"Arghhh, my head!" I jolted awake with a headache that felt as if my head was about to split open. The sun, a bright glare through my bedroom window, pierced my eyes, making me groan. As I tried to sit up, I realized I was lying on my own bed, completely without a scratch. It was enough to make me doubt if all of it was a dream.
No, it can't be a dream, I thought, pushing the covers away. The events of last night felt too real, too vivid. I stood up from the bed, my feet hitting the cool wooden floor, and a new, more concerning realization hit me. Wait, why the fuck am I naked?
A flood of possibilities emerged in my mind, each one worse than the last. Was I raped by that woman? No, I didn't see any sign. Could it be... did she drug me to make some kind of experiment on me, like those sci-fi movies? I glanced at my body in the mirror and felt my jaw drop. My physique, which had been non-athletic and even a bit scrawny, now looked like Captain America's.
"Should I change my name to Steve then?" I joked to myself, trying to flex. Yep, they were real muscles, the kind that came from years of training, not a single night. My headache returned with a vengeance. "Just what the heck happened? Did I really become a test subject for some super-soldier serum, or did a spider bite me?"
I rubbed my head in front of the mirror in confusion, but the reflection of my face surprised me again. I was in a daze for a moment, unable to look away from myself, until I realized my already handsome face had become something else entirely—something more perfect, more striking. I can't believe I was just attracted to my own face. The thought was terrifying. Just how powerful is that scientist, to turn my heavenly beauty even more beautiful?
Before my mind could speculate further, my phone, which was on the bed beside me, started to ring. But more than the caller, my attention was drawn to the fact that the screen was covered in dried blood. Ring! The sound cut through the silence again, waking me from the daze. The caller was Victor.
Why's he calling me now, so early? I checked the clock; it was 7 in the morning. Usually, that's pretty late, but today was the weekend, the day for sleeping in. Nevertheless, I picked up the phone.
"Hello? What's up, Victor?" I answered, but his voice on the other end shrieked like an enraged gorilla.
"Finally picked up, you motherfucker! Valerian, do you realize that you ditched the party in the middle without informing me, you bastard?!" he screamed. He sounded furious, reminding me of what had happened just before the encounter with that weird woman. But I couldn't get a moment to speak as he continued shouting. "You bastard, even if you ditched your good friend, how dare you ignore my calls the entire night!"
Hearing him, I looked at my call log and noticed Victor had called me twelve times. I felt a small pang of guilt. I kinda feel bad for him, having to call a guy so many times and being ignored. Yeah, I definitely can't handle that.
"Alright, alright, I understand your frustration," I said, trying to soothe him. "I just felt unwell and left early. And about the call, I forgot to turn off the silent mode on my phone." I made up the excuse on the fly, not bothering to tell him about the weird encounter. Even if I did, what could he do anyway?
"Sigh... I don't care what reason you had," he said, his voice dropping to a low, pleading tone. "I hope you can attend the after-party at least." His words made me suspicious that something was wrong.
"After-party?" I sounded confused. "I don't remember you ever planning on throwing an after-party." My words made him gulp on the other side.
"Yeah, it's for you. I couldn't enjoy the party yesterday because of you, tha-that's why," he stuttered.
I sighed. I finally realized what was happening. "Victor, give the phone to Isabella. I know she's there," I said in a serious tone, the calm in my voice making him sweat buckets on the other end.
"Isa-Isabella? Why her?" he tried to act confused. "It's true she's with me, but what do you need with my girlfriend?" he said defensively, trying to sound like a real boyfriend.
"Bro, you should quit it. I always knew you were pretending to be her boyfriend so she could make me jealous. But you forgot that I know how to read emotions," I said. My words made him go completely quiet, and I heard him mutter, "Here."
Soon, a somewhat nervous feminine voice spoke. "So you knew?" It was unlike her to be this nervous. I guess she didn't expect me to catch on to their plan.
"Judging by how desperate Victor was in getting me into the party, I believe you two planned something for me," I guessed. "Maybe planning to drug me or something." I sighed, a sense of tired exasperation settling over me. "Isabella, I already told you I don't love you, and you're also just attracted to my face. I won't accept you until you actually love me. Understand? And now, stop bothering Victor about it."
I ended the call without hearing her response. I just hoped she understood my words this time. I sighed again in tiredness and thought, Why the heck is my life so chaotic? Can't I live a plain, peaceful life?
I even regretted wanting to be a protagonist. An antagonist role would be better than this. But what could I do? What's done is done.
With another sigh, I walked toward the bathroom to cool my head with a cold shower. But when I tried to open the doorknob, the door came off its hinges with a loud splintering sound.
"Why the heck did the door just come off?" I blurted out, surprised by my own strength.
