Taming The Villainesses
chapter-8-2

(EP-8.2) Flower Aira #8

008 – Evil Flower Aira #8

I almost screamed from fright. The sensation of falling from a high place made me feel as if everything inside my stomach was moving up towards my throat.

However, Aira's palms blocked it.

Tadat.

"Great, we're out! In the past, Anise and I had also often sneaked out of court like this.”

Anise was one of Aira's older sisters. Among the 12 boys and 5 girls, she was the fourth youngest, right above Aira.

I heard that she was a very kind and friendly woman.

“I remember wandering around with my sister, exploring the surroundings while looking at this and that.”

Aira really liked Anise. So, when Anise suddenly vomited blood and died right in front of Aira, the shock must have broken Aria’s inner sense of scale.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that if Aira's family had not died…

I wonder what type of girl Aira would have been instead?

Since she was far from inheriting the crown, she would probably just drink tea, ride horses, and look at flowers, like an ordinary noble, right?

Of course, this type of thinking was meaningless in the current situation, but….

“Let's go, Gospel. I know the name of the tavern.”

"I know where it is. I'll lead the way."

The place Aira was talking about was the「Nymph's Ditch」which was the same tavern on the outskirts that I had just visited. It was a well-known fact that the Tavern owner Madame was from the rare Nymph race.

I didn't know that I would be going there again today.

Would anyone recognize me?

I was wearing a different robe, without any sort of visible identification, so it should work out somehow.

Also, would anyone really think that I would go there twice in one day?

With that in mind, Aira and I safely left the central street. We then entered the noisy and messy area in the West Gate slum district of Monarch City.

Jilpok, jilpok-

The road was unstable and the ground was dirty, so we carefully watched our steps as we walked.

It was fine for me, but I was worried about what Aira, who was wearing nice shoes, would think of this.

“Even at night, there are many people.”

However, Aira was busy watching the people walking around. She seemed to be very interested in this sort of thing.

Her black eyes that peeked out from under her hood were full of curiosity. She didn't seem to care about the mud soaking her shoes.

━Dashing Sirs passing by there, are you interested in getting your fortunes read for only a penny?

━My child is starving, please…

“Hmm-”

When Aira's eyes landed on the beggars crouching on the street, I felt a chilling sensation.

What was she thinking about while looking at them?

“It’s spring. It’s a chilly day.”

She didn’t seem to have much in mind.

Although, I vaguely expected for this to happen.

Aira was not interested in most things, unless they were related to herself or a few people around her.

“Ah ah, Sister, Sister, Please buy a flower, Sister!"

At this moment, a group of children flocked towards us. These were the ones who sold flowers and pretty stones. The typical slum child who had soot on their faces and hands.

These children were pulling on and touching the hem of Aira's robe, while bringing out flowers. For anyone who knew of Aira's true identity, this was a truly terrifying scene to look at.

However, much to my surprise, Aira's mouth gently curved up.

“They are such cute children.”

She even ruffled the messy hair of the children with her hands.

━Wow, this noona smells good.

━Where, where? I want to smell it too.

Even though the children were clinging to her in a somewhat rude manner, Aira did not scold or yell at them.

Yes. As one could see, Aira liked children.

It was because children were naive and innocent beings, without any hint of hypocrisy or slander. At least, Aira seemed to have thought so.

"Unnie. Unnie. That long robe. Unnie is a Magician, right? Please buy one flower for a coin. It's a lucky flower!”

“A coin? Sure, a flower is worth a coin.”

"Here, Miss. I'll pay.”

I didn't know what was going to happen, so we left the street and moved quickly.

“I got a nice flower bracelet.”

“We will go this way.”

After quickly walking, we soon arrived at the front of the tavern.

It was a large three-story building. Maybe it was because it was rather late in the day, the place was very noisy. It would become even more crowded in the late evening.

Jingling-

━What did you just say? Say that again you prick!

━Bald head!

━Bald, bald? That's it, you're dead!

I hesitated, wondering if I should really bring Aira here.

“I am looking forward to meeting the Nymph!"

Aira opened the sliding door of the tavern and went in first.

I rushed in after her.

“It is messy here. I'll take you to a quieter place."

"Okay, escort me.”

Ttogak, ttogak-

Despite asking me to escort her, Aira gracefully made her way through the noisy and jumbled tavern.

Even in such a chaotic space, her noble poise remained. It was like she was showing off that she was a Queen.

━Look!

━Is that the daughter of some noble family? Seems like they snuck out to play at night.

━So, shall we try approaching her? Maybe they will allow it, since they are excited about being able to play at night.

━If you want to see the light of the next day, stay still. I have seen a few people meeting tragic endings like that…

It was like gold not losing its value, even if it got muddy.

Aira might be hiding her identity, but she could not hide her aura and dignity.

Hence, some people with good eyesight were already looking at us.

If only they knew that the woman they were looking at, with half interest and half curiosity, was the monarch of this country.

Of course, they wouldn’t know that.

A waitress approached us as soon as we sat down. At first, I thought it was the freckled waitress from before, but it was a different person.

Did she already leave? Well, after experiencing that kind of thing, it was normal if she wanted to get off work early and take a break.

“Dear customers, here is the menu. You can tell us which dish you would like to order.”

"Okay."

While Aira was busy looking around, I ordered a glass of honey wine, which seemed to be the most moderate drink. It also had milk mixed with honey.

At this time, Aira spoke.

“I thought you could see a Nymph if you came here? Where is the Nymph?”

"Ah, Are you talking about the Manager? The Manager is currently-”

“Bring me the Nymph.”

"Yes, yes?"

I felt the waitress, who had brown hair that was tied into two ponytails, was bewildered at Aira's request.

“Excuse me, but what did you say?”

“Did you not hear me? Bring me the Nymph.”

It was surprising that Aira had said the same thing twice. However, things were not looking so good right now, so I decided to quickly intervene.

“My Lady wants to try the Manager's special menu. We will give proper compensation, so can you please ask the Manager if she could spare some time from her busy schedule?”

I implicitly stated that the young lady I was serving had a very high status and that it was best to just follow her request.

"Ah-"

The waitress, hardened by working in this dirty place, scratched the back of her head and nodded, as if she understood my meaning.

“Of course, then please wait here for a while.”

But just as the waitress was about to leave, Aira called out, "Wait a minute," pulling something out of her sleeves and placing it on the table.

“This is a tip.”

Dalgak.

“At a tavern like this, you have to tip, right?”

A shiny object was placed on the table.

“Oh, oh oh!?”

The waitress, who saw it, screamed in surprise. It was as if she had a mental breakdown.

Sulrong. Sulrong.

Thanks to that, the noisy tavern suddenly became quiet.

It was because what Aira took out was none other than a gold coin!