let out a sigh of relief, but then suddenly recalled something else. I shot Victoria a suspicious look, hesitating for a moment. “You… you’re not—”
“Not at all.” Victoria interrupted me while donning a new nightgown and fiddling with her golden hair without looking back.
…Not at all?
I hadn’t even finished asking, yet she quickly denied it?
You seem very knowledgeable…
That maid did seem surprisingly practiced at this, bringing out the dress with a straight face as if it were nothing new. It didn’t feel like the first time…
So I was actually about to ask her if she was used to doing this. Forget it, what’s the point of asking? But if I didn’t ask, I’d feel all pent up; I didn’t even know why.
Victoria seemed to sense my thoughts and explained, “That nightgown is your size. The only clothes outside in the bedroom, aside from mine, are yours. The royal palace’s dressing rooms and my chambers, many places have my personal items, but it’s just mine or yours.”
I was taken aback.
I had kind of guessed before because this woman had slept beside me for a night, the only person who could know my clothing size was her. At the time, I hadn’t understood what significance this had, thinking I wouldn’t be going to the royal palace often… Now I understood.
But I hadn’t expected her to even prepare for this… Is this what they call “everything prepared, just missing the right wind”? When did she pull this off… How long has this woman been eyeing my body?
Victoria tied her robe, turned, and looked down at me still lost in thought in the tub.
“Shalman is always like that. As my head maid, she’s stable, careful, and does things efficiently, plus she knows exactly what I like.”
“Oh…”
I nodded, wanting to say more. Then I noticed a trace of mockery in her gaze.
“What? Did you think your size was universal? Where does your confidence come from?”
I blinked in surprise, taking two seconds to get her meaning before feeling a rush of anger inside. “Victoria, are you insulting me?!”
She was indirectly mocking my small chest and stature, suggesting that my clothes wouldn’t fit anyone else!
“You said you wouldn’t insult me!”
“I’m just stating facts,” replied Victoria nonchalantly.
“……”
I was at a loss for words and couldn’t find a good retort, which only made me angrier as I turned my head away, refusing to acknowledge her.
Then I heard the washroom door open and close, and when I turned back, I saw the head maid approaching with a new nightgown.
“Miss, please change into this.”
This time it was a normal white nightgown, but there was still just one.
I didn’t reach out to take it. Instead, I blinked at the head maid. “What about the undergarments?”
The head maid remained impassive. “Miss, they’ve been cleaned.”
…Who told you to clean them?
I just changed into them; they were clean!
“Please, bring me new ones?”
If they have my clothes, then surely they have undergarments prepared too?
But the head maid didn’t budge, calmly saying, “Sorry, Miss, I only take orders from Her Majesty.”
Would it k*ll you to be a bit flexible…?
So I turned back to Victoria. “Vido—”
Only to see her quickly walk out of the washroom.
…Didn’t this woman say she wouldn’t do anything funny anymore? Why does she still want me running around in my birthday suit? What a bizarre preference?!
I got out of the water, unpleased, dried myself off, and changed into the nightgown. I pushed the washroom door open to find Victoria lounging on the edge of the bed, letting her hair down, holding a glass of red wine, taking small sips.
I immediately forgot what I intended to say and marched over angrily.
“What are you still drinking for?!”
“Thinking about some things,” she replied, gesturing with her eyes for me to lie on the other side of the bed.
But I ignored her. “Thinking and drinking, do they even relate?”
“Give it to me!”
I snatched the wine glass from her, grabbing the bottle from the bedside tray, just as the head maid came out of the washroom and walked over to hand it to her.
“Take it away, thank you,” she said brusquely.
The head maid glanced at Victoria, who nodded before taking it back.
“Your Majesty, Miss, I’ll take my leave now. Have a good rest.”
Once she left, I returned to the bedside, standing in front of Victoria.
“You should drink less alcohol.”
Victoria studied me for a moment before nodding, “Okay.”
There was a rich smile in her eyes.
Tonight, Victoria smiled more times than I’d ever counted before. Perhaps it was because it was just the two of us. She no longer felt the need to hide her emotions, nor did she have to armor herself with indifference to compensate for the age gap with others.
Seeing her like this genuinely made me happy.
The night outside deepened.
Through the curtain’s cracks, I could vaguely see the flickering lights from three mansions. It was quiet over there, not a sound to hear. Suddenly, I remembered the balcony’s floor-to-ceiling window that I hadn’t closed. I tilted my head to think about it but decided to temporarily forget it.
