Chapter 158

Chapter 130: Everything Cut in Half

I was about to step towards the door to go out and see what was happening, but just as I took my first step, Victoria called out to me.

“Sit down.”

Her tone was commanding, which made me feel slightly annoyed. I turned around to glare at her.

Victoria sat steadily on the sofa, her beautiful face as calm and composed as ever, with no trace of panic. She noticed me frowning at her and raised her eyelids slightly before speaking again.

“Just eat your donut.”

She tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear and then asked, “Is there any black tea?”

“…No.”

I rolled my eyes.

This woman… Why could she act so nonchalantly when she was using my home to hide from others? Now, she was being discovered, and clearly, things were not going well. From the sound outside, I guessed the large iron gate in front of the courtyard would need repairs soon.

She was clearly causing trouble, yet still acting so self-important… I knew she was the queen, but I couldn’t help feeling annoyed.

I even wanted to share Captain Gray with her…

As I grumbled internally, I found myself sitting back on the sofa.

Why did I obediently sit back down?

Realizing this, I felt frustrated again and instinctively stood up, only to see Victoria’s half-smiling face, her light-golden eyes fixed on me as if saying, “I know what you’re thinking, but I’ll just watch without saying anything.”

With that, I sat back down, pretending not to care, and finished the remaining half of the Captain Gray in a few bites.

Hmph, trying to make me stand? No way! I’m staying here.

The noise outside seemed to be getting louder. Soon after, Forgivehead Reckert entered with several servants, instructing them to take their plates to the next room.

Victoria pointed to the table in front of her and said to Reckert, “Put them here.”

“Your Majesty, I instructed the kitchen to prepare some vegetarian dishes according to your usual taste, and had two bottles of 1954 Smolanka brought from the wine cellar. Please enjoy them with Miss Silvija,” Reckert said.

Victoria nodded in response, “Mm-hm.”

As the servants placed the beautifully arranged dishes in front of us, my eyes were glued to them. The earlier annoyance was gone, replaced by excitement, even a bit of anticipation.

This was the queen’s dinner!

People living in the royal city generally enjoyed a refined lifestyle. Even the more discerning commoners ate rather delicately, so surely their queen… even if not gourmet, must have a lot of delicious food?

But when the servants lifted the lids off the dishes, my mood plummeted like a roller coaster.

A few leaves of vegetables floating in clear soup, a plate of green peas, and vegetable pancakes wrapped in dough… everything was green, resembling the lush field atop the man’s head nearby.

Too plain. It looked like simple vegetarian fare, not appetizing at all… truly disappointing.

Yet, I still wanted to try it.

The servants finally placed two bottles of wine on the table. One male servant expertly and gracefully opened one bottle before they all retreated.

“Your Majesty…”

Forgivehead lowered his head, hesitating to speak, while Victoria picked up her fork and knife, calmly taking a bite of a green leaf without acknowledging him.

After a moment, Forgivehead continued reluctantly, “Prince Bartholomew is sitting in the courtyard with his iron-clad guards… He says he won’t leave unless you meet him today…”

He then turned to me, “Miss Silvija, I apologize, but he broke the lock on the outer gate. I will arrange someone for you—”

“What kind of arrangement?”

Victoria slowly chewed and swallowed the piece of vegetable before speaking.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as she poured wine into her glass, holding it gently and swaying it lightly before looking at Forgivehead Reckert with a cold gaze.

Reckert bowed his head even lower, as if wishing he could disappear into the ground.

“The door wasn’t broken by you,” Victoria said softly, then took a sip of wine, her bright golden eyes gazing out the window, “Why should warriors of the royal city be held responsible for others’ mistakes?”

“…Yes,” Reckert replied softly.

“But that’s my door!” I exclaimed to Victoria, annoyed, “If it weren’t for you, why would he smash my door!”

Victoria’s cold eyes turned to me. Sensing my defiance, I glared back.

Ignoring Forgivehead’s constant winks, I stared at her for a few seconds before feeling I couldn’t hold it anymore.

This woman is different from Carlos. Even if I glare at him, or play tricks on him, or ignore him, I know Carlos will always give in, never really getting angry with me. Not only that, he would buy me delicious treats.

Victoria is different. This woman has an unpredictable temper, is naturally cold, and comes from a noble background.

It was someone who held great power; the aura of a person in a high position could not be restrained. Even if she were dressed in simple farming clothes and her face painted black, standing there, you would still feel her difference—some spirit is etched into one’s bones, and every word and action can distinguish it.

