Peace in chaos

Eva's eyes shot open, her body jolting upright as she gasped for air. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead and she took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart. She lifted herself out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.

Standing in front of the mirror, she leaned over the basin and splashed her face with cold water. Her hands, still shaking slightly, brushed away the damp hair on the sides of her face. She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a few seconds before she tilted her head to the side and ran her fingers along her neck, lost in thought.

"Of course you wouldn't find any wounds. It's just a nightmare." Eva clicked her tongue and shook her head in disappointment, berating herself for almost believing the nightmare to be true.

Hearing a sudden knock on the door, she put on her mask and went to see who it was.

Once she opened the door, Emily came into her view with a cheerful smile. She had two paper bags in each hand which had the logo of a famous restaurant.

"Congratulations, my princess! I knew you could do it!" Emily squealed in delight before pushing herself into the room and tightly hugging the seemingly unimpressed girl, causing her to slightly stagger backwards.

"Damn it, Em. Lower your voice. Do you want to expose my identity to everyone inside the hospital with your loudspeaker of a mouth?" Eva reprimanded her best friend who was suffocating her in a bear hug.

"I don't even speak that loud," Emily pouted her lips, before releasing Eva and walking towards the couch, "Stop being so dramatic. Now, come and give me a little kiss to thank me for vouching for you earlier."

Emily made herself comfortable on the couch and winked at Eva, who pursed her lips and shook her head watching her dramatic friend calling her the dramatic one.

"You know that I could have handled them myself, right?" Eva asked, removing her mask and taking a seat beside the girl.

"You are such a killjoy!" Emily rolled her eyes dramatically before she took out the food containers from the paper bag and arranged them on the glass table in front of them.

"I knew you would be hungry after the surgery, and I also knew that you would be too tired to eat the food brought in by the royal guards," she gestured towards the scrumptious spread of food arranged on the dining table to their left and continued, "So I brought you lunch from your favourite restaurant. Come on, let's dig in."

She opened the lids of the containers and the delightful aroma of the food filled the air, making Eva's mouth water.

Rubbing her palms together, Emily playfully wiggled her eyebrows before eagerly stuffing a dumpling into her mouth.

A huge smile spread across Eva's lips as she looked at her friend, who was munching and devouring the dumplings like a little hamster.

"Mmm... Eva, I forgot to tell you something... Chris is coming back from Queenstown today, for the first time after four years. Let's have a welcoming party tonight at Eden Club," Emily, the party animal, brimmed with enthusiasm as a bright smile plastered across her face at the mere thought of partying.

"Okay... But I thought he will be coming to Zenis next week," Eva's voice came out slightly muffled as she stuffed a dumpling into her mouth.

"Yeah. He was supposed to come next week. But I believe he can't wait to see you anymore. He's so eager to get here as fast as he can so that he can spend some loving time with the love of his life," Emily said, making a heart with her hands and waving it in front of Eva's face with a teasing smile.

Swatting her friend's hand away, Eva rolled her eyes, "You know that I don't like him that way, right? He's my best friend just like you. Besides, I'm not interested in dating men right now. Have you ever seen me look at someone of the opposite sex other than my patients?"

"So, you don't like men? Don't tell me you bat for the other team?" widening her eyes dramatically, Emily crossed her arms in front of her chest in a protective gesture.

Eva's lips formed into a thin line as she shot a glare at Emily, who disregarded Eva's death glare and happily ate her food.

"Except for my profession, I don't have any interest in dating and love for now. What about you? Why don't you have a boyfriend then?" Eva asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean I don't have a boyfriend? I'm already committed to my current book boyfriend," Emily waved her hand dismissively and accidentally knocked an unopened paper bag, causing a book to tumble out. Realizing her blunder, Emily hurriedly tried to conceal it, but Eva had already caught sight of the book, "What book is that?"

"Haha. It's nothing," with a nervous smile, Emily attempted to grip the book tighter, making it look even more suspicious.

Eva's eyelids narrowed into slits as she examined Emily's face, causing the girl to reply in a meek tone, "It's just a romance novel."

"It's smut," Eva declared in a deadpan voice. She knew her friend too well to know what kind of books she reads.

