Evelyn took a sip from the tea cup Zadhea absentmindedly passed to her. Then she looked into her friend's eyes and questioned, "What's troubling you?"
"You noticed it?" Zadhea forced a smile. "I was thinking about Mario. I feel bad for him."
"Why? What's wrong with him?" Evelyn was about to glance at his direction but Zadhea stopped her by waving her hands a little anxiously. "No, no. Don't look at him. That way, he'll notice that we are talking about him!"
"Okay, fine." With a soft sigh, Evelyn focused her gaze on Zadhea's blue eyes which were sparkling like the ocean waves when sun rays dropped on them, morning sunlight adding golden colour to light crystal blue colour in her irises, creating a priceless art piece. "What did you do to him? Broke his heart?"
Zadhea was confused. "Broke his heart? What did you mean by that?"
"He had a crush on you. It was obviously obvious. But I didn't tell you because I thought I shouldn't get involved in such things."
"Shoot! Was I the only person who didn't have a clue? Wait! I did have doubts when he gifted a portrait of mine on my fifteenth birthday. That day I asked him whether he liked me and he said no so I completely forgot about it later." Zadhea massaged her forehead. "Poor boy! He might've felt shy to admit."
"Exactly!" Evelyn clicked her tongue. "You don't have to worry about it. If someone likes you, it doesn't mean that you have to like him back, okay? So chill!"
"No." Zadhea shook her head. "It's not like that. He said he's leaving for Italy... Maybe forever? I can't help feeling like it's because of me although he said he had a girlfriend waiting to go there together. What if he's lying? Wait! You should know about it! What that novel said? He had a girlfriend? He went to Italy?"
Evelyn chuckled at her words that filled with anxiety. "Gurl, chill! That novel mainly focused on the main leads. So how can I get a full description of his life story? All I can remember is he went to his home country which is Italy and settled there. I think we should let him go. That novel said he became even more professional and reached the peak of his career when he met the student of Michelangelo who later became his teacher. So... Forget about him. He'll definitely achieve all his dreams."
Zadhea lowered her eyes. "Yeah. You're right. Let's pray for his success."
"Yep."
Then they both became silent, lost in thoughts.
Zadhea was about to take a sip from her tea when she heard Evelyn say, "By the way, you were talking about a secret mission earlier. I don't care if you don't mind or do mind, just tell me what it is."
Her words made the princess laugh. She put down her tea cup and said, "It's a long story though."
Evelyn rubbed her butt on the chair and put her chin on the back of her right hand, looking into Zadhea's eyes without blinking. She didn't forget to adjust her glasses.
Zadhea shook her head with a smile and began telling her what she did throughout the previous month.
"When system asked me to act according to my role, I couldn't understand it immediately. Later, when I thought about it without even bothering to sleep, I realized what she meant. She actually meant I needed to do my duty as the princess. During my fifteen years old life here, I only focused on improving my fighting skills and completely neglected my citizens. I was selfish."
"I felt disappointed at myself. So I thought of going on a mission disguising as a teenage male merchant. I had two purposes. First, investigate the life Edwina people having. Lemme tell you, it was beyond my expectations. I never knew they lived this miserably to this day. I was pissed off..."
"Can you remember what I said about King Edwin?" Evelyn asked this time.
Zadhea nodded. "The officials and ministers were fooling him all these years. He failed to realize their schemings because father never left the palace. He believed the people around him only to get betrayed in the end."
"Yeah. That's horrible. Did you inform him about them?"
"...Mmm, Not yet. To be honest, I don't know who's good and who's bad. I'm currently working on finding the culprits as Dylan."
"Dylan?" Evelyn raised a brow. "That's your boy self's name? You tell me... Should I be happy or sad?"
Zadhea blushed and lowered her head. "Sorry, Evie. I'm terrible at making names. At that time, your brother's name was the only thing that came to my mind."
"Sorryyyy!!!!"
"Ugh, fine! I'll forgive you."
Theresa was an orphan. When she transmigrated as Evelyn, she wasn't that much sad because of that reason. She only had a brother who was rarely at home once in a while. As a result, they weren't close. However, her brother Dylan never failed to fulfill his responsibilities towards her. He was the one who cooked meals, paid for her tuition and took care of her like a parent. His only weakness was he was hella busy. Hence, he couldn't show how much he loved her. Theresa only knew that her meals were in refrigerator whenever she felt hungry.
Although he was busy, since he was a responsible person, Theresa couldn't help admiring her brother and missing him. She often shared some stories about him with Zadhea, telling her how much she missed him. Her only regret was she couldn't talk to him before leaving. If she got a chance to meet him again, she would happily tell him that she was living the life she ever wanted.
She always wanted to experience a fantasy world. She desired to go inside a novel and... Her wish became true in the end.
When Zadhea told Evelyn that Dylan's name just came to her mind randomly, it was actually not the truth. Dylan was her secret idol because his personality encouraged her.
He loved his sister but didn't show it. Most importantly, he fulfilled his responsibilities as a good brother.
Zadhea wanted to be like him. That way, no one would feel sad when she left this world one day but... They would at least remember such a person existed.
"What's your second purpose?" Evelyn asked after another short silence.
Zadhea became excited again. "Guess what? I met Mimosa's benefactor."
Evelyn's eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait, what? You meant her? You met her? You... You really, absolutely, truly..."
"Dudie, that's enough." Zadhea rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I indeed met Sahasra, Ashra."
