LIVING A LIFE OF A SALTED FISH

15: Screwed up by the villainess.

Stepping inside the mansion, I heard Ruhee's loud demanding voice. 

"Send a letter to my family, let them know that I will no longer be attending the masquerade ball this year…" 

As I entered the house, Ruhee casted her eyes on me briefly, then she sent Suraida away instructing the maid with tasks. After this, she scanned her ruby eyes at me from head to toe, then it went back up, locking her gaze on my face again with a slight intensity in her eyes. 

I'm not certain if those emotions in her bloody eyes are rage or if she was checking me out, but knowing Ruhee, it's probably rage. Probably she felt upset that the custom white dress is now coloured with stains. But that isn't my fault, so at this, I only ignored the growing intensity of her eyes since that's something normal between Ruhee and I.

So I stared back, plastering an innocent smile as usual, trying to act all normal. "Why did you change your mind? I thought we're still going to attend the ball?" I asked in a careful polite tone.

Ruhee raised her eyebrow. "What do you think is the answer?" She questioned back with spat.

I pursed my lips, avoiding eye contact for a second as I cleared my throat, then I stared at her again. "Ahem, I have no clue, but anyway, since you don't want to go anymore, I'll be staying in my room, reading books," I mumbled, saying that more to myself like a reminder of my today's list. Then I felt my stomach complain in hunger, so I glanced at Ruhee with a suggestive smile. "I'm starving, want to have a meal together?"

However, the woman didn't respond, appearing busy with her own world as her eyes peered at me with squinted lids. She looked calculating and sly for some reason. Her stares left me distracted as I gazed back in a half state trance.

In my head, I'm considering how this woman's mind works, and weighing the possibilities of her thinking about me over Cleopatra is unlikely. 

It's probably about how to take revenge or something like that from what happened earlier. Or maybe about making me give up on Cleopatra, so she could get together with the princess. 

At these thoughts, I can't help but internally roll my eyes. I dislike how observing and sharp I am when it comes to these things. And my feelings for Ruhee are growing annoying. I need to quickly get over this woman, because I no longer want to be affected by her presence and everything about her. In other words, I have to move on from these lingering emotions in my chest. 

So I shrugged the strange feeling I keep getting from Ruhee's stares as I greeted the maid with ginger hair. "Hi, can you prepare my meal and send it to my room after I take a bath?" I asked in a pleasant tone, clasping her hands between my palms. 

The maid's face flushed, gazing at me as she nodded shyly. "Of course, anything for Lady Nisha," she replied in a small embarrassed voice.

My lips stretched to a wide smile upon hearing that. "Thank you, you see, I haven't eaten anything yet, so your help is deeply appreciated," I beamed, squeezing her hand lightly to show my sincerity. "Anyway, what's your name? Can we become friends?"

The maid smiled with her reddened face as she opened her lips. She was about to respond, but the familiar voice behind me, calling out my name, made the maid stop as her eyes widened in panic, then she took a step back, lowering her head. 

"Nisha," Ruhee called softly. "Aren't you going to eat with me?"

Her voice took me by surprise, and I snapped my head around, looking behind me to check if it was indeed Ruhee's voice. The moment I turned behind me, my eyes widened, looking dumbfounded. To my utter shock, it is indeed her. She has this gentle air around her, and to me, that's…strange. Even her expression is so different this time, that I need to blink twice, trying to look closer if I have become blind. Is Ruhee sick? Did she catch a cold?