Invitation
Veirya was very considerate. She didn’t finish her tub. Instead, she left some to take back for Angelina. While she did fight with Angelina before and they tried to kill each other with no mercy shown, after all was said and done, Veirya still cared about her mother. The mother and daughter pair were the exact same. When it was time for business, they were impartial. Though the two clash in private, they did love each other.
We didn’t do anything all afternoon, but I was still so touched that I wanted to cry. That sort of life was perfect. Too many things were dragged into the flavouring trade. I just wanted to peacefully run a small business to make money for a house. How did it end up so complex, I wondered. They kidnapped my daughter, and the chapel got themselves killed.
Truth be told, I couldn’t get the pope’s last words out of my mind. What he said made perfect sense. Queen Sisi’s status had reached an unprecedented height. She kept a tight grasp on military authority. After subduing the demons, her reputation reached its peak with the people. There was nobody left in the entire kingdom who could restrain her anymore. Nobody could stop her from what she wanted. Nevertheless, the pope was on the money: she was excessively conceited.
After the successful campaign against the chapel, Queen Sisi was even prouder and more conceited. Those two emotions would inflate one’s ego, leading to them making more and more egotistical decisions. Eventually, they’d lose sight of their direction. Sooner or later, that imperious attitude would lead to her and the kingdom’s demise.
Queen Sisi’s arrogance led to her believing she was almighty. However, the nation had just ended a national war. On the surface, she had earned the prestige of a victor. In reality, though, she was empty within. Even wild beasts had to lick their wounds after they triumphed. Queen Sisi was far too arrogant for her own good. She probably perceived her nation to be invincible. She had settled down with regards to the situation immediately around her. Thus, she wanted to pursue international fame. She might’ve very well started to consider attacking the elves or dwarves. If she waged another war, humanity’s kingdom would inevitably run into problems.
The pope told me to have Queen Sisi remain calm, but that was asking for the impossible. I didn’t want to be around her. If I stuck around her when she was so conceited, I’d find myself in jeopardy. There were only two people around her. The first type was the living. The second type was the dead.
I was bound to want to leave given the circumstances. Queen Sisi’s decisions had nothing to do with me, but humanity’s demise would inevitably impact the North, which wasn’t a good thing. With that said, Achilles wasn’t an idiot. A war would impact him, as well. He’d stop Queen Sisi from going awry, I assumed.
We returned to the inn. Angelina sat on the bed and silently read the file that I stole. Her Majesty didn’t mention it. I didn’t know if she missed it or if she didn’t intend to mention it. The last sunray shone on Angelina. She wore a nostalgic, yet sad, smile. She slowly ran her finger along the parchment. I emotionally sighed when I looked at her smile. I thought, “How nice would it be if Veirya could smile the same way in the future…”
On second thought, I deemed it a terrible idea. After all, it would be Veirya, who’d be sitting on the bed, looking at my portrait with a nostalgic and sad smile after I died…
Angelina looked up when she heard our voices. At first, she was shocked at the sight of the buckets. Then, she felt bewildered: “What are those two buckets? Didn’t you go to see Her Majesty? Why does it look as though you went to go buy a whole bunch of stuff?!”
“Mm… it’s ice-cream that Veirya bought.”
I helplessly smiled, and then set the bucket aside. Angelina looked at her daughter with a look of astonishment: “Why did you buy so much?! Isn’t one per person enough? Why did you buy two buckets?”
“He. Gave me. Three gold coins. So. I bought this much ice-cream.”
“He didn’t give you three gold coins for you to bring back three-gold-coins worth of stuff!! You can ask for change… Sorry, sorry, it was my fault. I didn’t educate my daughter on how to shop. As a mother, I must apologise for how my daughter turned out…”
“No, no, no… I’m partly to blame… I never told her about it… I need to teach her about money…”
Veirya looked at Angelina and me. She grumbled, “I just. Did what you told me to. Why. Did I go wrong?”
“No, you weren’t wrong. You weren’t wrong…”
I looked at Veirya and shook my head. Angelina grumpily folded her ups and grumbled, “You need to stop pampering her all the time. You can’t get her to understand these things the way you’re doing it. You need to be more ruthless with her. You’re pampering her more than I do.”
Unhappy, Veirya frowned. She seemed to be unhappy about the way we criticised her. Leah had a moment of realisation: “So you never meant to buy so much ice-cream, Papa.”
“Leah, you must bear in mind that you must consider how much you can afford when shopping. When you normally buy stuff, you can ask for change. Don’t just buy as much as you’re given…”
All right, I guess I did need to educate Leah on shopping. I had to work during the way, which meant it’d be on Veirya to be with my daughter, Leah, during the day. If she was around Veirya all day, she’d definitely turn out the same way. Therefore, I had to have Leah teach Veirya about money.
Somebody suddenly knocked on the door. Anna, who was standing by the door, pulled it open. An officer with a purple cape appeared before us. He handed us four invitations with a smile, and then politely said, “Hello, Mr. Lin, Lord Veirya. Her Majesty has invited you to attend a banquet at sunset tomorrow at the soldiers’ gathering grounds.”
I looked at the officer and replied, “Oh, oh, sure. Please tell her Majesty that I will definitely be there.”
The officer saluted us, and then turned to leave. I looked at the invitation in my hand. The invitations were extravagant. Queen Sisi personally wrote the invitations. Her hand writing was neat and pretty. It consisted of lots of dragging her pen. Of course, it also exuded her proud nature. I threw the four invitations onto the table: “I knew it. Her Majesty is fully aware.”
“What?”
I smiled: “She knows Angelina is here. She sent four invitations. If she didn’t know about Angelina, she would’ve sent three invitations, yet she sent four, which means that one was for Angelina. Unfortunately, Angelina is injured. Hence, let Anna go this time.”
“All right.”
Angelina exclaimed, “Why?! I want to go, as well!”
I was taken aback when I saw Angelina, who had the same appearance as Veirya, rolling around on the bed: “Forget it. I’ve got an injured left foot. If I take you along, are we going to the Special Banquet? Drop the idea. Moreover, it won’t be a happy banquet.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I have a premonition…”
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