Puppet & Puppeteer

Chapter 3

"Till today at least. We now know who had received the power of the artifact." Ended Olive. During Olive's long talk, all 5 of them had sat down in the living room. Everyone looked pretty normal, but Azalea alone sat in stunned silence. "I see..." She let out a soft whimper. Azalea could not process all that information at once. The reason her parents died was because she was the reincarnation of Freesia Wisteria. "It isn't every day one hears that they're the reincarnation of someone who massacred almost the whole empire." The pale azure blue eyed boy sighed, shaking his head.

"W-Who are you though?" Azalea asked. "My name is Astor Richard. I was a soldier in the empire during the war!" His cheerful personality seemed strange. Just imagine a toothy grin someone was making. Well, that was what he looked like, if you remove the fact that he was hella gorgeous. His messy denim blue hair seemed to be perfectly in place. "How about you..." The jet-black haired boy merely lifted his head, his eyelids curving again. "Cedric." That's my name. His voice was somewhat dry, yet there was a deep male tone there.

"Last name?" "I do not have one. After all, I am a commoner." Azalea sensed it too. His way of speech. Simple, blunt and straightforward, as if shooting the reality at her. "And Olive, you-" "Yes. I am the saintess. The last saintess." Azalea's saliva seemed to have gone down the wrong tube. She choked as she tried to calm herself down. "I shall show you all to your rooms." Olive then proceeded to leading Dahlia, Cedric and Astor to their rooms on the 2nd floor. [btw, they have 3 floors and only Olive and Azalea live on the 3rd floor.]

After sometime, Azalea felt frazzled and weary despite the time being 10am in the morning. That meant that she still had sometime before lunch. She went back to her room and collapsed on her bed. Not knowing what to do in the meantime, Azalea frittered the time away, before she finally got annoyed. "Olive! I'll cook today!" Her voiced echoed throughout the house and it undoubtedly reached Olive's ears. As she was taking a cooking subject in school, Azalea had a few recipes she knew.

Sizzle. Sizzle. Boil. Boil. Beads of perspiration formed on her forehead. She raised her hand in an attempt to wipe of her sweat. Drip! A droplet of sizzling oil dripped on her cheek from the ladle she was holding. She grunted in pain, letting go of the ladle. Clang! Pain. Pain started spreading from her cheek. She bit her lip, frustrated, as blood trickled down her lips. "You know, you have the same habit as her. As Freesia I mean." That familiar, dry, male voice sounded. Azalea turned around and she found herself glaring at Cedric.

"What are you talking about?" She questioned, trying her best not to show that her wound was hurting her. "Freesia Wisteria had a habit of biting her lip whenever she was frustrated. Like you." He continued. He sat down beside the dining table with his legs crossed. His chin rested on his palm and his elbow rested on the table. Part of his face was squashed, but nonetheless, Azalea admitted that he looked handsome. "I'm not her, I am Azalea Marguerite, not Freesia Wisteria." Azalea stated.

"There is a misconception there." One end of his mouth curved upward. A smirk. He was smirking. "Freesia and you both share the same past and present. Of course, you shall share the same future too." His words were on replay in her mind. Though she did not want to admit it, she knew. All the evidence were there. Her parents died when she was 5 and so did Freesia's. W-What if her future is already set? What if she was destined to have the spirits Freesia killed to follow her?

"Why me?" Azalea blurted out. "Because she is you. And you are her." Cedric's gaze felt dark and gloomy, almost as if he knew Freesia. "Did she kill you too?" She gulped down some saliva. "Nope! I am a mere commoner after all!" Obviously, Cedric had no plans of telling her anything. She set all the food on the table swiftly, before getting rid of her apron. She turned to leave, when she felt a tug on her sleeve.

She stopped in her tracks. Instinctively, Azalea's eyes swerved, her wrist turning to grab Cedric's hand. Cedric's hand started turning cold as he winced in pain. "Same reactions." His eyes. His eyes seemed as if they knew everything in the world. All of Azalea's secrets, all of what she wanted to know. Using the moment Azalea was stuck deep in her thoughts, Cedric used his other hand to grab Azalea's remaining hand.

She flinched as she used her left leg to try to trip Cedric. Nevertheless, she succeeded but she nearly tripped. Fortunately, she could use her other leg for support, and Cedric was holding one of her wrists. In turn, Cedric who was tripped, stumbled, nearly falling. But, again, his other foot supported him and Azalea was holding one of his wrists. Their position? Well, if one of them let go of the other, the other would fall. Now, who would let go first?

Well, none of them did. Both of them refused to turn away and falter. They held each other's gazes, confident that they would win. "We're here for lun-" Olive's words were cut short as she, Astor and Dahlia stared at Azalea and Cedric in disbelief. Instantly, they let go, both falling on the ground. After a few awkward moments, Cedric offered to begin eating as he casted Azalea a smirk. She looked away, pretending she did not see it.

We sat down and started eating. For some reason, the atmosphere felt immensely awkward. "Anyways, how are you guys settling down?" Indeed, Olive was the most social person here. "Fine." "It's alright. "Amazing!" However, despite Olive's efforts, Dahlia and Cedric were... well, not social. At least, Astor was pretty social... just, a little weird.