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Chapter 2 - Suspicion Bar

As my eyes flutter open the first thing that I notice is that the lighting is different. The second thing was that instead of being in water I am now in a soft and plushy bed, with many pillows and frilly blankets. What?

"Good morning Aria! Sleeping in late this morning?" says a bright and chipper female voice, one that I don't immediately recognize.

I turn to look at the speaker and see a young woman close to my age, looking down at me.

I blink, startled. How had someone gotten into... My... Oh. Oh no. Did she say Aria? She did, didn't she. This makes that strange dream in the bathtub make a little bit more sense, although it still made much less sense than it should. Am I still dreaming? Have I died? Wait, if I died that meant I somehow drowned in my bathtub and I was much too sober for that to have happened.

Somehow, without the help of truck-kun, I have been isekai'd into the game that I had been playing. And, as has gotten rather popular of late, I have become the villainess. Oh joy. Look at me, so excited. Can I even make a good villainess? And what had dream guy said, that there would be consequences if anyone was to discover my identity? And save points? What did that mean. That... That wasn't so common. Does that mean that if I do something particularly stupid I can rewind back to an earlier time? That may actually be a convenient addition to such a common trope.

"Oh, I do apologize. I did not mean to have slept in so late." I say groggily, stretching my arms above my head and yawning.

"Oh that's okay my lady. You seemed rather sullen yesterday, so I am not at all surprised that you slept in today."

"Oh? Did I seem rather sullen? By any chance, do you know what made my mood plummet so much as to be called sullen?" Was I doing her voice correctly? I think this is the way many villainesses speak, right? I think that I was getting this right. I have spent a lot of time speaking with Aria, in case a romance or friendship with her is what led to the hidden route being unlocked.

What do I even know about Aria? Well, I know that she works in a rather popular shop, selling charms, love and luck potions. She excelled at making potions in her classes at school.

Something that is unique to My Fair Lady, How I Love Thee is that all the characters are young adults and not teenagers. It is a rather refreshing change if I do say so myself. And Iam not the only one saying this. Many people are praising that aspect online.

Wait, what am I supposed to be doing.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry. My mind is in a bit of a daze from sleeping in. What had me sullen?"

"Well my lady, it was because Heinrick came into your shop yesterday and started shouting at you in front of everyone to stop selling that horse urine that you are claiming are luck potions to the new recruits hoping to become knights. He says that if it takes our luck potions to help them become knights that they weren't fit to protect an old soggy boot."

As she is saying this a vision of what occurred plays through my head. Oh. Will I be able to access some of Aria's memories? That would make everything a lot less complicated. Let's see. The young girl speaking to me right now is...

"Ah thank you Poppy. It seemed that I dreamt that never having happened. It did happen then? How unfortunate."

Okay I am able to access her name. What else do I know about her. I close my eyes and see if I get anything. Okay, little snippets. Aria met Poppy when they were young ladies, around the age of ten. Poppy's family had fallen on hard times and so they needed their middle child to take a job. The king had been looking for a new handmaiden for Aria, to make her feel like part of the family or other such nonsense. He just wanted to make himself look good in the eyes of the people. Caring for his late wife's orphan daughter. He was more than pleased to take Poppy in.

Okay... So Aria has always treated her servants well enough, no bullying or striking them at the very least, and has a close friendship with Poppy. One built on bullying and tormenting others, but a friendship none the less. That's good, at least at home I can act a bit less like a demanding little tyrant. If I don't act a bit spoiled though, will it draw attention to me being different than the original Aria?

"And... How was it that I responded? My mind seems to have gone conveniently... Blank on the topic." I say, trying to hide me nerves. This is not something that Aria would forget. It would most likely be something that she would boast and brag about.

"Let's see. Oh! You told him that he needed to get out of your store right away or you were going to procure horse urine and dump it all over his bed to make sure that he knew the difference. Then you called him a dunderhead and threatened to throw the bottle you were holding at his head."

"Oh. Well. To be fair, he deserved it." i say, my voice sounding still heavy with sleep.

"How is it that you forgot something like that though Aria? Don't you normally keep a diary or something of all of the cruel things that you do, in order to engrain it deeper into your mind? At least that's what you told me." she says, her voice beginning to sound more than a little suspicious. I notice something small above her head. They were faint but I could see them. There was a small bar that says affection and another that says suspicion. There was barely any color in the affection bar, but the suspicion bar was beginning to have some color. Does the color mean the increase in affection and suspicion?

"Shall we have your favorite breakfast this morning lady? Poached eggs, pancakes, bacon and rosehip tea?" she asks me sweetly.

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Was that Aria's favorite breakfast? I want to spend time trying to see if I could come up with her favorite breakfast in my mind, but I knew there simply wasn't time for that. I have to take a risk.

"That sounds lovely. Would you care to join me for breakfast?" I ask her. It might be nice not to eat alone. I had been eating alone so often lately that I don't remember what it is like to enjoy a meal with someone.

"Of course! I would love to spend time eating with you. I will go have them make your favorite breakfast and come back when it is finished."

"Thank you Poppy." I say. Once she leaves the room I spring out of bed and begin to search every nook and cranny that could possibly hide a diary. I need to read it and see if I could quickly learn anything about this girl. Later on I will have to focus and see how I could trigger seeing her memories, but for now I will have to settle with reading.

