Chapter 6: "The Beautiful she; goddess of a Heroine"
I couldn't look away from her gaze.
The cool breeze sends small strands of her silver hair sticking to her beautiful marble-like face. She tucks them behind her ear before smiling directly at me.
The small fear I thought I had vanished in an instant and turned to admiration.
ACK…! So elegant! How blinding! My goddess!
I couldn't help but blink. Such radiance is illegal!
Before I even realized it, my goddess' face was already inches away from me. I stumble backward and considering I'm not in full control of this twig-like body yet, my balance is sh-t. But before I could hit the ground, she caught me with her arm behind my back.
"You're so much prettier up close," she whispers under her breath. She was so close that I heard it.
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.
I can die now. Graduation? How silly. This is heaven.
"Hello?"
Ah.
I hurriedly leave her arms and snap away from my thoughts. I backed away a bit and bowed in courtesy. "Pleasant morning, Lady Eldina."
"Pleasant morning."
Her voice is as soft as a lullaby and as warm as a cuddle from your favorite person.
I don't know why but she guides me to her garden patio and offers me tea. I am supposed to be the maid, no?
Eldina Ail Trouvaille. The second and youngest child of Marquess Trouvaille, and also the heroine of the novel
I do adore her version in the novel, but I have long since adored her in person. She is kind, smart, ambitious, and beautiful.
"So, may I know your name?" she looks at me with eagerness, waiting for an answer.
I don't know why she wants to know this maid's name but I answered all the same, "Dia." She smiles and sips her tea. "What a beautiful name."
It was awkwardly silent. Out of desperation to break the silence, I try to start a conversation.
"Did you cut your hair, my lady?"
Poorly. No matter whose body I possess, I'm still the Lumien who's not good with small talk and conversations.
"I am surprised you just noticed, Dia. It has been weeks since I did so." She tilts her head to take a glance at her hair.
"It…suits you."
She used to have long hair which reached down to her knees. To think she would cut it just right above her shoulders. She still looks just as beautiful though.
She gasps slightly before gripping tightly the hand of her tea cup, "Thank you… only my father and brother ever said something about my new hairstyle." Her smile winced slightly. "The others were too scared or maybe shy to say something. But I don't bite you know…" she says the last sentence almost in a mumble.
Pouting, she takes another sip of her tea while mine goes cold.
"You might be wondering why I invited you to my tea time this morning." She puts down her tea cup and takes a rosy cookie from a tray filled with desserts. "But worry not, I hold no bad intentions." She says before taking a bite. Any trace of loneliness from a while ago disappeared as she held back a hop on how delicious it is.
"I want to be friends with you, Dia."
This scene seems oddly familiar.
Oh right. This was the novel Dia and Eldina's first interaction. Eldina made Dia her best friend out of the blue and dragged her around to dress-ups, tea times, study sessions, and shopping. The novel didn't reveal why she chose her and neither did Dia complain. Of course, Dia received envious gazes and scorns from the other maids and even Eldina from time to time was mocked by other nobles by befriending a peasant. But this did not tear the two apart. They ignored the backlash and continued to be friends. Nothing destroyed the relationship between the two, except Dia herself.
I gulped and asked Eldina the question I was meaning to ask for a long time.
"Why do you want to be friends with me, lady Eldina?"
She holds up a hand as if stopping me and says, "You can just call me Eldina."
"Eldina…"
She lets out a hum of satisfaction and then looks away. "And about your question…" she thinks before finally giving an answer. "I'm not sure if I can tell you this but," she looks me in the eye and in a serious tone she reveals,
"I'm aspiring to be a healer."
A healer? I already knew that. But what does that have to do with befriending Dia?
Healers are divided into two categories. There are doctors who use the traditional method and herbal medicines, and there are ones who use wizardry/ witchcraft/magic and potions to heal. Eldina wants to be the latter.
...
no way, was she planning to make Dia a specimen to be used for her healing experiments?!
As if she read Dia's terrified expression, Eldina panics and tries to fix the misunderstanding.
"No no no," fidgeting around, she hurriedly denies. "I don't mean to harm you in any way for research purposes!" She scratches her cheeks and looks away shyly, "I just saw how...how do I say this, frail? You look so frail that I want to take care of you."
I can't deny it, she has a point. Dia looks so unhealthily frail, so pitiful to the point that even entitled doctors might offer a free treatment.
She looks down, feeling bad. "You can say it's similar to charity work, but," her eyes move up to meet mine, "I want to be like a big sister to you, Dia."
Big sister...
Suddenly, Lumien remembered his big sister whom she wasn't very close to. She was nothing like Eldina, she was much...strict. But he still started to miss her.
"Oh right!"
he snaps back to the current situation after hearing Eldina's remarks. "If you don't mind me asking Dia, but what is your age?"
...
How old am I again? Come to think of it, I forgot to ask the original Dia about her profile. Damn it. It never crossed my mind. But as for her age, I know she is about Eldina's age but months younger. Assuming Dia's birthday hasn't passed yet, I would say...
"I am 18 years old."
Eldina's eyes widen in surprise. "To think we are actually close in age."
She lightly chuckles. She stands up and declares. "Dia, you have very beautiful features. If only you took care of yourself properly, you would have an aura similar to a noble's." In a determined tone she continues, "Thus, for that not to go to waste, I will take care of you." She takes both of my hands.
"I promise."
How cute. Is this the aura of a heroine? A goddess-like heroine?
Dia gives her a big innocent smile,
"I would love to be your friend, Eldina."
Ting.
What...?
At that moment, Dia hears a short notification-like ring pierce his ear. And a bunch of neon words appear in front of him.
'Soul owner: Lumien Dia Velerace'
'Body possessed: Dia'
'Time Limit: 51 120 : 41 : 32'
'Spirit points: *#*%$/*'
What is this?
My full name, soul owner? Dia, body possessed?
Time limit?
51 120 : 41 : 30
I could feel the cold sweat trickling inside the many layers of clothing I am wearing. I froze as I watched the set of numbers. Only the last two numbers were moving, the rest was still.
51 120 : 41 : 29
Spirit points? It's blurry. As if glitching.
It then scattered into tiny orb-like particles and vanishes into thin air.
"Dia? Is something the matter? Are you feeling unwell??"
I hear Eldina's voice but it feels so distant.
"No way, did you not eat breakfast? Does your head hurt?"
The piercing ring and the blinding words that popped out of nowhere earlier. It seems like Eldina didn't notice any of it. It was only for my ears to hear and my eyes to see.
Before I knew it, I was already standing up and bowing to Eldina. I excused myself and left. I don't know where I was heading, but I just took one step after another.
- - -
Eldina's POV
I watched as Dia slowly walked away. She excused herself in such a gentle manner but it seemed like her mind was elsewhere.
I'm worried for her. She wouldn't just collapse somewhere, would she?
She is my first friend inside this manor so I cannot just let her wither away! My friend…
I recalled the way she looked at me after saying she would love to be friends with me. As if she just saw a ghost, her eyes were trembling. And she was already pale but then became paler. What made her look at me like that? Was it shock? Did I look scary? She didn't feel as if I threatened her to be my friend, did she?? Or did I get so excited, I couldn't control my reaction…
I'm so sorry, my dear Dia!! This witch was careless! I'll be more careful from now on! Don't unfriend me please…!
Eldina's heart clenched along with her fist, devastated by how her friend last looked at her. She bit her lip and dropped to the floor dramatically.
- - -
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