Second Life's Revenge

Laura lifted her head as she looked out the window, admiring the beautiful flowers in the garden. Still admiring the flowers, the necklace placed on the table reflects on the window, catching Laura's attention.

Laura walked to the dressing table and carefully held the necklace. Laura smiled sadly while looking at it. It was a good thing she finally got the necklace back.

But she knew that things were far from over between her and Tine. And she knew that things are about to get more and more complicated. Laura got her jewelry box and placed the necklace back to where it was supposed to be.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Mary entered the room, announcing her presence. As she closed the door, Laura noticed that Mary was holding a box. Laura looked at Mary curiously, wondering what was in the box.

Mary placed the box on the table in front of Laura, and opened it, revealing different kinds of sweets. Laura excitedly sat on the couch as she eyed for the chocolate mousse. It was her favorite and once she takes a bite, no one can stop her from eating it.

Mary noticed this and quickly gave the chocolate mousse to Laura, whose eyes were sparkling. Laura then got the mousse and ate it happily. It was heaven for Laura. She knew that no one could stop her from eating the chocolate mousse.

If someone tried to stop her, she would be furious beyond belief. After finishing one chocolate mousse herself, Laura felt replenished from all the fighting she had with Tine.

She thought 'if only Tine was good and not selfish.'

Not everything in the world will always be by your side.

"Pathetic, that's what she is." Laura tried to calm herself down after thinking about Tine. She shouldn't lose her calm right now.

Mary confusingly looked at Laura and hoped that she wasn't going to do something that would make her worried again.

Now that she thought about it, the future Laura had in mind was changing all too fast. She was worried that all events were changing, especially the day Tine would intentionally fall off the stairs, framing Laura. Just thinking about it scares Laura.

What if she doesn't succeed in getting her revenge? Or what if Tine would do something Laura doesn't know or expect? It scared Laura because the future was changing so much and she had suddenly gotten involved with so many things. She wasn't ready for anything.

For instance, how she became acquainted with the duke and how she had accidentally met Tiyne. Laura shook her head and thought, 'this is not the time to be scared.'

Everything is moving, time isn't going to stop, and there's no turning back now. Laura's eyes wandered to the secret cabinet and almost forgot about the journal. For the past three months, nothing had appeared, and Laura almost lost hope in the journal.

But this time it was different. When Laura noticed something bright shining from the cabinet she politely asked Mary to leave her room.

The moment Mary left, Laura immediately got the box out of the secret cabinet and got the key out of her pocket. And when Laura got the journal out of the box, the journal suddenly floated on air and opened on its own.

Laura covered the light that was blinding her with one arm and looked at the journal, as its pages flipping one after another rapidly. After a few seconds, it stopped and Laura spread her arms wide, ready to catch the journal.

The journal then slowly landed on Laura's hand and as the light slowly diminished, her eyes widened, dropping the journal onto the floor. It's not possible, Laura thought. How can this happen? Laura picked up the journal and read it again once more.

Laura thought she was going crazy or hallucinating and didn't want to believe it, but it was written in the journal.

"On the night of the duke's journey. An arrow will strike into his heart and he will die. Save him, for he will be your future."

Laura had forgotten that the duke had died at a young age. She felt guilty after reading it, and she felt sad.

'How can a guy like him die so at such a young age?'

Laura shuts the journal and decides that she will save Erwin. Even if she didn't like him that much, Laura wanted Erwin to live and have the future he did not have in the past. Laura remembered when the people of the empire had mourned his death.

Their faces were all painted with sadness that the only person who could have saved the empire had died. Because they needed a leader who could out-throne the emperor.

However, Erwin has no intention of getting the throne because he knows that the crowned prince deserves it more than he does.

Laura pressed her forehead onto the table, as she thought about writing to Erwin. She did not want to invite him to her birthday party. But if she doesn't, what other excuses can she use to meet him?

After a while of thinking, Laura called Mary in, asking her to get a nice envelope and a scented paper. This way it would convince Erwin to come and have a talk with her.

Mary called Laura, breaking her free from her thoughts, and handed her the envelope and scented paper. She looked at Laura curiously, wondering who she was going to write to. She smirked secretly and wondered if it was to a boy.

Laura's mind suddenly turned blank as she looked at the paper. Why is she doing this? She thought. Laura didn't want to write, but in the end, she knew she had to do it, so she forced herself to do so.

"Mary, send this to the Ferguson estate."

"What?!"

"Don't question me. Send it as soon as you can. I need him to read this by today."

