“It is from your fiancé, Lord Nicholas Vespertine.”

The maid handed me the note, and I unfolded it with trembling hands. The words on the paper were scribbled in haste, and it read: "My dearest Ophelia, I apologize for not being able to visit you in person. I have urgent business to attend to, but I will return soon. Please take good care of yourself and let me know if you need anything. Regards, Nicholas."

I crumpled the note in my hand, feeling a mix of disappointment and relief. I had never met Nicholas before, but I knew him as the villain of the novel. In the story, he only saw Ophelia as a pawn to use against Sophia, and he never truly loved her. I wondered how much of that was true and how much were just a fictional plot device.

As I placed the note back on the desk, I caught sight of my reflection in the window. The girl staring back at me was not the Ophelia from the novel. She was me, with my memories, my thoughts, and my feelings. There was a clear borderline between me and Ophelia, Ophelia and me. I would not try to avoid ending or change the story but at least make sure that I would live comfortable enough in these remaining years and waited for another life.

The outcome won’t change but I wanted to live differently. As Ophelia.

“Sister, you look pale.” Sophia mumbled. Letters would not stop gliding through our manor’s halls since morning: first Nicholas’s and now this.

“Invitation to tea party.” Nanny lifted her glasses and squinted her eyes. “Hosted by Lady Dahlia Sharman.”

That name haunted us: Sophia and me.

Dahlia Sharman.

The antagonist of the novel and was notorious for her foul mouth and even fouler disposition, seductive features and passion for claiming everything as hers. On a silver platter, born and raised; there was nothing she could not get. Including titles and men. The only men she could not obtain were Nicholas Vespertine and the hero. And both fell head over heels in love with Sophia. Dahlia fuelled her anger and frustration upon Sophia when she was announced the fairest of the empire, since then, Dahlia swore to destroy everything Sophia had.

Nanny seemed to notice Sophia’s uneasy eyes as she folded the letter quietly and put in her pockets. She patiently waited for our answer.

“Lady Sophia.” she gently held her shoulders. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to decline Lady Dahlia’s invitation for the second time.”

Sophia pursed her lips and nodded in disappointment. What had Dahlia done to her? To the point that Sophia became this upset upon hearing her name. I clutched my fist as I realized that I might be the reason; Dahlia and her peers had probably made fun of me, and Sophia could not bear it.

“I will accompany her.” I hugged Sophia from behind.

“Lady Ophelia, you have not fully recovered yet.” Nanny sighed.

“When will I ever be?” I muttered.

A silence froze between us. Sophia looked at me, wide and sorrowful and Nanny, she seemed to be carefully choosing the words.

“Do promise me that you will take extra care of yourself.”

I nodded in agreement and Sophia locked her fingers with mine, squeezing hard.

“Don’t worry. We are 15 already.” I said and returned a squeeze to Sophia. “And I promise I would not let anyone ever touch even a single strand of our Sophia’s hair.”

Our laughter echoed in the halls.

Fairest of the empire. I muttered that to myself while I stared into a mirror. Almost identical to Sophia but imagine them worse, you got Ophelia. Silver curls weighed down on my shoulders which seemed to break at any moment, gaunt, dry and pale face of mine with ruby eyes being the only visible shade of red and dry and cracked lips quivering as I gasped for air.

Shame on you, Dahila Sharman. You were not even the second fairest. How could you be so full of yourself when you could not even beat this scrawny me. Technically, I would be the second fairest since I was Sophia’s twin. I beamed in my brightest smirk, but it was soon scraped away by the powder that the maid was applying to me. "Careful please.” I turned my face to my right where another maid brushed my cloud like hair, harsh and impatient as her comb tangled in my silver threads. My face was brought to left and I closed my eyes as a brush tickled my cheek and tiny particles flew and landed on my eyelashes.

“Not too lavish, not too modest.” Nanny shouted to the maids in my room across the corridor.

A little too modest; that’s when compared to Dahlia and the entire party. I was contented with pink dress layered with lace and its long sleeves which covered till my wrist. Sophia was graceful in her purple with short sleeves in her case. Others however, showered themselves with sapphires and pearls from head to toe, bright red on their sharp lips and velvet in all sorts of colours. A garden they called it; it was almost as large as my college compound in my previous life. Rose vines thrived on the curves of the statutes of Sharmans surrounding the water fountain in the centre of the garden. Rose petals swam across crystal clear water where two ladies were seen chatting, sitting on the corner of the fountain. Jade coloured banners held across the garden with a symbol of Sharman family engraved on it: golden snake curved into a letter “S”. Gold cutlery placed in front of empty leather seat with the engraving “S”, the head of the table. 3 storied chocolate cake placed in the centre of the table with colourful cupcakes surrounded and display of thin glasses one on top of another. Such lavish decorations just for a tea party.

“Marquess Sharman adores his daughter very much.”

“Of course, he does. Lady Dahlia is beautiful, elegant and perfect. Such a healthy lady must have brought great fortunes into family.” another woman glanced at us. “Unlike some fragile ones.”

