[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 52
"Some work, you see," The older girl said and hurried off, afraid that her lie might get busted. The other girl pouted and continued cleaning, wiping the desk harder than before. The girl was rather slow and stiff with her movements, as if new to the job. Qing Lin sat by the open window, watching her clean the room alone for hours, for she had nothing better to do. She mentally started making observations of the girl to pass the time; firstly, the girl was slow. Secondly, she was very clumsy. She had knocked off the ink box and had to clean up the floor again. Then she knocked off the quills on the table, which, thankfully, weren't much of a big deal compared to the ink box. Sometimes, she would trip over the water.
She was now wiping the painting beside a flower vase; Qing Lin stayed vigilant because there was a chance the girl might knock over the flower vase. But she didn't, which put Qing Lin at ease.
Finally, the girl was done with her work. She looked at the room proudly. Qing Lin's third observation: Nevertheless slow or clumsy, she was pretty good at the work. A neat freak like her savior would love her cleaning. The girl left, carrying the heavy bucket of water, shifting her weight from one foot to another.
Qing Lin sighed as her eyes drifted aimlessly around the desolate bedroom. She twisted her neck to get a view of the world outside, beyond the room. The sky at the front was clear and blue, but at the far end, the sunset wisps of orange and pink seemed to be slowly covering its calm shade. Several white birds flew by.
Young miss, I'd rather appreciate it if you could stop looking outside during my class.
A faint voice tugged. She turned her head towards the bedroom, but there was nobody. For a moment, a flickering image of a man seemed to pass by, disappearing as soon as it appeared. She looked out once again, but the voice didn't ring back in her head. Maybe it was a distant memory she would probably never remember until a long time.
Yet, that voice was the warmest she'd heard till now, with her experience of living as an amnesiac-Esperanza till being pulled into this lonely mansion. She longed to hear that voice again, but as usual, her memory struck blank once again.
The door slowly creaked open, startling Qing Lin for a milli-second. A black cat crept within the narrow space of the open door, and it took its time leisurely wandering the room, with such a stride of confidence as though it didn't matter if someone else entered and spotted it. Finally, it ended up sitting on the window, beside Qing Lin, yawning and stretching. It curled itself to sleep.
Qing Lin slowly stroked its head, and although her hand passed through the animal, she continued.
"Even a small creature like you knows how to live life... So confidently, enjoying the present, not caring about the consequences," She whispered, but the cat could hear none of it.
"I wonder if you're alone, just like me? Or do you have someone waiting for you at the far end?" She asked but knew there'd be no reply.
"I wish I had someone, I really wish I had. But unfortunately, back there, nobody even knows about my existence," She softly chuckled.
...
"Here, take it," Salvador passed her a few sheets of paper.
"And how do you expect me to take it?" Qing Lin asked, annoyed. Salvador paused, and nodded, as if the thought struck me at the very moment, a fact for which Qing Lin couldn't blame him. He beckoned her, and she shifted closer, standing right behind his chair and looking over his shoulder as he showed her the pages. The first page had the image of a young man, probably 18, with dark long hair that was tied back and amber eyes, along with a smile that seemed sincere, but pretentious.
"This is Alexandre Hendrix, the new head of the Hendrix family. Ever since he inherited the family, his family has been gaining ample political support and monetary support. But his monetary support and a sudden huge increase in his financial condition are quite unexpected, and the empress suspects him of dealing with black money. Not just that, he has been finding every way to belittle the empress while appearing to be harmless. Over the last few months, he even owned a mercenary guild. He poses a definite threat while aiming at the empress," Salvador explained. Qing Lin listened intently, looking at the young man's picture.
"I guess he used his perfect looks and charming smile to win the hearts of wealthy noble ladies..." She traced his face. "In turn, those who were doted on by their family, requested, perhaps even begged their family to support him..." She mused. Somehow, in the back of her mind, Esperanza's image resurfaced.
"What idiots, you have such scheming minds, yet you fail to recognize such deceptive ploys?" She muttered.
'Why, you who was so skilled at back-stabbing me, couldn't recognize that one back-stabber, huh?'
"You speak as though you've experienced it," Salvador said, as he looked up at her. "I hope your past experiences won't meddle with this affair, if you wish to successfully complete it." He warned her. Qing Lin smiled.
'How would they even meddle, when I don't even remember them?'
