Chapter 264

Chapter Fifty-One Late Guests

Delicious!

I hid in a corner of the banquet hall, sitting at a long table and stuffing cake into my mouth like a whirlwind, unable to stop.

Victoria’s birthday cake was simply too delicious!

Unlike the Ose Peru cake from the Valen Empire or the almond cake I bought at the market, the rich and smooth cream melted in my mouth, carrying a hint of cheese and lemon, lingering in my mouth without dispersing, even the breath I exhaled was sweet.

Ever since the servant pushed the cake onto the high platform, my saliva had been flowing nonstop. At that moment, all I could think was that no one would be allowed to take a single bite of this huge cake!

I almost accomplished a feat: eating a cake bigger than myself. Although I didn’t understand how that could fit inside me, I felt certain I could finish it.

After struggling and hesitating for a long time, looking at so many people below and considering it was Victoria’s birthday, I ultimately suppressed the urge to pounce on the cake right there, preserving some dignity for myself.

If I had lunged forward then, I wouldn’t have been able to show my face in the royal city again.

But I still managed to get the biggest piece.

Even though it was the biggest piece…

Looking at the little remaining delicacy on my plate, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and furrowed my brows slightly.

It was still not enough; a few more bites and it would be gone.

“My piece is yours too.”

A familiar voice suddenly sounded by my ear.

I looked up and saw Sophia walking towards me with a small plate of cake, sitting beside me and placing the cake in front of us.

She really is here…

“Sophia, you’re amazing!”

I immediately lit up, eagerly pulling the plate closer to me.

“Why are you staying by the Queen’s side? Those people seem eager to talk to you…” Sophia smiled at me.

“I don’t want to, or they keep talking.”

After swallowing a large mouthful of cake, my speech became a bit slurred.

Of course, I knew many people wanted to talk to me, especially some young and arrogant fellows, which is why I deliberately hid here. But I didn’t want to deal with them; anyone with a brain could tell what they were thinking—pretentious and boring, and not worth the effort…

Earlier, a few came over, but after a brief introduction, seeing that I wasn’t very willing to engage, they left feeling rather disappointed.

“Haha.”

Sophia laughed softly.

“At such events, everyone else is scrambling to get in and trying to network with those better than themselves. You, on the other hand, stand next to the Queen, yet you hide here to eat cake alone, ignoring everyone.”

“I’m not stealing food!” I immediately refuted her.

Sophia was slightly taken aback, and her smile turned helpless.

“It’s not about that… really.”

She gently rubbed her forehead and sighed, her eyes staring at me dimly, losing their usual vitality, making her look somewhat lost.

Sophia seems a bit unhappy…

Did someone upset her?

I was puzzled, not understanding why she appeared this way; it wasn’t like Sophia. Tilting my head, I picked up a small piece of cake and held it to her lips.

“Do you want to eat?”

“Pfft—”

Sophia chuckled slightly, gently pushing away my hand.

“Eat your cake. I can’t do it like you. In fact, in such a setting, only you, Peyi, can eat cake like that… Look at their expressions…”

Their expressions?

After swallowing the cake, I scanned the venue with my eyes.

At this point, most people had gathered around Victoria. I was quite far from her, and the people sitting nearby had significantly decreased. The ones left were mostly young nobles like Sophia, three or five together, clinking glasses and chatting merrily.

After the previous few had their attempts thwarted, they couldn’t quite figure out my personality, but they also knew I didn’t want to be bothered.

Annoyance, some of them, unsure how to approach me, chose to hold back. However, their gazes still occasionally drifted towards me, filled with a certain hope and desire. This made me deeply aware of their current state.

That was probably the mindset of a man who starts thinking about ways to pursue his prey, something I was very familiar with.

“Because they want to talk to me, do I have to respond and be reasonable?”

I knew very well what those people were thinking when they tried to chat with me. Not hitting them in the nose was already a favor to Victoria. Could I possibly force myself to respond to them, just to satisfy their wishes and give them the illusion that ‘she might be interested in me, so I might have a chance’?

This is something a green tea girl would do.

But I, Sylvieja, am a tough guy.

My index finger brushed across my lips, scraping off the cream stuck at the corner of my mouth, then I extended my small tongue to lick it.

“Tch.”

I sneered, moving the empty plate aside and focusing on the other plate Sophia had brought over.

“Munch… Mmm…”

While my mouth was full of smooth cream, I could feel Sophia’s gaze beside me. She hadn’t spoken anymore, but seemed to be staring at me non-stop… This made me feel strange, so I stopped eating after a few bites.

“What’s wrong?”

I wrinkled my little nose, slightly complaining.

“Nothing.” Sophia whispered softly.

She tucked her loose hair behind her ear, her profile flickering under the light from the candles on the long table.

“It’s just that seeing you like this makes me wonder why I came here… You scared me, Peylo. Your father is really Duke Scalliger of Scarlaj? The owner of the Winter City, the Knight Pope known as the King of Deception?”

“Mm-hm.”

I looked at her, nodding calmly.

Sophia didn’t speak for a while, then muttered softly, “Why… Why didn’t you tell me before…”

“No one… asked me. There wasn’t much opportunity to say.”

Do I need to boast about this kind of thing?

“Not… Look. We live in the same dormitory, and quite some time has passed. You know our story, but we don’t know yours… I thought you were just a minor noble, but today you really surprised me… The Queen received you personally.”

“Mm…”

I tapped my chin, pondering for a moment.

“I just felt it wasn’t… important. Whether or not I said anything, it wouldn’t make a difference.”

“How can it not make a difference… Your family, your family is going to war… Wait, if Shantel Castle wins, then you would truly be a princess… That would be wonderful… No, there’s nothing good about war… Ah, what am I saying… Sorry, my father insisted that I come over and talk to you. Aaah, my head is spinning…”

I bit into a piece of cake, letting the cream dissolve in my mouth, then continued to look at Sophia. After she calmed down a bit, I gave her a sweet smile.

“Sophia, thank you for the cake. It’s delicious. And—”

I paused, swallowing the nearly melted cream in my mouth, then continued.

“You always help me, fooling around in the cafeteria to get food, otherwise I’d be starving. Sophia, thank you. You’re a great friend.”

Sophia looked at me with a slightly dazed expression.

After a moment, she seemed to let go, her lips painted red curling up into a relaxed smile.

“Peylo—”

Sophia was about to say something when suddenly, a commotion broke out behind us.

“Sorry, sorry, Queen Elizabeth. I was delayed by mundane matters, arriving a bit late. You won’t blame me, right?”

A deep, resonant voice with a magnetic quality echoed from within the grand banquet hall. The speaker’s tone was full of confidence, booming like a bell.

I followed the sound with my eyes and saw an elderly man with gray temples, exuding vigor, accompanied by several nobly dressed attendants, striding onto the red carpet and heading toward Victoria.

”