"Why does this keep happening to me!?" Angelica roared, screaming into a pillow in frustration.
The situation was all too familiar. For the second time in this life, Angelica found herself in the same position after a similar string of events led to her life being turned upside down.
After falling unconscious amidst her failed escape attempt Angelica had woken up in the same room she was previously in. But unlike before she was not alone. From the shadows moving beyond the door, she estimated a minimum of four people to be waiting or presumably guarding on the other side in case she tried to flee.
Instead of getting up, Angelica lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling vacantly. Although awake she still felt drained of energy and lethargic to move.
If she were to take one step outside, she would be immediately caught in sight. Added that she was in no condition to fight her way out of the place, it would be a waste of energy to struggle fruitlessly. She was trapped like a fox in a cage.
Currently, Angelica was in the Frost estate in the capital city of Orion, Volos and the person who brought her was one of the male leads of the novel and her husband, Edward Frost.
Earlier when Angelica first regained consciousness she may have been too confused to notice but there were obvious signs indicating her location from the Silver Wolf emblems engraved on the furniture and door knobs. Even the ceiling had similar designs that she failed to see.
"Why?? Just why??" Angelica sat up and threw the pillow in defeat.
Seeing the very person she was hiding from lead her into a trap had taken a toll on Angelica's psyche.
'The signs were all there. I should've seen this coming... I should've seen him' Running her hands over her face, Angelica deeply regretted signing the contract with Orion Merchants.
His appearance as Kalan was in stark contrast to the male lead Edward she knew. Edward's ruby-red eyes have been haunting her dreams for a long time to the point that she would recognize them even if she were on the verge of death.
In contrast, Kalan's appearance was of a gentler nature compared to his true imposing stature. He had a quiet and friendly deposition while Edward was known to be a cold individual who did not know the meaning of patience. Like the cliched male lead he was, he only exerted kindness when it came to Helen.
After a brief deliberation, Angelica concluded that he must have used some sort of illusion or glamor magic to change his appearance. She wondered if he had also taken any magic potion or drug that changed his personality during the trip.
"I'm never signing another contract in my life ever again..."
What irked her more was the fact that she had walked into Orion on her own accord completely oblivious of the ambush waiting for her.
"Kalan... Edward... Arghhh!!" Angelica grunted and recounted every interaction she had with Kalan throughout the course of the trip.
Now that she understood the bigger picture, there were red herrings everywhere. From the moment they first saw each other in the village right till they reached Parthellam.
It was no wonder they were able to seamlessly pass through all the checkpoints till Parthellam. With Edward onboard, the tower guards must have been informed prior to his arrival and they in turn cleared the pathway for smooth passage.
'How did I not suspect him?' Angelica clutched her head feeling disappointed in herself.
Like how they always bumped into each other at the oddest of locations. Or how he was overly comfortable with her than the people from his own crew and even rode beside Angelica in a horse rather than taking the carriage which was far more comfortable.
Even when the camp was attacked by Ogres in Eldom forest, somehow Kalan was the only one who had followed her into the tomb.
Now that she thought about it, Kalan was strangely around Angelica at all times as if he was keeping an eye on her.
At one point Kalan had even spoken about his estranged wife and shared details of his life.
'My wife left me' Angelica remembered Kalan's confession from that night in Eldom.
Back then she had felt sorry for him and even pitied his heartbroken state without knowing it was her he was talking about. But now, all Angelica wanted was to hit herself on the head for feeling anything for the trickster.
"Right. It was my mistake... I should've slit your neck when I had the chance!" Angelica clenched her head in anger that even veins popped on her hands.
"No... I did. I did suspect him"
In fact, Angelica had placed a request to the Third Eye guild for information on all the main characters of the book with the only exception being Kalan a non-male lead. As per the report she received from the guild master, Edward Frost was in Volos along with the rest of the characters and the background on Kalan was clean.
To be exact it was right after Angelica had met with the Third Eye, that started to relax around Kalan. Caught up by the newfound relief on the progress of the novel, she was just too blind to see the holes in his story.
This meant that all the information Angelica had received from the Third Eye guild was unreliable. But, Edward did not have any ties with the guild till the war was announced. As per the novel, it would only be much later that he discovered his childhood was the Third Eye guild leader and they joined hands against the war with Velven.
Have Edward and the Third Eye already formed an alliance? How much has the novel actually progressed? Angelica had no clue.
Initially, Angelica had planned to stay in Velven for at least five years so that she could return to her original identity after the novel reached its end. Now that she has returned before the set time period, there was no knowing what would happen to her.
Then a question struck Angelica, why did the Orion merchants want an escort till Napal? They could have surrounded Angelica the moment she entered Orion.
