The First Wall II

The next day Laura felt exhausted after reading so many books as this was her other punishment for spacing out. She looked down at the window and admired the beautiful flowers from the garden.

Mary had suggested to Laura to go for a walk so that she could at least have a bit of rest as she has been studying for hours. Laura listened to her as she had always wanted to go for a stroll and admire the flowers.

Mary escorted Laura to the garden and left her alone as she wanted some time for herself. Laura walked towards the pergola and stopped when she heard voices of some other girls talking. Laura continued walking towards the pergola as the voices she had heard were familiar.

Under the pergola, she sees Tine and her two friends, Viola Redmond and Serena Smythe. Tine had noticed Laura and invited her to join them, but Laura refused as she was only taking a quick stroll as a small break from her studies.

Viola, on the other hand, did not welcome Laura, as she didn't like the looks of her at all.

"I can't believe you have a sister like her."

Laura felt triggered upon hearing her words but still stayed calm. She told herself that she must not react or else it will affect her all the more. Laura never liked Tine's friends since they were all toxic towards her except for one of them, which was Serena.

Viola was just proud to be 'best friends' with someone who was rumored to become the second prince's fiancee. Although the women in the society didn't like Viola as she was a rude chatterbox.

Laura never understood why Tine had become her friend when she knows how her 'friend' is like. But had a suspicion that she's only using her to have more influence. Serena, the other friend of Tine, was rather calm and observant.

Laura always felt bad for her, as Tine was clearly only using her because her family members are the dress-makers for the royal family.

"Viola don't say something so rude to my sister."

"How can you call her sister when she's not even the same blood as you are?"

"It doesn't mean that we aren't sisters by blood, we can't become sisters."

"You're too kind Tine. Who knows? She secretly is a daughter of a prostitute?"

"Viola! That's too much."

Laura gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. She didn't mind being called an orphan, but if you had dared to criticize the person who had given birth to her, it would be similar to stepping on a minefield.

Viola had gotten scared as she saw the face Laura had made. She was terrified upon seeing a face who could kill her instantly. Laura walked towards Viola, making her frightened.

"I would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Laura Alvarado, the eldest daughter of the Alvarado family. Indeed, I am an orphan but if you would criticize my mother, you would not make it out alive."

Even if Laura was an orphan, not once she had gotten angry at the person who had given birth to her. There were days she had wondered how she looked like, or if she was even still alive.

"If you would excuse me. I need to go back studying, unlike someone I know."

Viola chose to stay quiet and as she realized that she had made a big mistake in her life. She shouldn't have said something rude in front of Laura, but she just couldn't keep her mouth shut.

Laura walked the opposite way back to the estate as she wanted to clear her head. She felt so angry to the point she couldn't think clearly. She had continued walking until she suddenly heard her name being called.

She turned around to see Serena calmly looked at her and bowed slightly. She had wondered why Serena had followed her and what she wanted. Serena then asked for Laura to become her friend.

Laura got confused because never did this happened in the past. She had never talked to Serena, but she knew Serena never liked Tine.

"Sure."

Serena looked up to see Laura smiling and offering a hand, and she gladly accepted it. Laura was fine with being friends with Serena because she had always wanted to befriend her.

"But why do you want to become my friend?"

"I just thought you were the right person to become my friend."

"Isn't Tine your childhood friend?"

Laura had known much about Serena and Tine's relationship. They used to get along so well, but one day it just stopped. She didn't know what happened, but for sure Serena had discovered something.

"I don't know who she is anymore. Always putting up a fake mask on."

"So you knew."

Serena gathered her courage to talk about what happened and brought Laura to a place within the estate she had never known of. Behind the estate, there was a lake surrounding a pergola. Laura was speechless after knowing such a place had existed.

Never in her life had she knew about this. They both walked to the pergola, took a seat, and stayed silent.

"I just knew it recently too. I can't believe even a girl like you had seen her face behind the mask."

'I can't just say I had been reincarnated. It would be better not to tell anyone.'

"I just didn't like the feel of her kindness. It felt fake."

Serena agreed with what Laura had said and continued her story. There was once when she had visited Tine and when she was about to enter her room, she heard Tine shouting at her maid.

Vases could be heard as they crashed onto the floor, and Tine was complaining about how her father had adopted a new child. She was disgusted that a commoner had risen up to such a high rank so easily just because his father was kind.

Laura couldn't help but sigh. She knew that Tine never liked the idea of having another sister and had always wanted her father to only pay attention to her. Tine could not oppose to her father because he said that the girl had resembled Countess Mariane, her mother.

"Countess Mariane... I wish I knew how she looked like."

"I would agree with the count that you very much resemble her."

When Serena had first seen Laura, she immediately wanted to become friends with her. Laura had a calm and mysterious presence which made Serena interested in someone for the first time.

"But if Tine had learned that you became my friend, she wouldn't just sit."

"I don't care if bad rumors start to spread about me, but I thought that I needed a change. When I saw you I wished to be you. Despite you being an orphan it is really admirable that you're still standing tall."

"I don't have much confidence in myself either. It was hard to adjust from being a commoner to being a noble and sometimes I would wish to never adopted into this family."

Laura thought about it carefully, if she had become friends with Serena what would benefit her? But at the same time, she didn't want bad rumors of Serena to be spread, because Laura's bad rumors came from Tine.

"You're strong."

Serena felt envious as she gave Laura a smile. Despite the rumors about Laura spreading amongst the nobles, she didn't have any care about it. If Serena was in her shoes, she would have locked herself in and never come out.

"I'm just strong because I want to live and there are so many things that I still want to try doing. Aren't you the same? You want to become a dressmaker right?"

"How do you know that?"

Serena was surprised to hear those words coming from Laura. She had never told anyone but herself that she wants to make dresses. She has secretly been practicing to make and sometimes would wear her own creations.

"That dress that you're wearing is what you made right?"

"Yes, how do you know about that?"

"It's just speculation because your fingers are covered with bandages."

The feeling of knowing someone who knew the pain of how you felt was something Serena had been finding in a person. She wanted a genuine friend who can see through her and it was the first time a person had read her right.

Not even Tine could understand how Serena had felt because she had never really cared about her. Tine was only her friend to have some connection with her family. Serena for the first time had smiled brightly and held her tears in.

She had finally found a person who can truly become her friend.

"I would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Serena Smythe and I would like to officially ask if you can be my friend."

"I gladly accept to be your friend."

Since then Laura knew clearly that the path of doom was still far away. Even so, she still hasn't forgotten what her real purpose was, and it was to take revenge.