Chapter 13 Performance
◎The blonde girl leaned against the edge of the couch, the air around her seeming to be several degrees colder than the air far away.◎
"Woo...gently...hiss!"
Melia lay behind heavy curtains, and several maids were outside with ointments, pure gold washbasins and fine cloth towels, wiping her with water from time to time.
"Uh, sorry, how about I give you a massage?" Ronnie stood at the foot of the bed, spreading her hands sheepishly. From the corner of her eye, she could clearly see the marks of bruises on the girl's neck and waist.
There's no way, this is a strangulation posture...
"Forget it. I've already hired you. It's nothing to worry about." Melia wailed and fell back heavily into the quilt.
She opened her mouth, picked up a piece of peach from Mi Li's hand, and chewed it intermittently.
A female slave, holding a thick sheepskin ledger, knelt gently on the carpet. "Lady Melia, in reply to your question, the farmers downstairs said the warehouse was burned down."
"What, is anyone hurt?" Melia raised her arm subconsciously, and suddenly came to her senses: It might not be the elders' doing. They have been checking the accounts recently, and it is likely that someone has become desperate.
"No, it's just that the accounting office and granary are gone..." The slave girl lay on the ground trembling.
Those who worked for the Muala family were basically slaves, and their masters could execute all of them without any evidence.
As she thought about it, the slave girl's shoulders shook like a sieve and her whole body swayed to one side, but she did not dare to faint.
Melia rubbed her forehead helplessly, and a pair of soft hands immediately stretched out from the side and rubbed her acupuncture points with their palms.
"Huh~ Did someone escape?"
"Yes, yes... the two stewards have escaped." The slave girl buried her head even deeper. Apart from the stewards, the slaves were all worthless laborers.
"Okay, then let's send someone after him. Have Idito come over tomorrow and change the office location. Good night."
Melia yawned, lay down comfortably on the pillow and closed her eyes.
Just like that?
The slave girl raised her face in disbelief. Ani, who was standing beside the bed, shook her head at her: Don't question the master's decision.
So she put her shoulders down, rubbed the carpet with her knees, and retreated silently.
"Master." Ani bent down respectfully and helped her straighten the wrinkles on the quilt. "Do you need some concubines to accompany you?"
"Ah? What concubines do I have... Let Dad's people study hard..." Melia opened her eyes impatiently and was frightened by the shadowy figure outside.
Through the curtain that Annie lifted, there were six people standing in the first row alone!
Each of them is tall and has a plump chest, and their bodies are wrapped only with pink strips of cloth and golden bells, which ripple with the sound of being squeezed.
A woman with a turbulent figure pushed aside her companion, threw her two flirtatious glances, and put both hands on the foot of the bed.
"Wow—help me—"
Melia was startled and curled up in the quilt.
Taffi jumped out from behind the screen, waving a dagger menacingly. The concubines had no choice but to retreat to the door unwillingly, refusing to leave.
"Ani, I really don't need concubines." Melia trembled: "Let them go back and have a good rest. I will arrange new work for them tomorrow!"
"Yes~" Annie patted the quilt in relief: "Do you prefer the one like Ronnie?"
"Eh?" Before she could answer, the bed suddenly sank.
Ronnie took off her leather armor and lay down on a corner of the quilt, resting her head on the comfortable soft pillow, just like at home.
Annie nodded with satisfaction, and the bed curtains were drawn again. Even the temperature mixed with the rising and diffused incense.
"Um, Ronnie, I remember I only paid you to hire me for seven days. I didn't buy you?"
Ronnie seemed to hear the sound of teeth chattering, and nodded with a suppressed smile: "Yes, but you also said that we must eat and live together."
So sleeping counts?! Wow——
Melia closed her eyes in pain and drew a horizontal line on the blanket with her arm: "Okay, you are not allowed to come over here!"
"As long as no one approaches you, I won't come over."
"You are the closest here..."
"It's my great pleasure."
“…”
Huh~ Someone blew out the candle outside the tent.
In the darkness, every time I move my feet, I will touch a warm body on the other side.
Melia tossed and turned on her pillow, unable to fall asleep. "Ronnie, you're too big. You're everywhere on the bed!"
“…Miss, you’re the one who’s turned sideways.”
"How is it possible...Ani, turn on the light!"
The candle was relit, and Melia frowned and raised her head to take a look at the scene on the bed.
After a few seconds, she nimbly moved her legs, rolled off Ronnie's belly, and buried her head in the pillow like an ostrich: "Good night."
…
Sniff, sniff.
What a delicious smell!
A pair of ears popped up, and then the whole cat's head popped into the window:
In the chalk-white hall, slaves in colorful linen clothes carried pottery plates back and forth.
The hosts were either sitting or lying down, or huddled together on the couch.
Whether they were men and women, men and men, or women and women, they gathered together in no particular order.
Some hid behind screens and curtains, while others set up long tables and played Senet sitting on chairs.
The cat cautiously jumped from the windowsill to the coffee table, avoiding the plates of cinnamon-scented apple mince pies.