I clutched my fist. Sophia lowered her head. I wished I could have done something for her, at least talk back to bad-mouthing but not even a single word came out of my mouth. Slowly, I released my trembling fist. But I wasn’t given a chance to cool down my temper.

“Oh my.” a sarcastic exclaim approached us. “Never thought I would ever see you again, Lady Ophelia.”

There she was. The life of the party. Eyes sharp enough to pierce a man’s heart and with a prideful smirk on her scandalous carmine lips, Dahlia won every thought of the party. Her silky ginger hair curved along her neck and gracefully fell on her exposed shoulders. As bright as dandelion, her gown gleamed. Sleeveless, she looked like a butterfly fluttering freely in the field of dandelions. Her dress layered down like pedals, blossoming at its peak when swirled. She was beaming with beauty, pride and confidence.

“Well, here I am.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Lady Sophia is here, too.” Dahlia said as she peeked over my shoulder. “Haven’t seen the twins together before, have we?” Dahlia created a commotion in ladies surrounding her left and right, causing all of their eyes on us.

Sophia drew a nervous smile, and I fixated my gaze on Dahlia alone.

“Come to think of it, Lady Sophia.” Dahlia said. “You haven’t been showing your interest in social affairs. We are curious enough to find out your dance partner.”

Sophia froze in place, struck by Dahlia’s mocking words. Her eyes were wide as she continued to bend her head lower and lower, with a bashful red across her cheeks. The party’s eyes were on her: mocking her, laughing at her and poor Sophia could not find words to counterattack their harsh gazes. Neither could I.

“Lady Dahlia, you are-”

“You too, Lady Ophelia.” Dahlia interrupted before I could finish. “I couldn’t remember the last time when I saw Lord Nicholas together with you.”

“Don’t get me wrong but I heard he’s back in Captial three days ago.” she whispered into my ears as the chills went down, tickling my earlobe. “There are so many fish in the sea you know.”

I knew it. It was all lies. The letter. The words in it. And the man himself, Nicholas. How could I forget that I was being used in his game and how could I ever fall for it, just because of a piece of paper. Dahlia was probably right. He must have been back. And why one, especially a man like him would waste his precious time seeing me? Seeing me. Did I really expect him to come see me? That Nicholas. At this moment, I learned a thing; I must be out of my mind, but I needed to cover his lies with my lies on top.

“That is.” I maintained my composure as I tried to crack a smile on a frown. “He is full of surprises. Always. I am sure he is preparing some sort of big surprise upon my recovery and hiding it from me.”

Dahlia fell silent. So, the crowd.

“And my sister, Sophia. She-”

“When does my fiancée become this interested in other lady’s man?”

A hypnotic voice grabbed the attention of the party. The crowd turned their heads to see the man: his polished leather shoe took a step: each calm and steady, pale-yellow attire to match with Dahlia’s dress and a soft smile painted over his face. Cheers and loud whispers built up as the man stepped up, his almond hair fluttering along with the words of the ladies. Dahlia, however, scorned at his presence, stomping her heels.

“And knowing my friend, Nicholas won’t waste a second to come back to Lady Ophelia. Especially when Lady wakes up healthy after such slumber.” he was addressing me.

“My lady Dahlia” he kissed on her hand. “You look lavish as always.”

Dahlia sighed. Heavily. “You too resemble the look of a saint, Lord Elijah.”

Elijah Ornthalas, the only heir of Marquess Ornthalas engaged to the only daughter of Marquess Sharman. Moreover, he was the second male lead of the novel: kind and noble in contrast to his fiancée, Dahlia. She never noticed his value; he was just an accessory in her jewel collection. With Nicholas, the only heir to Dukedom engaged with me and the Empire currently haven’t found their prince; Dahlia had no choice but to choose the one who was at least equivalent to her title. Fighting so hard to obtain one which wasn’t hers, Dahlia failed to notice Elijah who had been by her side. By the time she realized this, he had already found a person who actually cared for him. Sophia.

“I am glad to have you back, Lady Ophelia.” Elijah said. “And Lady Sophia is always at her best.” He bowed as we returned a curtsy.

“Thanks for the cover up.” I spoke.

Elijah stood still with a blank expression across his eyes. His response alone proved me right and my delusions wrong. So, he really was in the Capital. But I did not have an authority to get mad at Nicholas or ask him to come visit me. After all, the truth would not change.

“I apologize for Lady Dahlia’s behaviour.” Elijah bowed to Sophia and Sophia waving her hands in denial.

“Lord Elijah, you don’t have to.” Sophia was burning red. “After all, I take her words nothing but as a reminder.”

“However-”

Truly, these two looked more of like a couple than their actual pairs. A lady as kind as an angel and a man as noble as a saint; they could not bear a second without apologising and comforting one another. Sophia seemed to lighten up a bit as she cracked a wide grin when Elijah spoke. He too smiled till his eyes were closed with his beam reaching to his red ears. Standing still, I could only simper in awkward silence.