The Queen Villainess Eavesdrops on My Heart and Won’t Let Me Slack Off – Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Her Majesty Has Arrived at the Ice-Drinking Villa

In the Kambasak Desert, west of the Azurevine Empire, there are dozens of Orc tribes, large and small. The most powerful among them is known as the Orc Royal Court.
The Orcs of the Eternal Night World are not the typical rough-skinned, tusked barbarians found in traditional Western fantasy settings, where even women might have beards. Instead, they resemble humans with features like beast ears, tails, or feathers.
Their builds are not necessarily robust and muscular; in fact, many are slender and graceful. The proportion of handsome men and beautiful women is quite high.
Their rich variety of hair and eye colors is even more appealing to players than the Azurevine Empire, which is predominantly human.
When the trailer for “Eternal Night’s Gloom” was released, netizens commented that the development team must have used XP to make the game, and that the game’s art was incredibly well-done, especially catering to the aesthetic tastes of the Chinese audience.
Players were initially drawn in by the beautiful character designs and diverse races, which gradually built up the game’s popularity.
The development team also promoted it with features like extremely high freedom and a sandbox world, claiming players could even customize their ‘thingymabobs’ and that all NPCs could be freely pursued for unique story arcs.
However, the more one plays, the more it feels like a half-finished product.
While the story is indeed rich and profound, with an overwhelming number of side quests, the freedom granted is far from what the development team originally claimed.
Many cities are only half-developed, and while the female characters are beautiful with excellent character designs and a relationship system, the “overnight growth” module seems to be missing.
While Roger, the transmigrator, complains about the overwhelming possibilities of the real world, players on Earth are still waiting for DLC and New World mods…
Apologies, I’ve strayed off-topic. Let’s return to the Orcs.
The current Orc Royal Court is called the Bell Tribe, located in the northernmost part of the desert, with a large portion of its territory in extreme cold regions.
The Bell Tribe are devout believers of the War Goddess. Their racial characteristics include two round ears, bear-like strength, and a fondness for drinking. When drunk, they tend to shout, “Follow me with your sword!”
The War High Priest Jostar hails from the Bell tribe.
Currently, in Skrena City, the capital of the Bell Tribe.
In a side hall of the royal palace.
Princess Tassika Kachenie, the favorite daughter of the current Chieftain, possessing half-orc and half-dragon blood, has been frequently summoning and secretly conversing with various individuals since yesterday.
These include, but are not limited to, military secret agents, tribal ministers, renowned scholars, and priests of the War Goddess Church.
Her actions can be considered presumptuous, as her father is still in his prime.
However, due to her consistent active presence on the front lines and her formidable strength, no one has, thus far, questioned her behavior.
She has always cared deeply about the welfare of the tribe, and her reputation among nobles and commoners is even greater than that of her brothers. They all affectionately call her “Princess Tequila.”
For the Bell tribe, who are fond of alcohol, adding a drink’s name before a title is their way of expressing affection.
Just as Kachenie II, who led the Bell Tribe to become the Orc Royal Court, is referred to as “Vodka the Great” by the populace, even though he never ascended to the throne as Emperor.
Today, Princess Tassika wears the tribe’s traditional military dress uniform, a long sword with a large guard hanging at her waist, and a crimson cape. She is beautiful, powerful, and majestic.
Due to the strength of her mother’s bloodline, she does not exhibit the typical features of the Bell tribe. Instead, she has two black dragon horns, a head of silver hair, and a flawless, exquisite beauty.
Her gaze carries an imposing arrogance and coldness.
“I await Your Highness’s further commands,” the High Priest of the War Goddess Church says, bidding farewell to Tassika.
“I bid the High Priest farewell,” Tassika replies, imperiously tapping the armrest of her chair without rising.
The maids in the hall are astonished to find that the High Priest, who is usually overbearing and rarely shows deference even to the Chieftain, did not protest His Highness’s almost disrespectful behavior.
He performs a subordinate’s salute with meticulous formality and then exits the side hall.
This High Priest is the last guest of the day. After seeing him off, Tassika dismisses the maids.
Once she is alone in the side hall, Tassika’s tensed body suddenly relaxes. She exclaims indignantly, “Being a princess is f*cking exhausting!”
She kicks off her shoes and sprawls languidly on the chair, completely devoid of the perfect noble demeanor she displayed earlier.
She wiggles her toes and sniffs them…
Hmph, even beautiful girls can have smelly feet!
The renowned Princess Tequila, at this moment, appears as a dejected middle-aged man.
She is Tassika, but she is also Old Jostar.
After having his soul kicked out of the divine realm by the War Goddess, he fell directly into Princess Tassika’s body, a case of a usurper.
The princess’s own soul was no match for Old Jostar and was suppressed deep within her consciousness, trembling in fear.
She could only watch as he controlled her body and performed all sorts of outrageous actions.
