Chapter 10
Under the brightest stars in the moonlight, a girl is crying in front of a man, separated by only a cell and a glass. They sit on opposite sides, filled with emotions like gazing, worry, and even hatred, creating a heavy atmosphere in the room.
"How could you?" the girl whispered to the man in front of her, a mix of anger and sadness evident in her voice. It appeared that the man had no words to say; he fell silent, bowing his head, unable to respond. The woman continued crying.
"How...how?!" her voice raised, and the man, with his head still bowed, looked up at the girl with eyes full of remorse and guilt.
"I know, apologizing isn't enough, for what I did" he hesitantly said to the woman. Her eyes, full of tears, widened in shock as she deliberately clenched her fists.
"You—out of all people, how could you kill Andre?!" she asked, anger resonating in her voice. "Lanaya—" the man uttered her name, and the woman became even angrier.
"Don't utter my name from your mouth! You dare to deceive me?- You dared to make a fool out of me—how could you? Out of all people I trust, you—you are the one who killed my husband?!!" she asked, her voice filled with anguish, continuing to cry with tears flowing abundantly.
Silence filled the room.
"Resent me," the man said.
Lanaya looked at him in disbelief. "What would you do if you lost something important to you?" Lanaya asked the man suddenly.
"W-w-what do you mean by that?" the man asked in a slow tone.
"You also don't know?" she said in a low tone, smiled. "You've made me lose something important twice!!!," she added, she toned as if she is losing her mind.
Then, Lanaya stood up, making the chair drop with a noise that echoed everywhere. The man was shocked and baffled, prompting him to stand as Lanaya decided to turn her back against him.
"I will never resent you, and at the same time, never forgive you, Axel," she said, tears continuing to flow.
La-La Point of View
I'm gasping for breath, my chest aching from that dream, overwhelmed by a mix of anger and sadness. It's an agony that leaves me feeling like I'm losing my mind. Who is that? I recognize the man behind the cell—it's Axel, the Axel I know. The vividness is striking, even though he looks different with changed hair and eyes. Yet, it's unmistakably him. The woman in the reflection on the glass is me. I'm seeing myself. How—how is this possible?
This must be some kind of—no—how can I dream like this in the first place?
But then, a realization hits me like a wave—it's not a dream. It's a memory.
A memory.
Suddenly, my phone rings. Axel's name flashes on the screen—of all times. Strangely, I can't bring myself to answer him, an instinct I usually follow. For some reason, I don't want to hear him, see him, or even talk to him. It's clear; I am angry with him.
Third Person Point of View
La-La was filled with a myriad of emotions as she hesitantly answered the phone, allowing the conflicting feelings to surge through her body. Slowly, she placed the phone against her ear.
"Hello?!" Axel's voice erupted from the other end, but La-La simply bowed her head, her hands clenched tightly.
"Are you there?" Axel inquired, but Lala remained silent, lost in her own emotional turmoil.
"Geez, I know you're there. Did you just wake up? You know, just hear me out. I'm on my way there to help you clean up; you better get ready," Axel spoke with enthusiasm, his voice filled with excitement.
"No, don't come," La-La uttered in a strained tone.
"Huh?" Axel was confused. "What do you mean, don't come? Are you okay? Is something going on?" he continued to express concern.
"I said, don't come!," La-La repeated, abruptly ending the call. Tears streamed down her face as confusion and a flood of emotions overwhelmed her. As she touched her tear-streaked face, shock registered in her expression. Unconsciously, she continued to cry, unsure of why she was crying so much
.On the other line
Axel got confused and looked at his phone in disbelief.
"What's wrong with her? I even brought her favorite food," he said, holding a plastic bag.
A few moments later
La-La Point of View
My phone rang, and despite feeling a bit weighed down, I decided to answer it.
"Ms. Lanaya, good morning," the voice from the phone greeted.
"Good morning?" I wondered, and when I checked the number, I saw that it was labeled as my employer.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"I'm on my way though. Is there any problem with this sudden call?" I asked, a note of concern in my voice.
"There's a sudden change to your schedule. One of my workers unexpectedly requested an early leave. Even though your shift is in an hour, can you arrive earlier?" he asked in a hurry.
"Absolutely, I can manage that," I responded. I sensed a sigh of relief on the other end.
"Thank you very much, Ms. Lanaya. It's a pleasure working with you," he expressed graciously before ending the call.
Feeling like I needed to leave now huh-, but as I opened the door, and there, I saw Axel's face. Instantly, a pain in my chest surfaced. What is happening? But then, Axel smiled at me –
"Good morning," he greeted with a delighted look on his face. However, the pain persisted, and I instinctively held his right shoulder, pushing him away.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
"Leave me alone," I said, feeling even more pain in my chest because of the dream. Despite my attempt to walk away, he held my wrist, making me stop.
"Let me go," I said with a stern tone. I noticed the shock on his face, but I chose to walk away as he released me. What's with this pain? What the hell is wrong with me?
Third Person Point of View
La-La left Axel with a baffled expression, leaving him shocked as he couldn't figure out what he did wrong. He glanced inside Lala's apartment, realizing there seemed to be no issue. Running his fingers through his silky black hair, he let it sway like grass in the wind. With a concerned look and distant eyes, he watched Lala, who was now looking away.
