SSS Ranked Dragon King: My Innate Ability is Unbelievable.-Chapter 204: What’s going on here?

Chapter 204: What’s going on here?

A deep frown, one that had been growing steadily for the last three blocks, finally settled on Victoria’s face, etching two severe lines between her brows. The woman she was following was rather odd if she had to describe her. It wasn’t just the purposeful stride, though that was notable in itself. It was everything else. Victoria picked up her pace, her soft-soled boots making little sound as she closed the distance, her observational skills, honed through years of necessary caution, working overtime.

The woman in front definitely didn’t look like any of the normal city women Victoria had grown used to seeing. If she had to describe her, she’d say the woman was dressed like a man who didn’t quite understand how to do it properly, but had landed on something uniquely practical. Well, not quite like a man, but the outfit was starkly unfussy.

She wore sturdy, dark trousers, not a skirt in sight, and over a simple linen shirt, a pair of leather suspenders crossed her back. The shirt had its sleeves roughly torn or cut off at the shoulders, revealing tanned, muscular arms that spoke of physical labor, not courtly idleness.

Her hands were covered in worn leather work gloves, and in one she carried a large, brushed-metal milk jar that gleamed dully in the sun. To top off the decidedly rural ensemble, a wide-brimmed straw hat sat perched on her head, shadowing her face. She stood out in the city crowd like a single stalk of wheat in a flower garden.

Victoria was so intently focused on cataloguing these details, still trying to puzzle out who this unusual person was and why she was heading towards his part of the city, that she almost failed to notice when her target stopped dead in her tracks. She stumbled half a step, catching herself just before she would have bumped into the woman’s back.

"Is there something you need?"

The woman asked in a soft, low voice, which carried a note of clear, unflinching directness. The woman, who was non other than Lilia, though Victoria didn’t know that yet, had turned to glance over her shoulder, her body angled defensively. One gloved hand held the milk jar by its handle; the other had come up to steady it, and Victoria saw the tendons in her forearm tighten, a subtle sign of readiness.

’ Is she worried I was trying to steal her milk?’ This was the first time in her life Victoria had ever found herself in such a misunderstanding situation.

For a while now, Lilia had sensed the presence behind her, It seemed even though Victoria had kept her distance, her presence was no different from a persistent shadow that matched her turns and pauses. It left a prickling feeling between her shoulder blades, a discomfort that was rare for someone as self-reliant as she was.

Realizing she’d been well and truly found out, Victoria took a deliberate step back, creating a more polite distance, as well as to show that what ever the other party thought of her was absolutely wrong. She squared her shoulders and faced her target properly, pushing back the hood of her cloak. Her face, usually a mask of cool composure, was set in serious lines, her dark eyes sharp and assessing. She had little time for games or elaborate ruses. Her business was urgent, born of worry and a nagging sense of duty that had driven her across the city.

"What’s your relationship with Mr. Su?" Victoria decided not to beat around the bush. The words came out clipped, straight to the point, leaving no room for misinterpretation. She watched the other woman’s face closely, looking for any flicker of recognition, guilt, or surprise.

"Mr. Su?" Lilia blinked, her stern expression melting momentarily into one of genuine confusion. It wasn’t the reaction Victoria had expected. There was no defensiveness, no instant denial or claim of intimacy. Just plain, open puzzlement. Her grip on the milk jar loosened slightly.

"Lilia!"

Before the strange, cloaked woman could press further, another voice, bright and familiar, cut through the murmur of the street. Lilia turned fully away from Victoria to see Emilia stepping out of the plain wooden door of their modest building, her face breaking into a warm smile. Relief, faint but there, washed over Lilia. Emilia’s presence always had a way of diffusing tension.

"You’re finally back," Emilia said, her gaze dropping to the jar. "Here, let me help you with that." She gladly took the heavy metal container from Lilia’s hand, her own movements graceful and effortless. Since she was a vampire, such things couldn’t even burden her in the slightest.

A little spark of glee lit up her crimson eyes. ’Lilia sure does bring home the beast snacks.’ she thought to herself, already mentally calculating how much of the fresh, creamy milk she could sneak off with before Lilia noticed.

’ If only he wasn’t always around, I might’ve snuck away with a bit more last time...’ Emilia felt like rolling her eyes at the thought.

’And just when I needed to remove that idiot from my head...’ A faint, internal grumble followed as she recalled the infuriatingly smug face of a certain rude master of her’s.The milk was a perfect distraction since she definitely didn’t want to have anything to do with him in the meantime.

Her cheerful duty done, Emilia finally registered the third person in their little street-side tableau. She tilted her head, her curious gaze sweeping over Victoria. The cloak was of good quality but travel-stained, the face beneath it was strikingly gorgeous in a severe way, even by her standards, and the aura she gave off was one of natural grade she’d only seen in nobles. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

’ What’s someone like this doing all the way out here in the southern district....’ Emilia questioned to herself.

"Lilia? Who’s your friend?" she asked, her tone friendly but laced with some hints of curiosity.