Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 394 - 9 Bedtime Story

After Aske had washed up on Fire Island, he hugged his quilt and pillow and teleported to the Main Plane, laying them neatly on the bed in the upstairs room.

Walking out of the room, he saw Eleanor’s Long Spear propped behind the locked door; should anything attempt to barge in, the spear would fall with enough noise to awaken everyone.

Likewise, Eleanor’s Shield was stood vertically against the window, not only blocking prying eyes from outside but also serving as an alarm.

Carrying the Longsword, Eleanor finished checking the cellar and returned to the ground floor hall, just to hear a voice from above asking,

"All checked?"

"Yes," Eleanor looked up at Aske, leaning against the second-floor railing, "I’m standing guard in the living room tonight."

"If I were you, I would make a pallet on the upstairs hallway," Aske said, "If startled awake, you just need to defend the staircase from above, and the enemy wouldn’t be able to advance."

"Besides, there’s no need for weapons and shield, it’s too extravagant. Simply setting up a few bottles turned over would suffice on the perimeter."

"That makes sense." Eleanor nodded, then she packed up her Long Spear and Shield, starting to create sound traps with bottles instead.

"I’ll be staying inside this room," Aske said, "Remember to call me if anything happens."

"You’re staying outside today?" Eleanor asked in surprise.

"Yes," Aske replied.

But today it’s my turn to guard the Ancient Book. Eleanor hesitated for a long while, but ultimately she said nothing.

She knew the Squad Leader was worried about her safety. She wanted to refuse, but the Squad Leader was just too formidable. Having him in the room would surely bring her some peace of mind during her watch.

Aske went to his room to sleep. Although the room was small and the furniture quite modest, the lady of the house had kept it very clean. He lay down on the bed in his clothes, closing his eyes, with the Dragon Bone Longsword by his side.

Eleanor made up a pallet on the second floor, keeping the Sword And Shield and Long Spear within easy reach. Her gaze crossed the edge of the corridor floor, allowing her an easy sweep of the downstairs living room and the main entrance.

"Aske," she called softly, "Aske?"

"What’s wrong?" a voice from inside the room answered.

"You can hear, even when I’m so quiet?" Eleanor asked, surprised.

"Of course, my ’Perfect Physique X’ comes with heightened senses," Aske replied.

"I see," Eleanor confessed, "I’m having trouble sleeping."

"Something on your mind?"

"I’m thinking about what that person said."

That person, naturally, referred to the Demigod of Hidden Strings.

"What’s the use of thinking so much?" Aske said.

"It’s of no use, but I can’t help it," Eleanor rested her head on one hand, looking down, "Aske..."

"War is a really terrifying thing. I’ve been wondering, if I hadn’t met you in the underground arena of Constantinople, what would my situation be now?"

The room fell silent for a while.

When Aske first met Eleanor, he felt a sense of familiarity about her, but couldn’t recall where he had seen her before.

One thing he could be sure of was that in the game, as an NPC, she definitely hadn’t died in the siege war that brought down Constantinople in the beta version.

"You said, could I die in the Crusader War?" Eleanor asked faintly.

"Probably not," Aske replied.

"Why? Back then, I was just an ordinary person and not particularly strong." Eleanor said, "Even if I couldn’t beat the attacking Crusader Knights, seeing the miserable state of the civilians of Constantinople, I would likely have stood up for them."

"Because when the Crusaders entered Golden Horn Bay, Nora would definitely have sent someone to pick you up, and then you would have been taken away with them," Aske said. "I don’t think you’d stay in Constantinople until the Crusader Knights crossed Galata Bridge."

The door outside fell silent for a while, followed by Eleanor’s voice, sounding relieved:

"That’s true. If I hadn’t met you."

"By the way, how did you get to know Nora?" Aske asked casually.

"Bodyguard." Eleanor answered, "I accepted her hire, guarded her for a while, and accompanied her on walks and excursions within Constantinople."

"Then, she guessed your true identity," Aske said.

"Probably, though at the time, from my appearance, I just looked like a down-and-out wandering mercenary." Eleanor began to smile, "But she could tell from the accent I spoke with that I came from a noble family in Bavaria."

"Can someone’s accent really reflect their social status?" Aske asked offhand.

"Yes and no," Eleanor said softly, "For example, Mia, Peggy, and Miel speak standard Siriusian, and you can tell they are civilians of Constantinople because each city-state on the Sirius Peninsula has its own dialect accent."

"And like Sigrdrifa, although we both speak Latin, only Frankish nobles would use the standard Latin accent, while civilians mix in a lot of Frankish dialect. Sigrdrifa’s Latin has a strong North accent and some colloquial vocabulary, probably her hometown speech."

"As for Medea and you, Nora said she can’t tell at all where you’re from. Medea’s Siriusian is exceptionally fluent, but overly standard, clearly the result of strenuous special training that has removed most accent characteristics."

"Your Siriusian and Latin are the same, so standard they can’t be any more standard; Nora believes you must have undergone extremely professional language training."

In truth, I’ve never learned Latin or Siriusian, these are all special talents brought with my soul’s transmigration... Aske complained inwardly.

"Aske, what was your past like?" After a moment, Eleanor asked in a low voice.

"My past was pretty boring," Aske said, suddenly feeling the question seemed familiar.

"Could it be more boring than the story of a girl who came from an upper-class noble family, always competed with her brothers, and eventually ran away from home in frustration?" Eleanor asked.

"Like, following the family’s plan, living the first half of my life step by step, and then suddenly starting to chase dreams and life’s value, would that story be more boring?" Aske asked.

"It seems we are quite similar," Eleanor said. "Neither of us wanted to follow the family’s arrangements. Hmm, I’m thinking, if we could have met earlier..."

"And then?" Aske asked.

The outside fell silent once more.

"No, it’s nothing. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Eleanor burrowed her head into the quilt, took one last look at her Longsword and Shield, and then slowly closed her eyes.

What were you about to say then, Eleanor? Did you get carried away?

Suddenly, she felt tired, her sleepiness rising layer upon layer from her heart.

The complicated and chaotic thoughts also settled down, beginning to enter a state of dozing while maintaining a vague awareness.

Who knows how much time had passed...

Until a crisp sound, that of a bottle hitting the floor downstairs, caused her to suddenly wake from her doze, her right hand instantly extending from under the blankets, seizing the Longsword on the floor.

Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