“Uh, then, let’s just forget it…”
If Serveyia really would come to me to settle scores whenever she’s unhappy, I probably wouldn’t last long.
But from another perspective, could this be considered having a clear price tag?
“What’s wrong, Little Fox? Are you so sure you won’t meet someone else you like in the future?”
“Even if I do, that’s a problem for later. Right now, I don’t have that thought.”
In other words, I haven’t yet liked someone enough to be willing to accept Serveyia’s revenge of love.
“Is that so? What a pity.”
“What’s there to pity?”
“Of course there is. After all, it means one less chance for me to punish Little Fox fair and square. If it were you, wouldn’t you also feel it’s a pity?”
“I wouldn’t feel pity at all.”
I really shouldn’t have expected to hear any good words about myself from Serveyia.
She seems to have a particular desire for me, and more importantly, she doesn’t shy away from talking about her desires in front of me.
The feeling it gave Liuli was, how should I put it, a bit scary.
“Serveyia, why is it that as the Princess of Saint Laia, you can have multiple partners?”
“At first, it was to ensure the continuation of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox bloodline. After all, more partners means more chances to carry on the bloodline. But later it gradually became a custom. Besides, everyone naturally likes beautiful things and is willing to pursue beautiful things. Isn’t that normal?”
“Maybe?”
“Furthermore, although this custom exists, in reality, most Princesses of Saint Laia don’t necessarily have many partners. You also have to consider acceptance level and, uh, the ability to keep balance.”
“But it seems you aren’t worried about my balancing ability, Serveyia?”
“After all, Little Fox is adorably naive. Everyone seems to be especially patient when facing a Little Fox like you.”
“Am I really naive?”
Liuli didn’t think she was naive. Although she might not be considered an old hand, she was still far from being naive.
“By naive, I mean naive in the way you handle relationships. Although many noble young ladies have no dating experience, given the noble education they have received, they would have no problem at all in taking Little Fox under control.”
“But what does that have to do with my balancing ability?”
“Is there a possibility that precisely because you are so naive, everyone thinks you don’t have much scheming and won’t play petty tricks, so naturally your balancing ability is good?”
“Uh, I don’t feel like that’s about me.”
Liuli didn’t think she was as good as Serveyia described.
Or in other words, her emotional intelligence might be really low, not good at reading the room, but Liuli felt her balancing ability was actually not good.
Just a moment ago, she had chosen Serveyia and neglected Yike.
“Whether it is or isn’t isn’t important. What matters is what those young ladies think. Seriously, first impressions are really important. As long as they think Little Fox is that way, even if you do something that doesn’t fit their impression, they will find a way to convince themselves.”
“But won’t that be discovered sooner or later? Won’t they feel deceived?”
Liuli still hoped to give a good impression to all the young ladies.
After all, strictly speaking, she was an outsider.
She had to perform well to give herself a reason to stay, right?
“Of course not. Little Fox, you must understand one thing: this world is all about appearances. A beautiful woman can really get away with anything.”
“A world of appearances?”
“Of course.”
The conversation ended here, but Liuli didn’t feel very good about it.
According to Serveyia, if being good-looking could excuse mistakes, then wouldn’t that be unfair to those who aren’t good-looking?
Although Liuli understood that Serveyia was trying to help her not feel too pressured, but opening a harem itself was a big test of her endurance.
Unlike the emperor’s harem in history, where the emperor was the ox tilling the fields—though he might get exhausted, he at least had the initiative and could choose to rest.
But for her, she was the field being tilled. While she probably wouldn’t get worn out, she didn’t have the initiative.
She could only passively wait for others to till her. And that passive waiting feeling was really unpleasant.
More importantly, there was only one ox now, and it was already overwhelming her.
If more oxen came to till the field, even if she didn’t get worn out, she might get broken first.
However, that was something to consider later. At least for now, it was not something she needed to think about.
If she had to think about anything, it was whether she could really satisfy Serveyia now.
But while she was still struggling, her birthday arrived.
And just as Dora had said, the entire Saint Laia Academy seemed to be filled with a festive atmosphere.
It was obvious that everyone had bright smiles on their faces.
Liuli was of course very happy. After all, having so many people happy for her birthday was itself a happy thing.
Not to mention that today was her birthday, and she could receive many blessings.
And more importantly, Serveyia was going to cosplay as a character she liked for her today.
She wouldn’t forget that. No, she wouldn’t.
“Good morning, Serveyia.”
But when she woke up and saw Serveyia still in her usual maid uniform, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
“What’s that expression supposed to mean, Little Fox?”
“Nothing much. Just a bit disappointed. I thought you would wake me up wearing a cosplay outfit.”
“I have to meet others in the morning and confirm the specific arrangements for Little Fox’s birthday party with the school staff. If Little Fox really wants me to do that, I can wake you up like that tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s true. It’s not a difficult thing.”
“Then I’ll really look forward to it. Also, what’s our schedule today?”
Liuli had heard that there would be many activities today for her birthday. As the protagonist, what activities would she be involved in?
“No special arrangements. As the birthday protagonist, Little Fox has absolute freedom of choice today. Of course, if possible, I hope Little Fox can attend tonight’s birthday party.”
“The birthday party? Do I need to do anything?”
“No need. Little Fox just needs to show up.”
“That’s good…”
If she had to do something on her birthday, then this birthday would be too unhappy. At least Liuli felt she wouldn’t be happy.
“Does Little Fox have anything she wants to do?”
“Nothing particularly important. I just want to call my mom and dad.”
Actually, when she was in college, she had gradually gotten used to not having her parents around on her birthday.
So not having them here today to celebrate wasn’t really that sad.
As long as she could talk to her parents, everything would be fine.
“Of course. Little Fox can call whenever you want. Do I need to step aside?”
“Maybe later.”
Liuli actually didn’t know if there was any reason for Serveyia to step aside.
And upon second thought, she hadn’t told her parents about her relationship with Serveyia yet.
Was now a good opportunity?
But then, what would her parents think about her relationship with Serveyia?
Although she used to be a boy and her parents always urged her to find a girlfriend, now she had become a girl.
How would her parents react to her falling in love with a girl? Would they be like the lawfully good types who think men should love women and women should love men? Or would they respect her choice?
“Sweetie, happy birthday! How’s life at Saint Laia?”
Just as she was thinking about all sorts of things, her phone rang. It was a call from her mother.
“It’s good. I’m very happy.”
“I see. Even though you’re a princess now and I shouldn’t need to remind you, don’t be too hard on yourself. Buy whatever you want to eat. Mom and Dad will come visit you again when we have a chance.”
“Mm, thank you, Mom.”
“Oh, and one more thing. Let me ask you a little question.” Liuli could clearly hear her mother’s voice drop, as if probing. “Have you gotten used to your female body?”
“I, I think so.”
Her mother’s question made Liuli’s face turn completely red. How was she supposed to answer that? Saying yes or no both felt wrong.
“Is that so? Then has my sweetie found a girlfriend?”
“Mom! What are you saying!”
“What’s wrong? Isn’t that normal? Let me tell you, when we visited you last time, the dean told us that the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox is an extremely rare race, and combined with your position as Princess of Saint Laia, many people will fall for you. So, any progress?”