Chapter 56: Chessboard and Nuts

The warm touch lingered between his teeth, and his sea-blue eyes widened in an instant.

For the first time, Elena felt her hands were so unfamiliar. They were clearly still on her shoulders, but they were unable to respond to the next movement.

Lift it up, push it away, nothing can be done, her brain betrayed her first, wandering in meaningless joy.

One after another, rainbow bubbles burst open in my mind, exploding with countless trivial memories.

From the honey roasted chicken I ate a few days ago, to the turquoise, to the pure white walls, and Melia's fox-like smile, and occasionally a dandelion cat jumps out.

"Ha..." Melia let go of her lips, her toes numb. As she slid down, her waist was firmly grasped, and she lost her breath for the second time.

…

"Huh... Melia, what's the matter with you?"

Elena's eyes regained clarity, and she even had enough time to tidy up her bathrobe.

What, who are you? It’s okay after the kiss, right?!

Melia grabbed her robe angrily and ran to the side.

Elena took two steps under her guidance: "Wait, at least change the place..."

"What do you mean by change place?" Melia opened the closet and pointed inside. "Hurry and find a weapon that works for you. Time is running out."

???

Question marks filled her head, and Elena didn't know where to begin. "Are you going into the closet with me? Why are you looking for weapons? What do you mean by 'time is running out'? Is that what I thought?"

"Don't ask, just go in first!"

Melia was in too much of a hurry, so Elena had to look around, picked up the ceremonial sword beside the couch, and reluctantly went into the closet.

The wardrobe was against the wall, barely taller than a person, but wide enough to fit three quilts. It was still early morning, so there were no quilts inside, just a few clean changes of clothes.

Elena had just put her clothes aside when Melia came in and patted her shoulder quietly: "How many can you fight at the same time?"

What is the problem?

Elena thought for a moment and answered carefully, "It depends on how strong the opponent is and whether they are human."

"Well, of course it's a human. As for strength...what about an ordinary gladiator?" Melia pondered. She died too quickly last time and she didn't know how strong the opponent was.

Elena weighed the hilt of her sword and placed it horizontally in the corner. "I'll kill as many as I can before I run out of strength."

Phew~ That’s a relief. There’s almost no description of the heroine’s exhaustion in “Rose Queen”, so killing a dozen assassins should be no problem for her.

"Miss, do you need me to hold the door? Or would you rather leave it open?" Taffy held the edge of the wardrobe hesitantly.

Melia waved her hand generously: "What are you doing standing outside? Come in together."

"Hello!"

Elena's objection was in vain. A few seconds later, a third person was shoved into the closet. Taffy's joints were flexible, and he tucked himself into the corner, saving space.

"Meliya, you'd better be okay." The three of them huddled together in the closet, the smell of soap and spices mixed together.

"Something's wrong. Something's wrong."

Melia pushed her little arms against the wardrobe and lay comfortably in his arms: "I've been getting assassinated a lot lately. I always feel like someone is following me!"

“…”

Is this why you tricked me into coming in?! Good man, your trickery skills are getting better and better.

The sweet feeling didn't last long before Elena was about to burst into murderous intent: "Enough, get out of the way, I want to go out."

"No~ There really is someone, let's wait a little longer~"

Curled up in a ball in the closet, Elena grabbed Melia's giggling face and said: If it were anyone else, I would kick her brains out!

Snap, snap, snap.

The footsteps came closer and the movement in the cabinet stopped at the same time.

The two people opened their eyes wide and made eye contact.

"There really is an assassin?!"

"Hey, I'll tell you what?"

Click, click. There was a sound of metal colliding nearby, and Melia could distinguish the droning voice of the golden-haired man inside.

"Hey, be careful! The master wants us to lie in ambush inside, not to let you steal gold!"

With a plop and a splash, the metal soap box fell to the ground, rolled down the steps into the water, and splashed water everywhere.

"There's no one else. The master said... As long as we kill one or two nobles and don't get caught while escaping, we can do anything." Someone muttered in rebuttal.

[They are not professional assassins, they may be new recruits, or even more likely slaves raised by the family, temporarily transferred here to do this.]

Elena quickly figured out the situation: judging from their conversation and discipline, the family that raised them was not well-off, or the tasks were subcontracted layer by layer, and this group of people had no idea who their boss was.

But there is still something suspicious: they said [kill one or two nobles], but didn't specifically mention Melia?

Ta-ta-ta, the sound of footsteps coming back and forth.

Finally, after the blond man growled out of frustration, they reluctantly stopped.

"Go, find a place to hide." He patted his shield. "Remember what the master said. Someone will bring the adults from the lower house to bathe. When the time comes, just kill one or two and break out. Don't get caught. Run to the street. Someone will pick us up."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the most eye-catching piece of furniture in the entire room - a Greek-style carved wardrobe.

"Look, hide like me, don't make any noise..."

A sword came across and cut off half of the hair. Elena stepped out of the closet and grabbed the man's neck like a chicken.

The man curled up his legs and made a drinking sound: "Uh, uh, uh."

Elena didn't let him speak at all, glancing boredly at the people by the pool. As she expected, they were just a bunch of heavily armed rabble, their weapons wielded even less skillfully than a gladiator apprentice.

"Tell me, who sent you here?"

Her words seemed to press the play button. The slaves looked at each other, mustered their courage, pointed their weapons forward, and slowly moved forward.

"It seems you don't care whether he lives or dies... Taffy, close the cabinet door."

