Deep Sea Embers

Alice was honest: “Looking at you.”

Duncan now got confused: “What’s so interesting about me?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you talking like this,” Alice said in disbelief. “Although you said before I have another body and identity here, I still find it incredible when I see it! Captain, your appearance is completely different from that on the ship, not so tall or gloomy, um… you look like a good person…”

Duncan’s eyes widened when he heard this, and before he could speak, Alice hurriedly added: “Ah, I shouldn’t slander you, Captain…”

“How many times have I said it? Don’t learn random stuff from Goathead! Praising others as good people is not slandering – it’s the same for me too!” Duncan stared at the idiot in front of him, feeling a brain aneurism forming, “And you forgot the reminder? You can’t call ‘Captain’ on this side. You have to call me Mr. Duncan or Mr. Shopkeeper, understand?”

Alice shrunk her head: “Ah… AH! I remember Ca… Mr. Shopkeeper!”

“…… Why don’t you just call Mr. Duncan,” Duncan sighed wearily, “at least you are still familiar with this name, and the probability of calling it wrong is relatively low.”

“Oooh, okay, Mr. Duncan.” Alice hurriedly bowed her head and agreed, only to hear Duncan helplessly reminding her halfway: “Don’t bow your head; otherwise, your head will fall off again. If you drop your head in full view, your journey to the city-state will end.”

Alice agreed with a hum but then frowned in the next: “I seem to have heard Ai mutter a similar sentence to what you just said. What did she say…? The head, the crown will…”

“Do you have a crown on your head?!” Duncan glared, “You have a wig on your head, and it’s stronger than your head!”

Alice thought for a while and giggled: “Hehe…”

Then, after two seconds of silence, the doll began to act out again: “Captain… Can I touch your face?”

Duncan looked puzzled: “I don’t mind, but why?”

Alice had already started on him when she heard the words “don’t mind”. It seemed that after leaving Captain Duncan’s majestic main “shell”, the doll’s boldness had swelled unprecedentedly. She stepped forward and pinched Duncan’s current cheek, making eyes of surprise as she did so. “So amazing! It’s real! When I was on the ship, you looked like you were carved out of stone with that face!”

Duncan was extremely taken aback inside and wanted to break free from those hands: “Are you done yet?”

Before his words could finish, he heard two brisk footsteps coming down from the direction of the staircase. It’s Nina and Shirley, with the former calling out pleasantly: “Uncle, I’ve finished eating with Shirley! What are you doing here…”

Duncan turned his head like a robot, showing the awkward face of someone being caught in an embarrassing situation. So what’s so embarrassing? Alice still had her hands on the man’s face, thus creating a rather fluttery scene of two partners having a go at it.

“Ah, why did you stop suddenly?” Shirley asks after bumping her head against her friend’s back.

Alice immediately withdrew her hands over the interruption, folding both hands in her lap to put on a dignified posture of a Victorian-era lady.

Meanwhile, Nina had become so shell-shocked that she couldn’t process the image. There’s a gorgeous lady in her home and an elegant blonde that’s likely from the upper city at that!

“Dog, Dog, quickly look, who is that sitting across from Mr. Duncan… Is she human? Can you beat her?”

Dog’s voice hesitated for a long time before coming through, sounding extremely cautious: “I can’t see clearly through your eyes, but the more you look at her, the less she looks like a person… I don’t know if I can win. Regardless, definitely don’t fight her.”

Now Shirley got shocked: “Why? You can’t even see what she is, so why are you so afraid?”

“Are you dumb! She actually dares to pinch Mr. Duncan’s face!” Dog’s voice sounded so cowardly that it was painful, “Just that fact alone is enough to put her on the level of being able to stew us, and not just any stew, the type where I will go chop the firewood for the stove…”

“…… Dog, you are too embarrassing, you know that?”

“I call this knowing when to be the dead dog. Do you know how many human beings spend their entire lives mastering the art of survival?”

Shirley didn’t want to talk with Dog anymore because it’s too humiliating.

