Villainess Reborn: SEASON ONE

63

Tatiana could not sleep that night.

She tossed and turned in her bed but there was not a single comfortable spot. She still feels a pit in her stomach from everything that happened that day. It ended well and Simon is accepted as the orphanage's stay-in teacher but it still feels surreal.

She lifted her arms and stared at it. She examined her hands, her fingers, and even her forearms just to see if she was real, if she was not vanishing or turning transparent. She's also starting to miss Elliot, she wonders what he's doing now that she's not there.

The clock ticked and before she knew it, it was already four in the morning and she could not sleep even a wink. Nothing would work and she feels anxious so she decided to go out of the room and get some fresh air.

The hallway was dark, cold, and silent. Everyone was asleep. She visited the children's room and checked if everyone was in their beds, not a single kid missing. The wooden floors slightly creaked under her footsteps as she walked as lightly as she could so she won't wake anyone up.

The main door was locked so she went to the kitchen and used the side door that directed to the balcony on the left-wing of the mansion. The sky was bright with millions of stars twinkling and the moon was bigger than it usually is.

The capital was peaceful and could be seen at the distance from the hill they were in. Coldness rushed through the air and sent chills into her skin. Winter was coming, she could feel it. She arrived in summer and months have already passed and now she's going to spend winter in this world.

"Can't sleep?"

Tatiana's heart skipped a beat when she heard someone speak from the other side. Simon was standing on the balcony on the right-wing of the mansion. He was wearing his pajamas with a cup of smoking tea in his hand.

The night was awfully silent and their voices could be heard clearly from a distance without yelling.

"You can't, too?" Tatiana asked back.

"Yeah," Simon answered and looked down at his cup, "everything just feels so surreal, I can't seem to believe that I have a job and a place to stay."

"You must have been worried ever since you came here."

"I survived on scraps and coins that I earned from reading romance novels to ladies," Simon chuckled, "They did not know how to read but they wanted to hear stories about young men and women in a forbidden love, going out in the middle of the night and meet in places."

Tatiana's face heated. It looked like they were in the same situation but they aren't. Something about Simon weighed heavily on her chest. She felt relieved but anxious at the same time.

"Did I offend you in any way, Mistress?" he suddenly asked. His eyes shifted from Tatiana to his cup, holding it tightly in his palm. "You did not look well yesterday."

She tried to speak but she did not know what to say. What can she possibly tell him? That he reminded her of her childhood friend from her past life?

The cold wind blew and the princess's hair was blown away from her face. The moonlight shined on her hair and the color turned similar to the colors of the dried leaves on the ground. She hugged herself and goosebumps appeared on her skin.

Simon noticed that she was cold and tried to call for her and offer her his shawl when someone from behind covered her with an oversized black coat that covered her up to her ankles. It weighed heavy on her shoulders but it was soft, warm, and comfortable.

When she turned around, Bjorn was standing behind her with a sheathed sword on his waist. His eyes glistened in the darkness. It reminded Tatiana of a jaguar's luminescent eyes that glowed in pitch-black darkness. What crept her out, even more, was the fact that she did not even hear him approach her.

"Why are you awake?" he asked, his voice husky from just waking up. "you should be in your room, not outside."

Bjorn glanced sideways, on the other side of the mansion. Simon was not there anymore, and the curtains dancing in the wind replaced him instead. He turned back to Tatiana who tugged the ends of the coat to herself to prevent it from falling off of her shoulders.

"I could not sleep, I thought that the cold air would help me relax," she said and realized something, "Oh, and I was talking to Simon—he was just over there."

She looked around but Simon suddenly disappeared.

"I guess he got scared of you," she mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"Training."

"In the darkness? In this cold? Surely you would want to rest some more." She was surprised at how disciplined Bjorn is. If she wasn't worried about anything, she could sleep in with the weather until noon.

"I feel restless," Bjorn jumped over the balcony and into the open space. "I want to train whenever I feel troubled. I used to spar with my men but I can't do any of that these days."

It's almost a week since they stayed outside of the palace. Bjorn hasn't been training with the other knights at the castle for days so it's understandable that he has pent-up energy. After all, all he did was communicate with the other knights to check what was going on in the palace.

"You feel troubled?" Tatiana asked and rested her elbows on the balcony's railings. She was watching Bjorn do basic swings with his sword under the moon's light and the lamps in the mansion. "Is there something that you're worried about? What's on your mind? Is it the knights in the palace?"

She and Bjorn always get into arguments and fights. At first, she did not want to involve herself with him but she realized that she can't do that since he is her fiancé, so might as well be neutral with him.

Bjorn stopped swinging his sword and faced her with a serious expression.

"You're the reason why I feel troubled."

--

END