Read Novel Full Chapter 1004: Disgusting Stench
Chapter 1004: Disgusting Stench
The Child of Reckoning understood very well that she was being poked fun at, so she didn’t bother responding. Many of her temporary ’sisters’ begged to be allowed to do her makeup, but she refused all of them.
<Leave her alone, Sera. This cavewoman is only comfortable in her skin when she’s drenched in her enemies’ blood, not makeup.>
Ayame’s statement earned her quite a colorful remark sent privately into her head. Something about her makeup making her look like a night companion for hire, and that the nobles will think Quinlan brought her as a gift to thank the king for the invitation.
Naturally, this earned Iris a colorful response of her own, and just like that, the two resumed their perpetual bickering.
<Master, Blossom smells so much nasty stuff on this woman! She alone wears more cosmetics than Blossom’s nine sisters and daughter combined!">
Then the dogkin suddenly sniffed the air deeply, and her head turned toward the bigger chariot. Her face scrunched as if she smelled something beyond rotten oozing from that direction.
Blossom reached for his hand needily and planted her nose into his shoulders, wishing to overwrite the horrible smell with the one that was emitted by her beloved master.
<Master... Blossom smells an aging woman trying to do her utmost to appear youthful there. Blossom thinks she’s really desperate because she doesn’t even smell human one bit. Her race has been changed to ’cosmetics.’>
<Focus on something else for a bit,> Quinlan replied, though feeling a bit worried about how his dog-girl lover would take being in a banquet full of women like these two. He hoped she’d get used to it sooner rather than later.
"Am I being ignored, I wonder~?"
Selendra mused with a polite smile, though any such sentiment didn’t reach her eyes. She clearly hated being ignored, even if for but a single second.
"I must apologize; ignoring you wasn’t my intention, my lady. I was merely stunned for a moment by your beauty. The portraits don’t do you justice."
Quinlan took her gloved hand with graceful motions and placed a chaste kiss upon it. It was the proper gesture, the kind nobles adored.
A gleeful giggle escaped Selendra’s lips. It was light and full of feminine delight. A real smile, one not forged for social manipulation, briefly graced her painted face. Her eyes, once flat and sharp like polished glass, shone with real warmth for the first time.
"My, my~ You have a good eye for beauty, I see," she said, letting her gaze wander across the women behind him. "It’s clear you know how to appreciate the finer things in life... judging by the company you keep."
Her eyes narrowed as she studied Quinlan again. "I don’t recall meeting you before, though. I’m sure I’d remember such an imposing-looking man among the sea of wimpy noble men..." Her gaze lingered on his firm biceps, specifically, the one currently occupied by a dogkin, who was still pressing her face into him so that she wouldn’t have to smell the foul stench Selendra and her mother emitted. "Yes... definitely something I’d remember."
Then she paused, squinting up as if she noticed something odd, something she somehow missed when he leaned down to kiss her hand.
"Is that... a cat on your head?"
Quinlan didn’t bother glancing up. "Yes."
Selendra blinked. "A black cat... asleep... on your head?"
"Yes," he confirmed again, entirely unfazed. "Is there an issue? She wanted to come with us, and I didn’t have it in me to refuse."
She stared a second longer before laughing aloud, releasing a delicate, amused, and intrigued sound. "Alright... yes, I definitely would’ve remembered you." ṞάŊọᛒĘꞩ
He offered a faint, amused smile and bowed his head slightly. "The name’s Black. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
At that, Selendra’s brow arched. "Lord Black?" she repeated. "Masks and aliases in the noble district? Didn’t you read the invitation letter? And I see a beast as well as an elf in your group, you do realize they have to be collared at all times, correct? It’s beyond rude to the king to bring slaves to his birthday party. You might even lose your heads."
"We’re... special guests of sorts," Quinlan replied smoothly, ignoring most of her remarks.
A sharp scoff cut through the conversation as a new participant joined the conversation..
"Special guests? You?" The voice came from behind the golden silk curtains of the larger chariot. The tone was full of disdain, every syllable dripping with venomous entitlement. "Even duke families like ours enter through the same gates as the lesser families and undergo the same inspections. No one is treated special, as per our ’fair to all’ king desired."
She said the ’fair to all’ part as if it were ridiculous. Treating mere baronets with the same level of respect as duke families? Preposterous!
Quinlan didn’t change expression, nor did his posture stiffen. He merely turned toward the voice with calm, impeccable manners he practiced while waiting for his mana to recharge during the steamy smithing sessions he held with Kaelira.
"I wouldn’t dare lie to such important ladies as yourselves," he said respectfully. "If I’m not mistaken... do I have the honor of speaking with the renowned Maerina Ravenshade?"
A moment of silence followed. Then came the bored reply: "You do. Now get lost, stop wasting my time."
Quinlan’s expression didn’t even twitch, though the same couldn’t be said for some of his women. Feng especially didn’t appreciate the tone of the woman.
Selendra, meanwhile, burst into another amused giggle, utterly delighted by how her mother dismissed him like a beggar at a feast. She clutched her parasol and turned to Quinlan with mischief in her eyes, clearly proud of the example her mother set.
"She’s the golden standard I aspire to follow~ Isn’t she such a perfect role model?"
"She is. No wonder you turned into such a fine young lady, Miss Selendra~" Vex spoke up with a giggle of her own. If anyone knew the woman, they’d instantly be able to tell she thought of the pair as beyond trash. A pile of stinking shit she unfortunately encountered while out on a stroll with her hubby.