Chapter 26: The Strange Woman

  No way, I'm not that kind of person who shows all sorts of expressions when thinking about things!

  "Your Highness and Caesar really look alike..."

  From a biological and genetic point of view, I have half of him in me, or rather, he taught me, how can I not be like him...

  Wendell muttered dully: "But you're younger than him."

  You have the ability to make me younger than my son, I continued: "In addition, I need to discuss with you about borrowing 600,000 Soridus. I suddenly encountered some situations, and 600,000 Soridus is not enough. I need at least 1,500,000!"

  "One hundred and fifty thousand, this is no small sum, even if exchanged for aureus it would be over a million. But there's no problem." The wife's nonchalance left me speechless!

  I asked in astonishment: "That's 15 million, really no problem?"

  "One million five hundred thousand, I can still borrow it, but Your Highness must return it to me."

  I nodded and then heard her say with a silly laugh: "Your Highness, are you free today? Hmm..." The beautiful woman dragged out the nasal sound for a long time, "My friend's house has a concert tonight, can Your Highness come? This is a small thank you gift for your opinion."

  Listening to music?

  Listening to that soft and classical music... I almost opened my mouth to refuse, but fortunately I reacted quickly, this is a rare opportunity! After waiting for so long, I finally got a chance to take action! I almost burst into tears as I agreed, what a rare chance! Too rare! If I accidentally refused, it would be worth being hacked to death.

  "When are we leaving?"

  "So anxious." Wendy stood up and smoothed her skirt, saying, "I'll get dressed and we can go. Does Your Highness need someone to accompany you here so you can take a stroll? Or do you want to go home and change into more formal clothes?"

  "No need, just change clothes, I can sit here and wait."

  "We set out at dusk..."

  The woman left behind a sentence and disappeared again. I sat in stunned silence... Change clothes... Evening? Change clothes? Evening...!

  "Whoa, beautiful girl, what on earth are you wearing?!"

  Honest old man rode a horse back home, Alexander didn't come back, but cheap old dad came back.

  I walked into the bathroom, cleaned up my body that didn't need cleaning, opened the closet, and among several luxurious royal dresses only worn on holidays and everyday casual attire, I chose the latter. After spraying perfume recommended by a tailor, I glanced at the floor clock in the bedroom, its hands were just past 4 pm.

  Before leaving, I hesitated whether to hang a weapon belt. After thinking about it, I still brought it and conveniently hung a saber and pistol on my waist.

  Said hello to the cheap old man. Didn't expect him to ask me to bring four attendants, and was sent out of the palace with inexplicable eyes. I don't know if he has a feeling of "my son is finally grown up" at the gate of the palace now...

  When I arrived at Wendi's home and got off the horse carriage, his wife had already changed her clothes.

  Her carriage was waiting at the door, and the hall's gate was open. Under the chandelier in the hall, a slender figure with high-piled hair turned around slowly, with only a few strands of hair curled down on both sides, adding a touch of charm. Her face had light makeup, her mouth curved into a smile that was very captivating!

  But her outfit is even more eye-catching!

  Her eyes shifted, and I saw that she was wearing a dark red, off-the-shoulder lace gown with gold-thread embroidery of blooming roses. The middle part featured layered, wavy white satin skirt hems, which matched well with the golden-edged, deep-red rose-adorned corset. This type of long gown is said to be favored by noblewomen and also welcomed by men. The reason is that women like relatively cool clothing; the off-the-shoulder long gown not only freed the noblewomen's small arms but also gave their proud, snow-white chests more liberation. The four-cornered open neckline exposed large areas of their breasts.

  When she greeted me, she just slightly bowed her head, and my face suddenly felt a wave of heat! In the moment when I subconsciously darted my eyes away, I caught that the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, and a hint of a pleased smile flashed across her eyes!

  Is she wearing this outfit on purpose?

  Getting stranger and stranger!

  "Now that Your Excellency has arrived, we can set off at any time."

  "Didn't you say we should wait until evening?" I asked foolishly.

  "We can go there and sit down first. The concert, some are not just music, is Your Highness going just to listen to the music? If so, you might miss out on a lot of things."

  What does this dialogue full of innuendo and provocation mean?!

  My mouth slightly agape, I turned around, and Wendel had already stepped out the door, lifting her skirt with one hand, and placing one foot on the step stool the maid had placed at the bottom of the carriage door.

  Under the skirt, a dark high-heeled shoe is exposed. It's just an ordinary handmade product, but the whole scene makes me swallow my saliva uncontrollably! Yes, it's just a shoe, but it makes my adrenaline surge rapidly! Because this woman standing on the wooden stairs has a beautiful small leg wrapped in black stockings. The curve of her calf is elegant and moving, while the deep black color seems like an unfathomable black hole, giving me the illusion that once caught, it will suck people in!

  Out of Dionne's neighborhood and into the old city, the coachman quickly drove the carriage into a courtyard.

  On the semi-circular brick path opened up between the lawns, carriages with different family crests were parked in twos and threes. Further away, under a beautifully decorated open pavilion supported by pillars, several long tables had been set up, laden with champagne, red wine, and all sorts of food. Even further away, groups of three or five nobles stood together holding their wine cups, while performers, jesters, and scholars carrying poetry manuscripts wandered among them. This concert was more like a grand feast...