Fearful of the past…
Longdoll Street was the safest part of the royal city, with frequent patrols. No one dared to wander here at night, and those who did wouldn’t be able to steal much, as there wasn’t anything of considerable value in the mansions. The most valuable crescent blades wouldn’t be easy for a Pope Knight to transport either, so I decided to let it go until tomorrow.
Still, it felt safer here… I could get a good night’s sleep.
The spacious bedroom was exceptionally bright, and the lazy beauty was right beside me, arms crossed, her right hand resting on her chin in thought. The thin nightgown accentuated her perfect figure, and the air was filled with a delicate fragrance different from my own.
I awkwardly climbed onto the other side of the bed, settled down, pulled the quilt over my legs, and leaned against the headboard like Victoria, maintaining a distance that was neither too far nor too close. I stared at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, resting my hand on the bed one moment and crossing them on my belly the next, fidgeting with my fingers and sneaking glances at her.
I should say something… otherwise, this feels weird.
So I tentatively asked, “What are you thinking about?”
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, I heard her indifferent reply: “You don’t need to know.”
“……”
Alright, while something changed tonight, some things would always stay the same—she remained the same old conversation-ender.
I was feeling a bit sleepy, but I had to tell her something first.
“Victoria.”
The woman lost in her thoughts suddenly became alert.
I quickly corrected myself: “Viki.”
Still getting used to it…
But this woman… when I asked her a question earlier, how come she didn’t react so quickly?
Feeling slightly huffy, I continued, “Last night, I sent the letter. The silly bird… no, the messenger raven will be back and forth in less than twenty days.”
This time she turned her head, her eyes reflecting mild surprise.
“Twenty days? Which messenger raven has such speed?”
“Raven.” I replied.
“Raven?” Victoria furrowed her brows slightly. “While ravens are difficult to train and quite rare as messengers, to my knowledge, they don’t fly that fast.”
“Well… my raven is a bit special?”
I didn’t know how to explain it. The goat cheese was remarkable in too many ways. Super smart, it could understand human speech, fly through the city’s barriers, and it was fast. It was definitely not an ordinary bird, but I didn’t know what it was capable of.
Clearly, this vague answer only deepened Victoria’s curiosity, but after thinking for a while, she probably felt it wasn’t a major issue and dropped the topic.
“I’ll have the legal department draft a contract tomorrow. At night, I will send a diplomatic envoy out of the city with the contract. If Duke Skarlick is interested, we can save at least one trip and get things moving faster… Is there a problem with freight from Shanter Castle?”
I thought it over, feeling a bit guilty, and shook my head.
“I don’t know…”
Suddenly I felt regretful. During my time at Shanter Castle, I hadn’t given any thought to such matters; I had no clue about the specific conditions of the workshop or how our business was done. Now, I couldn’t even handle this small detail…
How did I…
End up like this without realizing it…
“I’m sorry.” I apologized to Victoria.
“It’s fine, I’ll figure it out.” Victoria wouldn’t blame me, of course. After a pause, she added, “Don’t apologize to me in the future.”
I fell silent at her words.
This wasn’t really about whether I should apologize or not… this bad habit of mine needed to change. Otherwise, I’d always be passive and unable to handle things.
After a moment of silence, I recalled what Margaret had said the other day. She mentioned not seeing any Iron Guards outside the city. I forgot to ask her from which gate she came in, and I had no idea about the current situation. I couldn’t help but ask Victoria, “Have the Iron Guards arrived yet?”
I remembered the Old Duke mentioning that there were thirteen thousand people outside the city and that number was expected to rise. I knew nothing about warfare, and I didn’t understand if the methods of deployment and siege weapons were different from what I imagined. After all, when I first woke up, the fiery projectiles flying toward me left a deep impression—how many people were there back then?
Now, the number of enemies outside was several times what it was then. I didn’t know what it meant for the royal city if they kept increasing. The city walls were high and thick, looking utterly impervious, but what if the enemy had something capable of raining down meteor-like destruction?
Though it was unlikely…
But I still looked at Victoria with worry.
She replied at a leisurely pace, “We’ve already begun sending people to scout since last night. As of two hours ago, the search area has expanded to thirty kilometers away, yet there’s still been no discovery.”
“The terrain outside the royal city is mostly flat; with over ten thousand people, it’s almost impossible for them to hide. The Iron Guards are either hiding in the southern Canli Forest, or they’re still further away. I think the latter is far more likely.”
