165: Bluff

Ciri's room was dimly lit, and she hid herself in the darkness. "You may speak freely now, witcher."

"Princess, why'd you chase all your servants out?"

"Well, there's something I wish to talk about in private." Ciri put her hands behind her back and tried her best to look like an adult.

"Let me guess…" Roy whispered, "You don't want to get engaged to Prince Kistrin, so you want me to help you with your escape."

"Ho-How'd you know about that?" Ciri leaped up and bristled like a cat who was shocked. She pointed at Roy and did her best to look fierce. "Tell me, are you Calanthe's spy?"

"You misunderstand me." Roy looked Ciri in the eye and tried his best not to laugh. "Not only do I know about your reluctance to get engaged to Kistrin, I also know you have bizarre dreams from time to time, especially after you go through an intense emotional state. The dream has something to do about a group of skeletal knights hunting you down."

Ciri's jaw dropped, for she did not expect Roy to know about that.

"Coincidentally, I have the same dream as you do. Or a nightmare in this case. However, I saw you in my dreams, and you told me a lot of your secrets." Roy closed in on the princess, but the princess kept retreating as he advanced. "You told me about your friends: Hjalmar and Cerys. And you told me about your parents: Princess Pavetta and Mr. Duny."

"Ar-Are you telling the truth?"

"Think about it, Your Highness. You summoning me is no coincidence. It is fate. We are similar, you and I. This meeting would have happened eventually."

Ciri was starting to get confused. She was too young to understand what Roy was talking about. Roy wasn't lying either. Well, not fully. After he ingested the Child of the Sun, he gained a little Elder Blood as well. "If you do not trust me, why don't we have a wager?"

"A wager?" Ciri's eyes lit up, and her fear was replaced by excitement. "Witcher, what you said is too difficult for me to understand, but I know how wagers work, at least."

"Call me Roy. I am not much older than you are, Your Highness."

"So how does this wager work, Roy?" Ciri happily dug out a sapphire necklace from her drawer. "This is my stake." Ciri felt like she was playing a game.

"No,Your Highness. You do not need to place any bets." Roy shook his head. "All you have to do is remember every word I am going to tell you. Even after you are engaged to Prince Kistrin of Verden, the marriage will not happen."

"Are you saying I won't have to marry that pig?" Ciri ran around her room like a happy lark. She leaped around, and her dress fluttered.

"Also, you shall encounter a white-haired witcher on your trip to Verden. His name is Geralt, and you can call him that."

"Did you have a dream about that?" Ciri stopped spinning, but she was starting to feel dizzy.

"Yes."

"Roy," the girl called out to him and came closer to the witcher, then she looked up at him. She was already eight years old, but Ciri was a late bloomer. She was only a little taller than four feet, while Roy was nearly five feet nine, so she couldn't even reach Roy's chest.

"What is it, Your Highness?"

"I am happy you told me about this." Ciri beamed. "Unlike those fools who try to keep everything a secret from me. They still think I'm a child."

"Of course. You are my friend, and honesty is important between friends."

A servant knocked on the door, and she asked nervously, "Your Highness, are you fine?"

"Yes, yes, I'm coming," Ciri roared at the door impatiently. "Roy the dragonslayer, it is time for you to tell your story."

***

Four servants sat with the princess around the hearth, and the light of the fire shone upon their faces, which were red with excitement. However, they did not notice that, for their attention was fully on Roy the storyteller.

"This is a tale told by a veteran witcher. Once upon a time, there was a dignified knight in Aedirn, and his name was Leon. Leon was a member in the knight corps until he was thirty years old. But because of his perpetually deadpan look, his new leader terminated his service, forcing him to become an assassin."

Ciri held her cheeks in her hands and asked Roy, "What do assassins do?"

"Assassins are similar to witchers, though their requests mostly involve humans. They only take requests involving human lives. As Leon still had a conscience, he only took the requests that involved villains who terrorized the lands. During one of his requests, Leon rescued a girl who was hunted by the authorities and local gangs alike. The girl's name was Mathilde."

A girl who was saved by a knight? The servants were starting to look dreamy. After all, every young lady had a dream of a knight coming to their rescue.

"A pity he had a deadpan face." A servant in a red apron sighed.

***

"If Leon had a child, they would have been around Mathilde's age, so he took the girl in. Even though the age gap between them was huge, Leon and Mathilde went along quite well. Mathilde did all the house chores, taking care of Leon and his prized plant—the Silver Queen, while Leon made money to support the household."

***

"They had a quiet and peaceful life. Leon and Mathilde were like a family, though they were also friends."

"Mr. Roy…" An adorable servant with a round face asked carefully, "How much older than Mathilde was Leon? Were they really like father and daughter? Or were they more like lovers?"

"Well, it's different for everyone." Roy looked at the servants, and he smiled silently. "Mathilde was about ten years old, while Leon was thirty. You decide if they were father and daughter or lovers."

"They must have been father and daughter!" a frail servant said. "The girl wasn't even at the age to understand what love is!"

"No, that just means you haven't seen enough in life," a plump servant disagreed. "My neighbor is forty years old, and he married his young, gorgeous adopted girl. They now have a son together." The plump servant concluded, "If the girl's beautiful enough, so what if she's an adopted daughter?" Then she covered her face. "Why didn't a knight come to my rescue when I was little? Oh, but I don't want an old, single man though."

***

Roy let them discuss for a while, then he continued, "The local gang and authorities eventually found Leon and Mathilde's abode. They secretly surrounded them, and when Leon realized what was happening, they were already in a dire situation…"

"In the end, Leon sacrificed himself and took the villains out with him to keep Mathilde safe."

***

Roy heard someone crying, and it snapped him out of storytelling mode. When he looked around, he realized half the servants were in tears.

"They didn't end up as a couple?" Ciri shot up angrily and swung her fists at Roy. "Knights won't die that easily!"

"But he did die."

"No! He's not dead, because I say so!" Ciri roared stubbornly.

"Fine. Leon didn't die. He survived the battle and lived happily ever after with Mathilde. Leon's Silver Queen got to live for a long, long time because its masters were alive. 

"Yay!" The servants broke out into smiles, though there were still tears streaming down their cheeks.

Ciri muttered, "Even a lowly woman like Mathilde got her own knight who was willing to sacrifice herself for her. Witcher, 'Dragonslayer.'" Ciri craned her neck proudly, as if she were a swan. "Will you sacrifice your life for me?"

"Um…"