“What’s that thing? Do Blood Clan members eat it too?”

“Blood Clan members don’t, but I wanted to let Your Highness try a specialty from back home. There are lots of ways to prepare fish where I’m from, and the most famous dish is pickled fish.”

Ella described it so vividly, she was practically ready to shout, “Praise the sea!”

“Got it. I don’t have class this afternoon, right?”

“That’s right. Once you’ve finished lunch, Her Majesty the Queen will come to get you. If you’re sleepy, you can take a little nap with Her Majesty in her bedroom.”

“I’m not sleepy. And even if I were, why would I go to a bedroom? The classroom’s where you sleep, obviously.”

The classroom…

At first, what Ella said seemed perfectly reasonable. But the more she thought about it, the stranger it sounded. Wasn’t a classroom for studying?

Could Her Highness have reached the point where she could study even in her sleep?

The two hurried to the dining hall. Since Wei Yue was royalty, she didn’t eat with the students. She had her own dining hall, where most of the other diners were noble children or foreign guests.

Wei Yue picked up a piece of fish and put it in her mouth. A strange fishy taste spread across her tongue. Almost instantly, she spat the piece out.

“Ptooey!”

“Ella, are you sure this is something people can eat?”

“Let me try it. It’s delicious! If you don’t like it, Your Highness, I’ll get you something else right away.”

“What do you mean? This fish is already going bad, and you’re telling me it’s edible?”

That piece of fish had clearly frightened Wei Yue. Now she understood why the scholar from before had said that pickled fish was inedible.

This damn thing wasn’t fit for human consumption!

“But that’s how we make it back home. You put fresh fish in a jar with a little salt and let it cure raw. After a while, it’s ready to eat. I even rushed home overnight so Your Highness could try a specialty from my hometown.”

Ella sounded more and more aggrieved as she spoke, until she was on the verge of tears.

“Thank you, but please don’t let this kind of thing appear on the dining table again. I’d rather grab a raw fish and bite into it than eat pickled fish ever again.”

“I-I understand.” Ella hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from the princess. She’d only wanted to bring Her Highness a local specialty and cheer her up. She never thought she’d mess things up this badly.

Ella put the fish away and brought over the lunch the head chef had set aside. Just a moment ago, when she’d offered him some fish, his expression had been even more exaggerated than the princess’s.

But it’s delicious.

Why doesn’t anyone like it?

Wei Yue watched Ella devour the pickled fish, her eyelid twitching uncontrollably.

“You really like eating that stuff?”

“I love it. My mom used to make pickled fish for me. Whenever I ate it, it felt like I was curled up in her arms.”

Ella rested her face in her hands and smiled sweetly.

“I see. I’m sorry, Ella. I didn’t know it meant so much to you.” Wei Yue lowered her head. This time, she truly felt that what she’d said earlier had been a little too harsh.

“It’s all right. Besides, I changed the lunch menu without asking Your Highness first. I’m the one who should apologize.”

“Then let’s keep eating. If you don’t mind, I want to ask you something—but you can’t tell anyone else.”

As soon as Ella heard that there was something important the princess wanted to ask her, she immediately dropped her lazy expression and sat up attentively.

“If I drank fish blood, do you think it could take care of my usual need for blood in an emergency?”

“Fish blood? I suppose it could. But Your Highness doesn’t need to worry about getting blood. Her Majesty prepares your blood bottles herself, so no one can poison them.”

Ella had picked up plenty of Blood Clan gossip from the maid squad lately. Apparently, quite a few royal heirs had been poisoned to death in the past.

For the princess to have thought that far ahead—she really did have a bit of Her Majesty’s fire in her!

“…”

Could it be that Vivian was the one doing the poisoning?

“Then I have one more question. Really, just one last one.”

“That’s all right, Your Highness. You can ask me as many questions as you like. I’ll answer them honestly.”

“Great. Do you know where I can get some garlic?”

……

That afternoon, inside the clean and tidy bedroom.

Wei Yue saw Vivian approaching with a little dress in her hands, and let out a wail she could no longer hold back.

“You’re a demon! A demon!”

“A demon? That’s exactly right. We Blood Clan members should strike fear into the hearts of outsiders. But calling your own mother a demon isn’t something a good daughter should do.”

“Who’s your good daughter? I’m not wearing some stupid dress! You’re sending an outsider like me to meet foreign envoys. Aren’t you worried I’ll turn traitor and sabotage you right to your face?”

Wei Yue wasn’t holding back this time. She went straight for the attack.

She’d put up with Vivian so many times before—wearing dresses, learning noble dances, and all that.

Wei Yue had never suffered such a grievance in her life.

If she kept holding back, it’d be no different from raising the white flag. Once her manners and bearing were indistinguishable from those of the Blood Clan, who would care about anything she said?

She’d just be all talk, acting exactly like the people she claimed to hate.

Oh, come on. She kept saying she hated the Blood Clan, so why had she learned every last bit of their etiquette?

The little princess sure loved putting on an act~

Could she be a masochist?

Just imagining it made Wei Yue cringe. She couldn’t keep putting up with this. It was time to show Vivian she wasn’t someone who could be pushed around.

Vivian set the clothes in her hands on the bed, then slowly walked toward Wei Yue.

“It seems you really do want to test me, my daughter. I was planning to give you a little more freedom, but it looks like indulging you won’t make you a good child.”

“What are you going to do? I’m telling you, I’m not afraid of you at all. I’ve got garlic, and I’m wearing a cross too.”

“You mean this?”

Vivian pulled out an identical cross. “This thing only fools Blood Clan kids. Don’t tell me you actually believe in it too, Wei Yue?”

After panicking for a moment, Wei Yue spotted the longsword by the table and quickly regained her confidence.

“Hmph. You didn’t see this coming, did you? I’ve still got a trump card.”

The next second, her sword was bent clean out of shape.

Vivian’s smile grew even wider. “You’ve gotten so rebellious that you’re pointing a sword at your own mother. I really regret not making you take etiquette lessons every day. Your stubbornness is such a headache. But no matter—I’m your etiquette teacher now. Let’s begin today’s lesson.”

Vivian picked up the bent silver sword and turned her gaze to Wei Yue’s delicate face.

“Since you’re so eager to bully your mother, I’ll let you bully me to your heart’s content today.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Wei Yue’s mouth felt terribly dry. Worse, Vivian was already hinting at her snow-white neck. One bite would be so satisfying…

“You actually want me to drink your blood? Don’t you know that’s indecent?”

“Mm, good answer. It seems you’ve gained a pretty deep understanding of Blood Clan etiquette. That’s my good daughter.”

Vivian pulled Wei Yue into her arms, and the dryness in Wei Yue’s mouth immediately disappeared.

“Don’t think you’ve beaten me that easily,” Wei Yue muttered, her voice growing quieter and quieter.

“Yes, yes, my little Sword Saint princess.”