Fortunately, in public, he maintained the Princess’s composure.
From the princess’s perspective, this Mr. Jostar, who appeared out of nowhere, claims to be the Goddess’s plaything, the foremost dog under her throne, and that he is here to save the Bell Tribe.
Although the guy’s tone is irreverent, Tassika senses a power from him that is stronger than the High Priest’s, making her believe he might truly be acting under the War Goddess’s orders.
Especially since the High Priest, the church’s top envoy, shows him considerable respect.
Therefore, as a devout believer, she has little will to resist…
“Offering my body to the Goddess is also my honor, isn’t it?” (ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3)
Old Jostar, a seasoned schemer, possesses exceptional intelligence analysis capabilities and quickly gains a deep understanding of the current world order.
“I can’t believe so much has happened on the human side while I was imprisoned these years. The Empress of Eternal Night… so strong, I want to f*ck her!”
The Goddess sent him to prevent further expansion by the Azurevine Empire.
As for why he wasn’t directly made the Chieftain of the Bell Tribe, but rather chose his daughter, Old Jostar has a reasonable conjecture:
The War Goddess wishes to sacrifice the Chieftain of the Bell Tribe, along with many other tribal chieftains.
By igniting the Orcs’ animosity towards the Azurevine Empire through bloodshed and hatred, this momentum can be used to initiate the process of tribal unification.
Faced with a unified Azurevine Empire, the disunited Orc tribes would inevitably shatter upon impact.
The older generation is about to die out, and Princess Tassika, who is highly respected, has become an excellent successor.
Empress versus Empress, that would be a good spectacle, wouldn’t it?
Jostar can accept becoming a little girl, so he, her even more insidious father, doesn’t care about gender issues either.
In addition to the Goddess’s strategic objectives, another matter he invests considerable effort in understanding is Jostar’s death.
The death of a War High Priest in a foreign land is meticulously documented by the Church.
Old Jostar noted down two names: “Little Erwin Rommel” and “Roger Charles.”
The Empress of Eternal Night, the one who truly took action, is currently too difficult to deal with, so she is temporarily ignored.
Although the father and son didn’t spend much time together, that was still his child, and to have him killed like that is a huge loss of face.
“They are both promising young men, a pity they encountered me!”
Old Jostar laughs sinisterly.
The true Tassika, deep within the ocean of consciousness, looks on with helplessness and heartache.
“Don’t make that face with my face, it’s disgusting!”
…
…
At midnight, in the City of Mysteries.
The Empress of Eternal Night appears in the open space outside the main building of the Ice-Drinking Villa.
Seeing the lights on in Roger’s office, she beams with satisfaction.
“Lord Roger is so diligent; I cannot slack off either. I won’t be fooling around when I get back tonight; I must properly review state affairs!”
In a couple of days, when the expeditionary force arrives in the Kambasak Desert and wages war with the Orcs, she will have even less time for internal affairs.
Thinking about war again, the Empress of Eternal Night’s mood is as buoyant as a 200-pound child about to go on a spring outing.
She walks towards the villa, eager to set up her little snug nest quickly, have some fun with that boy, and then get to work!
Inside the villa.
Roger is discussing the inaugural issue’s topics for “New Arcana” with Xiao Qiao Yi.
Whether certain actors truly read the script overnight, he doesn’t know, but with their current enthusiasm, they could discuss magazine contents for an entire night.
It’s just that they are sitting a bit too close to each other.
Additionally, Roger is experiencing the joy of “Mission accomplished, let’s kiss” à la Duke Wei.
So, apart from the rustling of documents, strange sounds of liquid exchange occasionally echo from the office.
Deep in the quiet night, a man and a woman, engaging in some strengthening exercises to improve their rapport and coordination, what’s wrong with that?
Roger profoundly criticizes that having a subordinate like Xiao Qiao Yi, who is beautiful, well-behaved, and intelligent, makes the work delightfully sweet.
Xiao Qiao Yi Barton will later become a general. Although she claims it was good luck throughout her perilous journey, she possesses strategic foresight.
After hearing Roger’s explanation of the core philosophy of “New Arcana,” she immediately realizes that applying magic to production, initiating industrialization, and then strengthening the military after improving national strength is beneficial to both the country and its people.
Of course, in her current state, if Roger said the moon was square today, she would nod along and reply, “Indeed, it has corners.”
But undeniably, Xiao Qiao Yi provides Roger with considerable assistance.
She is a true graduate of the Imperial Magic Academy, not only an exceptionally powerful Archmage but also having had a very rigid and rigorous mentor. She deeply understands the attitudes and viewpoints of traditional Imperial mages.
Naturally, she knows better than a transmigrator how to provoke their anger and create opposition between the Arcane and Archaist factions.
Roger certainly hopes to attract the attention of more mages and involve them in this process of truth being clarified through debate.
