61 AAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

"Ah, ha! Caroline!"

I gazed quietly as Asura fiddled with a strand of her golden hair, perhaps feeling ashamed after not recognizing my face and even calling me by someone else's name.

But I knew the truth.

She wasn't the one that's supposed to be ashamed.

I am. It was I who tricked her and charmed her so that it appeared that she was wrong.

How despicable. How can you say that you like her when you did something so wicked?

Perhaps it was out of guilt, but upon seeing Asura's discomfort and awkwardness, as well as her eyes that were reddened by her cries and her sleeves, which were filled with traces of tears hurriedly wiped from her face, I felt my own eyes reddening.

"Miss Asura, are you alright? You do not seem too well!" It was a stupid and rude question, and perhaps I should've asked more indirectly and more diplomatically. Still, I could no longer stand the silence, nor could I stand not showing any concern—if I had waited a bit longer, what if Asura takes that time to run off and leave me without telling me what happened?

"I was, carelessly, not paying attention to my surroundings. A few grains of sand fell into my eye while I was walking along the road…"

Asura continued on with her tale, but my mind had wandered elsewhere and I was no longer listening.

Did she think I was an idiot?! There were clues all over that proved against her claims… for example, her sleeves. Was she expecting me to believe that a grain of sand made her weep enough tears to wet a portion of her clothes at a diameter of at least five centimeters wide?

Well, of course, she wouldn't tell me her true thoughts.

Right now, I'm not one of her underlings nor her close friends.

I'm Caroline Baske, a made-up person she's never met before.

Suddenly, I was regretting my hasty actions to cover up my appearance.

Perhaps… if I were 'Lancera,' would Asura's answer be different?

I felt an unprecedented excitement rise within me when thinking of this, but with the anticipation came a sense of dread.

What if it wasn't different?

What if Asura thought of 'Lancera' and 'Caroline' as the same? What if I didn't mean as much as I thought I did to her?

As my thoughts ran wild, it was the absence of Asura's meek voice that brought me back.

Just as I awoke from my stupor, the young lady spoke again, "Well, I must leave now, Caroline. I bid you farewell and a prayer for a joyous afternoon."

"Ah…" Before I could react, she had turned around and walked away in quick steps.

No…

I can't allow it to end here.

Without hesitation, I shed my disguise—and with the remainder of my sanity, I chased after Asura in silent steps, waiting impatiently for 30 breaths to pass before finally letting out the shout that had bottled up within me, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!"