Princess Sherry’s Tale - Chapter 7

“Th-that’s Tolcher.”

There was a drastic change in Sherri’s expression as her smile slowly faded away. She could feel her face heat up as well as her blood boiling just by standing there and watching what played in front of her. Her gaze lingered on the maid who approached Tol with a flushed face. She looked oddly familiar and Sherri was sure she had seen her work in the building where the training grounds were located.

The unscrupulous maid went ahead to hand Tol a towel and water which was accompanied by a flirty smile. For unknown reasons, Sherri felt some kind of displeasure but tried to convince herself that Tol would do her a favour and reject it.

“What the…”

Contrary to Sherri’s anticipation, he accepted the woman’s towel and water with a small smile. Naturally, his hand came in contact with the cunning woman’s hand and her cheeks became more flushed than before. A few seconds later, the maid scurried away like a hyper squirrel.

From her location, it was hard for Sherri to pick up the words being exchanged between Tol and his colleagues, however, she could see him nod his head excitedly. Her olive eyes flamed up in anger from just staring at his figure.

He had always reacted to her advances like she was the only woman he knew but just standing there and watching him tilt his lips at another woman irritated her. Sherri could feel her inside twist as she stormed away from the training ground after she saw Tol’s retreating figure. Her lips also quivered in anger as the scene from earlier kept replaying in her head.

She couldn’t place her fingers on what Tol was thinking while he was around her. Seeing him all smiley and different with another woman got on her nerves. And the thought of putting off her nightly endeavors for the past two months just to pursue him riled her up.

“Today I’ll be resting in my room, so don’t let anyone in,” she said to one of her servants as she shut the door to her room hastily.

Once inside her room, Sherri began looking for the robe and magic ring she used for her disguise regardless that it was still broad daylight. Her insides brewed, and she didn’t know why. All her focus was on leaving the castle to grab a drink and subdue her anger before she did something crazy.

Sadly, after more than two months of not using them, she couldn’t remember where she had put the robe and the magic ring.

“Are you there, Madam Kasheira?”

There was a soft knock coming from her door while she rummaged through the drawers. After a long line of silence had passed, Tol cautiously opened the door to the living room and entered. The tip of his hair stuck together as they fell on the side of his face effortlessly. He smelled nice as he had just taken a shower and Sherri had an odd urge to drive her fingers through his wet hair.

She ignored his bewildered expression from just staring at how messy her room was as they made eye contact. When her gaze met his eyes again, she suddenly remembered those lips curving into a small smile while he spoke to the maid earlier. From what she knew, he never smiled, but right now, she had pictured him as a cheap man who smiled at anything wearing a skirt.

“Don’t worry about me! You don’t have to escort me or anything,” she raised her tone suddenly and caught him off-guard.

“Madam Kasheira, what do you mean? How can I not perform my duties?” He was surprised by her sudden outburst.

The words, Madam Kasheira, didn’t sound pretty in her ears today. It had been a while since she’d told him to call her Sherri, but he was still stuck on Madam Kasheira. Even his handsome and innocent appearance looked despicable right now that she just wanted him out of her sight.

“I don’t want to see you, just leave!”

Sherri wanted to yell the reason behind her displeasure and tell him not to have anything to do with the maid but that would say a lot. He’ll be able to tell she had been secretly watching him and that didn’t fit well with her pride.

She clenched her teeth as she strode confidently towards Tol, stopping once they were just a few meters apart. She could hear his calm breathing but could still tell he was nervous and embarrassed as he tried avoiding her unfazed stare. Stopping herself from admiring him any further, she grabs his toned arm and pushes him out of her room, slamming the door shut behind her. He banged on her door repeatedly, but she turned a deaf ear.

Having found the robe and ring, she puts them on and escapes through her secret passage. She had never snuck out in broad daylight so she was a little anxious as to whether the bar would be open. Despite how her heart hesitated, her legs wouldn’t stop moving.

“Welcome, Madam Heris. It has been a long time,” a familiar face welcomed her with a courteous smile as she walked in.

The bar was a little hectic, with a few employees roaming around. However, she loved the vibe the bar always had. It was luxuriously dark with blue and red lights lit in various corners. Also, slow music from the ’90s echoed in the background, calming her raging mind.

