Chapter 10

Ayda suddenly took a deep breath. She sat up, her hands around her neck. All her senses came back and she heard a scream. She looked up and saw a light. She immediately jumped up and ran away. She ran as fast as possible. Her legs weren't awake yet and she did fall a few times. After five times she finally slowed down and started walking instead.

She tried to talk but her throat hurt too much and she only started coughing. She had to stop moving and arched her back, her hands around her throat. After a while she finally calmed down and sat down under a tree. She looked up at the stars and hit the ground. She really thought she had died this time. Why couldn't she do it?

She started puffing the ground, feeling her blood boil. If the villain couldn't kill her then who could? Once out of breathe, Ayda pointed at the sky:

"You!"

She coughed a bit more but pushed through it:

"Don't you think this is over! I am not playing your stupid game. I will leave this place, just wait and see!"

Despite pretending to be so confident, Ayda still fell back against the tree, her shoulders heavy. What should she do now? She had no idea at all and continued sitting there. Should she just stay there forever? No. She hit her cheeks. She couldn't give up. It was going to be fine. She could do it. But not that night because she was exhausted.

Ayda used the tree to get up before sighing. She wasn't hurting anywhere anymore and she decided to continue walking. It took her hours but she finally reached her house. By then the sun had already risen and that nightmare of a manor had never looked so enticing. All Ayda could think about was taking a warm bath and sleeping. She could already feel the clean water on her skin and she rushed to the door. However she didn't get very far because she immediately got ambushed by her mother:

"Where have you been? Is this the time to come home? And what state are you in? A Lady shouldn't look this disheveled!"

She started turning around Ayda while hitting her body.

"What is this? Did you roll around in mud? What is wrong with you? Why can't you be normal just for a day? Why do you always have to humiliate me?"

Ayda rolled her eyes. She didn't even have energy left to argue. All she could think about was her bed.

"Look at me when I speak to you! I didn't raise you to be this insolent!

-Is everything okay?"

Ayde and her mother suddenly looked towards the newcomer. The latter was a very tall woman with long blond hair and shining blue eyes. She looked way too perfect to be real and Ayda wasn't sure that her skin wasn't plastic. Ayda didn't remember having ever met that woman and she had no idea what she was doing in the mansion.

Judging by the newcomers' clothes as well as Ayda's mother's reaction, this blond woman must have been someone important. Ayda's mother bowed before grabbing Ayda by the neck and forcing her to bow down too.

"Lady Brack... I am so sorry for the disturbance. Please don't mind us and go back to the tea room. I will soon be with you."

Ayda immediately pushed her mother back. Why the hell was she touching her? She was digging her nails into her neck and Ayda didn't like it at all. She already had a difficult night as it was. She didn't need this right now. She could pass out any second of exhaustion.

Ayda's mother didn't like her daughter's reaction but she didn't have time to grab her again because the newcomer came closer to Ayda with a worried look:

"Is that blood? Is everything okay?"

Ayda's mother laughed:

"Blood? How could it be? My daughter just fell outside while helping the maids. She is such a kind soul."

Ayda rolled her eyes. Who would be stupid enough to believe that this was dirt? It was obviously dried blood. She knew that her mother didn't care about her health but she couldn't be stupid enough to come up with such a lie. Kind soul her ass. She just got killed by the main villain and this is how she got greeted? She couldn't take it anymore. She was going to bed.

Ayda didn't have time to take a step that the newcomer got even closer to her. Ayda looked up at her eyes with a frown. What did she want? If someone dared to step between the bed and her, Ayda would kill them:

"Did you hit your head? We should call a doctor."

Seeing the newcomer raise her hand to her face, Ayda flinched. The newcomer immediately stopped and let her hand fall down.

"No need."

Her mother quickly laughed. Ayda covered her ears. That sound was horrible:

"Yes, there is no need. She is fine. She just needs to get changed."

She pushed Ayda towards the stairs:

"Go, my darling. We will be waiting for you downstairs."

Ayda sighed. As if she wanted to come down. For what? To talk to an annoying stranger for hours before getting tortured by her mother? She had no energy left and was happy that she finally reached the stairs. She went up to her room and laid down on her bed. However, that was without counting on her mother's stubbornness. Five maids got sent upstairs and they helped Ayda get changed before pulling her downstairs. Ayda put up a fight and most of the maids got their skin scratched off. However she didn't have enough energy to win this battle. Seeing her all dressed up made her mother smile:

"There you are. You are way prettier like this. Come sit down with us."

Ayda rolled her eyes. She hated that fake smile. Ayda started looking around her for something she could throw at her. At that moment she really wanted to grab that bottle and break it on her mother's head. Why was she acting all nice in front of the guest? She was going to beat her up once she was gone anyway. If she was going to get beaten up no matter what, might as well be honest:

"No thanks. I hate the mere thought of being here."

Her mother laughed:

"What a jokester. She has been making us laugh since she was all little. Now come on and sit down."

Ayda got pulled to the chair, cursing herself for being that weak. She still needed time to gain her energy back and at that moment she felt like an empty vessel. She could fall asleep any second.

"You haven't met Lady Nifsara Brack yet. Do you remember? She's the Lady I have been telling you about. She graduated at the head of her class at the best school of the country and was granted the title of night. This made her the youngest person ever to receive that honor."

Ayda rolled her eyes. Who cared who that Lady was? Who cared what she did and when? All Ayda cared about was sleeping. However, hearing her mother's voice was keeping her awake. Her mother had been telling her about Lady Brack for months. She was talking about her so much that Ayda couldn't help remembering her. Her mother had been comparing her to the Lady and saying again and again that she would have by far prefered such a daughter. Well, Ayda preferred her mother to have another daughter too. She hated that woman and she would have loved to give Lady Brack that honor that second.

"She paid her parents' debts and the Emperor himself asked her to join his knights. And..."

Blathering blathering blathering... Lady Brack is so perfect. She saved orphans from a fire and protected a puppy with her own body against a flood. Her hair never gets messed up and she even knows how to fly. She walked through fire once and even the fire thanked her for existing. She was so perfect. A real hero.

Ayda suddenly froze. Wait. A hero? She suddenly turned towards the Lady and looked at her for the first time. Seeing her suddenly stare at her, Lady Brack jumped.

"May I help you with something?"

Ayda smiled. Of course she could help her. Was she the hero of this story? She must be. She was gorgeous and talented. She was the youngest knight ever and was gorgeous. She sounded exactly like a stupid and selfless hero. The villain couldn't kill her but maybe the hero could. After all, a hero could do anything, right?

"Lady Ayda Maganti?"

How could she push this hero to kill her? A hero wouldn't kill someone just like that. It needed to be inevitable. Maybe if she suddenly jumped up and attacked her mother... Ayda looked at her fork. No, if the hero was a knight then she could stop her without having to kill her. especially in this pitiful state she was in. She couldn't miss this opportunity. She should make the hero hate her. She should annoy her so much that the hero won't feel bad about killing her at all. Then she could do something so dangerous that there would be no other way but to end her.

"Yes!"

The Lady and her mother jumped.

"I'm a genius."

She suddenly got hit behind the head:

"What are you talking about?"

Her mother looked at the guest before laughing:

"I am sorry, she is very tired lately."

Ayda didn't care about her mother anymore. She had a new plan and it gave her hope. She strengthened up and smiled.