The Anima of a Reincarnated Villainess (DISCONTINUED)

~Chapter 29; Do You Care?~

The sun had yet to rise and yet a figure lay awake, motionless.

Her eyes were clouded, and she looked rather lost. Her silky, silvery hair was spread all around her like a smooth pillow. Her luminescent violet eyes stared at the elegant shell collage that were on the ceiling.

She wore a simple white night gown, and her silky sheets covered her body half-way down as she continued to lay motionlessly.

Ayame had not been able to sleep at all.

She had stayed in her room the entire day, silently pondering as she sat by her desk. Jiro felt like he had let her down and secluded himself in his room as well.

She slowly sat up and felt her body tense up as she suddenly heard another voice echo in her head.

"To face your fear you must first let go."

Ayame stood up, feeling a blank determination fill her senses as she made her way to her wardrobe. She pulled the crescent moon daggers that she had hid in her clothes and intently stared at them.

Twenty-one years..

Twenty-one meaningless years..

She had made her decision. A blank yet fiery resolution filled her emotions to the brim as she stripped to her garments and made her way to her bathroom.

...

She changed into a dark shirt that covered her pale arms and dark shorts. She donned her usual thigh-high boots and tied her hair in a high ponytail with a white ribbon.

Ayame threw on her cloak and took her bag. She scanned the room and felt her gaze fall on the floor, with ashes evidently scattered around. She immediately cast a spell and the ashes disappeared from view as she turned to leave the room and wake Jiro.

◇◇◇

Jiro walked beside Ayame, who subconsciously felt rather short next to Jiro, who was a head taller than her. They were on their way to a village close to the forest of Lidall. Ayame had decided to travel there in case they came across specific herbs that could probably be of use.

They teleported a small distance away from the village as the sun began to rise. An uncomfortable silence stretched on, and minutes felt like endless days. Ayame, completely aware but not caring to explain, continued her silent reverie.

Jiro now felt let down as the silence continued to linger. He had thought that she would at least have the conscience to lie about it; outright ignoring him and pretending it never happened felt even worse.

Ayame did not feel anything as of now. Her mind felt fuzzy but she knew her priorities were set. Everything else were to be dealt with later. A blank yet resolute determination filled her chest as she continued to walk on, the wind occasionally passing by to greet them.

They finally made it to the village, and by then the sun had already risen. A few villagers raised their head to stare but  looked away and continued what they were doing before. A carriage came into view not so far away from them. A familiar emblem was painted on both sides of the carriage.

"Haia Cho?" said a disbelieving Jiro.

There was no mistaking the light green hair even from afar. Her silver eyes gleamed mysteriously as she turned away from what looked like the chieftain to glance at them.

"Lady Emomoto? And young master Chiroko? What a coincidence! I was just wrapping up business with chieftain Hachi here." she said, smiling at the approaching duo.