Chapter 15: Nighttime Talk

Silia couldn’t hold back and let out a startled yelp.

Then, as if transforming, she curled into a little white-haired ball, scooting closer to Chloe and clinging tightly to her arm.

“You can’t go out!”

She lowered her head, her tone deadly serious.

“Huh? Why not? Did something happen to you before, Silia?” Chloe asked, though she already knew.

She’d been curious about what that day looked like from Silia’s perspective.

But Silia’s reaction was more intense than expected.

Though Larvia had told her about Silia’s situation, Chloe hadn’t anticipated such a strong response from just mentioning it.

What had the princess gone through in her eyes?

“I…”

Silia hesitated, opening her mouth but making no sound, struggling for a long time.

“No, I can’t talk about it now…”

“Alright, if Your Highness doesn’t want to say, I won’t pry.”

Chloe was a bit disappointed, but it wasn’t something she had to know, so she didn’t take it to heart.

“Wait…” Silia suddenly stopped her.

“Tonight, come to my room. I can’t talk about it in a public place like this.”

“No need to force yourself, Your Highness.”

Chloe ruffled Silia’s hair, gently patting her back and pulling her into a hug.

“Well, lunch is over for now. You’ll be at the afternoon classes too, right, little Chloe?”

Chloe nodded.

“Good.”

Silia slipped out of Chloe’s arms and whispered, “Don’t forget tonight.”

In the blink of an eye, it was evening.

After dinner, Chloe lay on her small bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

The two afternoon classes had been spent with Silia.

During class, Silia was as chatty as in alchemy, seemingly unaffected by the lunchtime incident.

Speaking of lunch, Chloe had hugged her.

Seeing Silia trembling with fear, Chloe had felt like her own sister was standing before her, and she’d hugged her without thinking.

It hit her that, aside from her sister, the only two people she’d ever hugged were Larvia and Larvia’s daughter.

As the Sword Saint, she’d crafted a persona of having no worldly desires, wholly devoted to swordsmanship. Naturally, she avoided any intimate contact with women besides her sister.

Otherwise, nobles would’ve found ways to use that to pull her into their schemes.

Even hugging her sister was a distant memory.

When her sister was little, she’d always begged Chloe for hugs. Chloe found it annoying and brushed her off with excuses.

When her sister grew up, the tables turned—Chloe wanted hugs, but her sister would coldly dismiss her with a “Get lost.”

Thinking of her sister, Chloe’s lips curled into a smile.

Sadly, she hadn’t seen her in a while.

During a demon attack on her town, Chloe had written to her sister, promising to visit the capital after repelling the demons. But she never expected to be ambushed by Larvia in the wilderness.

Days had passed. News of her “fall” must’ve spread through the empire by now.

What would her sister think?

‘Heh, she’s probably crying in secret at night, regretting not hugging me more.’

‘That cold attitude was just teenage embarrassment! No way she actually disliked her big brother!’

Chloe rolled smugly on the bed.

Then fell off.

“Ouch…”

Rubbing her head, she climbed up and glanced at the clock. It was almost time.

Time to find Silia.

Chloe locked her door and headed to Silia’s room, knocking lightly.

Knock, knock—

“Your Highness?”

“Is that little Chloe?”

“It’s me.”

A pattering of footsteps came from the other side.

The door cracked open, and a little white ball peeked out.

“No one else, right?”

Silia looked around cautiously, whispering to Chloe.

Chloe shook her head.

“Just me.”

The door opened fully, and Silia welcomed her in.

Silia was in her nightwear, her white Lolita dress crumpled in a corner of her double bed, thigh-high stockings draped over a chair, and one small leather shoe by the bed—the other nowhere to be seen.

‘What a mess…’

If Chloe remembered right, Flora cleaned Silia’s room before the end of her afternoon class. To avoid disturbing her rest, no one cleaned again that day.

How did it get this messy so fast?

Poor Flora.

Silia closed and locked the door, then pulled Chloe onto the bed.

“What happened outside that you’re being so secretive, Silia?”

Though Chloe knew what she’d done, she couldn’t understand why a simple lesson had scared Silia so much.

“It’s just… really embarrassing…”

Silia’s cheeks flushed as she spoke softly. “Little Chloe, you can’t tell anyone, okay? Only Mother knows—not even Flora.”

“I swear I won’t leak a word!”

Chloe patted her chest, assuring Silia.

“Okay.”

Silia took a deep breath.

“Five years ago, I snuck out of the palace to the human empire. You know the empire, right? South of the vampire realm.”

Chloe nodded.

“I’d just slipped into the empire from the southern vampire lands. I hadn’t eaten much on the way, so I was starving. I snuck into a house to grab some food.”

“But… I got caught stealing food. The house’s owner grabbed me, and then… and then…”

“It’s okay, Silia, take your time…” Chloe comforted her.

So far, it matched her memory.

Silia paused, her voice tinged with a sob.

“He looked like some broke, ragged tramp—how was he that strong?!”

Chloe’s smile froze.