Chapter 238 Baby Illa smells sweet
"Did you find your sister?" her mother stopped her on her way outside the castle and said. "You are empty handed; I thought she was going to hand over the access code to the factory with all those Christmas trees, how are we supposed to decorate the trees if they are not here? You got everyone revved up with those Christmas tales and all the little children are excited for it."
"She is on the phone with Markay and I did not want to intrude." Scarlet told Mega, "How is our beautiful Illa? Is she still fussy?" Scarlet extended her arms towards her mother with all intentions of carrying her baby sister. Because Mega used baby oil and powder on her, Illa smelled so sweet all the time. Additionally, she smelled like milk and she was pink, tender, and always peaceful making her such a joy to be around.
Every time Scarlet carried the baby, she would sniff her deeply as if she was she was inhaling a drug.
"Stop smelling your sister every time people will think she stinks." Mega pushed Scarlet's head away and changed the baby from her right arm to the left one.
"I can't help it, she smells sweet." She replied.
"If you want another child then you should have your own, I heard you speaking to Adler and you told him that you are not going to have another child. You cannot make such a decision on your own, you must discuss it with your husband first. I know its old school but we women are responsible for the continuation of our husband's lineages, particularly the noble ones, the family lines must continue."
"Mother, we live in a world with artificial wombs, incubators, egg and sperm donors and all the technology needed to make our reproductive role as women minimal. Heck, I saw very lifelike sex toys in the pleasure house_"
Mega swiftly put her hand on Scarlet's head, grabbed her hair and said in a loud surprised voice, "You went to a pleasure house!!! Which of your brother's did it? It's Adler, right, he could never say to you. I should have known that your curiosity would get the better of you even after I cautioned you not once but three times not to step foot in there, arrrrghhhh, I am going to kill him."
She should have kept her mouth shut, now she realized, how could she have forgotten Carolyn's warning about their mother killing them if they stepped foot in that place, especially her. Now, she was going to receive another long boring lecture on etiquette.
"Mother, I went there on official business once, when the place had just opened up. I went with captain Zorl to ensure that all of the rules were being followed. I could not have closed my eyes when I was there, I simply glanced." She said defensively, "Yes, I glanced briefly."?she even pinched her fingers to demonstrate the degree of briefness and prove how small it was.
"That's no excuse." Mega frowned at her. "Do you know what kind of rumors can sprout from something like this getting out? Pleasure houses have male and female workers; someone could claim that you engaged in lascivious behavior with a male courtesan. No, this won't do, maybe you should spend some time with Catherine she teaches etiquette_"
"Mother!!!" she said loudly, if she listened to her mother freak out and rant, there would be one full hour of this. "Look, Mina is here to pick me up, we have something very important to do, I will see you later."
Without waiting for her mother to respond, she took off running, desperate to escape the unwanted lecture.
"Scarleeeettt," she heard her mother yell but she kept running, as if she was escaping hell itself.
Mina who was simply passing by to drop off a package was surprised when Scarlet suddenly invaded her car through the open car window. She never even bothered to open a door but simply dove in as if she was jumping into a swimming pool.
"Drive, drive, drive." Scarlet yelled.
Mina looked back curiously before adjusting the speed of her vehicle so that her wide eyed, crazy looking friend could escape.
Scarlet adjusted her body as the car sped off, and she leaned back in the car seat while breathing slightly faster than usual. "Oh, how crazy." She mumbled.
"What happened?" Mina asked curiously.
"My mother wants me to attend another etiquette class; I would rather shoot my foot off than do so. Have you ever been to one of those damned things, I have, courtesy of Cecily Wu and I was criticized for the way I spoke, sat, walked, even the way I breathed was wrong." She shook her head, and rubbed her arms as she recalled that it was one of her worst days in this world. "It was torture."
"I am a commoner, why would I attend etiquette class? Only women aiming to marry into noble houses do such things." Mina answered and she shrugged. "But you dove into my car as if a mutated beast was on your tail." She laughed, suddenly realizing how funny the situation was. "Where should I drop you off anyway?"
Scarlet looked at the video on the dashboard which showed the cars coming up behind them. She could count three cars, all being driven by her personal bodyguards on their tail. She also had no plans of heading home anytime soon, Justin was having a sleep over tonight with his friends in the Maddox library. She was left to her own resources, it seemed.
"Where are you going?" she asked Mina.
"To have a drink with my other friend Lena, I don't think you have ever met her. But are you allowed to enter a bar?"
"Why not?" Scarlet asked her.
"You are the governor, usually when someone like you goes out drinking the headline article the next day is 'irresponsible governor goes out drinking.'
"That's in the capital, this is the blue star." Scarlet shrugged, "I am coming with."?She had not shared a drink with a friend in many years. It could be fun just drinking, chatting and having fun with others her own age.
As soon as Tion saw where the car the governor was in was heading, he frowned.
"Are you letting her do this?" another guard asked him.
"Is she a child? What right do I have to tell a grown woman where to go or not to go?" Tion responded.
"It's not a good look." The other guard answered.
"She has done nothing but work all winter, let our governor act like a normal twenty eight year old woman for once. I will explain this to the general." He waved a phone at the colleague who did not look ready to drop the issue.
The guards got out of their cars and followed Scarlet and Mina into the bar from a distance, and inside, they took up what they perceived to be the best positions from where they could keep an eye on her.
Thanks to Tion, Scarlet had a chance to enjoy a night out which culminated in her spending the night at Mina's place.
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