After clearing the misunderstanding, Amara spent her morning listening to Sasha's ramblings, which drifted into another topic that Amara had no interest in. Trying to save her ears from falling off, she quickly changed the subject for her own sake. As the towel wrapped around her body, Sasha continued blabbering in her ear.
"So, Sasha, can you tell me what exactly happened that day?" Sasha's words were cut off by Amara's question, the look on her face filled with wonder. "It went on briefly, but it was still highly suspicious from my perspective." Dragging Amara gently out of the bathroom, Sasha started to fasten the clothes on her master. "It happened too quickly, as if they were in a rush. They first ordered me to do chores when it was clearly your tea time. I wanted to protest because the duties they assigned to me are not my priority, but you!"
Amara looked at herself in the mirror before giving a thoughtful look. "Hm... So someone planned all of this." Her conclusion made Sasha gasp, consuming all the air around her. "But why would one dare to harm you, My Lady?! You have no enemies!" Sasha returned to her ramblings again, praising Eleanor like a Greek goddess. 'I'm convinced this girl gives Eleanor a big ego.' No matter how much Sasha praised Eleanor (practically worshipping her), the noble girl still remained humble, like the good soul she is. 'Could never be me.' Amara only chuckled at the thought, putting an end to Sasha's rants.
"Is there something wrong, My Lady?" the maid worriedly asked. Amara tilted her head while looking at the mirror, giving no response to the maid. It was as if it were a habit of Sasha's to rant all the time that she didn't notice her makeup was done. Amara bit her lips, Eleanor's face mimicking her actions. 'Definitely my type.' She was at least glad she possessed a pretty individual. "Finally, something good to look at other than my tired face," Amara mumbled to herself, while Sasha heard none of it. "What was that, my lady?"
"I have a theory about who planned all this." Amara leaned back in the chair, placing her cheek on her hand. Her face remained aloof, boredom evident on her features. "W-who might it be?" Sasha stammered, waiting for Eleanor to answer. Suddenly, Amara stood up from her seat, scaring the poor maid. Sasha yelped in surprise, watching her master quickly turn to face her. Despite her expressionless face, there was a hidden glint in her eyes that made Sasha feel uneasy. "Heisenberg."
At the mention of the name, Sasha's hand flew to her mouth. "It can't be!" The intense glow in Eleanor's eyes faded away as her face relaxed. "Who else can it be?" Amara sat back in the chair, staring at Eleanor's face again. "Why would he be so insistent on Christine joining him from the Kingdom abroad?" Twirling Eleanor's bright hair around her finger, she blew the hair off her face like raspberries. "But how can we have any proof?"
Sasha was alarmed when she heard a soft sniffling beside her, her blood rising at the sight of Eleanor's tear-stained face. "MY LADY?!?!" she screamed in shock, waving her hands around Eleanor's face—trying to calm her down.
"I—I can't do this all alone, Sasha." As Eleanor's eyes brimmed with tears, Sasha also felt like tearing up. She sniffed a little, bringing her master into an embrace. "Do not worry, My Lady. I'll help you." Amara reciprocated the hug, hiding a suspicious glint in her eyes. 'Less work for me.' If there's one thing Amara really hoped for in this questionable second chance in life, it is that she can actually slack off once in a while.
They broke the hug, and Amara gave the maid a hopeful look. "Starting from now on, you'll be looking for anything to report regarding this. I want you to gather all the evidence you can find and give it to me before the trial starts."
"Understood! I won't let you down!" Closing her fists with a determined look, they were both startled when someone knocked on the door. "Lady Eleanor, the Patriela siblings have come to visit you," a male voice called out, a butler behind the door. Amara raised her brow at this, giving the system a side glance.
[They'refriendswithEleanor back in theAcademy.]
Amara's brows raised higher. 'Fuck, I'm missing out a lot.' She turned her attention back to the door. "Ask them if they would like to eat breakfast with me. If yes, bring them to the dining room and serve us." The butler bid his goodbye and went on his way to tell the Patriela family. Amara turned to Sasha, a small smile on her face. "I think it would be best if we're on our way now; we wouldn't want to make our guest wait."
Sasha nodded in return, quickly gathering a kit with her. Amara doesn't honestly know where she whipped that kit out, but she didn't question it any further due to it might've been normal for her to bring a kit with her. Sasha opened the big door of Eleanor's chambers, giving way for Amara on her way out.
[ Well, in lore accurate, Eleanor is physically weak. Like, really weak. She tends to get sick easily, that's why Sasha brought a medical kit just in case Eleanor gets sick during her routine. ]
"That really sucks." Amara can't imagine being sick all the time. Despite the misfortunes Amara has faced, at least God gave her a great immune system. While walking in the grand hallway of Hawthorne Manor, Amara glanced at the window, seeing the garden of flowers scattered around the entrance of the manor. "Must be nice having someone care for you..." she mumbled to herself, sadness masking her purple eyes. It was the kind of sadness that didn't demand attention but left an indelible mark on anyone who cared enough to notice.