While the pair talked through their mental connection, Nina had already arrived before her uncle and the blonde lady.

“Uncle, who is this lady?” Nina asked curiously and subconsciously looked at Alice on the side with surprise and speculation in her heart.

“Oh, good timing. Let me introduce her,” Duncan coughed lightly to alleviate the embarrassment just now. Then with a calm face, he raised a finger, “Her name is Alice. Remember what I said before about getting help at the shop? She will be working here.”

After that, he immediately pointed to Nina and Shirley: “This is my niece, Nina, and this is Shirley, who will temporarily live here for the time being.”

“Hello,” Alice immediately took the initiative to greet the girls.

This time she remembered Duncan’s reminder and stopped goofing around. However, her gesture only made the doll appear more noble-like, showing an indescribable level of elegance found only in those with a high upbringing.

Girls first meeting (epic misunderstanding)

“You… Hello,” Nina gulped nervously, nodding to Alice as if her lax manner would offend the other side, “nice to meet you.”

Shirley didn’t dally around either and closely followed by saying hello. She was also a little nervous, but her nervousness came more from what Dog said earlier: “Hello, I too am… glad.”

Then the scene froze, with faces tense on both sides.

Shirley and Nina didn’t know how to continue. In their mind, whatever they said would only displease this elegant character that’s clearly not from the lower city.

Meanwhile, Alice had even simpler ideas – her mind was blank in this case. Thankfully it’s not mush like on some occasions.

Fortunately, Duncan had expected this situation. When he saw the cold scene on both sides, he knew what was going on and immediately broke the silence with a light cough: “Ahem, Shirley, how is your injury?”

“Inju… Oh! My injury is completely healed!” Shirley took a moment before reacting, then quickly stood up and answered Duncan’s question like a report, “And I ate a lot just now. I’m not hungry at all anymore!”

“I didn’t ask you this… But if you like today’s meal, that’s good to hear,” Duncan smiled and nodded. “Spend the next two days replenishing your body. I will make something nutritious to restore your vitality. Nina, do you have any plans for today?”

“I’m going to take Shirley out to shop in the neighborhood,” Nina said immediately, “she needs some new clothes and shoes.”

Speaking of this, she turned back to explain her meaning. This was to prevent her friend from being offended: “This is a meeting gift for you, and it is rude not to accept it.”

“I…” Shirley didn’t know what to say for a while. Ultimately, the poor child could only nod, “Okay, thank you in advance… and Mr. Duncan.”

Duncan nodded with a smile: “Then don’t go too far and come back before evening. Shirley, you are in charge of protecting Nina.”

Shirley immediately straightened her back and replied with a military voice that startled Nina: “Yes, Mr. Duncan!”

Afterwards, both girls bid their farewells to Duncan and Alice, heading for the main doorway with Nina still muttering as she walked: “Why did you yell so loud. It scared me… Uncle? My uncle is not scary.”

“I… I’m being polite. I’ve been learning politeness lately…”

Listening to the fading muttering of the girls, Duncan couldn’t help but smile before turning back to Alice.

“Why are you staring at me again?”

“Mr. Duncan… You’re very different here than on the ship,” Alice looked at Duncan very seriously, “much more cordial than on the ship!”

“Okay, don’t fret about unimportant stuff,” Duncan smiled helplessly. Of course, he knew why Alice would feel this way since he had actually been tensed on the ship. Even if he had relaxed in the recent period, it was not at all as free as on the city-state’s side. But he didn’t bother with this matter and quickly moved the topic elsewhere, saying, “Let’s talk about you first. You don’t have a legal identity, so it’s best not to go to the upper city to attract attention. I will first have you help in the antique shop during this period. It will allow you to adapt to the environment, and on the other hand, you can also help me do something while I’m out. Like taking care of customers behind this counter… Wait, I suddenly thought of something!”

With a strange expression, Duncan stopped and stared at the puppet before him: “You… Know about money?”

Alice’s face was full of curiosity: “What is money?”

Duncan: “…”