He did the same thing that bastard did to me. Namely threatening me. In the past, that bastard always warned me not to complain to Xavier every time he and his bastard friends beat me up.
He knows that Xavier is very strong, Xavier is an expert in martial arts, Kyokushin Karate, Muay Thai and Taekwondo, even wrestling. Xavier even fought with thugs who often robbed me of money on the street and the crazy thing was, he managed to beat them alone. After remembering, since getting to know and being close to Xavier, I can become who I am now. At least even though I wasn't as strong as him to beat the thugs, I didn't just sit there and cry in the corner like a loser. I will fight as best as I can and that courage has emerged since I got to know him.
"I will be close to whoever I want, I don't need your approval!" I said. I don't know why that brave sentence just came out of my mouth. I don't know why but even though I'm a woman now, I feel that I don't need to be afraid of anyone.
"What did you say, Ella?" He looked at me with very cold eyes and honestly the look in his eyes managed to make me shudder..
"You must be talking about His Majesty the King, right? You're afraid of me being with him, isn't that right? To be honest, I'm not interested in you or him because I'm not interested in men. But if I had to be forced to choose, it's clear I would choose His Majesty King Zavier. Goodbye-" just as I started to leave, he grabbed my hand and held it tightly.
I was forced to turn to him to see what he was doing to me. His eyes became colder and sharper, he made the atmosphere in this place very tense.
"There's something strange about you. Who are you? Are you really my Ella?" He asked a question that was quite surprising. He started to doubt whether I was really Eleanor Marquitas or not.
"Of course, I-"
"I know very well what you are like, Ella. You were so crazy about me, you adored me so much and you even prostrated yourself at my feet so that I wouldn't leave you. But now you act as if you've forgotten everything you've done to me. What's wrong, Ella? Have you really forgotten about it? Or are you really not Ella, but an impersonator?"
My hands were shaking, damn, this was definitely not a favorable situation for me. I have absolutely no idea what Ella Marquitas was like, I have no idea what her life was like before I became her. But-
Suddenly I remembered the movie I saw with Mary Jane on the day of the accident. The film entitled Love Story is adapted from a famous classic novel which tells the story of an evil queen who is married to the king, but on the one hand she is in an forbidden relationship with the king's half-brother.
"No no, that movie definitely has nothing to do with this. Ella Marquitas? That's right, the evil queen's name is Ella Marquitas, right? And the king is called King Zavier, I remember, the queen's lover's Duke is called Duke Aiden De Velgmegeur. Damn it , what is this? Why do they all have the same name?" I shouted loudly in my heart.
Scene after scene in the film reappeared in my head. The scene of how the queen sleeps with the Duke while the king is traveling on assignment in another area. Is it possible that the life I'm living right now is the life of a crazy woman named Ella Marquitas in films and novels?
"That's still not certain, I have to confirm it again." I thought.
"What's wrong, Ella? Why does your face look confused like that? What are you thinking?"
"N-no, I-"
"Ella? Aiden?" King Zavier was standing in the doorway, I don't know when he was at that place.
He looked at us with a look in his eyes that I couldn't understand. But what makes me confused is, did he come to look for me on purpose?
"Xavier? I-I mean Your Majesty?" I said. Realizing that Duke Aiden was still holding my hand, I hurriedly released his grip. Strange, why would I be worried if he saw me holding hands with this bastard.
"Aiden, you have a guest to meet. You've been here too long!" He said.
Duke Aiden smiled slightly then stepped towards King Zavier very calmly.
"Couldn't you tell the bodyguards to look for me? You don't have to come down directly, right?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.
For some reason, the atmosphere I feel right now feels tense as if the relationship between these two people is not that close to each other. It was clear from the way they looked.
"I just want to make sure that you don't do anything that endangers the good name of the royal family!"
"You don't need to worry, Zavier! I can take care of myself. I'm not your little brother that you can control. We were born in the same year, weren't we? I'm even six months older than you, which means I'm still older than you."
"You're older or not, I'm still the king here. You can accept it or not, I don't care. I'm just warning you to be more careful with your actions, because I won't hesitate to punish you if you make a mistake!"
"Okay, it's up to you, Your Majesty! Do whatever you want to do, as long as you don't think about approaching my woman. Because I won't hesitate to fight you!" Duke Aiden said as he left.
Damn, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I heard their conversation which sounded scary. What the hell is that? They even threatened each other like that?
After Duke Aiden left, King Zavier was silent for a moment. He didn't come closer to me and remained standing where he was. I feel very confused now, if I were a man, I would definitely tell stupid jokes to lighten the mood like I used to do when I was with Xavier.
"Why is he silent like a stupid bastard? Hey man, come on and say something!" I thought. Now I really wanted him to say something to clear up the awkwardness. Since he remained silent, it seemed like I was the one who had to act here.
"Xavier, I-I mean Your Majesty, how was the party? Did you like it, Your Majesty?" I asked. I don't know if it's because I'm getting used to being a woman or what, I said it in a soft tone like women do.
"The party was nice, but it would be much better if you would dance with me!" He said with a small smile. I could see the gentleness in his eyes just like Xavier's.
"But why do you want to dance with me so much?"
"Because we used to dance a lot."
"What?"
"Have you forgotten how close the two of us used to be, Ella? Have you really forgotten about me?"
I was starting to not understand what he was saying. Me and him were ever close? It's clear I won't remember it.
"I don't understand what you are saying?"
"I still remember our first meeting 10 years ago in the palace garden, in the labyrinth when I found you lost and crying. I led you to find a way out and when we made it outside, you asked me to dance with you. At that time you were still 10 years old and I was 13 years old, you were the sweetest girl I had ever seen. Since then, for three years in a row at my birthday party, we met in the labyrinth to dance together."
"I-is that so? I-I don't-"
"I know, it seems true that you have lost your memory. I can't do anything if you can't remember. But I just want you to know one thing, Ella. I really enjoyed dancing with you and if I have to dance, then I just I'll dance with you."
I seemed to see the moonlight on his face and it reminded me even more of Xavier. After he said that, he fell silent again. I can't seem to start a conversation again, I just want him to leave so I can take as deep a breath as possible.
"Go back to your family, you don't need to worry about what happened earlier. I will make sure that Count Albergen doesn't do anything to you or your family. See you?" He said as he left. I looked at his back which looked dashing and very strong, just like Xavier's back.
I used to be very jealous of Xavier's body shape. He is tall, even more than 190 cm tall, he is burly and athletic. In contrast to me, who is short, only 167 cm tall, neither sturdy nor handsome, as a man, I am not physically attractive at all.
I hate Xavier, I hate because he is so perfect, I hate because he was born a very handsome man, I hate because he is very intelligent, I also hate because he was born rich, but what makes me hate him more is because I know that I will never be able to be like him.
"Damn, damn, the more I look at him, the more I hate him. Damn, damn! Why is he still given perfection in this life like I never got? Xavier, you're such a bastard."
***