𝕰𝖒𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖘 - (Technoblade)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓

She woke up the next day earlier than she had before, no one was in the room but she did see a basket by her door. Her legs were burning from the amount of layers keeping heat from them, so she quickly kicked off the duvet and turned her legs off of the bed, letting them hang off the side as she cracked her back for the morning. Finishing a book always gave Venus a content sleep, dreamless, sure, but well enough. She stood up and stretched quietly before sighing and picking up the basket. Which she carried over to her bed. There was no trademark red for Technoblade's kingdom in the basket as she peered in. Only white and black. It was a frilly, pleated collared shirt with large, extravagant sleeves, with a white underskirt and a black skirt to go on top. It was actually a great outfit. Venus wondered where Technoblade managed to get these, and how he managed to get her size. How'd he find out? She wasn't sure, but the outfit was cute, she couldn't lie. As she changed, she heard a knock on the door, and quickly hid herself by her cupboard. She was buttoning up her shirt and she wasn't wearing the black skirt.

"Morning! You- hey where are you?" Phil's voice rang.

"I'm changing! Give me a minute." Venus sighed in relief, it was only Phil, even if he saw, it wouldn't matter, Venus knew he was married and had two kids. The door closed and quickly, she buttoned up the high-waisted band of the black skirt, which was both crushed velvet and laced above to give the skirt some more volume. It was heavy, but comforting. She fixed her hair while looking into a mirror which was close to the window, as well as fixing on the small accessories given such as the black ribbon which was supposed to be tied under the collar. That as well as the bow which lay on her right breast, and had a ribbon trailing until it caught hold of her left breast pocket. She then left the room, fixing her boots over the black cotton tights she was given. The tights were thicker than usual, so better insulated. She wondered why as Philza apologised and started a small conversation.

"And that's why we leave tomorrow." Philza finished explaining. He was telling her about how he could tell the weather by flying above the clouds and measuring the speed of those clouds.

"Say... Philza... where does the king find these clothes fitting for me?" She asked, lifting her skirt and moving it around. "It's quite pretty." She complimented.

"My wife makes them!" He smiled. "She also cooks the meals; I help sometimes." He bragged about his wife. Venus listened with great interest, seeing the old man love someone as dearly as he did his wife, she couldn't help but be intrigued. Both walked into the hall to find Technoblade not there. "Sorry about him, he's a bit busy right now. We can start eating." Philza smiled and offered a plate.

"No thank you, I'd rather wait for him." She declined. He tilted his head. "Eating without everyone on the table means you'd want those who aren't there to skip the next meal." She explained.

"Tell me more." Philza narrowed his eyes and leaned closer, interested in learning about her superstitions which carried the family tradition.

"Well, it was often used as a message to say "I'm still mad at you" or a punishment. It used to be to skip the whole day of meals. But it changed as times grew more forgiving." Venus thought back to the times she would skip a meal because her parents forgot to wait for her at the dinner table.

"So what would happen if you didn't listen to the culture?" He tilted his head, slightly surprised by the amount she had openly spoken.

"If you were in the right, nothing would happen, if you were in the wrong, children were told that the west wind would carry them to the monster's mansion by the ends of the earth, where they stayed forever." She explained and rested her head in her palm. "There is a story of a girl who did so, she pushed her brother out of the first floor window, breaking his bone. She came down after and ate despite being punished with skipping the meal. She wasn't seen again after the next time she left the house. It was rumoured she was spotted trudging to the river bank, but what happened after was a mystery."