CHAPTER EIGHT

"OH. MY. GOD!"

Leila couldn't help but laugh at Senpai's sudden outburst. "You should see your face."

Senpai, who discovered that names could give spiritual beings more power, grew even stronger. He was now able to take the form of a handsome immortal man, with jet black long hair, dark-colored skin, and red eyes.

He had the vibe of a drag queen while somehow looking like Malcolm Johnson of A Haunted House movies.

The moment the two entered the entrance hall, all the diamonds flared with light and revealed the amazing interior of the palace. Senpai's jaw dropped at the gorgeous sight.

White marble statues of deities were placed beside four enormous pillars. Walls decorated with antique tapestries, paintings of nature and famous figures of history and legends, and gold Victorian sconces with giant light-emitting diamonds instead of candles.

An impressive mural of flying angels was painted on the ceiling and completed with a gigantic bohemian crystal chandelier.

At the end of the hall was a massive white staircase decorated with a patterned gold stair runner carpet and divided into two wings at the top.

Leila giggled at the sight of Senpai's face, a funny expression that is a mixture of shock and fascination.

"That is so beaut!" He blurted in a shocking high-pitched voice. "I can't believe it! The whole palace is lit up by shooting star diamonds!"

Leila narrowed her eyebrows in confusion and tilted her head. "What's so surprising about them?"

"I can't believe you just said that!" Senpai flashed her a look of disbelief and started muttering furiously as he observes the interior designs.

While they travel back to Leila's palace, she learned a lot of things about Senpai that she had never expected.

And one of those things was the fact that he was gay as fuck.

And since Leila had named him, she and Senpai now shared an unbreakable bond. According to him, the bond allows thought communication between master and spirit, no matter how far the distance.

They would share weal and woe, in other words, both powers and other capabilities. Much to Leila's reluctance, part of it was sharing her memories with the gay spirit.

Now he had embodied a character who says slang words like Cardi B, dances like a Kpop idol, sings like Britney Spears, and humors like Marcus and Kevin Copeland of White Chicks.

Leila tapped the ground with impatience. Senpai was so immersed at the interior that when he finally turned her way, he spoke with the grace and accent of a British Madonna. "Darling, a little more and your eyebrows are gonna escape."

"Well, I'm still waiting for your answer!"

He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Shooting star diamonds are very rare and very difficult to find. You can only have one diamond of that kind every decade, and because of this, shooting star diamonds worth a lot of money."

"Really?" She replied, practically hearing the bells striking gold. Leila fought off the urge to let out an evil laugh and cleared her throat, praying her eyes aren't taking the form of a dollar sign. "By how much, I wonder?"

"Let's just say it high enough that even the richest kingdom only has fifty of it." Senpai gestured at the diamonds embedded in the walls. "This is just absolutely humongous!"

"I see," Leila replied indifferently. Just by watching Senpai frolicking around with both of his hands lifted, his middle and ring fingers slightly bent taking the form of elegance, as it slightly bounced at his sides looking ridiculously like a duckling flapping its puny arms, was already mentally draining. "Well, then. Shall we resume the tour of the palace?"

"Oh, definitely. Lead the way, darling"

"Don't push your luck. This will be the first and last time I would be doing this sort of thing. After this, you will be immediately resuming your duties as my personal butler. I am your master after all."

"Tch." He replied in an annoying tone and begrudgingly followed behind her as Leila continued the tour of the palace.

***

When Leila woke up the next morning, she was feeling ecstatic.

Being alive was part of it, of course. But she had someone to talk to for the first time in almost three months since she woke up. Leila was finally saying goodbye to her lonely self.

Sure, she can make the statues in the palace come to life to help her move things around, but their sole purpose was mainly to protect the palace and not to act as servants.

Plus, statues don't talk or show expressions like living people so she can't really converse with them, she'll only look like a madman.

Leila slipped out of the bed and parted the thick and luxurious red drapes embellished with gold baroque embroideries to let the sunlight and the morning breeze into the room.

She developed light claustrophobia during those times she was kept in that lab. It wasn't extreme enough to be recognized as a weakness, but she would at least prefer not to be stuck in a stuffy place as to not rekindle bad memories.

Therefore, as her personal place, Leila chose the Ruby Room which was located at the highest part of the palace-a tower.

Moreover, the master bedroom comes with a large window and a comfortable window seat, perfect for viewing beautiful sceneries like sunrise, sunsets, meteor showers, and the like.

The tower was high enough that it overlooks the majority of her territory, as well the forest-perfect for spotting intruders, and at the recent case, damsels in distress.

The Ruby Room, like all the other rooms in the palace, was also luxuriously decorated.

The bed had no canopy and its headboard were embellished with gold pieces, the mattress was white and comfortable covered in a white bedsheet, the blankets composed with a thin white inner blanket and burgundy red satin duvet.

The decorations and furniture of the room were a collaboration of colors royal red, beige, white, and gold-giving off a royalty baroque feeling.

The ceilings were beige, the corners framed with gold, and completed with a chandelier.

The marbled floors were beige; the walls were like frame with the outer part painted brown and inner painted with burgundy, decorated with gold in baroque-style paneling.

But unlike the other rooms, the Ruby Room has many secret compartments and hidden passageways that lead to different places in the castle.

It took her quite some time to familiarize herself with it.

Leila glanced at the clock and noticed she woke up earlier than usual.

