It's been a week since the party and all she did was lay down in her room and occasionally roam the garden.
The servants are tense at their villainess' strange behavior.
Meanwhile, the head maid is scolding her for not attending or hosting tea parties.
"Lady Ainaira, you used to be excited at hosting parties everyday! What are you doing here?!" Enata nags her for the nth time.
She was lying down underneath the shade of a big tree, with a book covering her face.
She lifted up the book and said: "Too troublesome…and you're noisy."
She stood up and left, leaving the attendants shocked.
For the past week, she was avoiding attending family dinner, meetings and anything that would involve seeing her twin.
At the same time, she knows there's someone that had been following her.
(1 more week and Aeron would go back to the Academy…)
She halted her movement and started to grip her heart. Remembering the pain of her brother's sword piercing through her.
(I deserved death but still…I just wanted to survive.)
She looked up at the glass pane window. Glancing at the side of the hallway, a little boy with pink hair was hiding, though he doesn't seem to be good at it.
"What is it?" She sighed and crossed her arm as Ainsley slowly showed himself.
"Um…I.." He fumbled at his words. Clearly under pressure in her gaze
"I…thank you!"
"Huh?" Her brows creased.
"F-for the book…t-thank you, La-lady Ainaira"
"..."
She forgot that she gave him the book. With nothing to say nor know how to respond she opted for what she knows best.
Belittling others.
"You're pitiful. A noble stuttering? Fix that."
She turned away from and shooed him like an animal.
"I'm so-sorry" Tears were about to fall from his eyes. Ainsley was a timid child, always hiding behind his siblings' shadow.
While Ainaira shows no worth to the family unlike her twin, her scandals kept their parents' attention on her. Leaving the little boy alone. the young boy stuttering under the overwhelming presence of Ainaira and Aeron was expected.
"Haa..."
She sighed.
She never paid attention to her half brother, but she sees this as a good thing. After all, everyone that she interacted with was all fake. For some reason, Ainsley was spared from her villainy.
Maybe that's why she didn't feel the same aggravation, emptiness and dread when they interacted. It was something that didn't happen in her previous life.
"Chapter."
"Huh?"
She looked at the book he's holding.
"...oh…
"Hmm…"
But not long after, her strong gaze made his confidence crack.
(He's already at Chapter 10…)
Turning her head, she says: "Let's go"
"Oh? Huh!" Ainsley was a little disappointed and sad when she was about to leave without a word again, but his eyes sparkled when she told him to come with her.
He quickly followed behind her.
They were at the farthest corner of the garden. Since it's a place that is rarely visited, it is unkept unlike the rest of the garden.
It was another part of the manor that the previous Marchioness visited.
She sat down on the ground while gesturing to Ainsley sit down.
He awkwardly sat next to her. There was a moment of silence, but he decided to break the ice. "U-um… Lady Ainaira, what are we doing here?"
Her eyes slowly narrowed as he asked those words. "the March is too noisy"
"O-oh…" Ainsley didn't know how to response.
Ainaira was debating what she should do.
(Should I try that? But if they come back…)
(I don't want it, not again. I won't play that game anymore.)
(But I am curious, where did it go?)
(...Those voices.)
Memories of her first life flashed inside of her head.
====
She was in her room, a few months after the Saintess Josephine had appeared.
Ainaira was curled up in a ball, hysterically crying and seemingly begging in the corner of her room.
"I don't want to,I don't want to, I don't want to."
She kept repeating those words, almost as like she was a broken record.
{Hurt her, hurt her, hurt her.}
"I don't want to do it anymore!!"
{Hurt her or die!}
Then she felt pain she never felt before.
It was like every inch of her body was being peeled off and burnt. She laid down on the ground enduring the unimaginable pain. Her lungs felt like they was about to explode.
====
"Lady Ainaira! Lady Ainaira!" Ainsley's voice made her snap back from reality.
"Umm…I was wondering how did you know I wanted to learn about magic?"
"...I didn't"
That was a lie, in her previous life Ainsley would become a sorcerer.
(But you said…'this will be useful for you' as if you knew I needed a book about ancient magic) Ainsley looked curiously at her.
"It was a coincidence" Ainaira replied as she snapped her fingers
Within a 7 ft radius of them, all lifeforms aside from the two of them instantaneously withered.
The birds, butterflies, worms and insects turned to dust, while the lush greenery dried out.
His face was surprised, it was an unexpected result.
"Dark Magic! I didn't know-!" He looked up at his sister. His eyes were full of excitement.
Usually, people would be terrified of a Dark Magic user, however Ainsley doesn't understand why he should fear Dark Magic.
All magic are dangerous, but it's neither good nor evil. It all depends on the user if they will use it to kill or protect.
This was one of his virtues in magic.
After seeing that demonstration, Ainsley kept talking and telling her how cool it was. Although his words didn't reach her.
All she heard was the faint and subdued sounds of someone murmuring.
(...It didn't felt like someone sucking my life force)
(Am I actually free?)
Despite the absence of the voices, Ainairi still fears they will come back.
She's been avoiding using magic for a reason.
The price to pay for using it without the voice's permission is her lifespan.
But, nothing happened.
She's still alive. unhurt
It was strange to think that she's now completely free from their control.
An overwhelming emotion swelled up inside her. Nonetheless, she decided to make her life a little more bearable from now on.