Victor's Pov
"So he knew, huh? Now I feel stupid for even pretending to be your boyfriend. Man, I'm so embarrassed," I said, stretching my limbs and trying to ignore Isabella's gloomy expression. But her gloomy aura only increased as she kept mumbling, "So he knew, so he knew..."
"Hey, it's not all bad. At least he's not angry," I said, trying to brighten the mood.
Isabella slammed her hand on the table, making the silverware rattle. "That's not the point, Victor!" she screamed, her frustration bubbling over. "He just… he saw through me. He looked at me and said I didn't know what love was.
He was right. And I hate him for it." Tears welled up in her eyes, making them look even more furious than before. "I hate that he saw right to the part of me that is... broken."
.......
It's not just that he knew. It's that he made me feel like an utter fool.
I'm Isabella Astor, and I've never been made to feel like a fool in my life.
I don't get angry, I don't cry, and I certainly don't stand in a cafe mumbling to myself like a common person.
But right now, all I can think about is how he saw through me.
He looked at me and said I didn't know what love was, and he was right. I hate that he saw right to the part of me that is... broken.
My family is royalty in all but name.
My father's family, the Astors, are one of the most powerful and influential families in Britain. We have more money than we could ever spend and more political connections than we would ever need.
From the moment I was born, my life was planned out for me, a series of lessons and events designed to make me the perfect woman.
But I was just a pawn in my family's game of chess, a valuable piece to be placed on the board when the time was right. I was born into a house that was more a museum than a home.
My days were a blur of tutors, etiquette lessons, and formal dinners. I didn't get hugs; I got handshakes. I didn't get bedtime stories; I got lectures on our family's glorious history.
I don't even remember my parents' faces clearly; they were always on some trip or at some event, too busy to visit their own daughter. I had everything I could ever want, but I had no one.
When I was a teenager, my father decided I needed to learn to act like a person, not a statue.
He said I needed to meet the children of America's elite to expand our family's political connections.
He sent me to New Orleans, where I was supposed to attend Tulane University and make myself more "approachable." It was a lie, of course.
My purpose was to be a spy for my father, to give him a closer look into how the Americans operate. I hated it. I was surrounded by a bunch of peasants who didn't understand me.
Then I saw him. Valerian Aise. He was just a guy, a background character in my life. I barely noticed him until one day, in a library, he was hunched over his book.
The sunlight from the window caught his face, and he brushed his bangs aside to wipe a bead of sweat from his forehead.
For a single, fleeting second, the entire world stopped. I felt a breathlessness I had never felt before, an intense curiosity that consumed me.
The moment he lowered his hand and hid his face again, I felt a deep dissatisfaction. A new, strange, and powerful emotion had emerged in my heart.
The next day, I saw him at the campus cafe.
I walked up to him with the confidence I was born with and gave him my first demand. "You will become my boyfriend." He just looked at me. No one had ever looked at me like that before, with no expression. It pissed me off. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" I shouted.
"Why should I become your boyfriend?" he asked in a deadpan tone. "I don't even know you, and for once, do you even love me?"
His words stung. The idea of love was ridiculous to me; it was just something in novels. Then I said the words I'd regret for the rest of my life. "Love? Don't make me laugh. I'm just attracted to you, and you should feel honored and obediently become mine."
He simply sighed and walked away. But before he was gone, he turned back to me. "If you're serious about trying to win me over, first understand what love is," he said, leaving me utterly clueless.
I went back to my mansion and started my research.
I searched on my computer, reading everything I could get my hands on.
But the more I read, the more confused I became. I found so much conflicting, confusing advice. Should I try a damsel-in-distress routine? Or will he just think I'm weak? I never managed to understand what love was,
until a friend suggested I try to date someone to experience it firsthand. When my friend pointed to Valerian's friend, Victor, a new idea sparked in my mind. I remembered those shoujo manga and romance novels I read.
A rivalry for love... a little jealousy... that will surely make him realize his feelings.
And so, my charade with Victor began. I truly believed this would work. I believed Valerian would see me with someone else and realize that he was missing out on me. But he saw right through it.
.......
Back at Victor's Pov
After hearing her backstory, I was speechless. This girl... she was utterly and truly clueless about love.
Isabella wiped her face and stood up with a newfound resolve.
"I was mistaken to think this charade would work," she stated, her voice returning to its cool, formal tone. "You have my sincerest gratitude for your time, Victor. It is my intention to speak with my father at once to have our arrangement dissolved." She didn't look back as she left, her form disappearing through the cafe door.
Leaving me with a blank face.
Wait... does that mean I'm finally free? I jumped up in joy until the waiter came and handed me the bill.
Why the fuck should I pay when I never ate anything? damnit!