"Hahaha. You are a genius," a stiff smile formed on Emily's face when she tried to remember the time she gifted her best friend an R-18 fantasy romance book to spice up her boring single life, but got reprimanded by her friend the next day. Her friend seriously needs to learn how to live her life a little, she thought in her mind.

"Actually, this is the smuttiest fantasy romance novel I have ever read. I completed reading the first part and this is the second part, which would be published next week. But with my influence, I got my hands on this baby earlier than the publishing date," cradling the book in her arms, Emily continued, "The story is basically about a girl who dies accidentally and her soul transmigrates into the body of a beautiful young woman in the Victorian era, who falls in love with a Duke, who is also a hot vampire. The romance between them is a chef's kiss."

"If only I could find a real-life version of a perfect book boyfriend like him. A man who is cold yet soft at heart, hot yet sweet, a man who looks like a lion on the outside but is actually a golden retriever on the inside…" she trailed off with a dreamy look in her eyes.

'She's going to remain single forever,' Eva thought while listening to her friend's rambling about her nonexistent boyfriend.

"Em, you know what? I think you could use some therapy. Let me recommend a well-known therapist I know." Eva offered her suggestion, before she added, "Maybe I should go with you too. Your crazy obsession over vampires and werewolves seems to be rubbing off on me. I even dreamt about a man who resembled a vampire from one of those books you read."

Eva spoke seriously, only to hear the girl's excited response, "Is he handsome?"

"The therapist or the man from my dream?" Eva raised her eyebrow.

"The latter," the girl replied with a mischievous giggle.

Eva let out a defeated sigh, playfully raising an imaginary white flag in her hand, causing the brown-haired girl to burst into laughter.

"Alright then, I'll get going now. I'll meet you at the castle at 6." Emily waved her hand and walked out of the door, quickly disappearing from the corridor.

After a few minutes, Eva covered her face and proceeded to the underground parking area, accompanied by the royal guards who discreetly blended in with the crowd, maintaining a low profile to ensure her safety. They escorted her into a bulletproof car and she settled into the backseat.

The vibrant city of Zenis came alive in the evening, with the sky aglow from the bright lights of towering structures and skyscrapers. The sounds of cars filled the air, imbuing the city with lively energy. And a small smile tugged at the corners of Eva's lips as her purple eyes fixated on the bustling chaos unfolding in the streets.

While the car slowly moved through the traffic, her gaze trailed towards a group of high school girls gleefully buying ice cream from a stall on the sidewalk, their laughter echoing in the air. A man walking on the side of the road, holding a woman's hand and effortlessly carrying their little girl on his shoulders, a heartwarming display of familial love. The silhouette of a young boy kissing a girl's cheek under a cherry blossom tree, their shy smiles capturing the innocence and budding romance between them. And an elderly couple seated on a bench under a dimly lit streetlight on the other side of the road, seemingly engaged in a playful, mischievous exchange.

'Peace.'

How fortunate they were, she thought, to lead simple and uncomplicated lives, finding peace amidst the chaos. How she wished to experience such an ordinary life, filled with warmth and love.

It wasn't that she had never been loved by anyone. In fact, she was adored and doted on by everyone around her. Her father, in particular, cherished her deeply and would go to great lengths to protect her. However, being a crown princess meant her life was far from ordinary.

Ever since she was born, Princess Evangeline Violet Whitlock had been sheltered from the outside world. And in an effort to protect her from their enemies, her father had imposed strict restrictions on her movements, forbidding her to set foot outside the castle. She received her education through homeschooling within the castle walls, and her dear friends Emily and Chris would visit the castle every day, bringing joy to her confined world. But, her longing to explore the world beyond the castle walls never ceased inside her little heart.

It was only when her father's loyal friend, Dr. Morris, recognized her talent in medicine, he pleaded with his friend, King Elijah, to allow her to pursue her passion. And only after Dr. Morris promised the king that he would protect his daughter's life with his own, she was granted permission to work in the hospital. But she was not allowed to go anywhere without the royal guards accompanying her.

Resting her head against the window, Eva closed her eyes for a moment and released a soft, deep sigh, causing the glass window near her mouth to fog slightly. 'If only I could live the life of an ordinary girl, even just for a day...'