“You silly elf, at her place, what exactly did Julia do to you?”
Tesvelan and Ranny were packing Ranny’s clothes and daily necessities in that old apartment.
The consulate’s carriage was already waiting outside the door.
“It was just about discussing my promotion to deputy chief!”
Tesvelan grabbed Ranny’s face and turned it to face her, pale blue eyes meeting silver ones.
Good, unnatural eyes, wanting to dodge but afraid of being found out, so they hurriedly forced themselves to focus, looking at her with a dazed, fawning gaze, just like a sneaky—cat—caught—red-handed!
Tesvelan let go, and Ranny shrank aside, coughing.
“Very good, very good.”
Tesvelan was practically biting her own fingers, staring outside the window with a face full of resentment.
Ranny pretended not to hear anything and kept packing.
Most of it was the books she’d bought and the handwritten manuscripts she’d written over the years—enough to fill an entire box.
“Hey, sneaky cat, do you still want this pile of stuff under your bed?”
Ranny paused for a moment.
Under the bed was the pile of scrap paper she’d collected at work.
Back when she first entered the Civil Affairs Bureau, they hadn’t paid her salary yet, so she couldn’t afford food.
Every day, she would collect the wastepaper her colleagues had thrown away—sometimes she’d even make extra mistakes on purpose to have more to sell for bread.
Later, she realized scrap paper was useful for drafts and drawing to pass the time, so she kept collecting it.
After a while, she could buy endless paper for just a few grosso.
The pile of scrap paper just sat under the bed unused, but out of thriftiness, and since it wouldn’t rot, it just stayed there.
She casually picked up a few sheets to look through and gave a self-mocking smile.
She really had been quite cute back then.
“Oh, right, aren’t you taking any of these things from the bathroom? The consulate has new ones. How could Her Majesty the Queen use an old basin?”
Ranny glanced at the battered old washbasin and blushed.
After everything was packed, the maids outside helped carry it all to the carriage.
Standing at the door, looking out at the dusk-lit street and the homes of her neighbors, Ranny felt inexplicably sad.
Maybe she really did have feelings for this place.
She’d lived in this little room for over two years now.
Just then, she heard Aunt Susie’s voice.
“Oh my, isn’t that—ah, it’s the elf lady! Is this your elf friend? Both so good-looking. How are you and Loren doing? Are you moving? Haven’t seen him in days.”
“He’s out at sea on official business. Won’t be back for a while.”
“Oh? That boy, always hardworking. I always see his lamp on late at night, writing things. He must have saved up quite a bit these past two years—about time to take you somewhere better to live. He’s a responsible kid.”
Aunt Susie smiled and went back home, clearly not wanting to disturb their move.
Inside the carriage, Ranny stayed silent the whole way.
“Alright, alright, sentimental girl. You’re even more emotional than I am. I don’t know how you managed to comfort me that night—I must have had butter for brains.”
The carriage had stopped, but Ranny still hadn’t moved, so Tesvelan finally grumbled.
All the luggage was carried to the most luxurious room in the consulate—the Queen’s Suite.
They’d even added extra furnishings for Ranny, including a specially-made, oversized wardrobe.
Being Queen really wasn’t so bad, thought Ranny, her gloom swept away.
“Your Majesty the Queen, Your Highness the Princess, shall we dine now?” a maid asked nearby.
“Yes, go ahead and prepare,” Tesvelan answered smoothly, only to realize that Ranny beside her was trying to hold back laughter—no, she couldn’t hold it at all and had already started laughing.
That’s when Tesvelan realized what had happened.
“You… Don’t think you’ve got the upper hand! Ranny, you remember this—in the future, you call me Her Highness Tesvelan! You silly girl!”
Tesvelan’s torrent of scolding destroyed the young maid’s confidence, and Ranny hurriedly lowered her head to apologize, then left in tears to notify the kitchen.
After a bout of teasing, Ranny finally focused on appreciating her room.
Outside was a drawing room, and past that a living area, a small dining room, and finally her bedroom.
The bed looked big enough for three people.
Amazing—she’d never imagined she could live in a room this big.
Feeling a rare peace of mind, Ranny turned to find Tesvelan already sitting on the sofa in the drawing room, eating fruit from the coffee table.
That wicked princess was already treating the place like her own home.
“Ahem, ahem. Some princesses really don’t know their place—how can you sit and eat before Her Majesty the Queen?”
Tesvelan, mouth full of fruit, mumbled, “This pear’s so good, here, you have a bite…” She handed over a bitten fragrant pear, looking at Ranny provocatively.
Ranny leaned down, brushed her hair aside, and took a big bite.
“So sour. I’ll leave the rest of this pear for you.”
Leaving Tesvelan in shock, holding half a pear, not knowing whether to eat it or not.
The dining room was set with a lavish dinner, a celebration of the Queen’s first night staying at the consulate.
But after eating a whole pear, Tesvelan didn’t have much appetite.