A slave in a knitted wool cape saw her and quickly looked away: the kitten had already scurried into the area where the masters were playing and he could no longer control it.
Melia wanted to take a bite of the meat pie, but her emerald eyes quickly locked onto the person in the corner: Elena! She didn't expect Elena to be here too.
The blonde girl leaned against the edge of the couch, and the air around her seemed to be several degrees lower than that in the distance.
As a princess with an awkward identity, she had no visible friends or supporters, even at the banquet hosted by Senator Sulla.
"Aw, aw meow."
There were too many people here, so she had to lean against the soft couch, meowing softly and scratching the blanket with her claws.
Rustle, rustle.
The hurried sound made Elena look sideways, and she saw the cat trying hard to climb.
"Pfft." She quickly suppressed her smile, and while no one was paying attention, she grabbed Melia by the scruff of her neck and brought her into her arms, sliding her softly onto her thighs.
"Good morning~" Melia breathed a sigh of relief, climbed on her legs in the most comfortable position, and meowed softly.
"Shh, the music isn't loud enough right now - early? What do you mean by early~" Elena held the cat's soft head and rubbed it back and forth.
The originally dark and damp corner is now surrounded by a warm atmosphere.
It was as if a breath of fresh air dispelled the strong and pungent smell around her, making her feel relaxed.
"Oh, what are you doing here?" Melia climbed up her arm to her shoulder and asked softly in her ear.
Her ears felt itchy, and Elena raised the corners of her lips: "Routine."
That’s right, she was a princess of the Roman Empire after all.
Most of the guests around were members of the Senate, as well as some nobles from the guards and Caesar's relatives from a distant place.
No matter how unsociable Elena was, she would occasionally attend dinners like this, at least to show the guys in the Senate that she was still alive.
However, the identity of such a "guest" was awkward. Apart from the slaves who filed in and out and occasionally brought fresher plates, no other distinguished guests approached the princess.
Sniff.
Melia had just had a dinner of cannoli and fried meat pie, but the aroma of spiced meat pie nearby was still alluring.
"Ah~" She opened her mouth towards Elena and moved her claws.
If a cat jumps onto the table, it may be knocked down by someone and considered unclean, so it is better to ask someone to help take it away.
Elena picked up a piece of pork neck and fed it in.
There were no chopsticks or forks to be seen, only a small silver knife leaning against a ceramic plate, and a huge, human-carved spoon immersed in the soup pot.
Everyone ate with their hands, and slaves or lower-ranking nobles would hold knives and cut the meat for the guests.
Melia chewed the pork neck while sticking her head out to look at the guests nearby.
The wooden barrels and basins on the carpet were filled with wine, and a straw-like water-drawing device was used to draw up the wine, making it convenient for the lying elders to use it at any time.
Lying on my side like this all the time will definitely cause scoliosis, right?
Ahhhhh.
Woo!
"What is that!" She was so soured by the strange taste in her mouth, and her sharp scream attracted the attention of some people.
When they turned their eyes over, they saw Elena covering her mouth and frowning, and then they all looked away.
"You don't like oranges?" Elena asked in confusion and pinched a piece and put it in her mouth. It tasted quite good.
"Ha, ha, so sour!" Melia rolled her eyes on her knees. So this could be called orange? I thought it was garlic lemonade.
"Little sour cat." Elena smiled and pulled the fur on her head.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
The slave at the door rang the bell, and as the doors on both sides opened, a group of people dressed in red and green poured in.
Melia hadn't paid much attention to the circular space in the hall before. It might be a platform for the host to speak, or it might be a pool for dancing.
It turns out it can also be used as a stage for a drama?
The clothes of the nobles tend to be red and white, with a few bright colors embellished with gold, silver and gems.
This group of people was different. The jewelry they wore was obviously painted stones and metals coiled into spiral patterns. Their clothes were dyed in bright and eye-catching colors, with all kinds of colors.
The crowd danced happily to the center of the hall, and slaves brought in groups of wooden boards, stitching them together with fur and dyed linen into strange terrains for the people to step on lightly.
There was no idea what mechanism was on the top, but a dwarf was holding a jar with two goose feather wings on his back, hanging from a rope and scattering flowers.
"Are these...actors?" Melia opened her mouth, and the fried meat she had been holding fell onto her legs with a plop.
"Um."
The boredom on Elena's face finally faded a little, and she leaned back on the sofa: "Sura specially invited the same theater troupe, it will definitely be interesting."
"What do you mean by the same family?"
Melia asked casually, and her eyes widened when she saw the female lead take off her cloak in a flash.
"They're Muala's favorite performers, and they're best at 'Shepherdess Soina.'" Elena stroked the soft fur intermittently, a smile playing on her lips. "They'll be performing at Muala's funeral in a couple of days, and yet they have time to come here now."
Why?
The same question rang in their minds.
The author has something to say:
Thanks to the funny little mushroom and Lei Lei at the end, thanks to Hui Ren Bu Juan and the big mouth fish in the pond for irrigation~
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