Chapter 102: It’s Already Over
“I…”
Anna was suddenly speechless. Her face showed shock as she stepped back a few steps.
Seeing everyone looking at her, she pressed her arms tightly against her chest. Her back hit a tree decorated with colored paper. Realizing there was no way to retreat, she pushed aside a banner in front of her, stumbled through the crowd, and then ran away without looking back.
“Anna!”
Lisa chased after her, not even caring about the bag she left on the chair, and ran straight out of the venue.
“Slow down! You’re running so fast, I can’t keep up!”
Lisa adjusted the hairpin on her head and noticed Anna turning into an alley.
With no choice, Lisa turned around and took another path to cut her off.
After running for half a street, Lisa was out of breath when she finally caught up to Anna, who had curled up in a corner of the alley.
“Y-you… slow down… I’m really exhausted…”
“Why did you follow me? Just go. I don’t want to see you.”
“Anna…” Lisa put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. “W-what’s wrong with you? At least explain it clearly. You suddenly ran off, of course anyone would come after you to see if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“Fine? You ran this fast? Back when we fought the Ice Bear King, I didn’t see you run this fast. Tell me, why did you put so much candy in your pocket? With your status, you don’t lack this kind of dessert, right? Ever since you woke up, you’ve been distracted these past few days. What’s wrong? Just say it. Don’t tell me Stella has gone crazy and you followed her. I don’t believe someone would suddenly stuff a pocket full of candy and run away for no reason.”
Lisa looked at Anna strangely, completely unable to understand what was going on.
It was like what older people described, almost like being possessed.
Ever since they left the Calamity Forest, Anna had started to change. This change came too suddenly.
Lisa didn’t think it was a good sign.
Anna clenched her fingers tightly, her knuckles making cracking sounds. Deep inside, a strong urge kept rising.
Maybe she should just say everything out loud. Then she wouldn’t have to keep it all inside and suffer alone.
If she did that, those troubles wouldn’t haunt her like a nightmare anymore.
But wouldn’t that mean admitting she was foolish?
Ever since she realized her feelings toward Ron had become strange, she already felt something was wrong.
And what happened at the party, putting candy into her pocket, had shaken her deeply.
In the past, she would bring a bag of candy home for Peiya.
But now… who could she give it to?
Who could she give it to…
Anna buried her face in her arms. After running so much, her face turned pale, then red.
“Lisa… do you like the life we have now?”
“Y-you… why are you suddenly asking that? Are you still thinking about the Ice Bear King?”
“…I don’t know why, but after this trip, I just feel like we did really badly.”
Anna took a piece of candy and put it into her mouth. The taste was sweet but also a bit sour, it didn’t taste very good.
“I was the one holding us back. Actually, I shouldn’t have hidden it from you. On the way here, I already knew we would lose this fight.” This time, Lisa didn’t argue. She admitted it directly. There was no point pretending anymore.
“You… forget it. Compared to Stella, you’re still better.”
“So now I have to compare strength with her?” Lisa gave a bitter smile. “But fine, I’ll try harder. Maybe in the future, we can rise again. But that’s not the reason you ran out, right? I don’t think Stella and I are that important. That girl is probably still inside eating like crazy right now.”
“Yes, Lisa… I think it’s better if you don’t know the truth. This isn’t your fault. I just feel like something is suddenly missing from my life.”
“Missing what? If you don’t say it, how can I know?”
Lisa grabbed Anna’s hand. It felt cold. It was hard to imagine. After running for so long, her hand wasn’t sweaty, but ice cold.
“I don’t know… but that candy just now… I… I…”
Anna hesitated for a long time, then finally sighed.
“I was going to bring it to Peiya. He… used to like it the most.”
Lisa’s eyes widened, but she quickly calmed down.
“So that’s the reason… I actually thought of it too. You know, lately you’ve been avoiding talking about him. But have you noticed? The person you talk about the most is actually him. From small things like helping me and Stella make battle plans, to big things like saving me from the Red Tiger, and even during the final review meeting… it feels like you’ve been repeating everything Peiya used to do.”
“Y-yeah… it does feel like that.”
Anna didn’t deny it. Maybe her late-night talk with Elise last time had affected her.
Elise didn’t even seem to treat her as a real rival. And when Anna woke up, she started to look at herself more.
Yes, she was the daughter of a duke. But the number of people who truly supported her could be counted on one hand.
The worst part was just now.
Just like she remembered, seeing the man she had longed for should have made her happy.
Even if it was sudden, wasn’t this what she had always wanted?
Then why did she feel so uncomfortable?
What she couldn’t accept the most was this. She had waited so long for this moment, but when she finally met Ron, everything in her heart was overturned.
But now, Peiya had already been driven away by her.
Even if she wanted to think everything through, the messy situation made it impossible for her to stay calm.
“Anna, don’t be so upset. It may sound strange coming from me, but you and Peiya… there was never going to be a result.”
Anna suddenly raised her head. “I don’t like him!”
“That’s not what I mean. Think about it, if he were still in the team, would you really pay more attention to him? To be honest, if it were me before, I probably wouldn’t either. I know what I did in the past. And I don’t think I was wrong. That’s just the kind of person I am. If he lives well, I feel bad. You can scold me if you want, but that’s who I am. After all, I was using him from the beginning. So I don’t want to make excuses for myself anymore. If I keep avoiding responsibility, you’d probably find me even more disgusting, right?”
Anna looked at Lisa, who was speaking openly, and nodded.
“That’s right.”
“Then that’s enough…”
“But I can’t let it go. I need to find him. At least I need to understand what really happened before. I feel like I’ve ruined too many things. I have to find him and ask him clearly. Let’s go, I know where he lives.”
Anna stood up in a hurry. In her mind, she recalled Peiya’s shabby house. Why did she remember it so clearly?
Maybe because before, she was worried Peiya would spend her money carelessly or go see other women, so she had secretly kept an eye on him.
It shouldn’t be hard to find the place.
However, Lisa stood up and shook her head.
“Anna, do you remember what you did before?”
Anna looked up in confusion and met Lisa’s serious eyes. Lisa cleared her throat and said,
“Last time, you even hired assassins to catch him. If he didn’t move away after that, that would be strange. If you had gone to him yourself from the beginning, maybe there was still a chance. But now… it’s already decided. In such a big royal city, with so many people, how can you easily find one person? So, Anna… just forget him. Think of it as letting yourself go too.”