Chapter 96 – First Date in the Principality [Filia the Blood] (2)
The vampire girl let out a small sigh and shrugged.
“What… If you want to see it. Follow me. The Empire moves from the west and the Duke moves from the east at the same time to the castle. If you want to see the King’s face, you have to move quickly. If we want to go before we reach the castle, we’ll have to hurry…”
Only the girl’s voice echoed in the midst of the people who were buzzing with joy. It felt out of place with the festive atmosphere.
“My name is Marey. What’s your name?”
“…Marey? Mare de Parwen?”
“Yes? Do you know me?”
“Little. You are famous.”
The girl smiled faintly. The distance that seemed so far away from each other seemed to have narrowed one step. Red eyes scanned Marey once more.
“I guess it was you… Then, it would be better if it was Leah.”
“Yes?”
“Call me Liara. That should be enough for now.”
Lia seemed to know Marey. No, she knew. However, she could be confident that this was the first time that Marais saw the girl in front of her. Then, did she know because of Ravela? Her thoughts continued without a break, but her thoughts didn’t connect when she saw Lia’s back as she walked ahead. It was quite a chore for her to keep track of Lia, who moved her steps quickly.
Fortunately, they were able to reach their desired destination before the prince’s procession entered the castle.
“I don’t want to see you here either. Wait.”
Leah approached one of the people controlling her movement and said something. After the woman in her sunglasses and livery scratched her cheek in embarrassment and took one look at Marey, she let out a small sigh and nodded her head to Lia.
“Fortunately, there was someone I knew. Come on. I will show you right in front of you.”
Without hearing Marey’s answer, Lia grabbed her by the wrist and led her to the huge gate. Her hair, pressed against her hat, fluttered and smelled of her sweet peaches. As Lia approached, the men in black suits who blocked her people began to move subtly, creating a small space for Marei and Lia to stand.
“Does it seem like you have a lot on your mind? But for now, just focus on that.”
Her little finger pointed at the procession of the Prince of Romania approaching in the distance. I couldn’t see the king’s face. Instead, a woman was sticking her torso out of her window and waving her hand. She was a woman who felt frivolous rather than chaste.
“Are you the princess?”
“No. She is a concubine Originally, that side was… No, that’s okay. Tsk…”
The Prince’s procession passed quickly. Leah clicked her tongue and moved on. Her back, which had looked so large for a long time, had shrunk to fit her short stature. She didn’t know what to say, so Marei seemed to have no choice but to follow her.
The conversation didn’t go well. The girl, who felt disconnected from the festival, now looked helpless in contrast to the lively festival. Still, he introduced me to delicious shops and things to see.
The capital of the principality was a mysterious city with a huge waterway passing through the center of the city. Even though there is a sea on the outskirts of the city, it did not feel damp at all. Even though it was an afternoon when the sun was shining strongly, the cool air lingered as we passed the shade.
On the stone floor, the stone dust lightly scratched the soles of my shoes, and the bricks I touched with my fingertips felt rough. There were small scratches on the fingers covered with white dust. The river not only ran through the city, but was branching out like the branches of an old tree.
There was no strange smell of fishy water. Clear, if you add a little exaggeration, the pleasant scent of the deep lake at dawn wafted through. Taking a boat for tourism was, in a way, a natural procedure.
“Isn’t it an interesting city?”
I stared blankly at the sparkling sunlight on the surface of the water, and involuntarily nodded my head at the question I heard from the side. Lia was half-sitting on the railing, watching the passing scenery. She was still wearing her hat, half-hidden over her face, so naturally her gaze was drawn to her shiny hair. Her hair, a shiny silver that fluttered in the wind, looked like a white thread in the sun.
“The reason small excursion boats are famous is because of the various buildings you can see as you move along the waterway… And the fish right below you.”
As she moved her gaze to the spot Leah was pointing at, a school of fish poke their heads out of the water and were chasing the boat. Normally she would avoid people or boats, but she opened her mouth and leaned against the railing at the group following her, stretching out her hand softly. As if the fish were raising their heads, they floated up in the air and then went into the water repeatedly.
“…I recommend watching from a distance.”
