In the blink of an eye, Qiao Suisui had been living in Lego Palace for a month.
Leberli came every day under the pretext of supervising her health, staying to increase the time he spent with her. But Suisui was reluctant to let him examine her body, fearing that he would discover she wasn't a Beastman. Fortunately, Leberli was quite a gentleman and seemed to follow her lead.
The progress between the two was always uncertain. She could feel Leberli's fondness and attentiveness towards her, but he never took the initiative to push the relationship forward. Beneath his affectionate and tender exterior, there seemed to be an almost imperceptible scrutiny of her. At times, it felt as if he was dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, leading her onwards.
Nobody was without worldly experience; Qiao Suisui was no donkey. She might seem outwardly fragile and easy to manipulate, but in fact, she was delicately self-serving. There was no other choice—her first eighteen years of life had taught her how to survive early on. Not fight? That was a joke. If she didn't, she would end up squashed and molded, fooled and consumed. A child without an umbrella must keep running.
With her intuition, she judged that beneath Leberli's frivolous exterior was a very conservative heart. Therefore, to win him over, maybe she needed to try a different approach....
Since that day, Ruka hadn't shown his face again. They would occasionally bump into one another in the secondary palace, but it was nothing more than a faint nod before passing by each other.
The rest of the time, she took the initiative to chat with the male servants of Lego Palace, sharing some of her high-quality daily supplies that were only provided for her, and with her harmless looks and smiles, she quickly captured the hearts of the male servants.
"Princess and our master should be holding the ceremony soon, I heard it's set for this month."
"The Princess has always been clingy to our master since childhood, but they became a bit estranged after that time."
"Is it because of that affair..." a servant whispered, "just after the master returned from the battlefield and was diagnosed with... that, the Princess came to visit, they seemed to have had a big fight, and the Princess ran out crying. Afterwards, they didn't speak for a long time."
Qiao Suisui quietly listened to their gossip, occasionally interjecting just to gain more information.
"To be selected as a mate by the Princess, Colonel Sikoses must be very outstanding."
Another servant immediately boasted proudly, "Of course, our master is the youngest Colonel in the Military Department. As long as he inherits the family's Talent, he will be unrivaled in the Empire. In my opinion, our master is indescribably better than any of the Princess's other sixteen spouses."
"How many???" She almost choked on her words.
"Sixteen, oh, with our master, it makes seventeen. That's very few."
It was her perspective that was too narrow.
"Miss Suisui, don't be sad, you're so beautiful and have such a good personality, surely many males would compete to be your mate," one of the servants encouraged her, because he had personally seen the master carry this little female into his arms, and the two of them were like dry wood meeting a fierce fire. Now, everyone was discussing the master and the Princess in front of her, and he thought Qiao Suisui would not be happy.
"Yes... if only the master had met you earlier."
"Exactly, exactly, I've been here for so long, and I've never seen the master bring anyone back on his initiative. Even the Princess has to have the king's approval before the master will prepare... uh... I mean..."
A servant, realizing his words might have been inappropriate, struggled to correct himself. After all, no one wanted to offend the Princess, but they didn't want to upset the little female either.
Feeling a bit awkward and not wanting the idle talk to spread further, Qiao Suisui said, "There's nothing between the Colonel and me, he saved me, and I am very grateful for that. Hearing you talk about him and the Princess, I think they are well-suited for each other and I hope they are happy."
Although she was just making polite conversation, she still felt somewhat stifled, but she didn't show it on her face.
"Could you do me a favor? Please take care of these for me. I want to go back to my room," she asked.
"Is, is that okay? These are very expensive Nutrient Liquids!"
"And this flavor is a new release!"
After confirming with Suisui several times, they gratefully accepted.
"Don't mention it, I had a hard time figuring out what to do with the leftovers, so I should be thanking you for helping me out," she said with a smile.
In truth, her daily Nutrient Liquid was carefully matched to her and supplied according to her required intake; she never had leftovers. She felt that saying she was giving it to them would make them feel burdened, so she pretended there were leftovers. Additionally, she didn't particularly like Nutrient Liquid—having been here for a month, she missed beef noodles, fried rice with egg, steamed meat dumplings, and spicy crayfish... but she didn't say anything. She feared causing trouble for anyone. There were many things she was not accustomed to here, but she dealt with them silently, never asking for anything.
Qiao Suisui prepared to leave, yet as she turned around, she saw a tall figure standing ten paces away from her.
Beastmen have acute hearing, and Ruka had heard them discussing him the moment he arrived, intending to intervene when they mentioned the Princess, yet when the topic shifted to him and her, he inexplicably held back.
Remembering the phrase 'I hope they're happy,' the words Ruka had planned to say stuck in his throat, unable to go either up or down.
"Colonel Sikoses."
"You don't like Nutrient Liquid?"
"No, I just... don't have much of an appetite."
"Are you adjusting well?"
"Everything is fine, thank you."
"...There's no need for politeness."
After the awkward exchange, silence was all that remained between them.
"The Military Department has been busy lately; we just caught the boss of the illegal auction organization."
"Is that so? Then you should take care to rest."
"..."
Ruka looked at the person before him and slightly furrowed his brows in annoyance; what he had wanted to say upon arriving was not this.
Suisui wasn't in high spirits but still smiled habitually, careful not to let the conversation drop: "As expected of Colonel Sikoses, I knew you would catch that villain."
Ruka fell silent for a moment, looked at her earnestly, and said, "You don't have to do that."
"What?"
"You don't need to go out of your way to compliment me; if you don't feel like smiling, don't force it."
Upon hearing this, she was momentarily taken aback.
She acted this way towards Leberli as well, but the shrewd Leberli did not pick up on her ingratiating behavior, only finding it pleasing; on the contrary, it was Ruka, whom she had barely interacted with, who saw right through her.
She felt her face grow warm, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.
Ruka noticed her discomfort and considerately averted his gaze, giving her a moment of relief. He took out a necklace from his pocket and placed it in her hands.
"Found it while searching the boss's place; it had your scent, so I brought it back."
"Thank you, Colonel."
"Call me Ruka," the man said, and then, as if recalling something, he added, "Just like you call Leberli by his name."
Suisui looked up and found herself lost in his light golden pupils, which were even more clear-cut in the sunlight, so striking that she was momentarily distracted.
Ruka didn't hear her call his name, and his eyes dimmed.
"About that day, I've been wanting to talk to you."