Chapter 1181: I’m The Captain Now

But even though Valeria had been reading through the information on the mercenary networks for multiple hours now, she still hadn’t found anything useful that would lead her to Gregory. The last useful information that could’ve been about Gregory was the attack on the Angel Battalion a few months ago. Ever since then, the Primordial Expanse had been very quiet.

’I guess everyone is waiting to hear news about the attacker. No one wants to make serious moves when there’s a mysterious man with more power than Mik’hael roaming about.’

The lack of any information was frustrating, but at the same time it also made Valeria very bored. Since Valeria wasn’t interested in hunting Ghouls, she was stuck on the ship with all the others, and there was almost nothing to do up here.

[Autopilot Activated]

Valeria put the ship in autopilot mode, and she got up and stretched before she began walking out of the cockpit. Valeria was still dressed in her usual attire - a pair of shorts and a crop top that showed off her stomach and some cleavage. Valeria had gotten used to it recently, so she didn’t see any issues wearing it! Valeria made her way to the kitchen to get some snacks, but she was surprised when she saw Stella moving around expertly and making some food. The two women looked at each other for a moment before Stella smiled.

"Hello, princess. Are you hungry?"

Valeria let out a small sigh, and she said she was. Valeria moved over to the fridge and took a bag of chips before she leaned back on the counter calmly. Stella continued to move about the kitchen while humming an Avaran song from a long time ago, and Valeria silently ate while watching her calmly. After nearly five minutes of this, Stella finally turned to Valeria and asked.

"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about, Your Highness?"

Stella felt a little uncomfortable with Valeria’s heavy stare, and Stella knew there had to be something on Valeria’s mind. Valeria hummed as she took another chip from the bag, and then she said something that shocked Stella.

"You had sex with Jason last night, didn’t you?"

Stella’s cheeks reddened slightly when she heard the straightforward question, and Stella used a rag to clean her hands while trying to gather herself back. Once Stella was finished, she spoke up softly.

"I-I can’t tell you anything about that, princess. I apologise."

Valeria huffed and ate another chip as she looked away.

"It’s alright, you don’t need to tell me. Your reaction says enough. Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. With how much you worship him, it’s normal that you would also give him your body."

Stella’s cheeks reddened even more when Valeria said this, and Stella was surprised when Valeria turned to her and asked an even more insane question.

"How did you manage to seduce him?"

Stella’s face squeezed in shock.

"I’m sorry, princess. I don’t understand..."

Valeria frowned.

"It’s a simple question, Stella. How did you manage to seduce Jason? Jason is obviously not the sort of person you can seduce easily, so it must’ve taken some sort of effort from you to get him to take you to his bed."

Stella was completely confused. For a moment, Stella couldn’t understand what Valeria was trying to ask at all. Why would Valeria want to know how Stella seduced Jason? But then, a sudden thought entered Stella’s mind, and Stella felt her eyes widen in surprise as she realised what was going on here. Was Valeria trying to seduce her half-brother!? Stella looked back at Valeria, and when she saw the look in Valeria’s eyes, Stella had a feeling that she was right. A part of Stella was completely thrown off by this discovery, but it didn’t take long for Stella to realise that she was being silly.

The people of Avaran didn’t have the same rules as the people of Earth. Although sibling relationships were frowned upon on Earth, the Avarans didn’t see half-siblings getting married as anything serious. In fact, King Richard had taken one of his half-sisters as his wives, and they had all celebrated it. Valeria grew up on Avaran values, so for someone like Valeria, seeing Jason in a sexual or romantic way was perfectly normal. But still, Stella had to ask:

"Your Highness, are you interested in the prince... romantically?"

Valeria’s eyes widened in shock when Stella asked this, and Valeria was silent for a few long seconds before she clicked her tongue and threw the bag of chips to the counter.

"No, forget I asked anything. This is stupid."

Valeria pushed off the counter and began to leave. Valeria didn’t even know why she had asked Stella such a stupid question in the first place. Was she interested in Jason? No, Valeria didn’t think she was. It was just that Jason was someone she felt comfortable with, and she wanted to know more about him. Asking Stella that question was a stupid mistake! But just before Valeria could leave, Valeria stopped and turned to Stella curiously as Stella spoke:

"Princess, I know I may be stepping out of line. But I wanted to remind you that Prince Jason did not grow up on the Avaran values that you did. For you, a relationship with the prince might seem proper, but the prince has human values, and to him a relationship with you might be very wrong. I just don’t want you to resent him if he rejects all your advances."

Valeria felt a strange surge of annoyance building inside her when she heard this, and Valeria glared at Stella!

"Yes, Stella, you are definitely stepping out of line. I never said I was going to try anything with him, so don’t you dare say such nonsense again. And make sure you don’t breathe a word of this to Jason, do you understand?"

Valeria’s eyes narrowed threateningly, and Stella bowed respectfully.

"I apologise, Your Highness. I will do my best not to bring up our conversation around my master. But if my master asks me a question regarding this, I will answer it honestly."

"Stella -!"

Valeria was about to confront Stella angrily, but the two women were interrupted as the children, Tsara and Arte, ran into the kitchen. Arte had a wide smile on his face as he ran up to Valeria and hugged her around the waist.

"Valeria! I’m bored!"

The little boy looked up at Valeria with a cute expression, and Tsara let out a small sigh as she spoke up.

"I’ve been trying to keep him entertained, but he wouldn’t play any of the games I showed him. I don’t know what he wants to do."

Valeria finally turned away from Stella, and Valeria got rid of her frown and smiled slightly as she looked down at the little boy. Valeria ruffled Arte’s hair playfully, and she asked him what he wanted to do. Arte shrugged and said he didn’t know, but then Valeria hummed as an insane thought came into her head! The look that appeared on Valeria’s face was filled with playful mischief, and it was so unlike her usual expression that Stella actually felt a little bit of nervousness enter her heart when she saw it. Valeria spoke to Arte in a kind voice.

"Hey, Arte. Do you know how to play cards?"

Arte’s eyes lit up when he heard this, and he shook his head.

"No, will you teach me!?"

Valeria’s smile widened.

"I’ll do even better than that. There’s a world named Lerette close by, only about ten dimensional jumps away from here. It has a casino where all sorts of games can be played. Why don’t we go there?"

Arte’s eyes literally began to sparkle from excitement, and Stella stepped forward.

"Madam Valeria, I don’t think that’s a good idea -"

"I’m sorry, Stella. Who did Jason leave in charge of the ship while he was gone? You or me?"