๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ต!
Anya felt like a weight had dropped on her stomach. The moment she stepped outside, she wished she hadn't. The harsh cold that brushed past her seemed to hurt less than the glares the people shot her. It was almost like they had daggers for eyes.
Every single person seemed to pry on her, waiting for her to say something. The eyes of a few hundred were filled with hatred. Fury. They didn't even try to look away and instead forced the pressure on her shoulders. The air felt grim and unwelcoming. If there was an ounce of sadness and separation in the eyes of the slaves that lined the street before, it was now replaced with rage and temptation.
Anya watched as the people slowly closed in on her, almost as if they finally stood their chance. A chance to kill the substitute who was the reason for the demise of their loved ones.
Their eyes reflected greed. Like that of a predator looking at prey, they had been searching for years.
๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด.
Anya clenched her fists, her nerves skyrocketing. This was bad. The peoples' eyes brimmed with disgust. They hated her. They wanted to knock her out and drag her across the street. They wanted to burn her alive. They wanted to kill her in one strike. They---
๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด, ๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ข. Anya paused, shutting down her thoughts. ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด.
She breathed in and out slowly, soothing down her messed up nerves. Her tensed up body slightly calmed down, even though it was only the tiniest bit.
๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ, she told herself, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง.
But as soon as she locked eyes with a little girl, her heart sank. The girl held a stone in one hand, ready to hurl it at her. Her tiny hands were trembling, but her eyes loathed her.
Even the child looked at her as if she were a monster.
๐๐ฐ, Anya shook her head, trying to wave off the negative thoughts frantically. ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ.
She was a Zenlyn. Even though their blood didn't run through her, she had a part in the Familia. She was one of them. Fake or not, she belonged there.
"๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ," ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ. "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ."
Albeit the thought slightly set off her mood, she didn't mind it right now. After all, she was being used. Saying she 'belonged' to them was only a part of what they were capable of. Cowering in fear right now would only worsen any future possibilities. If she wished to save the people of Tymera, she needed to get them on her side.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต.
Suddenly brewing with confidence, Anya raised her head high and fought off her nerves. Breathing out slowly, she walked with an air of authority, one that befitted her status as a Zenlyn. She wouldn't be the young miss that winced in fear, she wouldn't be that girl who never knew about the world outside and was trapped within a barrier.
๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, she had promised herself. Running away now would mean she had given up. But she hadn't given up.
She was only getting started.
"Young Miss!" Pan's voice was ragged, and his sluggish movements confirmed it. He was drunk. And he had the brazenness to drive the carriage being drunk. Anya felt her rage spark to another level within her. It simmered in a massive spiral, ready to be unleashed. Her hands reached the sword at her side, but she held back the urge to use it.
๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, she reminded herself. ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
A few people shifted uncomfortably. The slaves held their eyes upon her like an adhesive, and the nobles dropped down their whips, stunned. The thugs had already merged in with the crowd, while a few of them disappeared behind the shadows.
"Pan," Anya said, pressing down her anger. "What is with all this commotion?"
"Errr miss! This braaattt ye dropped down on his buckets and my bad, I thought ye was dead!" he slurred, the gap between his yellow tooth visible. "Ye did it on purpose, didn't ye?!"
Pan pointed across him, where a young boy was down on both knees, his head touching the course ground. His body trembled, and Anya could guess it wasn't the cold that made his knees weak, but the fear that overwhelmed him.
She didn't wish to be feared. She only wished to help.
Anya approached the young boy, halting right in front of him.
"Child," Anya said, her voice half-apologetic. "You may raise your head."
The boy stiffened for a moment, half-hesitant. He slowly raised his head up, and Anya recognized he was the one from the street. The boy who gave the woman his share of the meal.
"Are you alright?" Anya scanned him from head to toe, concerned he was hurt somewhere. He had almost gotten hit by a carriage. "If you need something, please let me know."
The boy cocked his head to the side, confused. "A-aren't you going to p-punish me?"
Right, he was expecting to be punished. It was only natural. Slaves who rebelled against the nobility had to bear its consequences. It was the way of this world, and Anya felt stupid for not realizing it earlier. But something clicked inside her head. Like the spark of a tube light, she got an idea.
๐๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ? she thought to herself, pausing. ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ?
If she helped him right now, it would mean a 0.00000001% chance for her to win the trust of others. But it wasn't easy. If she wasn't too careful, she could end up being on their black list for the rest of her life. But if it worked out...
She has to make sure she won't screw it. There isn't a second chance.
Mentally prepared, Anya shook her head, clearing off any sort of stupid comments.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต? ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต! Anya slapped her cheeks, earning quite the number of weird looks, but she didn't care right now. She was in a dilemma. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ?
The only people she had talked to was either Senna or Welys. Though it's only been a week since her arrival, her socializing skills had gotten far worse than she could account for.
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ? She panicked. ๐๐ณ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ? ๐๐ฐ, ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ '๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฌ๐บ?' ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต...๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ?
๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ?
"Child," Anya asked, her tone raised a level higher just to sound imperious. "What is your name?"