"Does she know?" he whispered.
La-La point of View
I regret my earlier reaction, but as an MT, I can't have dreams, as we lack a heart or attachments. While we can feel emotions, it's merely a façade to blend in with humans. However, that dream, if it's true, if it's a memory from my past life, I fear. I fear that Axel's sins may be linked to that dream, as the emotions it stirs in me suggest a deep connection. He's a killer, and the one he killed might be my husband from my past life. That dream can't be an illusion; it feels like a recollection.
His sins are intertwined with me, and if that's the case, my sins are connected to him too. This dream triggers a hatred I never knew I had, and it pains me deeply. Just being friends with Axel, if he indeed killed someone precious to me in my past life, how can destiny play such a cruel game, making us meet each other? In this way
A few moments later
"I apologize that I didn't inform you," Zayne said. I was shocked to see him standing there, waiting for me as he revealed himself to be the owner of the place.
"Are you really the owner of this place?" I questioned, and he nodded.
So that's why our conversation felt so familiar.
"I have a question, though. Did you hire me because you knew it was me?" I asked him, and he nodded once again.
"I don't think that's fair," I said, but he just smiled.
"It is fair. It's better to hire someone I know than someone I don't trust," he explained.
"But wait, didn't we meet after the interview? Why didn't you tell me about this?" I inquired.
"I think there is no reason to," he answered. I was puzzled by his response. He is weird….
"You didn't have a reason to?" I was about to ask when he reached for something on the table and handed it to me. As I opened my palm to see, it was the key to the library.
"We already went through the procedures and interviews for this job. I hope I can trust you with this," he said with a smile.
"Wait, I..." I began to say as he was about to step out. "What is it?" he asked.
"Do you trust me with this?" I questioned. "I know you hired me because you know me, so I don't think this is right."
"We did an interview, right?" he asked me. "Yes, we did," I answered.
"Then there will be no problem trusting you with this. Also, I hired you for the job, not just because I know you," he explained. Just what the...
"I'm going to be late. I'll see you later, Ms. Lanaya," he said as he bid farewell to me. I just waved back. Huh- wait what just happened?!!!
A few moments later
A guy arrived with others on his back, but I immediately felt a familiar aura from him.
"We are going to borrow a room for ten hours," he said, handing me a black card. As our eyes met, the recognition was evident.
"What do you think you're going to do here?" I asked, taking his card and holding it between the two fingers of my right hand, raising it slightly. He smiled.
"Are you one of us?" he asked in an excited tone.
"Well, I'm not a greedy nine-tailed fox, though," I replied. His smile disappeared, and the others on his back looked at me seriously. Dismissing the black card onto the table, I continued.
"Just what do you think you're doing here, huh? You little fox, this is a library," I said to them.
Although they appeared human and dressed as such, we, Mythical Creatures or MTs, could detect each other. Even though we were required to blend in with people, we could identify fellow MTs due to the highlighted faces, as all MTs are good-looking and possess a unique aura. As someone who has lived for a hundred years, I could discern these differences.
"Get out," I added, but the one in the middle pushed the black card toward me. I looked at him with a stern expression.
"I can't even detect what kind of MT you are, but even so, can you kindly mind your own business?" he said in a tone as others smirked.
What kind of plot is this, huh?
"This is my business," I said firmly.
"T-t-then I don't care if this is your business. Kindly just wipe out this card and let us do our job," he said, whispering.
"Yes, little miss, let us do our job," the other one added. I sighed, grabbed the card, and slapped it onto the one in the middle. I could see his eyebrows frown.
"What the hell?!" he shouted, getting the attention of everyone in the library. I stood up, making them step backward. I walked out from behind my table and decided to pull the ears of two of them.
"These kids..." I muttered. "Just what are you doing?" both of them said in harmony, but I pulled them outside, creating a ruckus. Once outside, I released their ears, and the other one followed them, making it three of them outside.
"You," the other one said, raising her hand at me, but I looked at her sternly, and she hesitated, stopping what she was about to do.
"I know you three are new. Did your seniors guide you in your work?" I asked, and they looked at each other.
"We don't have seniors," one of them answered.
"Is that even important? The fact that she harassed us is something to discuss," the other one said.
"You shut up," I commanded the one who spoke loudly. She immediately fell silent.
"My name is La-La. I am a Love Hunter from class 32-B, living here for a hundred years, basically I’m older show some respect" I introduced myself. They murmured to each other.
"You're just a Love Hunter. You're lowly folks to us," one of them dared to mock me. I smirked.
"Lowly, in terms of rank. But if we're going to talk about sins, your nine-tailed sins are much more," I said to them. "And you three, do you even know that this library is for Griffin jobs and not for foxes like you? If you try to gather energy here, you will drain people, and that's not fair. All the customers here are students, and draining them is not the right job." "But who cares?" the other one said. Who cares?! Huh?!
Gah, these kids are boiling my blood.
"Are you idiots? Do you want to write a freaking 10-page report? You know your job will be lost if continue to fail," I said to them, taking a step forward.
"And as we fail continuously," I added in a scary tone, "we will be banished," I said to them slowly, making them fear the consequences. "Get out of here. There's a karaoke place across the street. You can gain some energy there," I said to them and walked away.