“It’s nothing.” Maya answered quickly. Her eyes widened for a moment when the teenager ordered the servant out.
Instinctively, Maya looked away, feeling unsafe. At the same time, her feet reflexively carried her several steps backward.
“Look at me, damn it!” A hand gripped her face tightly, forcing Maya to look up.
Maya swallowed with difficulty, staring fearfully at the pair of eyes glaring at her, sharp and scrutinizing.
“You... you’re not that Little Bitch. Who are you?!” The boy shouted right in Maya’s face. His grip tightened, making Maya wince softly.
“It hu-hurts...” Maya tried to pull the teenager’s hand away from her chin when, suddenly, another hand forcefully slapped it aside.
Maya immediately took several hurried steps back. She looked at the girl who had appeared at some point with deep gratitude.
“What’s this? You don’t usually interfere, Lexa,” he hissed in a low voice.
The girl called Lexa simply turned her eyes toward Maya. Her gaze was flat, cold, and piercing. A few seconds later, she turned around without another word.
“Let our younger sibling rest, Axel,” she said as she walked out of the room.
Axel clicked his tongue loudly. He gave Maya one last murderous look before following his twin sister out of Maya’s room—ah, Raya’s room.
“Younger sibling...?” Maya sat down on the edge of the bed. Her eyes stared blankly at the closed door.
“Then where is my own little sibling? Where’s Mom?” Maya asked softly of the empty air. There was no answer. The only sound was the rustling of leaves and branches outside.
Maya looked at her reflection in the mirror again. The girl with long hair and a bandage around her head wasn’t her. The painfully thin girl with the pale face was gone. So were the life-support devices attached to her body.
Maya no longer had to swallow medicine. She no longer had to lie constantly in a stark white room. But the price was that she could never see Mom and her younger sibling again.
To Maya, being friends with needles was far better than losing her little family.
‘I did pray to get better. But not like this, God...’
The next morning, a servant arrived before Maya woke up. Her bandage had already been changed, and breakfast was waiting. Maya stared at the luxurious meal in front of her. In the past, she had only been able to eat bland, simple food. But with Mom and her younger sibling beside her, that bland and boring food had tasted far better than any lavish meal.
Maya tried to swallow her food, but it was incredibly difficult. With a small sob, she forced herself to eat. She missed her family. So much.
Then, suddenly, a thought shot through her mind. If she died... would Maya return to her original body? Or would she simply go to the afterlife because her original body had already been buried in the ground?
The next question was, where was Raya?
Maya turned her gaze toward the window. With unsteady steps, she approached it. Her hand touched the cold glass as her eyes traced the unfamiliar view outside.
As though guided by an invisible hand, Maya opened the window wide. At once, the morning wind struck her face. Maya looked down at the ground, more than ten meters below.
Would jumping down there kill her and return her to her original body?
That was when her eyes accidentally landed on a pair of eyes staring sharply at her from another window. Those ocean-colored eyes brought Maya, who had briefly lost her senses, back to reality. She quickly moved away from the window.
Her eyes trembled slightly as she realized that death was only a step away. No, this wasn’t the way. Maya couldn’t just die before finding out what had really happened.
Maya... still wanted to be reunited with Mom and her younger sibling.
“Get a grip, Maya. You can’t be this weak.” Maya slapped her own cheek, then wiped away the tears on it.
At least with a healthy body, Maya felt more confident about finding her family. But first, she had to find out where she was.
Maya searched Raya’s room for anything that could serve as a clue. She opened drawers and closets and rummaged through Raya’s desk.
Judging from what she saw, Raya seemed to spend very little time in her room. There were no feminine accessories or cute belongings. Even her closet was dominated by dark pants and clothes.
Maya suddenly felt inferior. Could she live Raya’s life? The cold, harsh attitudes of the people around her alone were enough to scare Maya half to death.
Maya had been everyone’s darling since childhood. She had a gentle, cheerful personality despite the vicious disease eating away at her body every second. Every day, she chatted with her little family. Sometimes she also spent time with the doctors, nurses, and distant relatives who loved her just as much.
Maya’s life... had been far too warm compared to Raya’s.
Crash!
While Maya was still lost in thought, the door was thrown open from outside. She furrowed her brow when she saw two adult men in all-black uniforms with sturdy builds.
“Miss, are you all right?” one of them asked. Maya immediately nodded.
Meanwhile, the other man locked the bedroom window with a padlock, leaving Maya gaping. She wanted to protest, but the frightening faces of both men scared her out of even saying a word.
After making sure the window was tightly locked, they left again. They didn’t forget to close and lock the door. Maya bit the inside of her cheek as she stared at the locked window and door.
Maya felt isolated. In her old life, Maya hadn’t lived in a densely populated area. Mom had almost never allowed her to go outside alone. So her interactions with other people had been quite limited.
But... this time felt different. This room was larger, more luxurious, and more beautiful. Yet there was absolutely no warmth inside. She had only been in this house for one night, but Maya already felt lonely.
There was no Mom gently kissing her forehead. No younger sibling chattering about what had happened at school. Maya had lost everything in an instant.
Meanwhile, Axel slammed his bedroom door shut. He was still irritated because Lexa had seemed to be “defending” that little bitch. What Axel couldn’t understand was why his father had brought that girl home. Why not just leave her abandoned?
The house had been so peaceful this past week without Raya’s presence. Axel clicked his tongue loudly. That girl should’ve just died.
“Damn it, that little bitch is really getting on my nerves.” Axel kicked his desk hard, sending the things on top of it tumbling to the floor.
“But why is she acting so strange? Her eyes... they’re not like usual,” Axel muttered once he had calmed down. He picked up his books and arranged them on the desk again.
There was something different about Raya’s gaze. There was none of the fiery, furious look he usually saw. There weren’t any of the foul words that always provoked his anger, either.
The way those eyes had looked at him so fearfully was, for some reason, so... innocent.
Axel swept his hair back. Then he kicked his desk again.
“Damn it!”