“”Ah””
My voice and Victor’s voice overlap. I pulled my hands away from my face.
I couldn’t believe my spur-of-the-moment reaction had landed me into this mess. Why am I constantly finding myself in desperate situations these days?
“You’re so beautiful it’s annoying.”
“That’s the first thing you have got to say to me?”
“You’re really a woman, but why is your left eye missing?”
“A prince wouldn’t be upset by something like this, after all.”
I gave up trying to fool Victor and returned to normal speech.
“Of course, but I’m still upset. A boy who stinks has become a beautiful girl?”
“I’m sorry I smelled so bad.”
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t stink anymore.”
Victor slowly approached me. I wanted to run away, but I had nowhere to go even if I tried.
It would be best to negotiate with him now. …I didn’t know how much he would listen to me, though.
“Why did you come here?”
“I wanted to be useful.”
“Where are you from?”
“From a poor village.”
“You have a pretty noble face for someone from a poor village.”
Well, what kind of face do you want?
Victor stared at my face intently. I’ve never had someone stare at my face this closely before.
I don’t know what’s going to happen to me now. I feel like I’m going to lose my head in an instant if he finds out that I’m the daughter of the Duelkis. But Victor might be aware of it already…
“A golden eye…. I don’t know how you can move like that with only one eye. And with such a piece of cloth wrapped around that eye.”
He said, glancing at the ragged cloth in his hand.
“What are you going to do with me?”
“I don’t know if you’re a dangerous person or not. But you are useful. As long as you are in this royal palace, I will use you to the fullest.”
“You’re not going to tell anyone who I am?”
“It’s not in my best interest to tell them. But this rag stinks, so get a new one.”
Isn’t that a bit much to ask of a girl?
But they’re letting me stay here, aren’t they? I was a little surprised. To be honest, I thought I was going to be kicked out of the castle.
I was just thinking how I would gather information if they kicked me out.
“What’s your real name?”
“…Alicia.”
It didn’t matter if he knew my name or not because I had already revealed my face.
“Alicia, so that’s why you’re Ria.”
I nodded in agreement.
I probably should have used a different name, since I’m playing a boy. Like Michael or John.
“I just want to make sure of one thing with you.”
“What?”
“Do you belong to this country?”
“What made you ask that?”
“..People in this country can speak the ancient language. Can you speak it?”
Well, of course I could. When I was cooped up in my cabin for two years, I learned all the ancient languages of all the countries.
[Where do I find new cloth pieces?]
As I said this, his yellow-green eyes dilated.
…Why did that surprise you? It should be a common language in this country, shouldn’t it?
[Follow me.]
After a short pause, he also replied in the ancient language.
As he started walking, I followed behind him. I walked with my head down, trying to avoid being seen by everyone as much as possible.
“Even the chief of staff of this country can’t speak in ancient language.”
Victor seemed to have mumbled something, but I didn’t catch it.
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