Chapter 114 "When I Like You..."
“Even if you really become an ordinary person, it’s okay,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulder more gently. “I can still afford to support you.”
“But I don’t want to be a mistress,” I forcefully shook off his hands, pushed back the chair, and stood up. “In my eyes, a mistress is just like a prostitute, exchanging her body for money. I don’t want to be a prostitute.”
“A mistress is not the same as a prostitute.” He embraced me again, gently yet powerfully, and I couldn’t break free for a moment.
“My mistress is someone I love, not a prostitute. I just couldn’t give the person I love a proper status, so I had no choice but to make her my mistress.”
"Have you ever thought about whether I like you or not? I don't like you, so why are you forcing me?" I struggled and roared.
“You will like me,” he said confidently, “it’s just a matter of time.”
"Then let's get together when I like you, okay?" I pleaded.
He looked at me for a long time without saying a word, and after a while, he turned and left.
That night, he didn't come to my room. In the morning, when I was woken by the maid, I habitually glanced at the sheets beside me; they were clean and had few wrinkles.
"The King was at a banquet all night last night," the maidservant hurriedly said.
"What does this have to do with me!" I got up, put on my outer robe, and headed to the washroom.
After washing her face, she was about to comb her hair when she saw the Elf King, dressed in a magnificent golden robe, standing at the door of the washroom. He looked like he had just come down from a royal meeting and hadn't even changed his clothes.
“I’ve thought it over,” he said. “If you really want to work for me, you have to be able to endure hardship. You have to get up earlier than me and go to bed later than me every day. You have to handle all my chores, and you also have to find time to learn about this country’s culture, etiquette, and all sorts of other things. You also have to do anything I ask of you. Can you do that?”
"I can do it!" As long as I'm not forced to be a mistress, I'm willing to do anything, even if I can't, I'll grit my teeth and do it.
"good."
From that day on, I became busy. I followed the Elf King, doing whatever he asked. At first, it was just simple things like taking meeting minutes and relaying messages to subordinates. Later, I organized the king's daily schedule, met with ordinary senior officials and stewards, listened to their reports and noted down the key points, relayed messages to the Elf King, chaired ordinary meetings, and assigned tasks to some high-ranking nobles according to the Elf King's orders.
Besides that, I also had to attend some classes, crammed into small classrooms with some underage young masters and ladies, to learn the language, culture, and etiquette of the elves. Because the young masters and ladies were very busy, with private tutors providing one-on-one instruction, the concentrated class time could only be in the early morning and evening. Classes started at four in the morning and ended at five. At six, they had to go to the hunting grounds to learn various hunting skills from their ancestors, or simply exercise such as running and climbing trees.
But I had to attend the morning council with the Elf King at 6:00 AM, and have breakfast with him at 7:00 AM—he sat while I stood and watched. From 8:00 to 9:00 AM, I could take a short break, have breakfast, and take a nap. At 9:00 AM, I had to listen to reports from the various supervisors and stewards; at 11:00 AM, I had to organize the morning council minutes and also accompany the Elf King to work; at 12:00 PM, I had lunch with the Elf King, eating together. Actually, I wasn't very willing, but he insisted. From 1:00 to 3:00 PM, I could take a nap, and the Elf King would also rest, usually in the Queen's or his mistress's room.
At three o'clock, I had to draft the Elf King's schedule for tomorrow and show it to him so he could revise any unsuitable parts. From four to six o'clock, I accompanied the Elf King to work. He would review many official documents and also delegate some less important ones to me. I was very familiar with this; I had often handled official documents back in the desolate lands of Bernot, so I was quite adept at it. He was surprised that I could get the hang of it so quickly, but I just smiled and said I had done it before.
He thought about it for a moment, then looked somewhat displeased, seemingly dissatisfied with my experience in the wilderness.
After having afternoon tea with him, it would be six o'clock. He would go to a special sports field or hunting ground to do some exercise. I don't know exactly what kind of exercise, because I also went to exercise and was forced to jog or learn horseback riding and archery at another sports field.
At 8:00, I rested for a while, panting from exhaustion, and then had dinner at 8:30. Sometimes I ate with the Elf King and his family, sometimes I ate with the Elf King, and sometimes we ate separately; the situation was different every day.
After nine o'clock, the Elf King would attend various banquets or small gatherings among high-ranking nobles; this was the Elf King's social time.
I usually accompany them, but only for one hour. After that, they have to go to a small classroom to learn about land management, finance, and so on.
Classes end at 11:00 AM, and I still have to organize the day's study materials, review, and preview, which takes about an hour.
After the banquet, around midnight, the Elf King would choose which lady or queen he would sleep with. Sometimes he would get out of their bed and continue working; sometimes he would sleep with them until dawn.
I usually get off work at midnight. After midnight, even if the Elf King has something to do, he'll find someone else. He knows I have to get up at four the next morning.
Lying in bed, I usually sleep until four o'clock. If I'm too tired, I basically fall asleep as soon as I close my eyes.
I got up at four o'clock. He got up at five o'clock.
