'Are you happy where you are?'
'Do you think about us?'
'Do our missions cross your mind?'
'Have you forgotten about us, Katherine?'
'Don't you miss your previous life? Us?'
Katherine heard faint voices inside her head and she looked around, unsure where those voices were coming from.
It wasn't reality. She felt trapped in some kind of maze.
'Did you really care about us, leader? If yes, then why didn't you try to find out what happened to us after you were gone? Were we so insignificant to you?'
It was Nick's voice.
'She is probably enjoying her new life. That's what she wanted, no? A new life full of emotions,'
It was Mason's voice.
'No. That's not the truth. Why would you say something like that? You know how much I cared about you guys. You were my family. How could you-' Katherine stopped talking when she noticed a bright light appearing out of nowhere.
"Katherine Moon, welcome to this new body. Your fate is decided by the heavens, and now you shall accept your new fate that is bestowed upon you,"
Katherine looked at the large system in front of her that was as big as a monster.
But it wasn't her demonic system. It resembled more like a wolf, a wolf in water? Or was it blue flames?
'So is this what you are busy with? You don't want to save your people anymore? You want us to die?' Simon's voice echoed from some distance.
Katherine shook her head, her attention back to the voices as she tried to find where they were coming from.
'This is not the truth. Please believe me. I am worried about you guys every second of my life,'
'Please believe me,' Katherine fell on her knees as all the voices started haunting her.
"Delilah! Miss Delilah, it's a nightmare. Whatever you are seeing is not true. Open your eyes," she heard the distantly familiar voice before someone shook her body gently, and Katherine snapped out of her headspace slowly, the voices fading out like a haze of illusion clearing from her mind.
Katherine came back to reality and opened her eyes slowly. Tears rolled down the corner of her eyes as she blinked her eyes to get used to the mild light.
Maximus.
He was the first person that came into her vision since he was standing right in front of her, and she gulped.
'What happened?' Katherine asked the demonic system.
The demonic system that saw what was going inside her head a couple of minutes ago and how she was struggling with her demons, took a deep breath before sighing to control its emotions
Right. Pitying her was not in its database.
'I told you not to overdo it, didn't I? You passed out after using your entire strength,' The system reminded her, and a flashback of what happened revolved in her head, making her sigh.
She tried to sit, but the pain in her right hand almost knocked her back until someone placed their hand behind her back.
Katherine turned to her right, her pupils dilating when she looked into Prince Elwin's eyes.
"What were you thinking? Do you think your Prince is so weak that he needs protection from a wounded girl?" Prince Elwin helped her sit.
Katherine shook her head.
"Please don't mind me. I don't know what's going on in my head these days. I am sorry for causing inconvenience," Katherine bowed slightly.
"The doctor said that you should be resting. You passed out earlier because your strength was used in your healing of wounds, on your foot and your arm," Prince Elwin said.
Katherine moved her toe fingers under the duvet instinctively to feel it.
Right. Her legs had indeed gotten hurt when she was running earlier.
"Thank you for caring," Katherine whispered before trying to grab the glass of water from her left hand.
"Here, let me," Prince Elwin immediately stepped ahead and bent.
Katherine's hand froze when Prince Elwin's hand landed on hers, and she gulped, raising her gaze to look at him.
He was too close.
Now that she looked at his features closely, he didn't look so bad. His jawline was quite refined.
But-
Katherine quickly jerked her hand away as if it was on fire.
Her heartbeat increased, the sound not missed by the three men in the room.
"I... I am sorry," Katherine said to Prince Elwin, who smiled.
"It wasn't your fault. I placed my hand at the same time," He extended his hand to offer her water.
Katherine took the glass of water from his hand before taking a sip of water, her gaze meeting with Maximus's haughty ones.
This was what she was talking about. She didn't know if it was alright to compare a Prince with a mere secretary, but Maximus's jawline and eyes were just like -
"I think you should leave for the meeting, Prince Elwin. I can stay with her until she gets discharged," Maximus' words got her attention.
Why would he stay?
Prince Elwin looked at the girl one last time before nodding.
"Please take care of yourself. And though it wasn't needed, thank you for your concern and efforts in saving me," He commented before smiling softly and leaving.
As soon as Prince Elwin left, Maximus nodded at Jacob, who followed Prince Elwin to keep an eye on all the people who were going to attend the meeting.
"You can leave too. I don't need any kind of assistance in-" Katherine started but stopped when she saw the man sitting on the stool beside her.
"What was it about?" The man asked.
"Hmm?"
"Your nightmare," Maximus said and Katherine's expression faltered slightly.
Why was this man asking about that? Did she say anything during her nightmare that can get her into trouble?
"W-why do you want to know?" Katherine asked cautiously.
"No reason. I have nothing better to do, so I might as well hear a funny story," The man dismissed her nightmare, and Katherine gritted her teeth.
"How can you act so insensitive towards something you have no idea about?" Katherine asked, feeling slightly hurt.
Those voices of her team, her team that sounded so much in pain and felt like they needed her. Katherine's expression turned soft and vulnerable, making Maximus look at her interestingly.
"Do you want me to behave sensitively then?" He asked bending towards her and Katherine's breath hitched at his proximity, his gaze intense, making her heartbeat increase its pace.
She could smell his faint cologne, making her curl her toes.
This b*stard even smelt good.
"I... I...," Katherine stuttered, her gaze falling on her cast that Maximus held in his hand.
He pulled out his pen from his pocket, taking off its cap from his mouth.
Katherine observed his every move with her fingers clenched. She wasn't supposed to find this secretary hot. Nope, not at all.
She suppressed the urge to groan at her heart which wasn't slowing down no matter what she told herself.
"Stupid,"
Maximus wrote on her cast, a small smirk appearing on his face.
Katherine - "..." Seriously?
"Do you know that you are the most irresponsible girl I have seen?" Maximus asked, and Katherine didn't like the tone he was using to talk to her, as if he was talking to a little girl.
"I am a lady," Katherine huffed.
She could see Maximus's lips twitching a bit at her comment and she felt even more wronged.
"Is that so?" Maximus raised his icy blue eyes, making her look away.
It was wrong. It was wrong to give such a beautiful pair of eyes to such a jerk.
Katherine gritted her teeth before scowling.
Wait. Why was she complaining? Delilah's honey-red eyes were beautiful too. and those eyes were hers now. Katherine smiled at her thoughts.
Meanwhile, Maximus, who was observing her noticed every change of expression on her face and didn't know what to think of her.
Wasn't Delilah a bit too full of life after that suicide incident?
Earlier, no one knew her apart from the rumors about her pursuing the commander of the Royal Army.
But now?
Everyone not only knew about her, they even saw her because of her foolish actions here and there.
"You don't have the best relationship with your sister, I presume. It's been an hour since you fainted, and she still hasn't arrived to see you," Maximus said and Katherine hummed.
Sister? She was more like a maid to her so-called cousin. Wasn't that the reason everyone had a bad first impression of Delilah from day one? Katherine felt the urge to scoff.
If it had been the original Delilah, she would've probably defended Tianna, but not her. She wasn't a fool.