Although Emilia’s existence had terrified her long before they had actually met at the Golden Crown, Kristie had still found her boyfriend Amos to be more ‘threatening’ of the two.
Compared to Amos, who had no qualms in taking his anger and frustration out on anyone who was helpless in his hands, Emilia was like a sharp blade that only flew in a set direction.
Kristie had long since known that as long as she didn’t get in the way of this ‘blade’, she would never get cut.
She thought it would be easy, as all she had to do was know her place and not provoke the beauty if they ever met. Given Emilia’s temperament, she was very unlikely to hurt an ‘innocent bystander’ like herself.
Unfortunately, no matter how she tried to think about things this way and convince herself that she could slowly change her status as a ‘stand-in’ and become the real girlfriend of Amos Black, reality always ended up slapping Kristie in the face.
Her boyfriend hadn’t just picked her up because of her appearance, but also because he sensed her meek and cowardly nature. He must have thought that she was someone easy to mold to his liking, yet still be kept ‘in line’, and he wasn’t exactly wrong.
For longer than she would like to admit, Kristie had really convinced herself that her life would mysteriously become perfect as long as she could become ‘as good as’ the real Crystal Miller.
Sometimes she even wondered if she could perhaps become even better, and truly reach the ‘pinnacle of life’.
So deep were her delusions that she even started to hate the real Crystal, even though she realized deep down that the girl probably didn’t even know of her existence.
Luckily, her boyfriend was always there to shatter her fantasies in time, and it didn’t take Kristie long to realize the truth.
Even if she managed to reach the ‘pinnacle of life’ that she was striving so hard for, was it really worth it if what waited for her at the peak was Amos Black?
The incident of him using her as a tool to anger and humiliate Alexander was perhaps the final wake-up call for Kristie, bringing all her hopes and fantasies crashing down until there was only resentment and fear left in her heart.
She could tell that Amos didn’t care about her even remotely enough to protect her from the person he had used her to anger, and there was not a single hint of pity in his eyes when he saw her helplessly facing Alexander Gray.
How long could she survive by staying with someone like that?
To say that she didn’t feel any guilt for betraying Amos wouldn’t be right. After all, regardless of whether her love was born from some misguided obsession, she truly did admire Amos at that time.
Still, Kristie didn’t regret her decision. If she didn’t look out for her own fate, who would?
Listening to Emilia’s assurance that she would be well protected from the people she had offended, and also get a ‘fresh start’ in the Empire of Blue Dawn, Kristie couldn’t help but be moved.
How could someone in a high enough position to be able to call herself an ‘Empress’ bother to care about someone so insignificant like her, especially when she was already done ‘serving her purpose’?
At best, she expected to be sent to the Empire and then left to fend for herself. She had already come to terms with that, and thought that it was definitely not a bad fate compared to dying as a pawn in the hands of Amos Black, never being treated as anything more than a disposable tool.
But when Kristie saw someone she had thought to be aloof and uncaring of worldly affairs take the time to bother with her, she couldn’t help but feel ashamed.
Not for her choices, but for thinking of Crystal as ‘stupid’ for picking Emilia over Amos. And even more so for thinking that someone so beautiful and gentle could ever do the same thing as Amos, and discard people after she was done using them.
Of course, she didn’t dare be jealous of Crystal now. She didn’t deserve it, and she didn’t even want to imagine what Emilia would think if she found out about it.
Seeing the girl remain silent for so long, the crimson-haired girl couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion. “Is there something you don’t understand?”
Kristie quickly shook her head in denial. “N-No, I understand everything, Empress!”
Emilia hummed happily as she hopped off of Justine’s lap, much to the older girl’s despair. “Great! You can go and rest in one of the guest bedrooms then, and you can go get one too, Justine. I’ll come talk to you soon!”
The blue-haired girl was both disappointed at having to part from Emilia so quickly, and excited when she thought about what might be waiting for her in the ‘guest bedroom’ soon.
Without the slightest bit of delay, she quickly dragged the sluggish Kristie out of the hall, not wanting to leave the slightest chance of causing Emilia any dissatisfaction.
Emilia couldn’t help but giggle as she watched the blue-haired girl rush off like a tornado. “Quite energetic, isn’t she?”
Rhea gulped nervously. “Y-Yeah.”
Now that it was only the two of them in the hall, the budding actress couldn’t help but feel a shiver of terror run up her spine.
She may not have liked Alexander, but having heard of his death, and facing the most likely ‘mastermind’ behind it, to say that she was terrified would be an understatement.
Unlike Kristie, Rhea knew that she hadn’t really had much of a choice when it came to picking a side. She wasn’t so stupid as to believe that she would have been spared had she not agreed to cooperate fully.
After all, for people who could so easily get rid of Alexander Gray, someone like her could probably be erased so thoroughly that no one would be able to prove that she’d even existed.
In her fear, the shadows from the gently swaying curtains file like ethereal ghosts out to get her, and with how huge the hall was, Rhea felt like she wouldn’t be able to escape no matter how she ran.
Even the soft and comfortable sofa beneath her seemed to be something otherworldly, meant to keep her locked in place by sucking her in.
The more she thought about it, the more everything seemed to be straight out of a horror movie. And with Emilia’s overly beautiful face, she wouldn’t actually look too out of place as a supernatural creature in such a setting, would she?
Emilia couldn’t help but pout. “Why do I feel like you’re thinking something incredibly offensive about me?”
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