“Yes? What is that… Heeeeeik…!”
A moment before she questioned Lia’s words, her fish bared their teeth. The sight of dozens of fish with their teeth showing is bizarre, and at the moment the strength holding the railing is released, and the body leans forward and falls to the surface of the water.
“Ahhh…”
My body rolled in the air, but I instinctively reached out and put my hand on the tip of the hull. It feels slippery for a moment, but the body once again surrenders to gravity, and the white handrail moves further and further away from the fingertips.
“…Am I right?”
Leah sighed lightly as she held onto the railing and held Marey’s wrist. Her black hat slides past her. Then it slides over the school of fish and disappears. In her moment of surprise, her body sagged and let out a rough breath. He looked up at Leah, who held her wrist.
Her surprised red eyes let out a sigh of relief. Her silver hair fluttered, and the sound of fish splashing rang in her ears. After hanging on for a while, the body was pulled up. Stepping on her hull, Marei hugged Leah tightly across the railing. As she smelled the sweet peach scent, she relaxed and collapsed in front of her.
“Once you get over the railing. You might fall again.”
“Yes…”
Leah, who helped her climb over the support beam, burst into laughter as she saw Marey’s white face.
“…Is it really a tourist course?”
“Yeah, it’s famous. No casualties yet. They also run away when people fall into them.”
“Really…?”
Leah couldn’t believe her words as she pulled up her Marais and saw a school of fish that had fallen off and rushed at her hat.
“There are no accidents reported yet,”
Lia sat in her corner and gently covered her face with one of her hands. The look on her face as she pulled herself up was strangely familiar. I think I’ve seen her somewhere, but there’s no way she’ll ever forget someone like Leah, so she dismissed it lightly, thinking it was just her strange prickly feeling.
“Looks like it’s over. Let’s stop by the store first. I need to buy some hats. I want to wash up a bit.”
The ship that arrived at the movement point slowly slowed down and stopped. All her people had gone out and her captain came over and handed her own hat to her Leah, but she said ‘I don’t want to borrow her keepsake’ and handed her greeting to her captain moved her pace quickly.
Lia, who had been sneaking a peek at the end of her alleyway, covered her face with one hand and entered her rather luxurious-looking clothing store.
“Welcome… Miss!”
“Hello, how is business these days?”
“Sure! Oh, the person next to you is your boyfriend?”
Lia laughed out loud.
“Not a friend, um… The one who milked me.”
“Yes?!”
The impression of the female clerk changed to stern.
“It was just an accident, so relax. So, by the way, can I borrow the bathroom?”
“Sure!”
She looked at Lia and answered softly, but in between her eyes, her eyes glared at her, her body recoiled. She took her clothes and underwear, whether Lia knew it or not, and she immediately took her key and went upstairs.
As Lia disappeared, her clerk’s sister’s eyes widened even more. It was to the point of being afraid to meet her gaze as the police searched through the body of a criminal. She wondered if she could go outside, but her body wouldn’t move easily.
Just as she wondered how long she would have to stay like this, the door opened and a guest came in. She greeted the clerk by name, probably familiar with this store, but the clerk answered with her stiff face.
“Viscountess Raven, business is closed today.”
“Huh? What’s going on…”
A woman called Viscount Raven shifted her gaze to Marey. Then she saw the clerk’s deadly glaring look, and she cautiously greeted her and closed the door. Seeing the clerk’s older sister look as if she’d run at her if she averted her gaze, Marei couldn’t even see the face of the Viscountess.
“You spilled milk on the lady?”
“…No, I… I mean… An accident… Yes…”
She tried to come up with an excuse, but her sense of danger began to waft and she had no choice but to admit her guilt.
“Nompaeng… No, did you say that the young master knows the lady?”
“No… I don’t know… Leah says she knows…”
“… She’s called nicknames.”
The lady, presumed to be the clerk, was very angry. She doesn’t know why she’s upset, but one thing’s for sure. It was the fact that the atmosphere between the two gradually fell into abyss. The clerk was laughing. Although the corners of her mouth were quivering.
Marai tried to divert her gaze elsewhere. She didn’t have the courage to face the grotesque laughter that she thought was frightening to face.