  So, the thing is, ancient times were not good in this regard. Listening to an MP3 was a hassle, and you couldn't rewind it at will, plus the sound quality was a problem! Another thing that must be said is that having an MP3 player in ancient times was very expensive, especially for high-end ones with all the bells and whistles. Just take my family as an example - we had to pay over 10,000 Soris every month just to satisfy my dad's and Alexander's desire to listen to MP3s occasionally. And that doesn't even count the rewards my dad would generously give out when he was in a good mood. In modern times, it's so much better - you can find songs easily and download them with no fuss, and if your phone runs out of battery, just recharge it, and the electricity bill won't break the bank either.

  I stepped down from the carriage and stood at the entrance of the mansion, where the master was talking to someone. I recognized this person, a relative, an old duke Marziano, who is my grandmother's cousin, a die-hard fan of our family Saofano. His father had taken sides more than 40 years ago, and by his generation, although he was mediocre in ability, he also had the wisdom to know himself, not to look for trouble, with only one small hobby - inviting musicians from various countries to perform for him in Constantinople.

  The old duke was excited and about to come up, but when he saw another beauty getting off the carriage, he stood there completely at a loss. In the end, it was I who went up to greet him with junior courtesy, and only then did his eyes move from Wendell's face to mine, his astonished gaze fluttering back and forth between us.

  But the old duchess was a completely different story. Decisive in her judgment, swift and agile in her movements, she completely dispelled the impression that people over sixty years old are slow in their actions. Before I could even exchange a few pleasantries with the old duke, she had already led a large group of female relatives from the duke's household to arrive!

  A single daughter, four granddaughters, and two great-granddaughters! She kept introducing her daughters as being very beautiful and stunning. It was just short of telling me that they were excellent in bed and had impressive skills in the bedroom!

  I'm going crazy, what's going on here?!

  What on earth are you trying to do!!!!!!!

  We're relatives!

  Relatives, you know?! That's why they can't be together, at least not casually! What's that called? It'll result in intellectual disability and cerebral palsy!!!

  Hey, auntie, what's that you're holding in your arms?

  My goodness, another great-granddaughter? Born not long ago? Just snatched from the nanny's arms, no, I mean, just taken out of her arms!!!!!

  "My god, I can accept wife, mature woman, loli, but you actually gave me something that doesn't even count as a **, what do you think I am?! I'm not a pervert, I don't like loli, and I especially don't like **! You're telling me that the wrinkled thing in your hand is a stunning beauty, grandma? Are you also moonlighting as a fortune teller on top of being a duchess?"

  But that's not the worst part, damn it! What's wrong with these female relatives? Your mom may not be very educated, but how can you also follow suit?! Husband, how incompetent are you at teaching your daughters?! You haven't even taught them the most basic bloodline theory, and relatives really can't just do whatever they want!

  My hand was grasped and then gently scratched, I turned back in surprise to see Wendell step forward, blocking the way of the old duke's houseful of ferocious female relatives.

  "Countess of Leodanis' house?"

  "Yes, Duchess."

  "What brings the Countess here?"

  "Nothing's wrong, I just want to ask, how much longer do I have to stand here?"

  "The leg is on the countess's body, when to walk depends on you, not me."

  "Well then, Duke, where shall we start our tour of your estate?"

  "Ah?" The old duke was taken aback, he coughed a few times, trying to maintain the dignity of a duke in front of a beauty. "If I were you, madam, I would first taste a cup of my private wine from Crete, which is considered a rare delicacy even in the Palace of Versailles."

  "Thanks for your advice." Wendell batted her eyelashes, grasped my wrist and headed outside.

  But there was still a layer of old dukes' family members and relatives who formed a human wall.

  "Is there anything else, Your Grace?" Winder said with a smile, not waiting for an answer, and narrowed his eyes to cast an inquiring glance at the old duke, "Duke, it seems your wife doesn't quite welcome us..."

  "Madam!" The old duke's displeased, deepened voice finally made the relatives' aunt awkwardly glance around and clear a path. Wendel took my arm and we walked outside, but only a few steps later, I clearly heard someone uttering some very unpleasant words from their lips.

  "Despicable person!"

  ……

  I instinctively turned around to glare at the person who spoke up, but I couldn't stop myself because Wendell was pulling me inside.

  A widow, a pretty widow, a rich pretty widow who is often seen in public, can't help but invite gossip. But why hasn't she remarried? Now there are many women remarrying all over Western Europe.

  Maybe waiting for something better.

  Wendy stopped on the lawn.

  "Just now..."

  "Just don't say anything, okay?" Wendell said up ahead.

  I was wondering how to respond! A gentle breeze came, and I looked up to see Wendi standing in front of me!

  It was already near dusk, the lawn had lit up with a soft glow, and the beautiful face was slightly blurred under the flickering lights. However, those eyes were exceptionally bright, shining with a layer of light, carrying an inexplicable emotion and hesitation. It seemed like just one second, yet also felt like a long time, when she suddenly leaned forward, stretched out her hand, and gently adjusted my collar. The movement was soft and intimate, but I still sensed the slight trembling at her fingertips.

  The next second, our eyes met.

  Just as I was at a loss for words, she smiled and said, "Your collar is a bit messy. Indeed, there are some things that men can't do without us women."