Kimi was angry, she was very angry that all she wanted to do was yell at the princess but she knew better than to abuse her place with the princess. The princess had lost her memories but that didn't make her any less royal, and unless she wanted to get sent to the correction ward, she couldn't raise her voice at her.
Kimi watched the princess pace back and forth with her left arm folded and her right hand under her chin. She would walk and pause, run her fingers over her lips and then resume pacing. Was the princess running mad too? What was this strange aura the princess had around her?
The princess had nearly given Kimi a heart attack and all she could do was pace around the room? Kimi knelt, gaining the princess's attention. Kimi knew that the only way she could let out this brewing anger was by letting them out in tears. It was how Kimi coped with things; she cried them out, and so as her eyes began to water, she looked up at the startled princess.
"Kimi, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying?" The princess asked concern etched on her face. Kimi didn't answer, she was going to use her tears to talk to the princess since her words couldn't get to her.
How could she go out alone at night? Kimi thought and her wailing increased as flashes from that night came rushing in.
"Oh Kimi you're making a lot of noise, tell me why you're crying," the princess rushed to her, closing her wide mouth. Kimi peeled the princess's hand from her face as snot ran down her nose. The princess pressed her lips together, blinking once, then twice. She was confused.
"Princess please, you can't go out alone, especially at night!" Kimi cried, finally giving up and using her words. Lela watched the girl clean her snot-filled face with her sleeve, sniffing to stop more snot from running down.
"That's why you're crying?" Lela was shocked. Why would she cry over something so little?
"You may not remember, but that's exactly what happened that night I found you unconscious," Kimi cried. Chills ran down Lela's spine.
Lela wanted to know why that man killed her, and if other people knew he was the murderer, because for someone so dangerous, he looked to have walked freely. Lela shook her head, she didn't want to think about it, about him, about what had happened in the garden, what she had done, and what he had done, but it was hard not to since he had been her first and second kiss.
Unconsciously, Lela's fingers brushed her lips. She closed her eyes and for a split second, Lela felt the man's soft lips on hers, his hot breath fanning her face when she tried to pull away, his hand in his hair and his other hand on her waist holding onto her for dear life. She felt him; all of him, his aura, his hard body pressed against hers.
"Why did I do that?" Lela yelled, hiding her face in her palm. She had soon forgotten about the crying girl that knelt before her. Her thoughts were all over the continent, and for the love of everything pure, she needed to find a way to forget what had happened. That man was dangerous, she was scared of him, and she didn't want to be anywhere near him; She could swear that if someone offered her money that would make her the richest woman in the world in exchange for being in the same space as that man, she would rather drink a cup of razors, so why was she thinking of this man in the weirdest ways? The man had even killed her, so why was it hard to look past a few seconds of weakness?
"Princess, what happened? Are you okay?" It was Kimi's turn to run to her. Kimi had managed to wipe all the tears and snot off her face, but with how crazy the princess was acting, it wouldn't be long before a new storm of tears would break out.
"Kimi, I need you to tell me everything you remember from that night," Lela grabbed Kimi's shoulder, leading her to her bed.
Kimi didn't know if she should answer or not, because the last time she tried to tell the princess about it, she had fainted.
"Are you sure, princess?" Kimi asked, she wanted to be sure nothing would happen to the princess if she started talking, she wanted to be sure the princess was ready to hear all about that night.
Lela nodded.
"Who knows? It might bring up some memories," Lela forced a smile, knowing very well she wasn't going to remember anything other than what Solela's body wanted her to, but it was the best thing she could think of as to why she wanted to hear the story. Kimi took in a deep breath and sighed.
"You were angry that night. I asked you countless times what had happened and why you were angry, but you would not answer me. You kept saying you were fine, but I know you better than I know myself, you were far from fine. I brought your food up to the room at night, but you would not eat, you claimed you were full, even though you only had breakfast that morning," Kimi started. Then she grabbed Lela's hands and held them tight. Lela let her.
"You woke up in the middle of the night and said you want to take a stroll. I was sleepy at the time, so I begged you to sleep, telling you that we would go on a stroll when the morning came, but you smiled. You told me you did not want me to follow you, and I was so stupid to agree. I never should have let you wander around alone at night," Kimi's eyes started to water again. Lela wiped Kimi's eyes, urging her to continue.
"You took my clothes and told me not to worry, then you left. I foolishly slept off but I could not shake the worry in my heart. I woke up shortly after you had left, and decided to look around for you since you were not back yet." Kimi paused. She took in a deep breath and when she released it, it was shaky. Her whole body was shaking with guilt and regret.
Lela stood up from the bed and walked to the mirror, she looked at her reflection, at the girl who used to have this life, she could feel her somewhere in her body. Lela let her eyes wander around her body and stopped at her chest when she remembered the Princess had been stabbed.
The stab bruise.
Lela quickly removed her shimmy, revealing her bare chest and the slit right where her heart sat beneath the skin.
Kimi followed after the princess. It was the first time the princess acknowledged the bruise from the incident, but how did she know about it? Kimi hadn't told her the real reason why she became unconscious, and all the times she'd showered the Princess, she'd ignored the bruise. The princess never even looked at her naked body since she woke up. Did she get back her memories? Kimi thought.
"Did someone try to kill me?" The princess asked and Kimi's head shut up in shock. Certainly, the princess had recovered her memories.
"Yes, you were stabbed in the chest. The physician said the blade didn't touch your heart, that's why you didn't-" Kimi couldn't say the word, it was too heavy, too gore; she didn't want to think about what would have happened if the princess didn't wake up.
"Did they ever catch the killer?" Lela asked.
"Killer?" Kimi's head tilted to the side at the mention of that word. Surely a man had tried to kill her, but he didn't, so why would she use that word?
"The man that tried to kill me," Lela corrected. It was a little slip-up. She kept forgetting that people had no idea their princess died that night.
"No, the royals swept it under the rug, saying a guard saw you dressed the way you had been that night and thought you were an intruder so he stabbed you with his weapon, and when he realized it was you, he ran away and killed himself shortly after. That's not the truth." Lela's eyes widened. Kimi was the one who had found her, had she seen the man with red hair? Did he swear her to silence?
"It's not?" Lela asked. She was going to go about this as smoothly as she could, Kimi couldn't know that she knew who her killer was if at all she didn't know.
"Yes, one guard told me he saw everything that happened, and I was going to meet with him to ask him what had happened, but I wanted to be by your side, to be there when you woke up, so I couldn't meet up with him. When you woke up, we set a date to meet, which is tomorrow," Kimi couldn't wait. Her skin was itching to know who had dared to do this to her princess.
"When we find out who he is, your parents will not rest until the man's life is taken, I am sure," Kimi smiled. Lela nodded. Kimi didn't know who her killer was, but if the person the guard saw was the man with red hair, maybe he wouldn't walk so freely on the castle grounds at night.