"Ashra?! Ashraaaaa???" Evelyn screamed like a mad girl. "Are you crazy? How did you stay alive? Don't you know how dangerous she is? And, and... Oh my god!" Evelyn covered her opened mouth using her hands. "She's lesbian and she had a crush on Mimosa! That means... Now you! Damn! Did she rape you? Gosh!"
Zadhea's mouth twitched. "Dummy, you are thinking too much. I met her as Dylan, okay? She didn't recognise me."
"What about now? Does she know now?" Evelyn asked, her heart beating fast like a drum.
"Yeah. What's wrong?"
"Gosh! Girly, do you have any idea how much she's obsessed with you?! She's literally crazy about you!"
Zadhea glared at her. "Don't be so overdramatic! She's alright. You sound like she's a crazy yandere type of person. It's yandere right? Or... Tsundere? I don't know that's why."
"Broh, she's beyond crazy. She has OLD, Okay? Obsessive Love Disorder! Do you know Mimosa escaped from death BECAUSE OF HER???"
"... You've told me before. That's one of the reasons for choosing her as my female knight apart from her amazing fighting skills. My Ashra will always stay loyal to me."
Evelyn shook her head dramatically. She somehow felt a little jealous too. "Do whatever you want to. Don't come crying to me later when she pester you."
"Am I a baby?" Zadhea huffed.
Although Evelyn overreacted a little, she was telling the truth about Sahasra.
Sahasra was the illegitimate daughter of Duke Ferdinand. She was the result of his secret relationship with a maid. The maid was able to hide the truth for a long time because no one doubted her daughter's appearance since she looked a lot like her mother.
Sahasra had light brown hair with a pair of coffee brown eyes completely opposite of her father who had yellow eyes and silver hair.
One day her mother made a mistake by telling her the truth about her father. Sahasra was only three years old and didn't realise how serious and complicated the problem was. She said to her best friend Lucas that they were actually siblings, not friends when he proposed to her.
Lucas didn't believe her when she said that. He even cried because he liked her and wanted to marry her so that they could live together all the time. As a four years old child, he thought with his narrow brain capacity that siblings had to say goodbye to eachother one day.
He didn't want her to leave him. He wanted her to stay by his side forever.
Thus, with tears in his eyes, Lucas asked his mother the truth.
It was the beginning of a disaster.
Eventually, Sahasra had to leave the mansion along with her mother. She believed Lucas was the reason for her miserable state. From that day on, she started despising him.
When she became an adult, she still couldn't let go of her hatred.
Sahasra's mother had no choice left rather than sending her to an orphanage close to the capital.
In the book, she was lonely and sad. The gifts she received from Mimosa's birthday was the only thing that gave her hopes for the future. She looked forward to meet the angelic princess who sent her presents.
Honestly, Mimosa didn't send gifts on purpose unlike Zadhea. It was King Edwin's doing. As a spoiled little princess, Mimosa had everything she ever wanted. She asked her servants to throw the gifts away after she chose only one or two of them to keep including the necklace King Foneth sent to her.
The king thought it was a waste to just throw them away so he asked the servants to send them to the closest orphanage.
That time, Sahasra only received an expensive book and a pen. However, she treasured them a lot.
The staff in the orphanage randomly gave the gifts to the kids without opening them. They had enough funds everyday so they weren't lacking anything.
This time, Sahasra didn't get a book and a pen.
It was much, much, much, much, much better than that!
Much better than someone could ever imagine.
It was the gift king Foneth gave the princess.
The diamond necklace worthy of hundreds of thousands gold coins.
One of the most expensive diamond necklaces in the world...
At that time, Zadhea lied to him when she said she especially mentioned about king Foneth's gift to the staff. She never bothered to do that. To her, it was just another gift, a burden to be precise.
Evelyn never knew how much Sahasra fell for Zadhea this time. In the book, Sahasra had a crush on Mimosa for her kindness and showed her gratitude by becoming one of the powerful knights that belonged to Rodwef army.
That's right.
She did that for Mimosa.
Because of her excellent skills, Heidith couldn't bring himself to refuse Sahasra's request when she asked him to spare Mimosa's life.
He hated Mimosa to death but he lessened his punishment as much as he possibly could because of Sahasra's plea.
Sahasra observed how miserable Mimosa was after becoming a beggar. Nevertheless, she never dared to approach her knowing that she wouldn't accept her as her soulmate.
Sahasra spent the rest of her life playing with girls in Misakha brothel just like she used to do in the past.
She had always made up her mind to face the reality.
This time, although her love life was messy as the book described, she had a different feeling towards Zadhea.
It wasn't just a crush.
This time, she was ready to sacrifice her life for Zadhea.
Because, it was thanks to that necklace, she was able to move out from the orphanage. But she still maintained her bad habits. She got rich by becoming an expert assassin and a killer, earning the nickname 'Killing machine.'
After becoming extremely rich, she paid for the necklace with an island, gold coins, elephants, horses, gems and many more, finally owning it once again.
She wanted it not because she liked exaggerating jewelleries.
She only wished to cherish what Zadhea gave her.
She felt horrible when she fell for Dylan despite everything Zadhea did to her.
Later, when she realized Dylan was actually Zadhea, she was overjoyed.
Seemed like the fate also wanted to set her up with her beloved soulmate.
This time, she wouldn't hide what she truly felt no matter what the consequences would be.
She was determined...
A/N:
Aaah, you are my weakness!
When do you plan to gimme a rest? 🥴
Just kidding! I was teasing you earlier. I don't plan to pause the story for the time being so don't worry 😊♥️♥️♥️
Love ya! Please forgive this stupid author's playfulness!!!🙏