The manager, who had recognized her as Heris, directed her to her usual spot. He deserved a tip for this. The spot was located a little inside and was only meant for VVIPs who spent a lot of money like her. From there, she could observe almost everything going on in the bar.

The bartender’s eyes widened when Sherri placed an order for a Long Island Iced Tea. It was a bit of a strong drink for a woman to order so early as it contained five different alcohols. He must have thought she was overdoing herself because she looked young so he tried to caution her.

“Excuse me, but a Long Island Iced Tea might be too…”

“Just bring it out and stop wasting my time,” Sherri cuts him off quickly.

The bartender immediately left and showed up some minutes later with her cocktail. She hesitated for a while at the pungent yet well-refined smell of her drink before immediately taking a large sip.

As it had a high alcohol percentage, she felt a burning sensation in her throat, but the aftertaste was fresh. Oftentimes, she had usually ordered a sweet and less alcoholic cocktail, but this kind of cocktail, which sometimes made her feel like an adult, wasn’t quite bad.

Sherri’s eyes gradually blurred as she kept downing her drink. The fact that she had not eaten lunch enabled the alcohol to kick in faster than she had anticipated. She felt a little tipsy but excited at the same time as she hummed to Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, feeling elated.

After a short while, she heads for the bathroom to release all the possible liquid in her body. Feeling a tingling sensation in her stomach, she decided to go home after a few more drinks.

Sherri returned to her seat and was about to signal the bartender, just to have her hand snatched by someone.

“You should stop drinking young lady,” a soft but authoritative voice says.

Young lady?

Was grabbing her hand not enough? Sherri was quite sensitive to being treated like a child because of her small figure and this person just entered her blacklist. She deliberately sucked her teeth and slapped the man’s hand away. The man just stared at her in disbelief. Ignoring him, she was about to order another drink when the man unexpectedly lifts her in his arms.

“What do you think you’re doing? Let me go right now!” She yelled repeatedly trying to break free from his strong grip, all to no avail.

“You’re going with me,” he states back.

“Who do you think you are?” Her voice had gotten low as her sight became blurry. Now wasn’t the time for the alcohol to be taking full effect.

From the body movement, Sherri could tell that he had climbed quite a number of stairs. When the movement came to a halt, she picked the little squeak of a door opening. The next thing she knew, her body was under a soft cover and she just wanted to remain under it.

“Look here, young lady,” he spoke up but got no response.

She wasn’t fully conscious.

While he slightly peeled off her robe, he could tell she was on the verge of passing out. Her cheeks were slightly red and just from staring at her, he felt a pang of disappointment. Considering her voice and the way she sat, he had imagined her to be a beauty and not what was in front of him.

He left the room and returned some minutes later with a cup full of ice water. He noticed her lying down randomly, with the blanket he had placed over her on the floor. Originally, he had hurriedly approached her when he heard she, who was from a noble family, was taking strong alcohol in broad daylight. He usually saw her with an escort knight, but today she’d come much earlier and was alone.

“No matter how good your escort might be, women are reckless these days,” he murmured under his breath.

As the owner of the bar, it would benefit him if these thoughtless noblewomen patronized him often but if there was an accident from overdrinking, the responsibility was going to be on him, which was a problem.

Although it had not been officially introduced, the entire floor where she lay, had originally been scheduled to be used for VVIPs, so he thought it wouldn’t matter if she rested here.

Pondering whether he had to separate the women’s room from male VVIPs, he wandered carelessly around the room while he observed her sleeping figure. Due to a little discomfort, while sleeping, Sherri had taken off her robe, revealing the dress she wore.

“Don’t tell me it’s because of this,” he squinted his blue eyes at the red ruby ring on her finger as he started to put the puzzle in his head together.

The ring was a clumsy design that didn’t go well with young noblewomen. He was already familiar with this kind of magical artifact, so it was easy to guess what kind of ring it was. If it was a defensive magic ring, it would have been activated when he touched her without permission. Considering the other option, it would have to be an item with the ability to hide its owner’s original appearance.

He became more certain of the fact that there was no young woman named Heris among the Marquis’ close acquaintances from what he remembered.