Chapter 71 Maybe Would Marry an Orc
When Mila returned to the castle, she found Henry still in the study, a steaming bowl of grits on the desk. The sight of it made her smile, dispelling the day's tension.
"Welcome back!" Henry looked up, a gentle smile on his face. "You must be hungry."
"Yes, very hungry," Mila replied.
Her hand subconsciously brushed her clothes, a reflex to hide any trace of the day's events. She didn't want Henry, the embodiment of kindness, to see her as the ruthless assassin she had to be.
"It's just plain grits." Henry said with a warm smile.
Mila's restless heart calmed down. She nodded and sat on the edge of the official desk, her hands cradling the bowl.
With the first spoonful, Mila knew it was Henry's cooking. It tasted just like the grits she had once eaten after three days of hunger in the dungeon.
"The past is behind us; let today be a new beginning." Henry said softly. He could sense something was off with Mila.
Mila paused for a moment, then nodded, "Henry, your grits is delicious."
"Willow might disagree." Henry chuckled.
"No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't blame you." Mila said.
Mila's eyes flickered with a hint of complexity as she shook her head. She wiped the grits from the corner of her mouth with her tongue, unsure of whether to ask the question weighing on her mind.
"Speak your mind. You're not the Mila I used to know." Henry said, his hands folded under his chin.
"Henry, I was wondering..." Mila's face turned red, and she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.
"What is it?" Henry tilted his head, finding Mila's behavior today quite unusual. Maybe she was a bit hesitant.
Henry thought, 'Could it be because of what she had to do?' He knew Mila had taken care of Carter and Nathan today, something he had tacitly approved. Imprisoning her in the dungeon had left some psychological trauma.
Mila took a deep breath suddenly, setting aside her favorite grits. Her cat ears perked up, and her tail swished nervously, a sign of her anxiety.
Henry's curiosity was piqued. "Go on, what do you want to say?"
"It's just... I was wondering, what kind of woman would you marry in the future?" Mila's face grew even redder, and her right ear twitched.
"What?" Henry was taken aback. He never expected such a question from the usually serious Mila.
It was a question he had never really considered. After all, he was still young. However, compared to people in this era, someone like Henry would likely already have several children.
"Why do you ask?" Henry replied, looking at Mila, who was playing with her clothes, a shy and girlish side of her he had never seen before.
"I was just curious." Mila said, her face a bit flustered. She quickly got up, light on her feet, and ran out of the study. "It's okay if you don't want to answer, Henry."
Henry blinked, a gentle smile forming on his lips. "Maybe I'll marry an orc woman!"
Mila, who had just reached the door, froze in her tracks, her face flushing. The next moment, she hastily opened the door and fled.
The door closed with a thud. Mila stood in the corridor, her cheeks still red, her blue eyes misty, her lips pressed together.
Mila didn't know what had come over her tonight, asking Henry what kind of woman he would marry. She already knew the answer.
A nobleman would naturally marry a noblewoman, or even a commoner, like Willow, a beautiful and capable girl.
Not someone like her, a cat-tribe orc with no special talents who only knew how to kill and loved eating grits, even if she was beautiful.
A nobleman would never marry an orc, and no human noble had ever married an orc woman. If someone did, they would probably be ridiculed by nobles all over the world.
But Mila still asked, perhaps with a glimmer of hope. She had no right to ask, but she couldn't help it.
Now, Mila felt relieved that she had asked. Henry's answer was unexpected, but it was also the answer she had hoped for.
"Maybe I'll marry an orc woman!" Mila's face lit up with a captivating smile as she walked away, her mouth repeating the words.
Even if it was a lie, Mila would be happy for many days, but she knew Henry wouldn't lie to her.
Even if Henry would not marry her, she had decided not to leave his side.
Mila thought, 'Isn't being by his side a kind of happiness, too?'