After the Calvan war between Orion and Velevn, security was increased by both sides to maintain the borderline between the two empires. As long as they were out of Velven's territory Edward would have had all the authority he needed to bring her back.
Suddenly, Angelica remembered finding a document in Edward's vault during her stay years ago.
Napal was under the jurisdiction of the Frosts since Edward had the port town officially transferred over to him. If the Nero mercenaries had agreed with Kalan's original request and escorted the Orion merchants to Napal, Angelica would have walked right into the hornet's nest without having any clue of what hit her.
As paranoid as she was, it was Angelica who had changed the escort point from Napal to Parthellam in the hopes of not colliding with Edward by any chance. Still, it was all for naught since she ended up getting captured anyway.
Another thing that worried her was the presence of the masked assassins in Parthellam. In a surprising twist of events, Priest Hansom turned out to be the leader of the group. It was evident the assassins had deliberatively attacked her before bombing the Merchant headquarters.
Angelica's hands unconsciously reached for her neck which was bare. The necklace her grandmother gifted her was ripped off in the battle between her and Priest Hansome. Even the alchemized nose ring she had stolen from Gilbert was gone.
From what she could recall, it was the Frost Knights that surrounded them in the city square when she started to have a mana outbreak.
While Angelica could understand the collaboration between Edward and the Third Eye, she could not find any connection between the masked assassins and him.
The person whom the Third Eye guild initially tried to kill was Angelica. If it was Helen in place of her, Edward would have made sure to burn the guild to the ground. On the other hand, the masked assassins were the ones that put the Havu curse on Edward. Even he would not collude with the people who cursed him just to get to Angelica.
'Maybe it was a coincidence?' Angelica shook her head.
For Edward and the masked assassins to be in the same place at the same time, with one trying to capture her and the other trying to kill her, Angelica felt like she was missing something.
Still for all of this to happen in the first place.
"How the hell did he find me?"
How did Edward Frost find someone who had died almost three years ago? Angelica Ashford was long dead.
No matter how much she racked her brain the only person that came to Angelica's mind was the man who introduced Kalan to the Nero mercenaries, the head of the Sehra merchants - Elijah Sehra.
Out of everyone else, only Elijah had the means to contact someone of Edward's standing. Also, since he was used to traveling across the continent, there was a high possibility for him to have interacted with Edward.
"Snitches... I'm surrounded by snitches" Angelica muttered under her breath.
Angelica had only known Elijah ever since she joined the Nero mercenaries whereas the rest of her team knew him for years. He was one of the very few trusted people allowed to stay inside the village.
Angelica understood the reason immediately. The bling had cost her freedom.
'The next time I see him. I'm gonna shove those shiny stones down his throat'
First, it was Elijah, then the tower guards, and the Third Eye. Were the Tullus mercenaries also a part of this? Once again Angelica was at a standstill.
"No! I've come this far! I won't be defeated just like that" Angelica declared clenching her fists.
Angelica was too deep in the game to give up. If she had wanted to quit she would have done so when the masked assassins tried to kill her for the first time at Mount Zion. No matter the situation, as long as one keeps looking there will always be a way out.
Right when Angelica was contemplating on her next move, there was a knock on the door.
*knock* *knock*
"..." Angelica stared at the door in silence.
When there was no answer the person on the other side, a maid opened the door and entered the chamber. She looked a little older than Angelica but had an air of serenity around her.
Although surprised at first at seeing Angelica awake, the maid bowed and calmly greeted her.
"Madam. You're awake. How are you feeling?"
Angelica remained quiet and maintained a blank expression. She was in enemy territory with no knowledge of what was to come. For now, the smartest strategy was to... play dumb.
The person the Frosts had was not the Orion noble Angelica Ashford. It was the Velven mercenary Antarctica Leveret.
And so the most realistic theatrical experience in all of Orion began.
"..."
After taking a moment to let the character fully sink in,
"Where am I?" Angelica asked acting as an innocently confused person who had just woken up in a strange location.
"Wha.." The maid looked visibly shaken by the unexpected question.
"Madam... you are in the Frost estate in Volos"
"Volos? Where is this place?" Angelica furrowed her brows and slowly reached for her head as if she felt a sting.
"Volos is the capital of the Orion Empire"
"The capital of Orion? I'm from Velen. How did I get here?" Angelica sluggishly looked at the maid who was gradually taking the bait.
"Madam was brought here by His Grace Young Duke Edward Frost"
"Madam? Why do you keep referring to me that way?"
"But... Madam..." The maid hesitated caught in a dilemma.
"Please stop. I'm not of noble birth..."
However, before Angelica could show off more of her acting skills, they were interrupted by another person stepping inside the room tray in hand.