Mary left the room, not asking a question, but she was rather happy that her lady was finally making a move in finding a suitor. Laura slouched in her seat and hoped that he would read it as soon as possible.

Now she needed to think of a plan for stopping his journey. She did not know when exactly when it would happen, but Laura wanted Erwin not to die a second time. Laura looked outside the window and realized that it was turning dark outside.

Just how long did she take to write a single letter? Laura was in deep thought and had not noticed Lester entering her room.

Lester looked at Laura and called her name out, but she did not respond. He called her name out once more, but still, she did not respond. Lester sighed as he walked closer to Laura, he then tapped her shoulder startling her.

Laura nearly jumped out of her seat and turned around, scolding Lester. He apologized and told Laura that the second prince was here to have dinner with them. Laura gave Lester a dejected look and wished she was just a ghost in the prince's eyes.

Laura was regretting being an interesting person to the prince and wished his eyes were on Tine instead. She didn't like Tine glaring at her, especially while she's eating. Imagine having someone glare at you while you're having a meal.

This made Laura feel like she could get indigestion and lose her appetite.

'I wish for things to end already. It doesn't even feel like it's my birthday tomorrow.'

Laura stood up and walked to the dining hall. She planned to stay quiet so that the prince wouldn't question her. Be like air, she thought. On the way to the dining room, she bumped into the person she didn't want to meet or see at all.

Laura bowed slightly and greeted Prince Winston.

"It has been a while, Miss Laura."

"It is an honor to see you again, Your Highness Winston."

"Aw... didn't I ask you to just call me Winston?"

"Yes, you did, but we are in a public setting, and like we agreed I will not."

"You're so shy, Miss Laura."

"I am not." Laura felt impatient and wanted Prince Winston to go back to his castle. She wondered why Tine would fall in love with a guy like him, a womanizer.

Laura and Prince Winston both arrived in the dining room, and the atmosphere was very tense. Laura felt uncomfortable to be alone with the prince because who knows what he's going to ask her.

Prince Winston smirked and wanted to ask Laura a question. He was interested in the girl his cousin had his eyes on. He rested both his hands on the table and smiled at Laura.

Laura smiled back and looked away after. She knew that Prince Winston wanted to ask a question to her. But she thought it would be best if she had avoided having eye contact with him.

"I heard it's your birthday tomorrow."

"It is. I didn't know you are aware of that," Laura smiled.

"Advanced happy birthday," Prince Winston greeted.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"How many times do I need to remind you to call me Winston?"

"I just don't feel like it."

"I won't force you. But I heard something interesting from my cousin. He recently met a girl he's interested in."

"Is that so?" Laura held her hands together and knew that the person was talking about was Erwin.

At this point, she wanted to run out of the room, but it would be rude if she did. Laura wished that it wasn't the prince who was questioning.

"At least be interested in it. You know who I am talking about right?"

Laura flinched as she calmly looked at Prince Winston. She gave him a smile and pretended not to know. Laura screamed internally, wishing for the Prince to stop asking her questions.

"I don't have no clue about who you're talking about." Prince Winston's smile then turned into a frown, making Laura shiver. He knew that Laura wasn't a simple person, but he didn't like dishonest people.

Laura gulped nervously and felt troubled. Laura was about to say something until suddenly, Count Harrison entered the room, greeting the prince. Laura sighed in relief and thanked Count Harrison softly. If it weren't for him, she would be stuck in a very complicated situation.

"I'll get back to you next time." His smile had returned, and he greeted the count cheerfully, acting as if nothing had happened.

Laura greeted the count before he took his seat. All they were waiting for was Tine, whom Laura assumed she was dressing up for the prince. Laura had a feeling that Prince Winston didn't have any interest in Tine.

But knowing that they would be engaged in the future scares Laura. She thought, 'what if she had gone to the bad side of the prince?'. But the truth was, the prince couldn't dislike Laura because of his cousin, the duke.

The door opened once more and entered Tine, who was apologizing for being late and quickly walked to her seat. She greeted the prince and Laura noticed her expression had changed.

'The lady of the day is late. Like what they say, being late means you're the star of the night.'

While all four of them ate their dinner, a maid interrupted Laura and handed her a letter. Laura looked at the seal and it was a Ferguson emblem.

Somehow her heart had skipped a beat, making her wonder why she felt like that. She was supposed to dislike Erwin, not like him.

It wasn't like her to feel that way. She felt weird. She shook her head, getting rid of her thoughts. Remembering that she was here to have dinner with them, not to fantasize about the duke.