"Reading?!" I lifted the cover of the book so she could see, looking at her with an obvious and natural expression. There was no way I was going to let her accuse me of anything when I was actually trying to do something that, honestly, felt like a tiny bit of normalcy in this circus of a life.
"Oh, so you're lazy like a turtle?" she asked, her voice dripping with that smug, teasing tone she loved to use.
"What do you mean?" I wasn't following. Was she seriously going to lecture me about reading now?
"If you were reading it, it would mean that you would have spent almost an hour on a single page," she scoffed. "Reading like a fucking turtle." Wait, is she spying on me or something? How did she know how long I'd been sitting here?
"First, you were looking at the book as if you were seeing a ghost. You froze. And then you started acting like a total idiot, making faces for the book." Her eyes sparkled with amusement, clearly enjoying my discomfort.
"I was lost in my thoughts," I shot back, my tone defensive. Was it a crime to get lost in my own head for a few minutes? I wasn't exactly in the mood for a lecture about my reading habits.
"So, you weren't reading," she said flatly. Oh gods, she's really starting to get under my skin now. My frustration was beginning to boil over.
"Are you spying on me, Samantha?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. This wasn't the first time I felt like she was watching me like some sort of hawk.
"Yes!" she said, without a moment's hesitation, confirming my suspicion. Well, at least she was being honest about it—no matter how creepy it was.
"What do you wanna talk about, Samantha? What do you wanna ask me? Just go straight to the point," I snapped, fed up with the back and forth. If she had questions, just ask them already. I wasn't in the mood for her games.
"Why didn't you go to any other kingdom, Avain?" she asked, leaning forward, her curiosity piqued. I had a feeling she'd been waiting to ask that. "I understand why you run away from Albtraum. And I also understand why you didn't want to go to any of the two human realms. Or to Shinda Chikyuu, the Witches Forest, and the Peak of Death. But there are still six places you could have gone to. So, why here?"
I thought for a moment, trying to decide how much of the truth I was willing to share. "Rumors said that the kingdom of Albtraum was the enemy of this kingdom, so it was more unlikely that anyone would come after me here than elsewhere." I kept my voice casual, but the words still carried a weight. The truth was, I couldn't afford to be too obvious about my plans or my escape. My safety depended on it.
"Good answer, but I still think it's more than that," she replied, her gaze piercing. Damn it, she's too smart. Way too smart. I had a sinking feeling she could see right through my defenses.
"You're free to think whatever you want to, Samantha, but that won't change the truth," I said firmly, crossing my arms in a way that made it clear I wasn't backing down.
"You are indeed right," she said, nodding thoughtfully, but there was a glint in her eyes that told me she wasn't finished yet. "Now, there's something I want to ask you." Another question? Gods, what now?
"I'm listening," I muttered, already dreading what was coming next.
"Winter told you that I was in love with your father," she stated, not even phrasing it as a question. Of course, she wouldn't just ask. "There are almost two hundred and fifteen years since anyone heard of him. And almost two hundred and twenty-three years since anyone heard anything about your mother. Just for your concern, we heard of them even when they were in the Albtraum Kingdom. With 'we,' I mean, me." She paused, her gaze steady on mine. "Could you please, tell me how old you truly are?"
What the hell does she want with me? By the gods, I just wanted her to go away. The way she was looking at me made it clear that I couldn't escape this one.
"I already told you!" I snapped, a little too quickly, trying to keep my cool.
"Oh, come on, Avain," she scoffed, clearly enjoying how rattled I was. "I think I've already told you, I hate lies, and I can sense when someone is lying by the smell." Shit. Of course, she could. She had that annoying witch sense of hers that made everything ten times more complicated. I had to fight the urge to cringe at how much she was getting under my skin.
We stared at each other in a tense silence, neither of us willing to back down. The air between us thickened, almost suffocating, until finally, Kai arrived, breaking the uncomfortable quiet. "Are you guys okay?" he asked, his eyes flicking between me and Samantha, looking confused by the tension in the room.
"Yes! We're fine," I said quickly, flashing him a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "We were just talking about the book she's reading, and in the end, we had different points of view of the story," I lied through my teeth. Why didn't she tell him the truth? I had no idea. Maybe she was enjoying watching me squirm just a little too much.
"Both of you are too dense, damn," Kai said with a little laugh. "So, let's go, sweetheart? You still have to change your clothes." He gave me a childish grin, completely unaware of the tension that still lingered in the room.
"Yeah," I muttered, standing up and following him, though I couldn't help but glance back at Samantha. Her smile was too sweet, too fake. She was up to something, and I had a feeling it wasn't going to be pleasant for me.
"You can call me Sam or Samie, Ava," Samantha called after me, her voice dripping with something dangerously sweet. "No need for formality."
"I will. Thanks for the good time here, Sam," I said, my words laced with a layer of sarcasm that she probably didn't even pick up on. My smile was completely empty—she wasn't worth any real kindness.
When we crossed the portal and entered my room, Kai seemed unfazed by everything. "I think you and Samantha will be great friends in the future," he said cheerfully, completely unaware of how wrong he was. "You two seem to have a lot in common."
"You couldn't be more wrong, little king," I muttered under my breath, wishing more than anything that Samantha would just leave me alone for good.