Sasha cared enough to notice, giving Eleanor a small frown and clenching the kit in her hands. "Lead the way," Amara quickly ordered, ripping her eyes away from the beautiful garden. Sasha scrambled to herself and quickly walked to the dining room.
They arrived at the dining room, with a loud chatter that you can hear inside. Sasha rushed past Eleanor and clumsily opened the door for her lady, bowing her head down while doing so. Amara continued walking inside, the noise subduing when she arrived. Before she could even process who was inside the room, she was tackled in a hug. Yelping in surprise, she instinctively grabbed onto whatever she could hold on to and eventually hugged the people around her.
She immediately noticed the same color of their hair; the bright shine of the sun illuminated their pink hair. She awkwardly hugged the three around her while they chaotically shouted Eleanor's name in glee. (Well, technically, the twins were the louder ones.)
[ Patriela Siblings. Marquess in Kingdom Hadelia. Eleanor's friends back in the Academy.
— Elliot and Issabel Patriela (Twins)
— Ethan Kyle Patriela ]
Goodness, she has friends? The feeling of getting smashed with a pile of bricks washed over Amara as a slight imaginary blood dripped from her mouth. She let out a sigh and reluctantly hugged the three people around her properly. Being antisocial has its disadvantages.
"Eleany!" the girl wailed, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall. "How have you been?! Ugh, seriously dumb of me to ask such a thing; of course you're not! I mean, look at your complexion; you're so tired under all that makeup!" She wailed more, hugging Amara tighter.
Amara felt dumbfounded as she encountered another version of Sasha, possibly worse than the maid. She let out a nervous chuckle and a breath of relief when the three finally let her go. "I slept just fine last night. You don't have to worry about it." Giving the siblings a practiced smile, their conversation was cut short when servants started to pour into the dining room with food in their hands. 'Am I even doing this right?' Amara felt helpless, not knowing how to interact with these people.
[This is what you get for not reading the other volumes.]
Feeling her eye twitch at the system, she went back to her composed state, looking like a professional instead of in a casual look meant for friends. "Please take a seat; it's been a while since we've seen each other." Bullshitting her way through was one of her concerning skills. The three happily complied and sat around her. Amara sat in the center, the feeling of dread in her stomach pooling. 'Fuck, I'm surrounded.' The center of the table? Means the center of attention.
Not to mention, Amara had to bite the inside of her cheek to hold her composure. These three are no joke; throughout their whole conversation, all the topics they discussed were about Eleanor. It's as if their world revolved around her, and it's making her ears bleed. 'Just what kind of reputation does Eleanor even have???'
She's not one to pry into other people's lives, but she's technically doing it now, possessing someone else's body. But GODDAMN, this feels more like a cult than a friendship. Not that she ever had a friendship, but she knows well enough that this is not how a normal friendship conversation goes. 'They're treating me like a baby too.' She observed, in the span of 5 minutes, how they pinpoint everything she does. When she picks up her own food, they insist on serving her and cutting her steak for her convenience. Or when she tried to ask her maid for more beverage, the Ethan had already snatched her cup and filled it to the brim. Just like how their current conversation is going, they needed her opinion on everything they mentioned. It's been going like this for 20 minutes now. When Amara disagreed on something, they changed their perspective immediately to cater to her and then praised her like a goddess.
It was really weird. They were weird. Or maybe Amara was the weird one. Spending time on this conversation made her rethink if she was actually the insane one here. Is this how friendship works??? Scratch that, they weren't even mentioning the upcoming trial that would commence against the Crown Prince. She furrowed her brows a bit, getting impatient. The three around her didn't take long to notice; in fact, they immediately did. As the slight twitch of her brows deepened just a fraction, they sat up straight. It went quiet for a second; Amara was too deep in thought before she noticed the room was dead silent. She looked up at the three, flinching slightly when she saw them grilling their eyes at her.
"My apologies, I was just thinking of something," she quickly said. Issabel smiled softly at her. "You have all the time in the world to think; we'll wait for you."
Amara's eyes widened in surprise but she quickly shook it off. Ah, she gets it now. They're not being weird... they're just being considerate of Eleanor. It would really be dumb to think that they don't know about their friend's situation right now. The betrayal she received from her spouse and sister was overwhelming. They were trying to distract her from the heart-grueling pain Eleanor was facing.
She looked down, avoiding their gaze. A small smile graced her lips. 'You have wonderful friends, Eleanor.' Amara hadn't fully grasped how friendship really works; she chuckled lightly, feeling guilty about the train of thoughts she had regarding these three. "Thank you, I'm ready now."
The three smiled. Elliot turned to Sasha. "Would you mind leaving for a moment?" Sasha bowed at a perfect 90°. "Certainly, sire." She turned away and left the dining room. Amara's smile was wiped off her face in a millisecond. "There are some things we need to discuss." She leaned on the chair behind her, crossed her legs, and laid her elbow on her knees. The usual fondness in her eyes was gone instantly, making the three a little bit uncomfortable. They had never seen their Eleanor like this.
But something just happens; it can't be helped. "There's a possibility that Heisenberg poisoned me before going to Hadelia."
End of Chapter Four.