So when such an unfathomable woman stared at me with a cold gaze, just within a few seconds, my heart started to waver.

But my pride wouldn’t allow me to retreat, so I continued to glare at her. Just as I suspected that this beautiful woman, who was almost enviable… no, just generally attractive, might suddenly lash out out of jealousy for being more beautiful than her, and punch me in the face, Victoria suddenly looked away.

She said to Reckert, “Bring Bart in.”

“Yes.”

Reckert seemed to breathe a sigh of relief instantly, turned around without a word, and walked out.

“Huh—”

Relaxing, I immediately slumped onto the sofa, suddenly missing Carlos.

That bearded swordsman should have already returned to the empire…

Not long after, Reckert led in a middle-aged swordsman clad in golden armor.

The moment I saw this swordsman, I had a very poor impression of him.

His body was bloated, his steps unsteady, swaying as he walked, clearly having drunk quite a bit. The originally imposing golden chainmail looked somewhat distorted on him.

This… might not even be able to beat an ordinary guard. Is such a person considered a swordsman…

“Your Majesty!”

The middle-aged swordsman exclaimed upon entering, quickly walking to Victoria and kneeling on one knee, but his body swayed, nearly falling, before he managed to steady himself and urgently said, “Your Majesty, you made me wait all afternoon! Saying it was busy with official matters, but then you were here chatting with a little girl—”

As he spoke, his gaze fell on me.

“Eh…”

In the next moment, the originally disdainful eyes, clouded with contempt, rapidly turned to shock, whether it was because he recognized my face, or saw my jet-black hair, or realized I was sitting next to the queen.

The middle-aged swordsman hesitated for a moment, his eyes filled with suspicion, and immediately changed his question: “Who is this young lady?”

Hmm… Can a drunk person react so quickly?

But after waiting two seconds, no one answered him.

Bart stood silently by, and Victoria… she was leisurely eating vegetables.

She must be doing this on purpose.

Actually, I wanted to ask the middle-aged swordsman why he came to smash my door… But thinking about it, Victoria probably had her own plans, so I decided to wait for her to speak first.

But this wait lasted a long time.

Victoria ate the vegetables in her plate bit by bit, swallowed the greens, then cut a small piece of vegetable pie, put it in her mouth, and chewed slowly, occasionally taking a sip of wine. Her deliberately slow actions made me impatient, fearing she might drive the kneeling middle-aged swordsman crazy.

“Your Majesty, are you giving me the cold shoulder!” The middle-aged swordsman, unable to bear it any longer, narrowed his eyes.

Hearing his impolite question, Victoria finally put down her utensils.

She picked up a handkerchief from the table, gently wiped her mouth, and then casually looked at the middle-aged swordsman.

“What do you want, Bart?”

She asked, her tone as usual indifferent, leaving one always uncertain about her emotions.

“Your Majesty, this should be what I ask you.”

The middle-aged swordsman lowered his head, his posture very respectful, but his words seemed like a reprimand: “You arbitrarily halved the salaries of the Iron Guard without informing their commander. That’s fine, but even the Minister of Finance only found out recently! Not only that, you also set up some mysterious treasurer, saying that from now on, everything, including the distribution of military salaries and other expenditures, will be reviewed by her. Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly, but what you’re doing is nothing but favoritism and breaking the rules!”

The middle-aged swordsman was filled with sorrow and anger, becoming increasingly agitated, spattering saliva as he spoke, landing on the living room carpet, which made me frown.

“This is chaos… What exactly do you want? Do you really think the Minister of Finance doesn’t exist! His work has completely ground to a halt! This isn’t how things are managed, Your Majesty! You’re intentionally making things difficult for us—!”

After these words were spoken, the atmosphere became heavy.

I secretly glanced at Victoria… finding her expression unchanged, still calm and composed, neither sad nor happy.

“Have you finished?” she asked.

“Eh…”

The Queen’s indifferent reaction seemed different from what the middle-aged swordsman expected, leaving him momentarily speechless.

Seeing that he had nothing else to say, Victoria began asking, “The matter of the Minister of Finance has nothing to do with you, right?”

“How could it not be related! If the Minister of Finance can’t provide military salaries, what about the Iron Guard—”

Before he could finish, Victoria interrupted: “If you’re here to solve the issue of military salaries, I’ll tell you the method.”

“…What method?”

“Simple.”

Victoria raised the wine glass, gently swirling it.

“Since the military salaries are halved, then the number of Iron Guards should also be halved.”