Victoria sat alone in her room. She was reminiscing what her dad told her. It was half past midnight, but she could not make her eyes close. Her mind was filled with confusion and she could not hide her frustration.
*If what dad said was true, then why did the book leave behind such an important person?*
Victoria furrowed her brows, and realized the answer to her question.
*Oh right. This story is not about him.*
"Tch, I need some air. " Victoria mumbled as she got out of her bed and left her room.
Ever since Emily has woken up in Victoria, she realized that she hasn't really gotten a chance to explore the house. She noticed that the house was rich in the color of red and gold. The house was also decorated with many emblems of roses, but when she reached the east side of the house the emblem changed from roses to a knights helmet.
*Roses on the west, and a knight here in the east.*
"Victoria? "
A voice called out to her from behind. It was Victor.
"Oh Victor! What are you doing up late in the evening?" Victoria asked.
"I was going to head over to your room to see of you were alright, but what are you doing in the men's quarters? "
*Oh so the roses mean the women's quarters and knights mean the men's quarters.*
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a little walk. "
"In the men's quarters? "
"What's wrong with that? It's my house. "
"Were you perhaps here to visit Vince? "
*Oh yeah, I haven't seen him since the incident.*
"How is Vince doing? "
"He woke up around the afternoon, but he could barely even get up, he was beaten pretty badly. It seems as though he fought hardly. "
"I'll go see him then. "
As Victoria was about to walk away, Victor grabbed her hand.
"Wait! " Victor exclaimed.
"Vince is beaten up pretty badly, because he was trying to defend you from those men. Are you sure he'd want to see you right now? Knowing that his sacrifice has been wasted, since you offered a ruffian, your hand in marriage? "
Victoria stood still, her face turning furious. Though she had awoken in a world where women were treated differently from men, it is still rude to grab a woman without consent.
But, what pissed her off the most, is that Victor, despite telling him exactly what happened in the forest, he still didn't believe that SHE was the one who defended Vince, not the other way around.
Victoria's eyes locked at Victor's. Her gaze glowing a bright purple, her brows furrowing with displeasure and the shadow that hovered above her, growled in distaste.
"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have grabbed you. I just wanted to warn you that Vince has a fragile ego. "
"Shut up. I told you didn't I? I'm the one who defended Vince. I'm the one who risked my life despite telling him that the Dark Forest was dangerous. I'm the who saved him. "
Victoria whisked her hand away from Victor's grasp. She stared him down and leaned forward threateningly.
"I have no reason to lie to you brother. If you ever twist my words again, I'll twist that sexist tongue of yours. "
Victors eyes opened wide in disbelief. He couldn't believe that his innocent twin sister could say such a terrible thing. As Victoria walked away, Victor's eyes stared at the dark shadowy creature that hovered above Victoria. The creature had crazy eyes, an insane grin and a vicious motive.
As Victor continued to stare at the creature, he thought deeply to himself.
*That is not my sister.*
Victoria continued to walk forward. She realized that she doesn't really know which room belonged to Vince. She was so pissed at Victor that she forgot to ask him where Vince's room was.
Though it seems that Victoria overreacted, why blame her? In this world, women are hardly believed, their voices are nothing but a decoration to their face. If Victoria said something to Victor, and Victor did not believe her, he would twist the story in order to fit his personal outlook.
That was something Victoria and Emily, could not tolerate.
Victoria continued to walk forward, the hall way seemed endless, until she saw the end of the hall. At the end of the hall was a big door, different from the other doors of the house.
*Maybe that's where Vince is.*
Victoria walked towards the door, as she was about to open it, she realized that it was probably rude to enter uninvited. So she knocked on the door three times and waited for an answer.
"Come in! "
A voice spoke, it was Vince.
Yes!
Victoria opened the door and entered the room. To her surprise, the room was filled with paintings and art works. Paint was scattered all over the floor and papers with unfinished art were packed and piled up.
"I didn't know you were an artist. " Victoria said unknowingly.
"Victoria?! Wh-wha-what are you doing in my room? " Vince asked, his face turning bright red.
"I knocked didn't I? "
"Y-ye-yeah bu-bu-bu-but you can't come i-in here right now, it's all-"
Victoria looked over at Vince, his green eyes were looking down as his his face turned red, almost as red as his hair. It seems as though he was trying to hide some of his papers underneath his bed sheets. Victoria got curious and walked closer to Vince.
"What are you hiding there Huh?" Victoria said teasingly.
