Adonis

Chapter 7

Everything felt as if it was going too fast. Though Minji had been there for quite a while, she had nothing figured out. Jiu's memories started pouring in little by little and while it could have been useful to Minji in the near future, it was making her rather confused.

Even worse, she had allowed herself to be swept away by her surroundings. At one point, she had forgotten that she did not belong here. It was not her life she was living, and Minji was terrified at the realization of robbing someone of their life. The impending wedding was like a slap in the face from reality. She was about to marry a man she barely knew and to Minji, it was tragic.

She grew up believing in the connection between marriage and true love, regardless of its validity. She dreamed of a wedding with someone she was in love with, as much as that person was in love with her. Minji wonders if it's possible, now that she's living a life full of uncertainties, putting her trust fully in the memories of someone she was posing as which soon no longer serve a purpose due to her actions, words, and decisions that differ completely from Jiu's.

Her heart aches more with the thought of her old life, her real life. Oh, how she misses home. Though the people she met here were nice, they weren't the same ones she had grown to love and cherish as Kim Minji. They don't know her; they knew Jiu Winston, whose life Minji is living, not Kim Minji. This made her feel out of place, and she wanted to go home, back to where she belonged.

How? She had no idea.

She desperately tried to find anything, anything at all that could guide her closer to her life, but to no avail; she was met with a vast desert, sparse of anything.

***

Minji took a deep breath and straightened her back as carriages arrived one after another. It had been Lucy's idea for her to arrange a tea party, and she thought that this would be a great chance to ask around and learn more about anything at all. Things weren't exactly going as planned. She remembered only writing about six invitation letters to important families she was familiar with, so why were there so many ladies arriving? It didn't help that the faces she was seeing were all unfamiliar; not even Jiu's memories could recognize them.

From a distance, she could see a slightly shorter lady approaching her. Judging from her dress, which was clearly made with high-quality fabrics, and her demeanour, Minji assumed she was a lady from a higher-ranking noble family, perhaps on par with the Winston. The lady's eyes scanned her, and without any self-introduction, she greeted Minji.

"It has been a while, hasn't it, Lady Jiu?" She said with a smug tone, and Minji's eyebrow almost twitched. "Or should I refer to you as the Crown Princess?" Judging by how comfortable the other lady was in speaking with such malice towards Jiu, Minji assumed that the two were at least acquainted. Considering the type of person Jiu was, she could have not given anyone but herself the attention. In Jiu's memories, the only people who mattered were the ones who would benefit her in one way or another. Minji had always been nice, but she was far from dense when it came to hostility. The lady clearly disliked her, or Jiu, as it were.

"Congratulations on your engagement," the lady said, her eyes narrowed as she judged Minji with a rather condescending smirk, but Minji was not fazed by it. After all, it was directed at Jiu and said woman was not exactly a person with pure intentions.

Most indulge themselves in idle chatter as they occupy the seats prepared. That was, until Minji decided to garner everyone's attention as she welcomed them once again in a cheery manner. It strikes as a little strange to some who had met Jiu before, and even stranger to those who were familiar with Jiu's way of carrying herself. Minji did not exude an intimidating aura that Jiu was known to possess and to the eyes of opportunists, she seemed weaker and vulnerable to criticism. Something felt different and a few of the ladies were quick to jump onto the peculiarity and trample over the seemingly weak Minji. To them, it was a chance to prove the power that they supposedly have towards Jiu.