Chapter 8 - Imperial Banquet (5)
The nobles muttered amongst themselves, but it was only a few minutes later they readily agreed to the emperor's decision. Most of the nobles trusted the emperor and believed that his every decision was right. Most of. Few hid their true selves in the darkness while pretending to wholeheartedly support the emperor. While they happily supported the emperor, Précieuse failed to hide the discontent and hatred on her face. With her brother chasing after her, she stormed out of the banquet with no words but surely gave a resentful glance to the beautiful, blonde hair girl beside the crown prince.
The crown prince and his fiancée danced together, leaving everybody in awe of their beauty. The girl's lovely, straight, silky blonde hair moved gracefully as she elegantly placed each of her steps. Her green eyes were brimming with intelligence, happiness, and beauty, somehow perfectly matching with a wonderfully made lavender dress. The crown prince danced carefully, his emerald eyes filled with concern as if the girl in front of him would break if he made the wrong step. His green hair, which people always found strange, blended perfectly with the girl. Nobody doubted it. The couple was the perfect ethereal model couple for generations to admire.
Meanwhile, Esperanza couldn't help but sneer in her mind as she watched the 'perfect model couple'. Indeed, they were perfect. Just too perfect. She knew the truth very well, because of the original body owner's granted memory. The banquet made the memories vivid, and finally, a few things she always wondered about came to light. She felt regretful and thankful for attending the banquet.
The duke reached out his hand to place it in a supportive manner on his daughter's shoulder when those vague words came back to him. His hand faltered midway while Esperanza turned her attention to her father. Seeing the midway stopped hand, she felt confused.
The duke is just too strange for me to figure out.
"Father?" She asked him with her clear voice that the duke woke up from his face. Seeing his confused daughter, he retracted his hand immediately and put on an expression as heartless as possible.
"Why do you dance with an unknown noble?" His voice was cold, which surprised Morto. Because Morto realized that the duke right now was not being cold while speaking of him- he was being cold to his daughter, for the one the duke had given him murderous eyes a while ago.
"Ah..." Esperanza's heart suddenly ached. She avoided it by assuming that it was merely the original body owner's feelings. "Because he was an acquaintance of mine, so I danced with him."
"Acquaintance?" The duke's voice grew even colder. Esperanza could feel her heart beating anxiously when she faced those eyes- as if the man was ready to kill her right now. She couldn't stop her hand from trembling and then she hid it behind. Fortunately, the trembling hand caught no one's eye.
"That's_That's right." She said, making sure her voice was not giving out her fear. "He's my childhood friend, the one I've been meeting ever since I was five." She didn't bother to hide the truth. What other people thought of her, didn't matter to her. The noble ladies gasped, purely astonished by how blunt the young lady was.
"Is that so?" The duke's expression did not even soften the slightest. "Aren't you tired? How about we head home?" His words were meant to show concern for her, but she knew it was an excuse. An excuse to avoid the embarrassment. She could only helplessly nod her head, with bitter eyes.
When will I ever escape from this endless maze?
Two Weeks Later.
Esperanza and her father never interacted after the incident. The duke refused to eat at the same table with her. At first, she had an unsettling feeling in her heart. But as days passed by, she got used to it. The game of emotions was the most dangerous- a single push or pull can result in your death. The game always toyed with her, continuously pushing and pulling her back and forth, watching amusedly as she stood helpless and confused with tears on her face. Though she no longer has those pathetic tears, she remains helpless and confused.
These fourteen years when she was so certain her heart was lifeless enough to be not moved again, she realized it was all her wishful thinking. Sincere support from only three people, a small, insignificant wish from the man to abandon her gave her high expectations, only to be broken down by the reality once again.
At night, she would torment herself. With a knife in her hand, she would stab her arms, letting blood spill from them, ignoring the agony that made her scream. She would let her loyal pets, her candescent butterflies drink her blood to their satisfaction. She would wear full sleeved dress, covering the scars on her arms. She never once erased those scars. They would remind her of the harsh truth- that no one would be by her side, in the end. And that was how she returned to her stable self- the cold, indifferent her who never gave a damn about the world, just in two weeks.
Now, sitting under the warm sunlight, she opened a bright red fan- the color of flesh blood she would witness every night. She placed it back on the table near the teacup, and closed her eyes as what she saw around her was darkness again while the snickering voice echoed in her head.
Don't forget your place. Darkness was and will always be your world, while mine would be the opposite of yours- shining and alluring people as it goes by.
YOU ARE READING
Oblivion Of The Heart
Historical Fiction[Ongoing] "Why is being myself harder than anything?" Qing Lin closed her eyes. A girl whose smile gave off the effulgence which seemed to light the diminished world around her. A girl who held such purity in a world surrounded by happiness. A girl...
