Odette shrugged at that.
"All the mothers lie. My mother lies to me all the time," she pointed out.
A gasp left Adrian's mouth before he voiced out, "Is your mother a stepmother then? Stepmothers are liars, and that's why, they are evil."
How badly she wished for that to be the case during her period of naivety.
"No, that's not the case. Not all mothers are the same. There are bad mothers as well," Odette explained.
Adrian puffed up his cheeks and enunciated, "Silly girl, if she is mean to you, then she isn't your mother."
The resolution in his eyes made Odette chuckle. Pinching the bridge of his nose, she commented, "How amusing!"
He really knew how to hit the right spots with his words.
"How old are you? What is your name? Do you want to be my friend?" he asked eagerly.
"What to do? This is the first time someone asked me to be his friend," Odette expressed, pursing her lips into a thin line and feigned to think for a while.
Adrian's eyes widened due to shock, and he said, "Are you pulling my leg? How come you have no friends? You are so pretty!"
"Maybe because I am a scary monster."
"Did they call you that? Scary monster? I will teach them a lesson! And then, be your first friend. No, I will be your friend first, and then, you have to teach me to be strong. After that, I will take revenge for you. I am a little too weak now."
"Look at you being so good at flattering. Did your mother teach you this?"
Due to the effects of the poison, her body was still weak now, and she could feel legs losing their strength. However, despite how lightheaded she felt, she wanted to continue this conversation with the child.
It was akin to a breath of fresh air for her. He brought her a sense of joy that was very much unique, precious, and addicting to the point it made Odette greedy for more.
"My mother didn't. I want to be your hero," he confessed.
"My hero?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I will rescue you from all those evil villains around you and then marry you, just like those heroes and princesses in the stories," he expressed.
Odette did receive a couple of confessions from brave souls at times, but none of those managed to amuse her as the frivolous one from the child before her. She wondered how long would it take for him to the opposite?
In that setting created in his head, when will she named as the evil villain who disguised as the princess and tricked the hero?
Odette's silence made the child pout.
"Do you not like me? How come? All the girls in the village were fond of me. Even Isabella, the prettiest girl in the village. She isn't as beautiful as you though. Everyone was jealous of me."
A sharp pain penetrated through Odette's chest as she answered, "I don't like those weaker than me."
"I will become strong then."
"You are shorter than me," she pointed out as the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She swallowed it in and maintained her composure. She wanted to keep on challenging the limits of her body.
"My mother said that I will be tall if I drink milk. Give me a lot of milk, and then, baam! I will be taller than you."
"You are making a lot of demands, aren't you? You want me to train you and then feed you milk as well. You are too troublesome," Odette teased, "Isn't Dennis better than you? He is strong and tall."
Adrian pouted and looked almost as if he would burst out while he expressed, "He is ugly and evil!"
Odette stumbled slightly backwards. Her body was on the verge of giving up when she uttered, "Is that bad?"
"Hmm, he will harm you."
That sounded funny to her ears. If only he knew the one that would harm her in the end.
"What about you? What if there is someone prettier than me?"
Odette was starting to see black spots in her vision, and before she could totally lose her consciousness, she heard the boy say: "There won't be."