"Good Evening Madam" Nathaniel bowed and turned toward the maid,
"I will take things from here Eve. Prepare the Madam's bath"
'Aghhh... This guy' Angelica inwardly cringed. She instantly recognized the butler standing tray in hand at the entrance of the room.
Unlike the maid, Nathaniel could not be deceived easily. Having spent time with him for a month, Angelica knew Nathaniel was just as cunning as Edward.
After Eve exited the room, Nathaniel walked towards Angelica and extended the tray.
"Madam must be tired after waking up. Please drink this medicinal tonic. It will help replenish your energy"
"..."
Angelica glanced at the green liquid Nathaniel had brought and then at him. He had not changed a bit since the last time she saw him.
'Medicinal tonic as in drug. Like hell I'll drink that...'
Without changing her lost expression, she asked,
"Why am I here? Who are you people?"
"My apologies, Madam" Nathaniel placed the tray on top of the side drawer and bowed again.
"His Grace will answer all of Madam's questions at dinner. I shall withdraw for now"
With that, Nathaniel left her alone in the room to her confusion.
"That was... uneventful" Angelica raised her eyebrows in doubt.
The scene that just transpired was not at all what she had expected. There were no questions or interrogations. They were even addressing Angelica just like they used to before she left. It was almost like she had never left.
A few minutes later, Eve returned with three more maids and led Angelica to the bath.
Seeing how things were progressing, Angelica felt like she was reliving her first day at the Frost estate from years ago. Back then, she had thought she was dreaming and went with the flow of events till she finally found where she was.
"Haa..." Angelica closed her eyes and leaned back on the tub. The warm water was easing the tension in her body and she felt relaxed.
'Is he perhaps testing the waters?' She could not get Nathaniel's behavior out of her mind. It was not just him but everyone she had encountered were the same.
By the time she got out of the bath, the maids had brought racks of dresses for her to choose from.
Since there were more pressing matters at hand, Angelica simply went with the first dress the maids brought and refused all jewelry when saw her reflection in the mirror for the first time.
Her eyes were sunken in and she looked like she had lost weight. That along with the light blue dress she was wearing made her look more pitiful than an actual pitiful person.
As soon as Angelica stepped out of the dressing room with the maids, a group of Knights joined them and followed till they reached the dining hall.
'Don't they usually put them on the opposite sides?' Angelica thought looking at the cutlery laid out on the elonged dining table.
In the spacious dining hall, only two sets of dinnerware were put. Placed side by side, one at the head of the table and the other right next to it.
'I guess the top seat is for the owner of the house'
Just as she guessed, Nathaniel pulled the chair to the side for Angelica to sit.
From the corner of her eyes, Angelica noticed a few familiar faces among the Knights standing guard. Some of the Orion merchants she had seen with Kalan were in fact Knights in disguise.
As she waited for the main character to arrive, Nathaniel stepped forward with a wine bottle in hand.
"Would you like a drink, Madam?" He smiled and held out the bottle.
"Sure..." Angelica answered meekly. She figured a little liquid fuel would help her mind to think in the suffocating atmosphere. Also, she was feeling thirsty having not had any drinks since waking up.
"!"
However, the second the wine reached her lips Angelica's eyes widened. The aroma and taste of the wine were exquisite unlike anything else.
'This is good' She thought to herself feeling good until she heard Nathaniel's next words.
"It's Gourth wine from His Grace's personal collection"
"Pffttt!!" Surprised, Angelica choked midway taking another sip of the wine.
"Wha- *cough* *cough* *cough*"
She reflexively reached for the water on the table and drained its contents to steady herself.
Gourth wine had a high alcohol content compared to others and had a rich flavor to it thanks to decades of fermenting. But the reason, Angelica panicked was not because of the alcohol. It was exactly this wine she had drank after raiding Edward's safe when he was in a coma.
"Are you alright, Madam?" Nathaniel asked with a concerned face.
'Are these f*ckers messing with me!?' Angelica withheld her rage and politely said,
"Yes.."
Now was not the right time to pick a fight.
Just as Angelica put down the empty glass, she heard the door creak open and saw the shadow of a man entering the hall.
"Welcome Your Grace"
Nathaniel greeted causing the maids and Knights standing around them to bow their heads in unison while Angelica stiffened in her seat.
She followed the sound of the heavy footsteps as he walked behind her till he took a seat at the head of the table.
Finally, Angelica was face to face with Edward.
"..."
"..."
Edward gazed at Angelica silently with his ruby-red eyes like he could see into her soul while the latter assessed him through her eyes.
True to his status as the male lead Edward was dressed in formal attire with neatly combed hair and a clean shaved face. Even without the attire, Edward was the type to stand out in a crowd.
As their eyes met, Angelica thought of the million-dollar question that weighed her mind.
For Edward, to chase after her after all these years...
'What do you want from me?'