Xiao Qiao Yi can’t help but marvel at Roger’s ingenious method for attracting attention, calling it utterly mischievous.
The people of the Empire, who have not experienced information cocoons or partisan divisions, upon encountering such tactics for the first time, might be driven to complete despair.
This inexplicably gives her a sense of working with Roger to do something bad…
Bah, it’s a sense of mission and responsibility, “bearing a heavy load” to usher in a new era for the Empire.
The two finally agree on the structure of “New Arcana’s” inaugural issue: three main sections and one novelty section.
[Light of the Empire]: Discusses how magic can be better applied in all aspects of building the Azurevine Empire, improving agricultural and industrial strength, or basic combat capabilities, etc.
[Arcane Frontier]: Corresponds to Earth’s theoretical science. Invites prominent figures to share their insights on the pinnacle of magic, publishing research on magic theory from the Secret Arts Society and the Imperial Magic Academy, aiming to guide magic development more profoundly.
[Summit of Magic Power]: Corresponds to Earth’s applied science. Records peak mage duels, shares practical combat techniques, whether for individual combat, battlefield merits, or new alchemical inventions. Any novel original content can be published here.
Xiao Qiao Yi estimates this section will be the initial driving force for mages to subscribe to “New Arcana.”
Outside the three main sections is the [Novelty Section], which will be filled based on the actual content of each issue. It will include the history of magic development, curious anecdotes, current mage jokes, or even eye-catching beautiful illustrations and magic photography collections, etc.
Although this is a very serious magazine, Roger, having grown up in an era of entertainment-driven culture, believes that constant seriousness is a sure path to failure. He insists on adding a certain degree of fun to “New Arcana.”
Roger will handle “Light of the Empire” himself, while the other three sections will require commissioned articles and the hiring of professional editors for review, typesetting, and verification.
After all, he doesn’t truly understand magic.
At this point, Xiao Qiao Yi’s connections within the military and the Imperial Magic Academy become extremely important.
With the blessing of the Eternal Night Decree, will this process proceed without significant issues?
Even the laziest author wouldn’t dare to delay a submission to the Empress of Eternal Night, right?
The two also finalize the work plan for the next stage.
“It’s getting late, you should go home and rest. If needed, you can take compensatory leave tomorrow…” Roger explains the concept of compensatory leave to Xiao Qiao Yi, who looks confused. “Compensatory leave means you have a full day off, which you can choose to take anytime within three months.”
Having chosen to relax himself, Roger naturally sees no reason to exploit his subordinates for unpaid overtime.
However, work sometimes has time constraints that unavoidably require extending working hours.
Therefore, Roger decides to implement flexible adjustments: the “New Arcana” magazine department can have overtime, but for every hour of overtime worked, employees will receive compensatory leave of the same duration and triple pay.
Employees who are willing to put in extra effort must be adequately compensated to maintain their motivation.
“Thank you, Chief Editor. You are truly the most generous and benevolent superior!” Xiao Qiao Yi smiles sweetly, then her expression turns troubled. “But I have another problem.”
“What problem?”
“I’ve retired from the military and don’t have a place to stay in the City of Mysteries. It’s so late, the agencies probably aren’t working anymore, are they?”
She is not lying.
After leaving the military sanatorium, she went directly to the Charles Mansion and then, through a series of operations here, inexplicably ended up working until late at night.
She thought she could slack off or go on a date on her first day…
This resulted in her not considering her accommodation issue in the City of Mysteries until this very moment.
Of course, inns and hotels can solve the problem for tonight, but wouldn’t it be a good choice to consolidate their gains by striking while the iron is hot?
Roger is not entirely oblivious and notices the shrewdness in Xiao Qiao Yi’s eyes. He coughs.
“Ahem, there are many empty rooms in the Ice-Drinking Villa. I can call the butler… ahem, it’s too late, let’s not bother him. I’ll help you set up your room together.”
“Then I’m truly grateful, Chief Editor.”
Xiao Qiao Yi can’t help but link her arm with his, and the two prepare to leave the office like Siamese twins.
Newly coupled individuals can hardly bear to be apart for even a second.
Just as they are about to open the door, they notice the office door opening on its own.
Outside the door stands the Empress of Eternal Night, in a good mood, a faint smile on her lips.
However, her eyes, like the sea, suddenly deepen.
Inside the room, Roger and Xiao Qiao Yi are tightly pressed against each other.
Xiao Qiao Yi looks up at Roger, his reflection filling her eyes.
“Greetings, Your Majesty!”
Both of them were completely caught off guard by the Empress of Eternal Night’s presence there and quickly bow.
[No way, a jinx has become a miser, inspecting work at this hour? This is inhumane!]
The Empress of Eternal Night’s smile becomes increasingly enigmatic.
She scrutinizes the man and woman before her, and no one knows whether the volcano suppressed beneath her blue eyes will erupt or if her heart will freeze into a still lake from this moment on.