Chapter 408

Chapter Thirty-One Waking Up

Upon waking up, the sunlight was bright.

“Mmm… Huh?”

I was back home.

Frowning, I looked out the window at the warm sunshine and scratched my messy hair. My eyes were still blurry as I sat on the large bed for a long time, contemplating the familiar furnishings in the bedroom and the black leather Captain Gray’s case in the corner. Finally, my brain caught up and I accepted the reality.

… How did I get back?

My memories of last night seemed to stop at the bonfire feast. I had drunk… I shouldn’t have drunk, but I couldn’t hold back under that atmosphere… Maybe half a cup of beer, then I started feeling dizzy, a bit foolish, with fragmented memories. Sarah helped me leave, got me into the unicorn carriage… The ride was bumpy… I was so sleepy… Sarah was talking, Daisy was giggling… Then, I must have fallen asleep?

So… Where are the two of them?

I threw off the blanket and climbed out of bed, feeling sticky. Looking down, I realized I hadn’t changed out of my pajamas and was still wearing last night’s dress. A wave of disgust hit me, so I hurried “噔噔噔噔” to the bathroom, took a cold shower, and washed my hair too. I came out, changed into a new slip, and changed the sheets and pillowcases, piling them with dirty clothes… Wait? Where are my dirty clothes?

They were gone…

?

I felt confused.

Scratching my cheek, I bundled up the sheets and tossed them by the wardrobe, then opened the bedroom door and leaned over the balcony railing. Looking down, I saw the living room below was empty, no one there.

“…Sarah! Daisy—”

I called out, waiting, but received no response. Tilting my head, I grew more puzzled. After a moment, I shook my head, running my wet hair through my fingers as I walked through the corridor to the terrace. Looking up, ah, there were the dirty clothes, already washed and hung up.

Who did this?

“The soil is too compact, she definitely hasn’t loosened it in a while. Sage won’t grow well like this…”

Voices from the courtyard below sounded, sounding like Daisy, followed by Sarah: “Wow! Daisy, look, these are Strelitzia! The royal family’s favorite flowers, I heard they’re very expensive…”

“They are expensive… There are even more expensive ones here…”

“Look at this! It’s so beautiful…”

I walked to the terrace railing and looked down, seeing Sarah and Daisy admiring the elegant flowers around the flowerbeds. This season in Ethenbeigel, the courtyard was full of blooming flowers, colorful and vibrant, butterflies fluttering about. The scene was truly delightful.

I thought they had left… But they’re here.

“Sarah, Daisy—”

I called out, and when the girls looked up, I waved at them from the terrace.

Sarah waved back: “Paillot, you’re up!”

“Uh-huh!”

“You sleep so much!”

Hearing her, I felt my face heat up and quickly changed the subject: “Did you guys not go back last night?”

“We were all drunk, where would we go? We just slept in your mansion… Honestly, I was shocked when we arrived! I never imagined you lived here!”

“You carried me to bed?”

“It was more like carrying,” Sarah corrected, “Honestly, I’ve never seen someone with such poor alcohol tolerance. Half a cup and you’re done! That’s legendary.”

“…I told you, I can’t drink.”

I pouted, then asked, “So where did you two sleep?”

Sarah shrugged: “In the guest room.”

… Guest room?

Can people actually sleep in the guest room? It’s a mess, better than sleeping on the sofa.

“Paillot, you should loosen the soil in the courtyard,” Daisy said below.

“Oh…”

I nodded, not really paying attention, then rubbed my little belly: “I’ll go down first.”

Talking from a distance feels awkward… I’ll go down and see if there’s anything to eat. Last time I left, the kitchen was nearly empty. If there’s nothing to eat, I need to hurry to the market for fresh ingredients.

So I turned back to the corridor, ran down the stairs, put on my shoes, and grabbed my sun hat. Just as I opened the door, a ghostly face appeared suddenly before me.

“Woah!”

The person shouted, stomping and making a scary face, lunging towards me with arms spread wide. Unprepared, I jumped, my body tensing instantly, “Eeek!” I screamed, clenching my right fist and swinging it.

Bang!

A straight punch.

The solid impact hit me only after my brain registered: this was Sarah scaring me.

But it was too late.

The girl staggered back several steps, her scream cut short. I stood there stunned, exchanging a bewildered glance with Daisy standing in the doorway. Then, Sarah covered her face and crouched down, sobbing like a puppy through her fingers.

“Guh, guhuh…”

“Sorry!”

I apologized frantically, rushing forward to pat her back: “Are you okay?”

The girl waved me off, speechless from pain. After a while, she lifted her tear-streaked face.

“My nose… My nose is broken…”

As she spoke, blood rushed out of her nostrils.

“Oh no~”

“Nosebleed…”

“Hurry, find something to plug it… Cotton…”

I panicked, helping Sarah into the living room and having her sit on the sofa with her head tilted back. I rushed back to the bedroom, rummaging through drawers but found nothing to stop the bleeding. I thought hard, my eyes lighting up. Quickly, I opened the bottom drawer of the wardrobe, pulled out a sanitary pad given by my mother, tore it open with my teeth, and pulled out the cotton, holding it in my hand as I hurried downstairs.

