Kains, who had arrived earlier, was chatting with a black-haired beauty in a silver-white short skirt that revealed her arms and shoulders. Angela and Wilhelmina navigated the crowded space, hand in hand. Angela patted the girl’s shoulder and made a dismissive gesture. Upon noticing them, the girl consciously turned and walked away.
“Wait…
Cairns tried to stop her, but the girl disappeared into the crowd.
Cairns shouted angrily, “Please, I was just about to get that girl’s phone number!”
“You should thank me, Viscount Franco,” Angela said, sitting next to him. “That wasn’t a ‘girl.'”
Cairns was stunned.
Wilhelmina laughed, “You really should get your eyesight corrected, Cairns. That guy’s Adam’s apple was like a walnut.”
Cairns slowly came to his senses, his face turning pale.
“Don’t tell me you kissed him,” Wilhelmina glanced at him sideways.
Cairns covered his mouth with a napkin and rushed to the bathroom.
The two girls burst into laughter.
The Phoenix team’s captain approached with several team members, shouting from afar, “Hey, there’s our female hero!”
Wilhelmina stood up laughing and hugged her teammates. She was casual and approachable in private.
“That was brilliantly done today!” The tall, burly captain raised his beer, “Hey, friends, to celebrate our Phoenix team maintaining the triple crown, I’ll buy a drink for everyone. Long live the Empire! Long live the Phoenix team! To Wilhelmina!”
“To Wilhelmina!” Everyone raised their glasses.
Wilhelmina downed a large beer in one gulp, earning loud whistles and applause.
The captain pushed a junior student forward, saying to Wilhelmina, “This is our new recruit pilot, who will replace you in the future.”
The tall, shy young man looked nervous as he bowed to Wilhelmina. “Your Highness.”
Wilhelmina chuckled. “This is a party, not a court. Just call me Wilhelmina.”
“Sorry,” Rosland von Hansberg said, scratching the back of his head.
Wilhelmina’s hand trembled around her cocktail. “What did you say?”
“Rosland,” he replied, “Your Highness.”
“No, your last name.”
“Hansberg,” he repeated timidly. “Is something wrong?”
Wilhelmina paused. “Who is Owen Hansberg to you?”
“You know him?” Rosland’s eyes lit up. “He’s my father’s cousin. We’re not close, only met at my grandfather’s funeral. I call him Uncle Owen. He seems to have gone to a distant star system on a mission, right?”
