Adult romance [lady D x Nell Lupu]

3. Miranda

Nell smiled and went toward the woman in black.

"Miranda, it's nice to see you after such a long time." She stopped right in front of Miranda, who put down her arms and nodded to greet her.

"Nell, indeed a long time. Let's see, about decades after we last met? Doesn't matter. What brought you here?" Miranda raised her eyebrow.

"Well, I can't remember either. I'm here just for paying the Duke his favor back, by substituting for a couple of months. To see you is truly a surprise, I don't even know this is your village." Nell shocked her head.

"Ah, so Duke is the one who brought you here. " Miranda grunted, they went to the shadow below the stone wall side by side. Miranda lifted her hand to call a raven, which stood on her front arm, she stroked its head top with her fingertip. Nell leaned on the wall with crossing arms, looking at the raven's dark feather.

"So, all shops in the village are managed by you for now?"

"No, I only run the stand in the Dimitrescu Castle, one of his men takes care of the others." Nell shocked her head, taking off her hat and combing her hair with fingers.

"Hmm, I understand. Shall I inform Alcina to prepare a room and a studio that can reach your standard?" Miranda narrowed her eye playfully and teased.

"I thank you for your kindness." Nell rolled her eyes and Miranda burst out laughter.

"Anyways, Lady Dimitrescu gave me a nice room, and I consider myself here for a vacation, so I want to stay low." Nell pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her forehead elegantly.

"Is that what you wish for? Okay, anyway, if you don't offense Alcina and her daughters, I am sure you will be treated just fine."

"That's true, the maids are professional and the foods are delicious." Nell chuckled.

They fell to silence. Miranda wove the raven away as Nell spoke.

"What about your research? It's about 20 years since the last time I heard something about you."

"Same as usual, nothing really progresses. I feel like something went wrong in the direction of my study." Miranda shocked her head with a sad expression on her face. Another woman went toward her for a few stapes, resting her hand on her shoulder, and spoke calmly.

"Hey, now that I am here, let me see if I can help you with anything, okay?"

A little smile appeared on Miranda's face as she stared at her.

"Thank you, Nell. I want to rest for a while, to reconsider my research and start all over again."

"Well, you always study biologics and bacteria, maybe you can think about the herbs, alchemy, and magic that belong to my kind. Maybe they will help you." Nell patted her shoulder, seeing Miranda smile, she leaned back to the stone wall and retrieved her hands back into her pocket.

"Talking about your group's stuff, what happens to your appearance? I remember your kind are immortal as well, so what did you do to your face? " Miranda furrowed, looking up and down at another woman. Her gray eyes filled with confusion when staring at the wrinkles beside the woman's eyes and mouth. Nell just shrugged and stroked her hair.

"Not that bad, does it? I feel like it's actually okay, people tend to treat you nicer and with more patience just because of your age. Besides, there are still lots of the young pay court to me." Nell smiled and slammed Miranda's upper arm playfully.

"Hey! You just touched the ground, don't stain my clothes with dirt. " Miranda murmured and whisked her gown. Nell looked at her already stained shoulder, before turning her head and biting her lower lip to prevent herself from laughing.

"Whatever, I still prefer a younger appearance. But, I have to admit that you looked good. " Miranda pouted and stared at Nell's face attentively. Nell winked at her and played an innocent face, which made Miranda turn with a disgusted face.

"Thanks for your praise, Mother Miranda. " Nell teased and another woman rolled her eyes.

"Oh, just shut up. You are much older than my eldest daughter, maybe I should call you aunt Nell. " Miranda bit back, causing Nell to burst out laughing and she pushed her shoulder.

"That's hurt! " The force made Miranda step a little back, she rubbed her shoulder and grumbled.

"Let's stop comparing our age. Normally, both of us should be buried in the ground." Nell shocked her head and chuckled, and so does another woman.

"The eldest daughter as you said is Lady Dimitrescu, the owner of the castle, right? Does she run the wine brand Dimitrescu? "

"Yes, I transformed her when she was 44, and she has been running the company before then. She is about 110 years old now." Miranda nodded. Nell raised one of her eyebrows with a little surprise.

"No wonder the brand has been thriving for decades and I can see the wines in markets all over the world. She is truly brilliant and talented in business, I start to look forward to meeting her." Nell said with praise.

"So you haven't met? Shall I introduce you to each other? I got quite some impact on her as a mother." Miranda looked at her golden nail and said carelessly.

"Do you consider yourself as her true mother?" Nell narrowed her eyes, knowing the woman is longing for her only daughter with the blood relation, who passed away a hundred years ago, taken by the Spanish flu. She didn't think Miranda would consider another person to be her child.

"Why not? She respects and looks up to me, she genuinely loves me like her mother with royalty, shouldn't I accept her? Besides, I gave her immortal life and strong power, that's a win-win situation, doesn't it?" Miranda said with a shrug.

Nell left out a sigh, knowing that only if Eva comes back to her or the woman won't even want to build a real kinship with other people, and she had no extra emotion to share. She felt pity for her.

Looking away from Miranda, Nell shifted the topic.

"Our conversation should stop, the sky is getting dark, and I need to arrange my samples. The stand inside the castle will open tomorrow."

"Then it's time to say goodbye." Miranda nodded and turned away. Before she took her leave, Nell stopped her.

"Hey, give me your phone number, we can talk about your research some time later."

"Sure." Then Miranda said the tel number of her lab. Nell burst out laughing again.

"What are you laughing for?" Miranda tilted her head in confusion.

"Nothing, it's just that the tel number of my home can only receive the calls from the salesmen and the Internal Revenue Service. You really should consider having a mobile phone." Nell shocked her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh." Miranda pouted and turned away, disappearing herself with a bunch of feathers flowing in the air. A piece of plume passed in front of Nell's nose, making her sneeze.

"That little birdy! I am done with these feathers." Nell rubbed her nose, mumbling.

Author's note: The lady needs a few more chapters to show up, since a lady always takes her time, right? :)