The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 288: My Treat

Chapter 288: My Treat

The moment she walked out of that building, Laura was more than ready to turn in for the night. She was exhausted from having to wring her brain for every answer that she had to give, and while she was sure that she did more than fine with her exams, that didn’t mean that she didn’t have a hard time with it.

"Time to get some sleep," she smiled to herself as she turned to walk the nearest road. "Won’t be the first time I turned in early for once."

With her mind made up, she prepared herself for an early night without even so much as having dinner to calm her stomach. No, she was more than fine with just sleeping tonight, and nothing was going to-

"Oh, fancy seeing you here."

Laura froze as she heard a familiar voice addressing her. Sure enough, the moment she turned around, Fritz’s usual smug smile was there to greet her.

"Lord Fritz," Laura casually greeted him. "You caught me just as I was about to head home."

"Oh? Heading home already?" he chuckled, his fan covering his mouth as he taunted her. "I didn’t think that a few exams would be able to bring you this low."

"Low? What are you even talking about?" she scoffed back. "I just want to go home and sleep."

"Sleeping this early in the night? The sun hasn’t even fully set yet," he teased. "Have you even eaten dinner yet?"

"No? And I don’t really plan to," she shrugged as she turned around to leave. "Look, it’s nice seeing you, but I’d really rather sleep."

"Not even if it’s my treat then?"

Laura stopped in her tracks, the prospect of a free meal suddenly making her consider her options. On one hand, she was legitimately tired. She also didn’t really need to have someone else to pay for her since she had her own money.

On the other hand, however... It was free food. Maybe even drink.

"Well, if you put it that way, maybe I’ll reconsider," Laura smiled as she turned to face him once again. "Maybe if you add in free drinks, I’ll come with you."

"Sounds easy enough," Fritz shrugged. "Sure."

Smiling, Laura quickly changed her tune as she all but dragged Fritz along with her. "What are we waiting for then? Let’s go."

"I’m the one treating you. The least you can do for me is to let me choose where we’ll go," Fritz chuckled.

Laura chuckled back. "Sure. Just make sure it’ll be worth it."

With their destination in mind, Fritz went and brought her to a nearby tavern. Laura could only smile as she sat in front of him, the man making sure that they could have all the food and drink they could get while they casually began talking.

"So, how did the exam go?" Fritz asked as he began munching on his dinner. "Easy, I take it?"

"Not at all," she scoffed as she drank her liquor. "Well, it was for me, but any other person taking it would’ve surely had a hard time."

"Good. I’m glad they actually tightened up on the difficulty," he sniggered as he sipped on his juice. "The previous years were pretty lax in terms of difficulty. Now, however, the kingdom needs all the best talent it can get."

Laura hummed in agreement with his words, having already drunk her third glass of alcohol as he pondered on his words. "A few empty positions then?"

"That’s right. Particularly, the King is looking for a new Minister of Justice," Fritz casually explained. "It’s been tentatively decided that the top five civil exam passers will be the chosen candidates. Those five will then be given actual court cases to solve before the final deliberation will be held."

"I see," Laura nonchalantly nodded. "I guess I can only hope that I’ll make it then."

"You mean you’re not sure?"

"Just being a bit humble," she shrugged. "I know I passed with high grades, but maybe there’s someone smarter than me out there. Who knows, right?"

"Now, you choose to be humble?"

Laura laughed as Fritz called her out. It was something else, but she supposed he had a point. She could be a bit arrogant sometimes, after all.

Sharing a few more chuckles, the two of them settled into a quiet dinner as they ate their own fill. Laura drank glass after glass of alcohol, while Fritz was seemingly content with just drinking his chosen beverage.

"Why not drink some alcohol as well?" she couldn’t help but ask. "You know you can trust me, right?"

"I do, but can you blame me for playing things safe?" he humorously deflected with a chuckle. "Besides, I rather like my apple juice more than bitter alcohol."

"Suit yourself, I guess," Laura shrugged as she drank yet another glass of alcohol. "You know you won’t be able to do this forever."

"But I can do it for as long as I can," he cheekily pointed out. "In the same way that I’ll just keep my distance whenever someone wants something from me. I’ll let things cool down, then I’ll get to fixing things."

"Like how you think Luis is still mad at you for some reason?" she pointed out.

"That’s a low blow," he scoffed. "You know I can’t approach him while he’s like that."

Laura narrowed her eyes as she pondered her next words. "You know, I don’t think he’s even mad at you anymore."

"What makes you say that?" he dubiously asked her. "Do you even know him?"

"I know enough that he’s just naturally stoic," she replied. "You just think he’s ignoring you when he’s just quiet as a person."

"You think I don’t know that?" he scoffed back. "I’ve known him far longer than you have. Trust me when I say that you can tell if he’s being mad or just being quiet."

"Oh? Then can you tell me how you can tell exactly?"

Fritz opened his mouth to rebut, only to close it as he lacked an answer.

"I knew as much," Laura rolled her eyes at him. "Look, just talk to him. Maybe things will change, you know?"