She stretched her body as she walked towards the built-in bathroom in the Ruby Room.

Her room was pretty far so Leila was grateful she didn't have to waste thirty minutes traveling back and forth the main bathhouse to her room, just to take a shower.

Leila stripped off her nightclothes, threw it in the basket next to the frame frosted glass swing door, and entered.

Her bathroom was small, about the size of an apartment room, compared to the main bathhouse whose as big as a school gym.

Inside, she had one shower, one toilet, a sink, a cabinet for towels and toiletries, and a small red-tiled Jacuzzi pool.

Leila stepped underneath the showerhead and pressed it open, cool water cascaded over her.

She enjoyed the refreshing feeling of cold water to her skin. Leila reached for the soap on the white wall shelf close to the shower and started rubbing herself with it, the room started to smell faintly of roses.

She lathered her hair with oils bearing the same scent as of the soap, but more potent, and rinsed her body with the cool water from the shower.

'What should we do for today?.' she thought, pressed the shower off, and wrung the water out of her hair. 'I guess taking in the sceneries would be a great idea. Might as well explore nearby towns and cities on the way.'

As she wiped her body with a towel, Leila suddenly realized a crucial factor. 'Right, its that time of the week.'

In her first week since awakening, Leila thought she didn't need to eat or drink because she never felt hungry or thirsty for days and that her immortal body was completely...well, immortal.

But when the seventh day arrived, she suddenly lost control of herself and went on a hunting frenzy, brutally ripping animals and monsters dwelling in the forest, and fully draining them of blood.

When she came to her senses two days later, she was covered with blood, dirt, and gore, and her clothes were in tatters. The first taste of blood in her mouth almost made her hurl her stomach, but her hunger had been completely sated.

Since then, Leila would often remind herself to eat once in a while or she'll go into another frenzy and end up in a bloody mess, again.

Leila approached her wardrobe as she finished drying her body with a clean towel and pulled it open.

She stared at the clothes inside. Even in her past life, Leila had a habit of limiting her clothes to colors black and red shades.

Especially the color red, which held a particular significance to her as it was a color she would constantly see all her life---the color of blood.

Proof of what she did.

Proof of what she had become.

Red for pain. Black for death.

Her whole life, she constantly lived and breathe in the darkness and exposed to the cruel side of humans.

This is why Leila was attracted and desperately clung to her sister who was gentle, pure, and innocent in the ways of the world.

Leila dressed in an ancient Roman-inspired rustic red dress with a v neckline, medieval rose gold girdle belt, and strappy heels.

She placed a rose gold snake bracelet in her right arm and fixed her long chocolate brown hair into a messy updo.

She always had a killer hairstyle in every mission, and the one behind it was Liese.

And since she's no longer around to do it for her, Leila would have to make do with the three best hairstyles she could conjure up by herself: let down, ponytail, and a messy bun.

Statues don't possess brains so they couldn't possibly learn how to.

As she fixed her appearance in the mirror, she can't help but admire how polished and ethereal her looks were.

Immortality made her look like she was wearing natural smoky eye makeup, and her natural lips were reddish, so she really didn't have to put makeup on herself. Her current natural self already looked gorgeous enough to go to a night party without feeling out of place.

Fully clothed, she hummed as she skipped her way to the kitchen to conjure up some nice dishes. Though Leila may not look like it, she was actually an excellent cook.

When she reached the hallway where the kitchen was located, Leila suddenly picked up shouts and curses from the place she was headed to. "Uh-oh."

Leila sprinted towards the source and burst into the room. As her eyes settled on the sight, she breathed. "What in the world?"

The whole kitchen was a disaster.

Several used pots piled on top of each other, flour was scattered all over the floor, there were eggs scattered on the walls and windows, and the white marble countertop was a mess of dirty plates, trays, and other baking materials and ingredients.

And the culprit---Senpai looked like he just had a massive food fight.

"Master!" Senpai laughed nervously. He furiously wiped his flour-coated face with the back of his hand. "Uh...good morning!"

Her eyes fell on something silver embedded on the wall beside her. "Is that a fork stuck on the wall?"

Leila was baffled, she didn't know whether to laugh-or be surprised or get mad at what he had done. But whatever the choices were, she decided on the latter, "I thought you said you can cook like Ramsay?"

"Uh...I can explain."

"You do know it's a crime to lie on a job interview, right?" Leila approached the kitchen counter, where plates bearing a strange-looking food was settled on top of it. "And what is that?"

"Duh! Can't you see?" He gestured at the plate. "Those are pancakes. They're yours by the way."

"Why do my pancakes look like shit?!"

"Seriously, are those eyes of yours accessories? Can't you see it's chocolate?"

"Ha?! Where on earth did you find chocolate in my kitchen?!"

"Look here, stupid!"

"That's soy sauce, you moron!"

"How am I supposed to know that?! You should've at least put labels on stuff like these!"

"So, it's my fault?! You should've tasted it first before you mix it with my pancakes!"

"You annoying piece of-!"

Leila cleared her throat and threw him an exasperated glare. "Step back. I'll go make my breakfast, some decent ones."

"Made by you? Puhlease! You can't do better than that!"

"Watch me." She purposely bumped against him as she took a clean pan from the cabinet. And while she worked on the batter, she gestured at the food on the counter. "If you eat those and lived the day without getting surgery, forget about Michelin stars I'll give you a Nobel prize instead."