Chapter 199: Maid Outfit

When breakfast in the City of the Sea came to an end...

"Listen, Xana. Stay here and wait to see if that man comes back," Thalassa instructed. "I have things to take care of, but I’ll try to return quickly so you won’t be alone for too long. Don’t leave this room."

The wolf woman looked around the room where Thalassa was leaving her. It was the same room that had been assigned to Cassian. Her tail began to sway slowly as she spoke with feigned reluctance.

"Okay, Thalassi. I’ll guard the owner’s room!" she declared, puffing out her chest proudly.

Thalassa nodded, relieved by her apparent obedience, then hurried out of the room to return to Turbid Waters and speak with Mireya alone.

The moment the door shut completely, however, Xana’s fa?ade collapsed. Her tail began wagging frantically as she did a flip through the air before throwing herself onto the bed, rubbing against the sheets still carrying her owner’s scent.

Meanwhile, Thalassa didn’t stop to chat with any of the waitresses this time. She went straight upstairs and pushed open the door to the room above without hesitation.

Fortunately, her old friend was inside.

The woman looked as though she hadn’t moved an inch since the previous night. She was still lounging lazily across a chaise, smoking the same pipe as before.

"Thalassa..." she complained. "Is that really how you visit someone so dear to you?"

The blue-haired siren rolled her eyes and got straight to the point.

"Come to the palace tomorrow. Dress properly and think about what you want to ask the king for."

"Huh? That soon? Wait, wait..." Mireya suddenly sat upright. "I have to go myself?"

"Mhm." Thalassa nodded. "They’ll give you a seat on the council, just like a noble."

Mireya’s eyes widened in surprise. One corner of her lips slowly curled upward until she could no longer hold it back and burst into loud laughter.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" She clutched her stomach, trying to stop herself. "No, no... Hahaha! A noble? Hahaha! No, that’s the funniest thing you’ve ever said to me, Thalassa. You’re joking, right?"

The woman who had delivered the news showed no sign of joking.

"...Well, I definitely wasn’t expecting this." Mireya let out a sigh. "I said I’d cooperate with whatever you people came up with, but this... I don’t think bringing politics into this place is a good idea, Thalassa."

"It doesn’t have to be politics," the blue-haired siren replied.

"Even so, I don’t think it’s a good idea."

"I don’t think so either, but it’s worth trying. You talked me into so many ridiculous things when we were young, Mireya... I think you can talk a bunch of arrogant old men and women into anything."

A low, nasal chuckle rumbled behind Mireya’s pressed lips before she answered,

"Mmm... If you managed to get yourself a boyfriend, then I can definitely survive one day pretending to have ’manners.’"

The Serenia merely offered a faint smile, without explaining that this would probably not be a one-time thing...

At the same time, a blush spread across her face when she heard her mention her "boyfriend."

The memory of what had almost happened the other night genuinely made her want to bury herself beneath a pillow and never come out again.

Mireya noticed the change immediately. She narrowed her eyes and curved her lips into a smile full of mischievous delight, savoring the discovery of Thalassa’s newfound bashfulness.

"Why are you so red~...?"

She covered her teasing smile with one hand before adding,

"What kind of thoughts is our little Thalassa having~...? Ah!" She dramatically threw herself backward. "They grow up so fast!"

"Enough with the act, Mireya. Let’s talk about how you’re going to introduce yourself tomorrow and what you’re going to say. I thought of a few things on my way here."

"Huh?" A huge yawn escaped the still-seated woman. "Don’t worry about that stuff. Do I look like someone who could remember all those fancy words? Don’t worry so much—I already know exactly what to say. Tell me something more interesting. Don’t dodge the subject just because you’re embarrassed."

Thalassa lightly bit her lip.

Silence settled over the room, though it would not last long before the two old friends truly began catching up.

Back with Xana, she had spent the entire day buried beneath the sheets that had once been neatly arranged, leaving devastation in her wake.

The room no longer resembled the way it had been left. Xana’s boundless hyperactivity had seen to that.

Clink, clink...!

The wolf woman’s finger, completely wrapped beneath the sheets, moved toward and away from a copper vase, making it ring just like before.

"Hehe! Xana likes it!"

Clink, clink...!

But her attention was quickly drawn to another object in the room, which completely captivated her. As the day wore on and Thalassa still hadn’t returned, it was the last thing on her mind.

Though every time she flopped back onto the bed, she complained childishly,

"I’m bored! Everyone forgot about Xana! Owner, where are you?!"

Cassian would not take much longer to return.

Although he had considered leaving Adela alone for a few moments... he hesitated.

He knew perfectly well what was going to happen if he didn’t tell Xana to change her clothes first...

But by the time he teleported back together with Adela, it was already too late to worry about the consequences.

He appeared inside the room and looked over the wreckage.

Silence.

A vein bulged on his forehead. Even if the mess was easy enough to clean up, he was still annoyed by the sheer disorder.

He turned his gaze toward the lump on the bed and called out louder than usual.

"XANA!"

Standing beside him, Adela looked around the room in surprise.

When she heard her master calling someone, she followed his gaze toward the bed and saw a pair of ears suddenly pop out.

Then a woman’s face emerged as she sprang to her feet with excitement, casting aside the sheets she had spent the entire day wrapped in before launching herself straight at Cassian...

She saw it.

The maid outfit.

Something imperceptible shifted in her eyes, though it was impossible to tell whether she was about to explode... or whether the absolute rigidity of her expression and posture foretold something entirely different.