Enthralled By You

1| Useless Existence

"Yenaery, don't you think Lady Hanaya will be crowned at the princess selection?"

I coudn't count how many times I've been asked with same question. Nesreen's voice keeps buzzing in my ears.

Getting no response from me, she groans childishly. "Deities might have blessed her with all those glories in this world. How lucky she can get!"

As usual, she's relentless even I keep rinsing the linens giving her a hint I don't care at all with her overblown adulation. As what I've heard, nobody wants to be with her for being so mouthy. She's pint-sized yet a terrible gossipmonger with a prominent cat-like eyes that shows how nasty and nosy she can be.

And as ever, she's audacious she won't stop insinuating things. It must be her mantra testing how far I could hold my patience. Her insolence isn't new anyway but she's getting bolder day by day I won't be surprised if her wagging tongue got sheared someday. I have to endure her obnoxious presence until her assigned task changed next week.

"I do believe she will be selected and be the crown princess. She deserves it and she's beyond lovely!" Anyone can hear envy in her voice. Her vicious countenance is like a serpent slithering around. Her tongue never ceased spitting venom and she's doing it in every possible way she can. "Being overly blessed, she seemed to take every luck in this world. She has everything unlike how rubbish and worthless life you have."

That's it, even I didn't face her I know how malicious her eyes can be. Upon wasting a lengthy bubble of sputters, she finally bared her true intent by throwing insults at my expense—it's her main objective anyway.

Splaying a wide linen on its final rinse, I took a glance at a dense arrays of white crested iris flourishing at a riverside. "You shouldn't utter such things, Nesreen. Lady Razzini would be upset once she heard you're blabbering Lady Hanaya's name." Her mindless gibberish is highly offensive once anyone hears it. It would be futile to count how many lashings she would get.

Nesreen snorted after cautiously roving her eyes around. "There's nobody. It's just you and me. Unless you want to take this matter to them—then I dare you." Undaunted, she smiled smugly knowing I won't waste my time disclosing such matter. Seeing me unbothered, she pulled a stem of sedge and threw it on me when she got no reaction she had been wanted to see. "Urggg! You are so pathetic!"

I'm done with my task. Coming up from dipping in a freezing water, my feet had gone pale and shrinking from hours and hours being soaked.

"Aren't you jealous?"

It's her last card. That inquiry will always be her last resort every time she failed. Though she knows I don't give a damn, she never concedes.

"You're the second daughter of the Lord. How could you just let it happen? You're not supposed to do rubbish things like this. You should've worn beautiful dresses and not that trashy rag you wear."

She sounded like she cares but I swear she isn't. She knows—everyone knows here why I'm being despised and neglected. Shrugging my shoulder, I regarded her remark as an irksome air blowing next to my ears. There's nothing to say and I don't care. I don't have any qualms regarding her claim that I'm indeed the second daughter of the lord.

Taking two buckets of newly-washed linens, I won't let her fill my ears with her endless spouts as I take my leave and left her burbling at the riverbank. As what she usually does, she wailed like a brat stomping her feet with her washing task still on pile.

The sun will set soon I don't think she'd finish her task with remaining time she had left until darkness shrouds everything around. After hanging a handful of linens, I decided to take a little tour towards the meadow since I still have enough time to take some rest.