"No-no-nothing! Don't come any closer! " Vince exclaimed, his face getting flustered.
Vince continued to try and hide the papers underneath his blanket, but Victoria moved the sheets away, revealing the pieces of paper with drawings on them.
Vince grabbed the papers and covered them in his chest, but Victoria easily whisked his hands away and got the papers. With the feeling of victory, she took a good look at the drawings and saw a picture of a beautiful girl, with short black hair and purple eyes.
The girl had a piercing stare, plump lips, tanned skin, blushing cheeks and wavy locks of hair.
"Whoa, who is this? " Victoria asked in amazement.
Vince's eyes opened wide. How could Victoria not recognize her own self?
"I-i-it's you, Victoria. "
Victoria raised her head and looked at Vince. Her face looking confused. Victoria's eyes wandered the room as she looked for a mirror.
Next to the door she entered in, was a big mirror wall, she walked towards the wall and compared her face to the drawing.
"Whoa, it is me! Damn I look good. " Victoria exclaimed subconsciously, when she realized what she just said, she blushed.
"Haha, I'm sorry that probably sounded narcissistic. I meant the drawing, the drawing looks amazing, you really made me look pretty. " Victoria explained, her eyes still admiring the drawing.
"N-no, it's quite alright, it's true. You do look good. " Vince said, his face completely red.
"Thank you. Your art is really cool, like, wow! Like look at those flowers? They look so real it's like you could touch them!" Victoria praised as she pointed at a painting of flowers that Vince did.
"Ah really? I tried to do some new techniques on light and shadows, didn't think they looked that good. "
"Are you kidding me?! They look amazing! Man! You're so talented. "
Victoria's words shocked Vince. He's never heard anyone praise his work before. The Duke even told him to stop art and focus on swordsmanship, but Victoria praised him for something he is actually good at.
Something that he loves doing.
His heart pattered, his stomach fell, his face became hot and his hands became sweaty in a cold, chilly room.
*Why am I feeling like this? It's like whenever Victoria does something, everything spins. Agh! My chest is hurting!*
"You should really show these off you know? I mean, they're really good." Victoria said, knocking Vince off his thoughts.
"I can't do that. Father won't let me. A man should focus on the sword, not on the arts. " Vince said sorrowfully.
"Well fuck father and his obsessive need to make you just like him. This talent isn't something you should give up on! If you give up on your talent, it's like- "
Victoria paused as she remembered a time when she was Emily. She remembered not being able to go to practice because she'd feel sick and she remembered looking at the TV and seeing other athletes perform, while she was lying sick in bed. She remembered not being able to do the one thing she loved to do...
Like, Fencing.
"It's like loosing a part of yourself. "
Vince looked up at Victoria, his eyes glittered as he witnessed a picturesque beauty in front of him. The moon light shined down on Victoria, her short strands of hair, hanged around the nape of her neck. Her tall figure walked with grace and power, and her eyes glowed a bright purple under the darkness as she continued to look upon his multitude amounts of paintings.
"D-do you really think I should continue?" Vince asked.
"Yes, I really do. "
"Okay, I'll do it for you. "
"For me? What are you talking about? Don't continue art for me. That's ridiculous, do it for you. It's yours, not fathers, not Victors, not mine. IT'S YOURS. Do it for you Vince, not for anyone else. "
Vince's heart beats faster and faster, he felt as if his chest would explode. The words that Victoria just said we're words he never knew he needed.
"Thank you Victoria. I really needed that. Alright, I'll do as you say, and continue art for me and not anyone else. "
"Good, cause I wanna see you famous one day. "
"Haha, you really think I'm gonna make it that far? "
"I don't think, I know. "
Victoria walked towards Vince and flopped herself onto his bed, her head laying down on his legs and her hand still holding on to the pictures he drew.
"Victoria, what are you doing? "
"Sleeping. "
"On my bed? "
"It's much more comfy, now be quiet, I'm trying to sleep. "
"Victoria, you can't sleep here. You gotta go back. "
Vince poked on Victoria's forehead, but she was already fast asleep. He gave up on trying to wake her and decided to just sleep himself.
As the day drew nearer, and the night came crashing down, the two slept soundly as the sun raised. Vince opened his eyes to see a shimmering light coming from the curtains of his window.
He sat up and noticed that Victoria was still in his bed, except she was curled into a ball and took all his blankets.
*No wonder I was cold.*
Vince got out of bed and walked towards his window.
As he was about to open the curtains, he realized that he forgot about something really important.
*We have school.*