“No matter how careful, I ended up… falling victim… couldn’t escape the nose-breaking assassin…”

In the living room, Sarah leaned forward on the sofa in an extremely awkward posture, her neck craned upwards, her nose red and her expression a mix of crying and laughing. She pressed her nostrils with two fingers, but the blood continued to flow uncontrollably. Daisy stood beside her, amused yet exasperated, muttering, “Who told you to scare her like that?” as she used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from Sarah’s nose.

I quickly ran over, tore off two pieces of cotton wool, rolled them into balls, and stuffed them into Sarah’s nostrils.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Cotton wool.”

“Where did you get it?”

“…From a medical kit.”

My hand trembled slightly, but my face showed no emotion.

“Oh.”

Finally, I plugged both nostrils and pressed her nose bridge, causing her to cry out in pain — it was certainly painful, but thankfully I had pulled back just in time, so her nose bridge remained intact.

After throwing the remaining cotton wool onto the coffee table, we all sat on the sofa to rest for a moment. Soon, Sarah saw that the bleeding had stopped and the unbearable pain gradually subsided. She started to tease again: “Peiluo, there’s a piano in your living room.”

With the cotton wool blocking her nostrils, her voice sounded muffled. She stretched out her arms and legs, comfortably leaning back in the sofa, like a waddling duck.

“Can you play the piano?”

“A little.”

“That’s great…”

“The piano seems to be from Weile Music Shop… I recognize that logo. When I was younger, the rich kids in town would brag about their pianos to me… It must have been expensive, right?” Daisy asked me.

I shook my head. “I don’t know…”

It had been there when I moved in, probably bought by Victoria. I never asked how much it cost, and I rarely had the chance to play it anyway, only occasionally during my free time.

“By the way… I’ve been wanting to ask since last night. Peiluo, you never told us before that you have a manor here… It’s so beautiful… I was worried about where you were staying and if someone might trick you… When we arrived yesterday, I was truly shocked…” Sarah said while rubbing her nose.

“Is it really that surprising?”

“Surprising? Do you know where we are? Rondall Street! My God… The most powerful people in the city live here! I heard even Her Majesty the Queen lives here! Did you know, Peiluo?”

I nodded. “Yes, it’s next door.”

Both of them looked stunned. Then Sarah jumped up from the sofa, eyes wide open, staring at me. “What?”

“Mm-hm…”

Victoria lives next door; is there really anything to be surprised about? She’s not even here now; the manor might be empty…

“You mean… Her Majesty the Queen’s manor is next door? Like… number 2 Rondall Street?”

“Yes…”

Looking at their overly surprised faces, I felt somewhat puzzled and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sarah was stunned for a moment, then rubbed her forehead. “Do you know what happened last night?”

“Huh?”

Last night?

What happened last night?

“Last night…”

Sarah pondered for a while, then cautiously touched her nose to see if the bleeding had stopped, and then said, “When we brought you back last night, the rhinoceros carriage was stopped by the patrol guards at the street entrance and couldn’t enter. You were sleeping soundly and wouldn’t wake up. So I carried you, following your directions, to find the manor at No. 3 Rondall Street. When we got to the door… I was a bit hesitant, afraid that if I made a mistake, what should I do. Plus, the big iron gate was locked. I hesitated for a long time, thinking about just taking you back to my place. But we couldn’t find the rhinoceros carriage… We were quite worried. Then the maid from No. 2 Rondall Street came out.”

“Maid?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yeah, the maid. She was in her thirties, with a stern face… But she had the key to your place. Without saying a word, she opened the door for us and helped us carry you into the bedroom…”

As Sarah spoke, I frowned, trying to recall, but my mind was blank, and I remembered nothing.

“Afterwards, she confirmed our identities and saw that we were all a bit drunk. At that time, Daisy was also dazed, so she arranged for two guest rooms. She seemed very familiar with the place… She carried you into the bedroom and soon after brought out a pile of clothes, washing and drying them all at midnight… If not for the fact that we returned to No. 2 later, I would have thought she was your maid! And…”

“And?”

“And I always felt… I don’t know if it was just a drunken illusion, but I kept feeling that she looked at us… kind of strangely. Yes… it was like—”

“Like supervision, scrutiny,” Daisy couldn’t help but interject.

“Yes, yes, yes! Daisy, you feel the same way too… Maybe ‘scrutiny’ is a bit strong, but it felt similar, as if she was watching out for something… Honestly, it was a bit annoying, but we were all dazed and the maid always had a stern look, which didn’t seem very friendly… I didn’t think much about it, feeling sleepy, I went to sleep… Oh, when you were unconscious earlier, the maid came to check on you once, then returned, saying she was going to prepare some breakfast. Peiluo, you said… next door is Her Majesty’s manor, does that mean she…”

…Okay, I understand now.

“What’s the name of the maid?”

I asked her, and Sarah thought for a moment.

“It seems to be… Sharman, I remember.”

Oh, it’s her.

Actually, knowing she always had a stern face, I had already guessed…

“She is the head maid responsible for taking care of Victoria… Her Majesty the Queen.”

“…Really!”

Sarah widened her eyes, and Daisy covered her mouth. Both looked incredulous. After a moment, Sarah asked, “But… why was she so nervous about you? She seemed particularly concerned… Oh, she wouldn’t even let us into your bedroom!”

“Heh heh…”

The corner of my mouth twitched, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“There could be various reasons…”