“It’s the first time I see you. Is she by any chance an outsider?”
“Yes? Oh, I’m from Valter.”
Pointed ears, ripped pupils like a beast, and pure white skin that doesn’t feel bloody. The words of the clerk’s older sister made sense at once. She pursed her lips and let out a deep sigh through her nose.
“How old are you, Bocchan?”
“I’m fifteen…”
“Fiveteen… He’s definitely growing up fast, maybe because he’s a human.”
The clerk scanned Marey’s face and body once more and nodded her head lightly.
“If you don’t mind, can I hear your name?”
“Oh, hello. It’s called Marey. This is Mare de Parwen.”
“…The Parwen family.”
Shortly after hearing the low voice, the clerk’s older sister’s face distorted. She slammed the white wall behind her to pieces, and drew her greatsword from within. The clerk’s sudden action causes Marey to step back from her. Seeing that she looked like she was going to run right into it, Marei grabbed the bracelet Erden had given her and held it out in front of her.
“Stop!”
“Ah, lady…”
“This is my guest. Demeter.”
Leah was coming down, brushing her hair with her towel. She repeated as her wet, shiny silver hair draped her air, then spat her water out and returned to its place.
“This is the Parwen family! Miss!”
“Because you are my guest.”
As if she didn’t like Lia’s answer, she tried to spit out her words as the clerk said, but Lia put her index finger to her lips to silence Demeter with her sword.
“Put the knife in. Take out a hat.”
The clerk, who seemed to have the name Demeter, bit his lip and lowered his head to the floor. He lifted his greatsword high and was about to throw it to the floor, but he shut his mouth tightly and screamed before storing it against the broken wall. It was too thick and long to be called a sword. It’s a size that would be better called an iron plate.
“Looks like it goes well with this outfit?! Give me that one.”
Lia, frowning at the sight of Demi Terre bringing an elongated Panama hat, pointed to the straw hat hanging in the corner of her.
“That’s a cheap thing I put in just for the atmosphere…”
“Give me that one. I made it clear, Demeter. I left my wallet now, I’ll come back later. It doesn’t matter if you charge directly… I’ll sign it if you cut it off roughly during the receipt. I’ll give you plenty if you go.”
“I am just doing this shop as a hobby. If it’s a lady, I’ll give you all of this place…”
Despite her words, the woman named Demi Terre dutifully cut off her receipt and handed it to Leah. She glanced at the price on the receipt, and it was an amount she couldn’t afford with Marey’s pocket money. She thought the price would be high for her luxurious atmosphere, but the price of the straw hat she said was cheap was beyond imagination.
“Um… The distance is a lot longer than I thought, so just come pick it up yourself. Instead, they charge me for repairs to the shop as well. Rewrite the receipt, I’ll sign it.”
Lia left her shop, slicking her pen lightly as if she were scribbling.
“Looks like Leah is famous.”
“… Just like that. She’s here because she’s lived a long time. It is a narrow city.”
Don’t you want to talk too much Leah responded appropriately and moved on. The sun beat down on her damp, damp hair. Her wet, dark-colored hair shimmered a distinct silver color in the sun.
“This is a restaurant opened by a chef from the royal family after retiring. It’s a hobby, so it’s cheap and there’s a lot of it, so it’s a place I’ve been to often.”
While waiting in a line full of people, Philia began to briefly explain her restaurant. She passed the time with idle chatter and simple things like what she couldn’t eat or what she liked before she was allowed into the restaurant.
“Oh, in such a shabby place, a precious guest…”
“What is precious? It’s the same guest.”
The burly old man looked at Philia and opened her eyes wide. She immediately came over with a small smile on her face.
“It’s been so long, I think this old man will forget her face.”
“I think I’ll live another 100 years, but what… Are there any leftover rooms? I don’t like noisy places.”
Lia hugged the old man with his upper body bent tight and lightly kissed him on both cheeks.
“There is always one left. Oh, you had a group. Are you my boyfriend?”
“Yes, hello Marey. It’s Puruk Mel.
At Lia’s introduction, Marey bowed her head and greeted her.
