Gathering the last $500 and closing up the clutch, I feel like no one should be carrying
this much money at once
. Then again, these people carry cards that connect directly to their
bank accounts
... but not all of them go without a PIN like the silly Alpha.
After a relieved sigh that this part of my day is over with, I turn back to
Ellie Rushwater
. While perhaps being a little too friendly with someone she just met, I can at least understand feeling an interest in a person with a
quality
you find intriguing.
"Is that so? My hairstyle is popular in this... art of yours."
"Absolutely. The contrast of youthful energy it brings to their appearance is almost like a calling card of their potential personalities. Like my hair is uh... uhm..."
Looking around nervously, she steps closer and covers one side of her mouth. Vrika and I both become a bit
on edge
at her sudden approach, but she’s been nice enough so far... so I give her the benefit of the doubt despite
muscles shifting underneath my skin
.
"H-hime cut. Sorry for whispering, but I explained it out loud to someone nearby once and they made fun of me for a month."
Her finger secretly pointed over to one of the werewolves keeping an eye on us. The large
imposing bald man
certainly did have a look like he could
easily bully someone
, though physically.
"...Why would they make fun of you?"
"Ah, well, you see... Hime means princess if you translate it. When they asked, I didn’t think twice about saying so. I was just translating... but I was ribbed for supposedly thinking of myself as an ’Indian princess’ for weeks..."
Hearing this, I feel complicated. On the one hand, I actually
was
a fox princess. On the other... I have experienced telling
two people
now and getting reactions that could definitely be called ’making fun of me’.
"Anyway, for mine, the characters having demure personalities despite sometimes being a bit naive is the common theme. Of course, it’s not like hairstyle is the only factor... and not every one of them acts exactly the same."
She swiped to find another image on her phone until she showed a different cartoon girl - and from my
sneaky glances
all of them really were ’girls’? This one with dark hair, in an
unbound
at the back version of this werewolf’s hair, was wearing an expression that was somehow
solemn and severe
.
> Hm, yes. I have definitely met a few other princesses like this. I could never tell how volatile they truly were, so I just avoided them. Perhaps this was never an opponent at all, Vrika. Just a woman, who happens to be a werewolf, that wanted to talk for a while without being judged for it. The people of this world, especially the werewolves, seem to have no concept of space! <
"A princess? From what setting- I mean, where from exactly?"
"A kingdom... you wouldn’t find on any maps, The number two has numerological significance where I’m from. It represents balance and harmony, and I wanted that to represent myself to the public."
And perhaps I hoped that an outer nature would someday
spread
to my inner one. I am still waiting for that to be true... but even this world knows
not to count on
the insides matching the outsides.
"Fascinating, I still don’t... maybe an original? Oh, then how did you end up here? In Vossden?"
I didn’t answer immediately, wondering what I’m even doing. Talking about this with
a relative stranger
, dropping hints about my true nature. But she seems so
genuinely intrigued
that more truth slips out before I could stop myself.
"One moment I was standing in the royal gardens and the next... I wasn’t. Life takes some unexpected turns."
"Royal gardens... oh, she’s so good. I didn’t even doubt her..."
Ellie repeated what I said before mumbling almost to herself. But I could, of course,
hear her
. With a werewolf’s senses and the fact that she is only a foot and a half away. Her head ticks back up so
sharply
that I take a half step back.
"I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name yet?"
"...Citra Lomdi."
Her eyes
sparkled
before she grabbed her phone again, smashing her thumbs into the keyboard... before giggling at whatever she saw. I’m
gradually growing uncomfortable
, but it’s not a warning from Intuition.
At least not the
system’s version
...
"Last name means fox? That seems significant but I can totally see why you’d pick it - they are cute. Does your... your kingdom have a Lunar Goddess too?"
"Lunar deities are important to many cultures of... the world."
I weakly
deflected
and Ellie’s expression shifted even more dramatically. That light behind her eyes turned into
sparkles of turquoise glow
as she leaned in with a lowered voice.
"So you’re saying you’re a tsundere fox princess from another dimension, transported to our world and now hiding your true identity, right?"
"I really think you shouldn’t just get so close to-"
A
metallic crash
echoed through the casino. Startled, Vrika surged forward
defensively
, causing my eyes to
flash deep blue
so strongly that I could see it in her much too close eyes. Ellie gasped and backed off... with her hand flying to cover her mouth.
"Oh my god, you’re *full-on* and this is amazing..."