I take too much time looking for it, putting things back exactly where they were so that Poppy wouldn't notice that anything is different. i finally find it, but it is too late to read it as the door swings open. I quickly shove the diary under a stuffed animal.

"Here is breakfast!" she says and sets it down on a cute little table on the right side of the room. It was a white table with flower designs around the rim. The chairs were also white, with purple cushions. They were plush and very comfortable to sit on.

"Thank you." I tell her and pick up my silverware to dig in. I then notice a rather large knife on the table as well. Is there anything in this breakfast that requires a knife? Poppy notices me looking at it.

"Obviously we are going to have a cake brought to us for dessert. I just grabbed the knife ahead of time. Remember when one of the staff tried to bring in a knife and the cake at the same time?"

A vivid memory flashed through my mind. A maid with lovely cake came into the room and was leaning over to place the cake on the table. The knife ended up falling down and stabbing clean through her foot.

"I do remember. How unlucky do you have to be to drop a knife and have it drive all the way through your foot."

Poppy laughs, a cute little laugh like the tinkling of bells. "Haha isn't it fun to laugh at the misfortune of others?" she asks me before cutting a piece of pancake and putting it into her mouth.

"Naturally. Especially when it comes from their own bad luck."

I see the suspicion meter above her head rise and wonder what I said wrong. A little voice in the back of my head told me that I usually say it is the most fun to laugh when we were the ones that caused the chaos and misery. Hmm, I wonder what happens when the suspicion meter fills up fully, though to be honest it kept rising and was nearly full.

"Aria, you should make sure that you drink down your tea while it is still hot." I decide to be contrary and put a bite of pancake into my mouth first. It was so fluffy, sweet and good. I can see why this is her favorite breakfast. Once finishing my bite I take a sip of tea as Poppy is just staring me me and motioning her hand towards the tea. This girl seems so bossy. I am not a fan.

I pick up the porcelain tea cup and bring it to my lips. I blow on it gently, wishing to cool down the tea and not cause a mess. Once I feel it was cool enough to drink I take a sip. It was the perfect tea sipping temperature. I set the cup back onto the table.

"Do you like the tea? I decided to make it myself today."

"You did a fine job. It is a perfectly made cup of tea." I tell her, and then look over to her own cup, which was suspiciously still full. Maybe she is the type to wait until she is finished eating, and then wash down the food with her tea? I wasn't sure but was beginning to feel nervous.

I shake off my nerves and continue to enjoy my breakfast. However, something weird began to happen to my body when I finished the first pancake and started to nibble on the bacon. I am having a hard time moving my hands. There are tingles shooting up and down my arms and my mouth is beginning to feel numb.

"Poppy, do you think there is something wrong about the food today?" I ask her.

"Oh, I believe that they used a new spice. It is supposed to relax your body to enjoy a bath after eating. Do you think they added too much?" she asks me, "I am feeling rather relaxed myself." she says, and smirks at me. Smirks at me? She has had a rather cute smile so far this morning, even while talking about the suffering of others.

"Oh. I see. Perhaps I am simply not used to it yet."

"Why would you be. Like I said. It is new." she picks up her tea and it looks as though she is sipping at it. I glance at the levels of liquid in her teacup as soon as she sets it down and my blood begins to freeze in my veins. She hasn't drank any of it. Why hasn't she drank any of it?

After I began to notice the effects of the food on my body the feeling started to quicken, moving through me. Soon I wasn't even able to lift my pinky finger.

"That sure works fast doesn't it? Now then, before you can't speak anymore. Who. Are. You?"

"What a stupid question." I hiss at her, from between clenched teeth. I see the color of her irises turning from a light amber color to red. There is a heavy feeling of pressure in the room. Before I know what is happening Poppy picks up the knife and leans towards me. She places the knife against my throat and I feel the cold metal biting my skin. Thin trails of red run down my delicate and pale skin. I feel a memory of wanting to pay in my mind, but I did not lean into it. I needed to keep my whit's about me.

"One last chance. Who are you and what did you do with my princess"

"I am your princess." I try to shout at her but the words only come out as a whisper."

"Too bad. I don't like liars." she says and I feel the cold blade moving across my throat. I look down and see the blood pouring out of my neck and down my nightgown, staining everything it touches. I try to speak again, well, I try to scream actually but only blood bubbles up and out of my mouth. It seems she cut deep enough the she severed my vocal chords. How unfortunate.

I suppose part of my mind has been wondering if this is a dream. I look at the madness in Poppy's eyes, feel the burning across my throat where she sliced it, and the way the rest of my body was feeling cold.

"How are you still alive?" she asks and lifts the knife up before plunging it into my chest and screaming, "I hate liars over and over again." These are the last words I hear before the world fades to black.

'Is this what it is like to die?' I ask myself.

While floating in the darkness I hear a faint noise and color begins to stream into my mind.

"Hi, my name is Poppy. It is nice to meet you. From today forward I am going to be your personal new personal handmaiden."

"Hi Poppy. My name is Aria. I hope we get along from now on."

Images flash through my mind rapidly. Aria and Poppy walking together, pulling pranks like putting color in people's shampoo to color their hair, or putting frogs in their bookbags. Harmless fun. I them see us mocking others, and Poppy tripping them as they are walking down the hallway and Aria laughing with her. Oddly, I never see Aria trip anything. Isn't she supposed to be the villain?