Viviana sat on a rundown sofa with her hand over her eyes, feeling frustrated. Meanwhile, Autumn bustled around the living room, tidying up and bringing out pillows and blankets to make a sleeping space for Viviana.
"How did I end up listening to her?" Viviana wondered, still baffled by how Autumn had managed to convince her to stay the night despite her strong refusal. "She surely is an oddball," she muttered to herself.
"All set!" Autumn clapped her hands after arranging the makeshift bed on the sofa.
Viviana looked at it, unimpressed. "I'm not sleeping there. My back will be stiff if I sleep here," she said in an unaffected tone, She didn;t care about he feelings at all and she had no reason to.
Autumn's smile faded for a second, then reappeared. "Alright, then you can rest in my room, and I'll sleep here!" she suggested.
Viviana got up from the sofa and walked towards the room across from it. "Good night, sir! Have a great sleep!" Autumn cheered from behind, making Viviana shake her head at her irritatingly positive attitude.
Inside the room, it was a cosy, small space with a single bed by the window, a small cupboard, a few shelves, and a study table. On the wall above were strings with small pictures hanging amidst pretty fairy lights—a typical girl's room. Viviana tossed off her slippers and threw herself on the bed, gazing out at the stars. "Just one more night. I will make it out of this hell, and everything will be okay," she nodded to herself, closing her eyes slowly.
---
Argon entered his apartment, talking on the phone. "Hmm… Okay, keep me updated. Don't miss a single detail. This is very important," he instructed. "Yeah, also, I think I will have to move back to the mansion. It isn't safe here anymore. Take care of it." He ended the call.
From the other side of the sofa, Chess, his cat, jumped and purred, running towards Argon and rubbing its head against his legs. Argon smiled slightly and crouched beside it, stroking it gently. "Looks like you missed me," he said affectionately, his tone no longer strict.
Lifting Chess in his arms, he walked to his room, set the cat on the table, and headed into the washroom to wash up and change. After a while, he emerged in his sleeping robes, walked over to his desk, turned on the light, and pulled out a chair. Chess jumped onto the desk, sitting at the corner, watching him curiously.
"Chess, you know I don't like being watched when I'm working, right?" Argon said, looking at the cat, which remained sitting and staring. "Guess I have an answer now. Like always, you wouldn't leave even if I asked nicely." He smiled, stroked the cat's head with his fingertip, and took out his sketchbook, flipping through the pages to a design titled "Viviana's Elan Vital." His gaze was serious as he examined the jewelry he had designed—a magnificent work of art with a classic cut emerald as the centrepiece, signifying the green of Viviana's eyes, and white diamonds embedded in a white gold chain.
"What a waste…" he grumbled. "All this effort, I designed the whole wedding look, and for what? Someone dead? Above all, an old man who can't take a loss? Disappointing." He uttered, his shattered plans before him. This piece was definitely something Viviana would have loved, but there was no point now. He flipped the page, revealing a wedding dress—a long mermaid gown embellished with small pearls and diamonds, intricate veils with hand-sewn embroidery. The piece was named "Viviana Eterna." He chuckled coldly at the sight of it.
"Eterna? She couldn't even make it past her youth." He seemed to mock her, slapping the sketchbook shut and scaring Chess, which jumped off the desk. Argon rested his head against the chair and looked up. "I need to find another way to take that mine. I have to find a way to take it from that old geezer… and quick." He muttered. "He wouldn't sell it because it holds symbolic importance to him. I can't take it from him by using Viviana because she's out of the picture. So, the last option is to use raw force." He smirked. "And for that—I have a person for that." Argon's lip curled up in an evil grin.
---
"Achoo!! Achoo!" Viviana sat up in the bed, sneezing non-stop. Her sleepy eyes barely open, already tearing up from the continuous sneezing. Autumn, having heard the sound, knocked on the door to check on her.
"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned, but all she heard in response were more sneezes from Viviana.
"Someone might be bad mouthing you somewhere," Autumn said thoughtfully, looking around as if wanting to confront whoever it was for Viviana's sake.
"Badmouthing? I'm sneezing because of the bad air quality in this area. This is not healthy for you," Viviana replied irritably, rubbing her now-red nose.
"Hehe!" Autumn made a cute laughing sound and then exited the room. "I have prepared breakfast. I have to leave, but you can eat first and take a bath if you want," she said. Viviana looked out of the window, noticing the sun barely out of the horizon.
Autumn peeked into the room again. "Also, take a bath before 10, or there will be no warm water left, and you will freeze." She added. "Wait for me, and I will try to be back early today." She left joyously.
Viviana frowned. "Why would I wait for her? Why do I feel like we are newlyweds?" she muttered to herself, getting out of bed and putting her slippers back on. She heard the door close behind Autumn, leaving her alone in the house. "She trusts people too easily. What if I was a murderer or something? Is it okay leaving people in your home?" Viviana was baffled, but she had no one to answer her as Autumn had already left, seemingly having something important to do.
Viviana stretched a bit, then glanced at the full-length mirror in the living room, taking a full look at herself for the first time. She scanned the new body she had and nodded. "Hmm, now that I look at her, it's not that bad," she said, pulling up her sleeves to inspect her biceps and triceps. They were defined to some extent hinting that Liora did work out, "If I continue working out slightly, then I might be able to get it back to its full potential," she said, impressed that this body was not as useless as she thought.
She was tall and overall a beautiful girl with potential if she dressed like one, but currently, she gave off the vibe of a boy going through puberty or at least twenty and malnourished, unlike when she first saw herself. She flipped her hair back, revealing more of her face. "I need to work on this. Until my body is discovered, I will have to make do with this for now," she said to herself.