I've realized that everyone has their struggles; it's tough being a wage earner and it's tough being a king.
Besides working day and night, being a king also meant paying taxes, which was hard work.
The Elf King still has no children. The Queen is frail and has been bedridden for many years before her marriage, remaining unmarried until she became an "old maid." By a stroke of luck, she married the King. She conceived three times and miscarried three times; the royal physicians said she was too weak to carry the pregnancy to term.
All four mistresses had been pregnant, but one miscarried once and never conceived again. The other three gave birth to children, but none of them lived past the age of three. The oldest mistress had two sons, but one died in infancy from a high fever, and the other died suddenly of a serious illness at the age of two. The most beautiful mistress had three daughters, but each of them died shortly after birth; two died from high fever, and one had a severe digestive disease that prevented her from drinking milk, dying at the age of three.
The youngest mistress had two miscarriages before giving birth to a son, but when the son was one and a half years old, he accidentally fell and hit his head on the threshold. He bled profusely and died that night.
The king's lack of an heir became a major worry for the kingdom. Courtiers and nobles frequently reminded him not to focus solely on his work, but to spend more time with the women.
Having an illegitimate child is better than having no child at all.
I think this might be why these nobles were willing to accept me, a foreigner, as their mistress. After learning about elven culture, I realized how strong the elves' prejudice against other races was. They had never intermarried with outsiders; the few who did fall in love with other races were either ostracized and expelled from the elven community, or oppressed to death—their fates were extremely tragic. And these were just ordinary people.
There was no precedent among royalty and nobility for close contact with people of other races. Everyone knew the rules were strict and had never transgressed them.
I am the only exception. Perhaps it is because the king has no son and his relationship with women is not very close, so they think it would be good if the king could really take a liking to a woman, even if that woman is of a different race.
“You’re overthinking it. It’s just because you’re a superhuman woman,” Chief Nacia said to me. “They all know about how you turned the Land of Death upside down, and they saw how you rescued the king and helped several families of Daio escape. They think you have some ability, so it’s fine for you to stay by the king’s side.”
Now that I chair management meetings, I can even exchange a few words with Nasiah. Nasiah used to barely acknowledge me, but now that I've been "promoted," he's finally willing to talk to me.
"You're still looking at their usefulness," I sighed.
"Otherwise what?" he sneered, "did you really fancy someone like you?"
Am I a bad person?
“No.” He answered crisply and decisively.
"What's wrong with me?" I couldn't help but ask.
Nathias merely sneered, but did not reply.
I pressed him for more information before he reluctantly said, "Anyway, I don't think much of her. She's not pretty, has a bad temper, and while she claims to be capable, it's only through luck. She's also very arrogant and doesn't even care about the king's favor. Her only redeeming quality is her diligence; she helps the king with his work every day."
I was stunned. He pointed out my strengths and weaknesses incisively.
I was somewhat distracted afterward, making several mistakes while organizing the king's schedule. The Elf King had a cold and aloof demeanor, yet his gaze towards me was warm—a strange contradiction.
"Are you still bothered by Nathias's words?" He chuckled softly.
"Why do you like eavesdropping so much?" I said, annoyed, and started writing my schedule on a new sheet of paper.
"You weren't being discreet about others when you were speaking."
I didn't respond and focused on writing the schedule.
After a while, he said again, "I'm not going to class tonight. I have a banquet to attend with you."
"Is this banquet so important that I have to skip class to attend?"
“It’s not that important,” he thought for a moment, then laughed, “but it’s very important to our relationship.”
"Relationship? What relationship?" Isn't it a boss-employee relationship?
Is the CEO going to commend his employees to the veterans?
"Is it a commendation ceremony to praise me as your outstanding employee?" I couldn't help but ask.
He paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, a loud and unrestrained laugh that even made the two maids guarding the outer room peek out in surprise.
“You could call it an award,” he replied, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
"What kind of banquet is it?" I asked curiously.
"You'll find out when the time comes." He tried to kiss the corner of my lips, but I warily avoided it.
At 9:30 p.m., having finished my day's work, I changed into a gorgeous dress. If it weren't for the fuchsia color, I would never have worn it. Their wedding dresses are snow-white; I'm afraid I'll be dressed in a wedding gown—he once said that even after establishing himself as a mistress, he would still hold a wedding banquet.
But I still wore quite a lot of jewelry. Green cat's eye earrings, a three-layered saltwater pearl necklace, an amethyst bracelet, and after letting my long black hair down, they even put a crescent-shaped forehead ornament inlaid with diamonds on my forehead, pressing down on my long hair. I had the illusion of being a princess of a minority ethnic group.
As soon as I stepped out of the room, my hand was grabbed by a long, strong, slender hand, and a unique coolness extended from my palm to my wrist.
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Author's Note: I hope everyone will continue to support my other novels! Thank you all!
"Cinderella Wants a 'Powerful Novel' Script," "A Love Story of Ice and Fire," "All the World's Male Gods Are in Love with Me" ~~
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