[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...
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Chapter 32 - Uneasy (2)
The next day, Evening.
Esperanza sat in her wheelchair, gazing out of the window. When that girl appeared, Estrella refused to respond to her calls. This made her feel more unsettled. She had been trying to rack her brains, for any possible clues, but there were none. She sighed and headed out of her suffocating room. As she went through the hallway, she noticed that the servants today were in a hurry and looked worried compared to the previous days. She found her butler, Callidus, instructing the servants. He bowed when he saw her.
"What brings you here, my lady?" He asked with a smile. Esperanza frowned. Somehow, she did not like him. He felt like a nuisance.
"Did Paix not come yet?" She asked. She had been doing as she was told- keeping an eye on Paix. She would call her to the duchy every day as an excuse to accompany her and ease her loneliness. But today, the girl seems to be late.
"No, my lady. Miss Paix had sent a letter conveying that she would not be able to come for the next three days. Forgive me, I forgot to give the letter to you and kept you waiting" He said with a deep bow. Esperanza's eyebrows furrowed.
"You better not make the same mistake the next time, or else you will be punished severely." She warned. "For now, you shall only receive seven cane hits on your legs. Head maid, carry out the punishment." She said as turned around and walked away. People shifted uncomfortably and carried out the punishment hesitantly. Unfortunately, she failed to notice the psychopathic glint of madness in Callidus's eyes as the cane hit his legs, his eyes fixated on the fading figure of Esperanza, his lips curving into a sinister smile that everybody failed to notice.
Three days later.
Esperanza was a bit surprised at the sudden arrival of the princess of the demon clan. Though the princess had indeed been visiting her almost every day from the moment she woke up, but from the past week, she hadn't seen even a strand of her hair. The princess entered her room. Both of them curtsied and greeted each formally. The princess couldn't help but grip her dress tightly. It felt... as there was an wall between them now. She chuckled sadly. Though there was indeed a wall of distance between them in the past, but now, the wall which was slowly crumbling seems to be rebuilding itself, this time much stronger and firmer.
"Why the sudden visit, princess?" Esperanza asked as she slowly poured the tea in a cup and passed it to the princess with a smile. The princess's heart fluttered for a moment and she calmed herself down.
"I just wanted to check on you." She said with her smile, which was gentle as ever, but, it felt restrained from the moment Esperanza had seen it when she first woke up. She decided not to ponder further. After all, bonding friendship and relationships isn't her goal.
"That is very kind of you, princess." She said, and from the corner of her eye, she saw the princess's grip tightening around her dress. She couldn't help but smirk inside her heart. It was fun to provoke the girl, but repeatedly calling her princess. She knows, the girl wants them to be good friends like the past again, but Esperanza has been repeatedly creating a wall of distance between them. First, because she has no intention to care for others, and second, she finds it very amusing to see the constant changes in the body language of the princess.
"How is your condition now?" The princess asked as she sipped the tea. The princess never liked tea, but right now it tasted incredible, and she knew the reason why.
"Quite fine." Esperanza said as she moved her arms in the air, reflexing herself. "I feel like I'll be able to enter the academy in the coming week, or maybe next."
"Glad to hear that." The princess chuckled. "You were supposed to complete the third quarter of your first year, by now, but as you were in a coma for the past six months, you'll be repeating the parts where you missed. And don't worry, you won't be lonely." The princess smiled as she placed the tea cup on the small plate.
