Hellbents
Chapter 183: Prickly
Although everyone pretended to be ignorant, no one could deny that Princess Eve put up an imaginary wall that limited their interactions. The princess was already well-known as an anti-social person so no one was too shocked, even though it did not help them in venturing out to receive a short, dry, response, and often stab when they try to get close.
The only exception was the figure of a toddler they knew as a dragon who was suddenly taken home by Princess Eve. But that privilege doesn't seem to help much either.
"You're supposed to save mana."
"Taphi I want to play with my friends!"
"Siwon, we're in the middle of a labyrinth gate that locks our level and status. You should have realized."
"I'm boshan!"
"Whatever it is, just don't waste any mana. We don't know when we're gonna need it."
"Ugh, fine." In the end, Siwon complied even though he was upset when scolded.
Ava knows her attitude is unfair.
Siwon, the little dragon was basically just a child forced into a crisis situation that an adult should have resolved. Unfortunately, ironically, the toddler had better skills and status than most nobles in their group.
Ava realized that the aura she was emitting was more like a hedgehog pelted with stones, tense and thorny. Even Ellijah, who acts like a stalker every day, prefers to keep her distance first. River also tries not to disturb Ava even though the man is only worried about her health, a normal response when she is found to be blood-soaked.
Ah, I don't know.
He is being sensitive and Ava still has no intention of changing, at least not for now.
His dream two nights ago was still deep in his bloody heart. Grievous. But removing it would only open the wound, leaving a hole he feared he would not be able to patch.
Don't forget that this is not your place.
Is correct. This fantasy world is not his home world.
His role here is only a replacement for Eve who still has not seen the trunk of her nose, somewhere.
No one really accepts you but us.
Since childhood, he has considered the twins as his closest people. The family? A fella? Ava did not dare to put a label on their relationship.
Otherwise, give me back my twin that you killed!
But ... is his presence just as important to Lexa?
The evil version of Lexa in her dream has torn apart the fragile security that guards her heart. Although he knew, the figure in his sleeping flower was only a manifestation of his own bad thoughts. Of the triumvirate, it was Lexa who held the role of a quiet sage, although their ages were not much different, ever since they first met in the orphanage library. In her mind, Ava understood that Lexa could not possibly spit out those poisonous words. But his heart remained trembling.
Then Alex.
Ava glanced at Ellijah from the corner of her eye. A Duke who tangles with Eve, the dopplegangger who has kidnapped Ava into this dimension.
Just by looking at the silhouette of the man within her sight, Ava almost felt a familiarity that made her calm down. Scant. Because Alex doesn't have eyes that glow dark with obsession. Don't behave like Ava's the world. There is no such thing as a complicated precaution in their relationship.
Alex is not Ellijah.
And vice versa.
Ava is not Eve.
... The sooner he returns to his original world the better.
Whether she still gets accepted by Lexa or not, it will be a problem for Ava in the future, not her current self.