Vain

17. Aimless

The scarf, as expected and predicted by Aileene, was a success! Her cousin seemed to be absolutely infatuated with it. Well, he wouldn't have admitted it if she told him so. But she could tell by his delighted expression that he was happy. And so in turn, she was feeling rather joyful and proud of herself. She did a good thing.

But then again, there were goodbyes to be said. Since it was time for her family to return to Austrion. Even if she was a bit regretful to be leaving since she would once again lose a good friend to talk to. Though, it wasn't as if talking to Xi or Ruby was bad. It was just a different experience in general. When talking to Alastair, their conversations would be random and mindless, finding anything and everything to talk about, but at the same time talking about nothing at all. When talking to Xi or Ruby, they would have focus discussions on gossip and drama, which wasn't as random, but equally as engaging.

And when she talked to Lucian, there was a certain mutual understanding and respect for each other. Even if they had only one interaction.

Fidgeting with her charm bracelet, Aileene couldn't help her still burning curiosity. She was grateful for a birthday gift, but why would he even give her one. They at best could be called acquaintances and at worst, strangers. And if it was to currying connections.

A mere noble girl couldn't be worth this much of this attention.

Sighing, Aileene closed her eyes and lean against the window of her carriage. It would take hours before they would arrive back home, she should rest and preserve her energy.

❅

"Did you know Edmund Allisters had completed his knight training and is now the youngest Royal Knight?" Her father nonchalantly mentioned at the dining table while breakfast was being served. It was such an off-handed remark that Aileene almost ignored it. But she heard it and nodded unsurprised, afterall Edmund had just followed his correct character path and will inevitably become the greatest Knight the kingdom will ever see. This was only the beginning.

"Are you trying to shame me, father? I know he's my age, but I'm not as skilled or ambitious." Aileene jokingly responded to her father, a sliver of a smile on her lips, as she continued eating her breakfast.

Life was hard for a lady, even from a noble family. She has to work harder than ever to be noticed and there are only so many talents to go around for women these days. Plus, she had the role of a despised villainess, she was meant to be quiet and talentless right now. While letting the heroine shine in all her glory. Of course, she didn't exactly care for glory. She had more pressing matter to attend to. Which was just to peacefully enjoy her life for now, while storing all her grievances away to deal with later.

"Now, now. Your father didn't say that you weren't skilled. You're just too aimless, Aileene." Her mother smiled, lightly scolding her. But she could tell her mother wasn't being strict or serious at all. "You are talented, you're just spending your time very freely doing all that you want."

"You don't have to worry about me, I may not have any ambitions or goal now. But it wouldn't be long before I figure things out." Aileene said reassuringly, she knows that without a doubt, there would not be a future she could plan for. But to give her parents some peace of mind, a little white lie wasn't that harmful. "I'm still only 12, I have a long way."

"Sometimes I forget you are, you've always been so much more mature for your age." Her father sighed, a regretful tone lingering on his voice. Though before her father could think too deeply into it, she ran over to him, giving him a big hug.

"Don't be sad now, I'm happy, so you should be too." Aileene childishly claims as she released her father from the hug. Her father could only shake his head, his gloomy expression earlier replaced with a smile.

"You're both so childish." Her mother laughs, as she watched the two of them. Aileene only smiled happily at her mother's words, basking in the warmth of her family. Wondering how long she had left before she was going to be taken away from them.

Even if everything was simply a game, wasn't the system too cruel?

Was there not a single world where she deserved to be happy?

❅

15.) Do you mind grammar and spelling mistakes in stories?

Answer:
I usually don't mind if the story doesn't have many mistakes. I get it, we're all humans, we make mistakes. I'm not perfect either, even though I really wish I could be. It's still just a very sad and small dream of mine. Anyways, if it's a lot of errors and it's in every sentence, and you can't even understand half of any of the sentences. Then, nah. I won't read it. I don't like pain that much, even if the story and plot is really good. I love myself more than a good story.

16.) Does writing original stories or fanfiction define how good of an author a person is? (Ex. Does writing original stories automatically make you a great author? Does writing fanfiction automatically make you trash?)