With a click, after the cabinet door closed, Elena twisted the man's arm expressionlessly and threw him aside like trash.

The blond man looked at his broken arm and wailed: "Ah, ah!"

He thrashed around the edge of the pool, his blood spreading into the water. The gory scene frightened them all back away: Oh no! What kind of monster is this? Aren't only Caesars and generals able to crush a human body with their bare hands?!

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Look, she has a wolf's head emblem!"

The people at the back even dropped their weapons and ran away. Are you kidding? Killing a petty noble from the House of Commons is fine, but if they dare to touch the royal family, their masters will die!

"It's really useless."

Elena raised her sword and chopped down the two closest ones. Three survivors were enough - but the guy was still in the closet, so it was better not to chase him out.

For some reason, my heart was beating so fast just now, and it's only now calming down a bit. Could it be fear? Fear of these weaklings? What a joke.

She bent down, and darkness enveloped the golden-haired man on the ground. "I'll give you another chance. Who sent you here?"

The man held his broken arm and tried to throw himself into the pool tremblingly, but Taffy cut his leg with a knife.

"Why assassinate the lady?"

"H-Hmm... No, no, we are here to kill, kill others!"

The man desperately denied it. His blond hair was stained with blood and water, and began to gradually turn brown-red.

A flash of inspiration flashed through Elena's mind, and she pushed his head into the water: "Is your hair dyed?" Before the man could answer, the inferior dye had been washed away.

A closer look revealed that his eyes were not the deep blue that was popular in the Sea Country, but closer to indigo.

I see, that's the purpose...

"My master is, is... please kill me!" The man wailed in despair, his head slamming against the floor, creating a crack in the rock, and blood gushed out.

There was a weak knock from the closet: "Can I come out now? Otherwise, send him to prison..."

"Not yet." Elena looked at Taffy: "You guard her—never mind, I'll guard her, you go find some guards. Just say someone is trying to assassinate your lady."

"...Miss?" Taffy glanced at Elena reluctantly and touched the cabinet.

The cabinet door trembled: "Just do as she says~ Uh, I'm almost suffocating..."

There's really nothing I can do about you.

Elena opened the cabinet door a crack and pulled up her bathrobe to block half of her vision: "Okay, stop looking, it's a bit disgusting outside... Where are you looking?"

"Ouch~ You tore it open yourself—Ah, stop tickling me! Help~ Hahahahahaha."

…

The midday sun swept across the courtyard. Melia sat on a soft couch, two maids on either side helping her peel grapes. She also kept working, peeling nuts like a squirrel.

With a crack, a nut fell onto the plate and was eaten by Elena before it could even warm up.

"Oh, at least leave one for me." Melia puffed up her cheeks: "So, where do those assassins come from?" She died too quickly the first time, and was locked in a cabinet the second time. She didn't see anything. She only knew that they were a group of people who looked very much like the citizens of the sea area.

Elena swallowed the nuts, her eyes dark. "They look blond and blue-eyed, and some even have fake animal ears."

They looked blond and blue-eyed… When Melia heard about fakery, she immediately understood: “A group of people pretending to be citizens of the sea area?”

"Yes, do you think this is part of Sura's conspiracy?"

This was addressed to Melia, but she was asking herself. Elena felt that Sura's plan was buried in the soil, and she couldn't dig out the key point.

Having a group of people pretend to be citizens of the Sea Area and assassinate a senior member of the House of Commons would certainly intensify the conflict and make the situation of the citizens of the Sea Area even more difficult. But what is the point of such a petty act?

"Do you think this plan is meaningless and may not even be effective?"

"Um."

After Elena nodded, she realized that it was Melia who was speaking, and she couldn't help but listen attentively.

Melia wiped the juice from the corner of her mouth and placed a nut on the table. "If it's just targeting the slaves in the sea, it's really boring. Even if it can hit you and me, it's too subtle."

Then, she lifted the tray and tipped it over, sending the nuts clattering down. "What if this isn't the only chess piece involved, and there are multiple events happening simultaneously? What if it's not targeting the citizens of the Maritimes, but all non-Roman citizens?"

His pupils contracted violently, and a series of incidents that happened after dinner jumped into his mind.

Ever since she was stimulated by the Senate's decree last time, Elena has been actively participating in various dinners, winning over the forces that can be won over, and living like a normal princess.

Naturally, she had heard many rumors: more and more nobles complained that the new slaves were not obedient enough, and slave riots and assassinations of their masters were common.

I had heard it before, after all, everyone knew that with the increasing number of slaves, more problems would be a big deal.

So... what if there's a hand behind you slowly pushing it?

Pushing forward this silent group that is far larger than the “masters”.

She shuddered. "Damn it! If Sulla did this, he could have caused the crisis to break out sooner, then stepped in as a mediator to reap the benefits. Even if my father used the royal guards to suppress the situation, it wouldn't have been his fault."

From this perspective, Sulla could even stand on Caesar's side and "deal with trouble" with him, taking the opportunity to deal with the enemy and gain Caesar's praise at the same time.

The nuts are rolling on the table and may break at any time, but the person rolling the nuts is standing by the table. No matter whether he can eat the flesh or not, there is no possibility of losing.

All "Sura" had to do was put in a little effort to push the tray.

One hand gently held the back of her hand and wrapped it in the palm of his hand.

Elena looked up and saw strength in Melia's confident smile.

"don’t worry."

My heart is beating faster.

"Trust me, Elena."

Melia raised her palm and put her cheek against it: "Don't forget, we can also turn the tray, and even - the table."