She poked at her plate until it turned into an unrecognizable mush.
“See what you get for insisting on finishing that pear,” Ranny finally couldn’t help but tease.
“Hmph, the silly Queen told me to eat it—how could I not?”
Right, it’s all my fault.
You were sucking the part I bit for half a day like it was nectar—don’t think I didn’t see. Ranny thought.
“Actually, it’s your fault, Ranny. You stayed at Julia’s for so long. And saying the governor’s temptations out loud—what was that about? Shouldn’t you have kept pressuring her to see if she’d give more? I swear, you’re completely bewitched by Julia.”
Tesvelan pointed her fork at Ranny.
“No. I think Lord Domenico really needs this kind of concession. He has to defeat his critics at the council meeting.”
“The Northern Faction? Hah, I looked into it. Their leader is that Mrs. Bauer. Funny enough, only Julia calls her Mrs. Bauer. Everyone else respectfully calls her Mrs. Dandolo. That means Governor Riccardo Dandolo’s political legacy is far from exhausted.”
Despising the Dandolo name… that was just Julia’s style.
“In a few days at the council debate, if Domenico announces the Elven Nation’s sincerity, Bauer Dandolo will have a hard time countering. Unless the Kingdom can offer similar concessions.”
Ranny was full of confidence.
“Them? What could they concede? Let the Republic annex the Grand Duchy of Tyrol?”
Tesvelan seemed not to care about the Kingdom of Frostweave at all.
The Grand Duchy of Tyrol had always been a buffer—over a hundred years ago, it was cobbled together from vassal lords and landowners split between the Republic and the Kingdom.
Ranny thought for a while, then said worriedly, “Speaking of which, any news from the Dawn Gold Guard? Have they clashed with the steppe cavalry yet?”
“As planned, they withdrew to the east bank of the river this morning.”
So, despite all the saber-rattling, none of the three countries had really fought.
Was this how things worked in this world?
Ranny, who’d never cared about current events in her past life, wondered.
Political affairs really were dull.
As she mused, she suddenly noticed that Tesvelan wasn’t wearing her usual moss-green dress, but an outfit much like her own: a tailored, open-collar blouse with lantern sleeves in a double-layered style, as if a little vest was layered over it, and a pair of high-waisted, wide-legged pants—only the colors were different.
Matching outfits?
Ranny suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, lost for words.
If Julia’s feelings could be disguised as sisterly affection, there was no such excuse for Tesvelan’s little schemes.
She bowed her head, trying to eat something to hide her awkwardness, when she heard Tesvelan ask, “Does it look good on me?”
“It looks great, really shows off your figure.”
“Then you better keep looking at me—stop always looking at Julia.”
Are people in this world always this direct, or were people in her previous life just too reserved?
Who knew?
She’d never even dated before.
After dinner, at Tesvelan’s insistence, they went to the suite’s small drawing room.
Outside the window, it was pitch black; the consulate’s private garden had no lights, to prevent anyone from peeking in.
Tesvelan relished having Ranny beside her, though Ranny fidgeted nervously.
“Don’t be so tense—I’m not going to eat you.”
What a predatory line.
She’d seen this before—usually, the next second the person would pounce.
“Why, does that sound strange? Oh… you must think it’s normal for Julia to have feelings for you since you live together every day, but for me, an outsider elf, to have feelings so soon must seem strange, right?”
Tesvelan paused, then continued, “Don’t be silly, I’m on the same starting line as she is. Honestly, from the moment I met you, I thought you’d break down sooner or later. A poor human commoner, twisted by foolish humans’ disbelief in magic, changed into a girl, changed into an elf, and finally forced to wear a crown—if it were anyone else, they’d have gone mad by now.”
Tesvelan suddenly flipped over, pinning Ranny to the sofa so she couldn’t move.
“Just as I thought, you cry more easily than a little girl, especially as you watch pieces of your past self, Loren Green, sink to the bottom of the sea, while your new self staggers on, clinging to fragments, barely alive. It breaks my heart.”
“You’re holding onto a cruel fate—a crown made of illusion. But it should never have been forced onto you.”
Tesvelan leaned in even closer, their faces nearly touching.
“But you, Ranny. You actually made it through. When I was at my weakest, you said you’d protect me, and even as you grew more lost and hurt, you still cared for me. Don’t you know, that’s like stabbing me in the back? You’re utterly fascinating.”
Tesvelan gently stroked Ranny’s cheek, a spark of possessiveness in her sickly gaze about to burst out.
“You’re not just some commoner, are you? Who are you really, what’s your family name? I’m dying to know. But whoever you are, you—are mine. I know Julia wants to snatch you away. If I wait any longer, I might not even have a place left.”
“I like you.”
The next second, Tesvelan kissed her, not caring about Ranny’s wide, stunned silver eyes, completely claiming her lips.
Ranny struggled, making muffled protests.
That night, Ranny lost her first kiss—even though Julia had just confessed to her earlier that day.