Both of them were surprised by what Ayda said. Wanting to make sure that Nifsara had heard her, Ayda repeated:
"You are sexy with a sword."
Seeing Nifsara raise a hand to cover her mouth made Ayda ecstatic. She was on the right path! It seemed Nifsara felt completely disgusted hearing Ayda talk about being attracted to her.
"I love watching you train."
What was sexier than a strong woman after all? Seeing how strong Nifsara was, Ayda had no doubt that she would be able to kill her someday and that made her feel amazing. She just couldn't wait.
Ayda wanted to insist on it more but the next second Nifsara turned away. She excused herself and immediately disappeared. Ayda was a bit disappointed that she couldn't continue playing with Nifsara's feelings but now that she had found the right approach, she felt mostly relieved. All she had to do was continue with the obsessed and in love act and she would soon be dead.
Having no second to lose, she rushed to the library and started rummaging through the shelves. She looked so excited that the maids that passed in front of the door couldn't help stopping in their tracks. They stared at Ayda for a few seconds before coming in:
"Lady Maganti? May we help you with something?
-I am looking for romance novels."
The maids seemed taken aback:
"Romance novels?"
They exchanged a shrug:
"I am sorry, Lady Maganti but Commander Brack has no love for romance. I am afraid that you won't find such books in this mansion.
-Not even one?"
They all shook their heads. They looked so convinced that Ayda sighed. She had no idea how to act as someone in love. She needed inspiration fast. Nifsara couldn't figure out the truth.
"Then where can I find any? I really need to read about romance.
-If you wish to read something, there are a lot of other genres that we could recommend."
Ayda shook her head:
"It really needs to be romance. I need to make Nifsara understand my feelings.
-Oh my!"
The maids immediately lit up. They suddenly seemed more set on finding romance books than Ayda herself. One of the maids rushed out and came back with five more maids to help them. As feared by the maids, they couldn't find a single romance book in the whole mansion. It took them hours to look through the thousands of books spread between the five different libraries in the mansion and as time went by they looked more and more defeated.
Seeing Ayda's face at the last book of the shelf, the maids panicked:
"Don't worry, Lady Maganti. You shouldn't lose hope yet. We still have the servants' rooms!"
Seeing Ayda's eyes lit up made the maids relax. They gave up on Nifsara's books and Ayda followed them to the servant's wing. It seemed the maids were way bigger fans of romance than Nifsara. In a matter of seconds, Ayda found herself with five piles of books. It hadn't been easy but she was finally there and she couldn't say that she was happy about it. Looking at the covers, Ayda felt that she would hate each and every one of them.
But seeing how excited the maids were, Ayda didn't dare say any of that out loud and smiled, gratefully:
"Thank you so much for your help. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without your help."
The maids started blushing for some reason:
"Lady Maganti!
-We are glad that we could help!"
They looked so happy that Ayda couldn't help taking a step back. She wasn't usd to such happiness and she had no idea what to say. Wanting to avoid this situation, she quickly grabbed the book closer to her and frowned:
"Falling in love with an immortal beast?"
The youngest looking maid suddenly straightened up:
"It's way better than it sounds!"
Seeing everyone look at her made her cough:
"I mean... I heard that immortal romances are the new thing lately so I thought maybe that could be something that could interest you."
Ayda did her best not to grimace. What kind of beast was this book exactly about? She didn't dare ask and slowly put back the book. She wasn't looking for an eternal relationship anyway. All she needed was to look stupid and in love. Therefore she continued looking:
"100 reasons not to marry you."
All the maids sighed:
"That book was amazing.
-Who doesn't like enemies to lovers?"
Ayda frowned.
"Why would someone date their enemy?"
The maids looked shocked:
"Have you ever read an enemies to lovers trope before Lady Maganti?
-No."
Ayda didn't understand why it sounded as if she had missed out on something.
"You should absolutely start there then!"
The maids immediately started enumerating titles for Ayda but the latter shook her head. Nifsara didn't know that she hated her. Therefore, they technically weren't enemies. That wasn't what she needed. She picked up a third book:
"How to love the gentle you?"
That sounded good. She quickly read the summary and nodded.
"This will be perfect. Thank you again for your help."
The maid who owned that book looked really proud seeing Ayda choose her novel. Ayda was so focused on her goal that she didn't realize it had turned into a friendly competition between the maids. Not wanting to admit defeat, a maid grabbed a book before handing it to Ayda:
"Lady Maganti, I really think that you would like this book. It's about an illegitimate child marrying the Crown Princess."
Ayda read the summary before scoffing. That illegitimate child had been mistreated all her life and was saved by the Crown Princess. It was kind of what happened with Nifsara. Maybe reading this book would help Ayda's acting be more believable.
"Thank you."
Seeing Ayda smile made a third maid hand her a book:
"And this one is about a Princess and her knight savior!"
Ayda kept on accepting books until her arms were full. At that point she looked at the maids and smiled:
"I don't think I can carry any more for now so I'll start with these books today.
-We will help you carry them to your room, Lady Maganti.
-It's okay, don't worry.
-But..."
Ayda didn't give the maids time to answer and rushed to her room. She didn't wait a second and grabbed a book randomly before opening it at the third chapter to win a bit of time. In the chapter she started reading, the main character was walking in the garden and sniffling flowers. The male lead was standing a few meters away and watching as she was doing so.
Ayda wondered what the male lead would do but he just continued standing there and staring. It was so weird that Ayda couldn't help frowning. Wasn't this what a stalker would do? She closed the book and checked that it really was a romance novel. But Ayda didn't pick up the wrong book. It really was a romance novel that the maids suggested to her. Therefore she opened it again and continued reading.
The male lead continued following the main character from afar and only jumping in to save her from dangerous situations from time to time. The main character would blush just thinking about the male lead being there for her and she seemed to find his behavior very romantic and not at all creepy like Ayda would.
"Do people like stalkers now?"
Ayda found that character appalling but if that was what was considered romance nowadays then she had to oblige. At the end of the day, all she cared about was making Nifsara understand her feelings. She didn't care by what means. She immediately decided to put her plan into motion and rushed to Nifsara.