I stare at the dragon guarding all the mana crystals.
I had managed to arrive within two days as planned, and entering the cave only required a drop of my blood. I was met face to face with a dragon shortly after I entered.
She's pretty. WHY DID I MAKE EVERYONE SO PRETTY ARGHHHHH-
"The daughter of the Villarreal family greets the almighty dragon Vista." I curtsey and the dragon blinks at me.
"Cut the crap. How'd you find this place?"
What a foul mouth!
"Hm..." I place my finger on my chin teasingly. "Perhaps... pure luck? Or perhaps I was blessed by the gods."
The dragon is golden-eyed. That meant she was blessed by the sun himself.
As talked about before, eyes held a lot of significance in the kingdom. Each eye color signified a different power. Purple eyes meant they could control the mana flow of anyone they bump into. Blue eyes meant water control, and green eyes meant controlling plants and earth. Yellow meant they could control light, while orange held significance for controlling energy, and then red was fire. But then cases of pink eyes with healing powers, clear eyes with absorption, golden eyes blessed by the sun, and starry eyes with powers to control the moon also showed up. For some weird-ass reason, I knew about social classes before even taking high school.
Most commoners held brown eyes, which meant the ability to tell lies from the truth. The council had deemed it the weakest amongst every power. Eyes meant everything to the people of this world.
The dragon eyes me, and bellows. "What business do you have with me? Moon's blessed one-"
I pull my cape down and the dragon stares at me in awe. "My apologies. It appears that you are blessed by both deities."
I stand straight. "Do you happen to know anything about being blessed by both deities?"
The dragon shakes her head. "I heard that contacting them through the temple is the quickest way..."
I mustered up a smile and the dragon hums.
"I came to collect a mana gem," I bow again.
The dragon eyes me again before blowing out smoke from her nose. "I won't grant you all the gems, but I will hand you this one."
She gives me a moon-shaped gem, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't carved out. A small sun spins where both tips of the crescent line up.
"I was handed this by the two deities themselves before you all settled down onto this land. It's a symbol of their peace, and it appears that you are the rightful owner..."
Ok first of all what on earth. Second of all... wait something just clicked. wHY WAS CRYSTALIA A VILLAINESS DESPITE BEING BLESSED BY BOTH DEITIES HUH?? IS SHE BORED??? MISS GIRL WhAT?!
I curtsey again and head back out of the cave. I swear which braincell of mine wrote this back then... I don't get myself at all anymore.
I tuck the gem into my suitcase and head over to the meeting place with Daisy.
Daisy cries when I arrive at the meeting place.
"Lady Crystalia!!!!" she sobs. "I'M SO G-GLAD YOU'RE A-ALIVE WAAAAH"
I pat her back lightly and grin. "I got a crystal. But I'm afraid I'll have to lie to Bria about this entire expedition."
Daisy wipes her tears and tilts her head. "Why?"
"The dragon doesn't like being bothered. I almost got killed in there... and... I don't trust Bria as much as I used to..." I show her the scratches on my uniform, and she sniffs. "Don't worry though, I'm alive and that's all that matters."
Daisy nods and we ride back to Bria's place.
Bria... she was Crystalia's best friend, but she ended up betraying her in the end. Though I never stated it explicitly, the traitor who told Crystalia's fiancé in the book was Bria. She was jealous that a villainess like Crystalia could find someone that loved her so much. In many ways, she mirrored my best friend at the time. The girl who ended up gossiping about me behind my back and ruining my reputation. Bria was modeled after the girl who forced me into seclusion at school.
"sniff... CRYSTALIA YOU'RE ALIVE WAAAH!" Bria squeezes the life out of me and I smile. The hug is tighter than it has to be, and she's not shaking from tears like how I wrote her to be.
"Yes yes," Thank god that crystal was placed in the outer layer of my suitcase.
She wants the crystal. After the endlands were discovered to have the crystals, the fifth prince's power was crushed and Bria's family and prince Albert grew to become the weakest prince in the empire. Which is also precisely why I wanted to marry him. I stole his future away from him in that book.
Prince Albert was my ideal type at the time. Black hair, yellow eyes, tall, handsome, muscular but not to the point of bulky... oh and of course he wore glasses occasionally. Not like my type has changed much, but still.
Bria took us inside to our room, and I was pleased to see that she was still keeping up her perfect girl resolve. It would crumble once she realizes that I'm getting wedded to the fifth prince. After all, I wouldn't be marrying him because I loved him, he was just another bargaining tool. How cruel of me.
"Bria... if you ever have any worries..." I grab both her hands in mine and stare at her through my lashes. "Please don't hesitate to let me know... I want the best for you, alright?"
Bria's caught off guard by my words, and I see something flash in her eyes. She has orange eyes. I gave her brown hair and orange eyes because that was how she looked in real life. Her eyes were more hazel but it reminded me of oranges. A hit or miss lmao.
The girl... I don't hate her, but I've grown cautious around her while I was still alive. She takes whatever chance she can to pick on me. It's cute, and I never gave her a reaction which pissed her off.
I stay at Bria's for a couple of days, and then I head home. Bria's my best friend, but she would still stab me in the back at any chance given. I only hoped that I could avoid her stabbing me in the back.