"N-name?"
"Everybody has a name child," Anya smiled at him. "What is yours?"
He blinked thrice, before saying, "M-my name is...Coni."
"That's cute," Anya said before she could stop herself. Noticing Coni's clueless face, she cleared her throat. "I mean, very endearing."
He blinked again. ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ. Anya had always wanted a younger brother, and looking at Coni gave her flutters.
But she had matters at hand.
"So, is it true that you jumped in front of the cart?" Anya asked, interpreting what Pan had said. "But, why?"
Coni's eyes looked determined. Bowing down again, he repeated the formal greeting of the nobility. Left palm facing his chest and right arm behind his back. Gasps escaped from the mouths of the people, some already wishing his soul a farewell. A few women clamped their mouths shut and hid their childrens' eyes, almost as if to hinder them from viewing a murder scene.
For a slave, it was against the laws of Leselhia to greet in the way of the nobility.
Anya knew that, but the reactions of the people were so dramatic that for a moment she felt like she was inside a movie.
"You are quite bold," Anya said, her tone indifferent. Though she was pretty content inside, she wouldn't dare show it. Coni was the first person to greet her formally, apart from Welys. He might be a slave, but then again, Coni was still part of Tymera, the land that once held the highest pinnacle of everything. Whether that glory existed now was out of the question, because she was going to bring it back.
"I wish to work for you," he started, eyes fixated on the ground. "I can do anything! I can clean the carriage or even the stables! I am pretty good at cooking! I could even do the laundry---"
"Okay."
"I know you might not agree but...um, yes?" he tilted his head, difficulty in trying to process what he just heard.
"I said," Anya repeated, "but, of course."
Silence.
He seemed to pause, almost wondering whether to trust her. But something in between his confusion and determination, lay a thin line of freedom. Trusting your enemy was difficult, and working for the enemy was a brutal decision. But what he needed was freedom. Away from the suffering Tymera offered him. He was ready to accept her, but a final push was still necessary.
Anya kneeled down to match his height. A wave of hushed whispers surrounded the city, while people gawked at the sight of a nobility kneeling before a slave. But what did they know? This was the most important part. This was only a step to earning their trust. This much was nothing.
"You do realize that I am your enemy, don't you?" This question was meant for a later day, but Anya found it unusual. Why would someone want to work for her? She had a part in that massacre where countless people lost their lives. If there was any way to react, he should have acted like that little girl. A stone in her hand, ready to throw it at the monster in front of her.
"I d-don't c-care..." He sniffled between words. "I am h-hungry...and e-everyday is h-harsh. I j-just need a j-job."
"Aren't you afraid of me?" Anya asked, curious. "I might hurt you."
Silence. Again.
Anya brushed his wet cheek, and Coni slightly flinched under her touch. She felt like she was viewing another part of herself in this boy. Afraid, weak, but still resolved to survive. Sometimes, she had wondered if the real Anya's life would have been different if they treated her differently. If they had given enough warmth, maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have turned out to be the person she was in the future.
Everything would have been different. She wouldn't have ended up becoming the villainess.
"I won't hurt you," Anya promised, her gaze soft and warm. Though her motive was different, what she just said right now, she had meant it. "And I won't let anyone else hurt you either."
Coni's eyes glistened with tears threatening to spill out at any second.
There, the final push.
"T-thank you..." he broke down, and Anya pulled him in an embrace.
"Anya," she said, leaning away gently. "That's my name."
Anya's eyes scanned the crowds of people, whose eyes told a different story than earlier. They seemed less wary of her and more questioning. Few still had their faces masked in doubt, almost considering if what they just saw was a mere lie. Though it seemed like their anger was not directed at her mostly, it was still better than being the prey.
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, Anya thought, standing up. ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข.
Anya felt slightly satisfied, now that one of the problems was adjusted, even if it didn't trigger the entire storyline. Though she didn't know what would anticipate her, once that man found out that she picked someone up on the way, just like how he had picked her up. Since the thought was starting to get annoying, she shook her head, saving it for later.
"Let's go," Anya smiled, holding hands with Coni. His blue eyes were so delicate, so precious, and the more Anya gazed into them, the more she felt like she was forgetting something important.
Now that she thought about it, there was a similar scenario in the novel, a part where the original Anya had come across a person on her way to the capital.
Who was he?
๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ณ, ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ.
He had pledged his allegiance to the real Anya, breaking the laws of Leselhia.
๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ป๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ด.
Someone that Anya trusted so much, but he had ended up betraying her. He who had a part in her death, one of the Seven Gemmas who mass led the army of hidden dreams and nightmares.
๐๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ.
Someone whose existence threatened the Celeste Empire. A boy with indestructible power, one that rivalled every other protagonist in the book.
๐๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด.
๐๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด...๐ฃ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด...๐ฃ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด...
Anya's eyes snapped to her side, her brain stuttering as every part of her went on a pause, while her thoughts whirled uncontrollably.
The boy smiled up at her, his eyes forming a crescent-like shape.
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข ๐๐ง ๐๐ด๐บ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ.