Chapter 2.28: The Masquerade Duet

A rickety elevator opened and out stepped a lone, white slipper that had a beaded edge. Its owner had matching white stockings that contrasted perfectly with them as they walked fully out. This allowed anyone outside to see the entire outfit that the woman was wearing. It was a beautiful soft-toned hanfu that matched the color code of the rest of the party but stood out nonetheless. A mask that sat on the woman's upper face, shaped like a crescent moon, left one of her eyes visible as she sighed. She felt out of place with everyone else staring at her with accusatory looks in their eyes. She kept her composure and walked into the growing crowd.

Leila hadn't packed many dresses, as she didn't plan to party much on the trip. And the weather was already chilly, so wearing something so thin wasn't in her best interest. But with the Masquerade ball, she had to wear anything she could that fit the theme. So, she put the hanfu on with some warm stockings and said goodbye to Liliko'i. The blonde had woken up fine but still was incredibly weak after fainting. She encouraged the darker-haired woman to still go. She felt guilty and didn't want to drag Leila down. This made the heiress worry. Lili was blaming herself for what was ultimately both of their faults. She hadn't told the younger woman yet due to overall fear it would make her condition worse. Throwing such a heavy truth onto her shoulders was just wrong to do.

The heiress was paranoid as she walked alone, declining drinks and shrugging off any drunk noblemen. These people had a bad idea of who she was and her intentions. She had assumed it was only Lili they thought poorly of. But now she could see it was the both of them they felt distrustful of. Leila hated this, as now she was in an unpleasant situation in the middle of the ocean with no way out. They behaved like she was a slimeball. The heiress tried to sit at a half-full table of single women and they scurried off with sour expressions. She declined a drink for the fifth time and the man looked like he wanted to spit in her face. She sat down in a corner and wished for a mere minute that she smoked to release stress.

With her left leg properly up, she leaned back and let her body relax a bit. She wiggles her feet in her too-tight shoes, trying not to grimace. "This sucks."

"Shouldn't you be taking care of your sister?"

Leila groaned and turned as she recognized that voice. It was the dish hockey from before, but he was dressed in a white tux with a caramel bow tie. He rolled up his cuffs as he walked closer with an irritated look on his face. It disgusted her that this guy had some weird issue with her. They were utter strangers, and he acted like she called him a pussy every day of his childhood. She became equally annoyed as he was and stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. The heiress looked him in the eye as she responded tactfully.

"My sister is fine and wanted me to have fun. Like I said before, mind your business." Leila said sternly.

He raised an eyebrow and laughed. "And know my place since you're some high and mighty heiress. You people are always the same, no matter the backstory."

"Save your upper-class hate boner for the next woman in this place you manage to irritate. You are the one who bumped into my sister and then accused me of hurting her out of nowhere. Wealth has nothing to matter with it." This was true, Leila didn't care if he was poor or rich. She'd still be angry with his actions.

But by the way he looked at her, she knew he didn't believe her. And that made him more irritated as he nodded his head sarcastically. "Yeah, right. You sure proved that by wearing your most expensive gown on the most expensive cruise ship to the poorest place on the whole continent. Where I'm guessing you'll drink and dance in your costly resort room with your fellow failed members of royalty." Each sentence was more bitter than the next, with its sudden projection.

Leila laughed to herself now and started to walk away while retorting. "Even if all that was true and I'm a failure, who is snobby in your eyes? So what? Does my supposed personality and wealth give you the right to treat me with so much disrespect?"

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The dark-haired woman didn’t even bother to wait for an answer as she pushed through the crowd, ready to get this entire day over with. These people were acting as if she was a poison, and Leila didn’t need that right now. She watched out of the corner of her eye as some random woman pointed her finger at her, and then made a face. The teenager wondered what exactly these people had heard about her. Did they side with the royal family and believe she deserved to be executed? Or did they just think she, as a person, was disgusting to her very core? Either answer led to the same results, and she hated it. With a sigh, she made her way over to the bar and sat down. Shockingly, it was pretty empty except for the bartender who looked her up and down quickly. The man thankfully had manners as he pushed without grievances he had aside and put on a professional smile.

“What will you be having, ma’am?” He asked while drying out an empty wine glass.

Leila sat there for a moment, thinking. She had been eighteen when she had been cursed, and she was sure a year had to have passed by now. But she wasn’t too sure about that anymore. Everything about her life before was rapidly becoming fuzzier by the minute. What she did know was that she had no idea about anything alcoholic. Which she knew wasn’t true for Cleo, who was in her early twenties and drank for years. With all of this in mind, she pursed her lips together and decided to just go for it.

Rolling up her sleeves, she leaned against the counter and looked the man in the eye. “I’ll take the strongest thing you have. Price doesn’t matter just give me a full glass of it.” She could use a buzz to deal with all the assholes surrounding her.

The bartender got the message and went out of view to make her a glass. Leila tried to get a peak at what he was pouring, but the man’s broad back blocked everything. When he finally came back, in his hand was a margarita glass full of pink liquid. He handed it over and she accepted, feeling the glasses' surprising weight in her palm as she did so. It also was not as cold as she expected it to be but she couldn’t complain. All that mattered was drink had been served. While the man turned to serve a couple who had come over on the other side of the room, Leila swished the drink around. And was met with a strange sight. Something was at the bottom of the glass, it looked like pulp almost. Inspecting it further, Leila put her finger in the glass and touched the mysterious ingredient.

She scooped a piece up and held it to her nose, sniffing it. Instantly alarm bells went off in her head as she slowly recognized what this was from Cleo’s memories. It was Iaso, a drug that came in two forms: a lumpy liquid and a plant resembling a honeycomb. The liquid form still had pieces of the plant within it, that looked like mush when poured until it later dissolved. The drug was used to help numb someone before surgery in the past. However, it was later used to incapacitate women without their consent, and she believed the bartender had similar intentions towards her. Leila stared at the man with an expression that could only be described as bubbling rage. Her grip tightened on the glass and she decided to give this bastard a taste of his own medicine.

The man came back over and was met with the glowing purple eyes of the angry woman. She beckoned him forward with her free hand and whispered. “Drink this entire glass and then the entire bottle you poured this from. And forget about this entire conversation after you do it.”

At first, the bartender was attempting to fight her commands. His muscles bulged as he gritted his teeth and panted like he was about to vomit. But like everyone else who saw her eyes and heard her voice, he fell under the woman’s spell. He took the glass from her hands, leaned back, and drank it all in one go. While Leila watched this, she rubbed at her forehead and allowed her eyes to return to normal. It was risky as hell to use her powers like that in public. Something could have caught easily and called her out as a magic user. The dark-haired girl groaned as she felt a headache coming on and walked away from the man who was choking down the alcohol. The heiress was sure that he’d collapse eventually from the drug if not alcohol poisoning.

Leila would have headed right up to her room and checked on Liliko'i. The blonde had to be lonely. She was bedridden until the cruise ended with her condition. She wouldn't tell her about the strange looks because it would just cause the girl more anxiety. Something happened. Someone unexpected, really. The heiress stopped right in the middle of the room as if they had shined a beacon of light from above onto her body. A few feet away, a woman with long silver hair stood with wide eyes and an open mouth. Neither wanted to be here. But the meeting was bound to happen.

"Yona?"