“All right, we’d better get back to work.”
After a while, she put away her smile and gestured toward the garden ahead.
“There’s still plenty to do over there.”
Su Ling nodded, took a deep breath, and pushed down the little emotions stirring in her heart.
She raised her head, and the sunlight bathed her face as if casting a golden halo around her.
Just then, a rustling sound broke the tranquil atmosphere.
Both of them froze, quickly clamping their mouths shut as they scanned warily toward the source of the noise.
Peering into the grass, they saw two figures faintly moving—and the strong smell of alcohol hit them.
Su Ling grabbed onto Tii’s sleeve nervously, her voice trembling slightly. “Tii, look over there…”
Tii cautiously leaned forward to peek into the grass.
Two guards were sprawled there.
One was rotund, his belly round like a giant wine barrel; the other was so skinny it looked like a breeze could blow him over.
Both of their faces were flushed with drink, sporting silly, drunken grins.
“Guards aren’t supposed to wander around the royal gardens like this… looks like these two have had too much.” Tii frowned and whispered.
The two girls strained their ears and could just make out the fat guard mumbling drunkenly, “Haha, what a perfect spot! The captain would never guess we’re drinking here!”
“Shhh, keep it down, you oaf! Don’t let anyone hear!”
“Oh, quit nagging like some old lady… By the way, Skinny, why haven’t you found yourself a wife yet?”
The skinny guard hiccupped and glared at him.
“Look who’s talking. You’re not married either. After this battle’s over, I’m going to go back and confess to that girl.”
The fat guard snickered.
“That’s easier said than done. The Wariwadan witches to the south have started stirring up trouble again—we’ll probably be busy for who knows how long.”
Su Ling was startled when she heard this.
It sounded like these two guards were about to be sent south to fight.
When she glanced at Tii, she saw a serious look on the red-haired girl’s face as if this news weighed heavily on her.
Su Ling tugged on Tii’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go before they see us.”
Carefully, they crept past the drunken guards and quickly left the garden.
Walking along the corridor back to the castle, Tii glanced back at them once.
“Are you worried about them?” Su Ling asked.
Tii merely shook her head.
“In this castle, just keeping yourself safe is hard enough. I don’t have the energy to worry about others.”
“But…”
Su Ling didn’t continue, because Tii’s expression was unusually solemn.
A trace of inexpressible sadness glimmered in her eyes, her brows tightly furrowed as if she were battling something deep within.
After a long day’s work, the two walked side by side on the road back to the castle.
The sun was slowly setting, casting their elongated shadows across the path.
The neatly trimmed green hedges swayed gently in the breeze, and the scent of nearby flowers was faint and refreshing.
“Woof!”
As they strolled along chatting, Su Ling noticed a scruffy little dog by the roadside.
It must have wandered in from somewhere.
Her eyes lit up.
“Hey, Tii, you go on ahead. I’ll go check it out,” she said.
Before Tii could respond, Su Ling was already trotting toward the little dog.