His Cold Gaze

It happened again! She was back in this strange world, with these strange people. Only this time, Kira knew better than to try to drown herself again; obviously, it wouldn't change anything. Maybe if she went back to sleep, then she might wake up in a hospital or something.

Moon hadn't bothered her after her screaming fit. He merely told her to eat something and rest properly, then he left her alone. She had a feeling he was offended by her reaction; who wouldn't be angry at being yelled at first thing in the morning?

"Princess? Princess, are you awake?" There was a knock on her door. Kira groaned and finally gave up on trying to fall asleep. "Yes, come in."

The door was pushed open, and two familiar figures walked into the room. She was relieved to see it was the two women she had met before.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're looking much better," Evelyn said, worried. "Bloom and I were afraid you had lost your mind completely."

"Everyone knows the food served in the palace tastes the best," Bloom added. "If you died, we'd have no reason to visit."

Kira and Evelyn looked at her strangely. Kira wondered if that was the only reason why the other girl didn't want her to die.

Evelyn and Bloom were the daughters of two very powerful officials in the kingdom. Evelyn had long, dark hair, which she always kept styled in a bun with beautiful jewelry.

She never went out in clothes that weren't blue, her favorite color. Bloom was less lively than her friend, with short blond hair and bright blue eyes; her doe eyes, plump lips, and fair skin gave her a doll-like appearance.

All three of them had been good friends since they were children, or so the servant from yesterday had told Kira when she asked about them. She didn't know them, but at least she had other females to talk to.

Evelyn and Bloom seemed like sweet girls. It had been a while since she'd hung out with friends; working with Dae made it very hard to have a social life.

The three girls sat around a table and dug into the food brought by Moon.

"I still don't know why you jumped into the river," Evelyn asked. "Were you hoping that Dae would come to save you?"

Bloom scoffed at her friend's words. "I bet he would have gladly watched her drown. He's cold like that."

"Why do you both think this has anything to do with Dae? My life doesn't revolve around him, you know."

Evelyn and Bloom exchanged looks. But hadn't it always been that way? When Kira first had Dae brought to the palace, she was so love-struck that all she ever talked about was how good-looking the man was. She gave him everything he wanted and let him get away with a lot. It made the rest of her harem members jealous. Now she was saying otherwise. They didn't believe her at all.

"So, why did you send Moon away?" Evelyn had a slight blush on her face as she thought of the elf prince. "You know, if you don't want him, you can give him to me."

"Come off it, Evelyn. You know how infatuated Moon is with our princess. But Kira doesn't care about him, not since she met Dae."

"I really don't know what the hell you guys are talking about," Kira said, munching on some fried lotus root. She didn't think she'd ever understand what was happening in this world.

"And I did not send him away."

"Really? I heard some servants talking about it earlier. Apparently, there's a rumor spreading in your harem that you no longer favor Moon above the others."

"When have I ever favored anyone?"

"You have a harem, of course you get to pick a favorite," Bloom stated. It was a known fact in the entire palace that Moon was Kira's favorite before Dae came along.

"I don't want to talk about this any further. Let's change the topic."

Until she could find a way back home, she was going to try to be someone she wasn't. Kira knew it would be hard, but she also knew of the consequences that would come with someone finding out she wasn't the real princess. If Dae had a dragon, then she was too afraid to think of what sort of wild beasts the king might possess. He might have her executed if he knew she wasn't his beloved sister. Kira touched her neck as she shivered at the thought of being beheaded.

Thankfully, Bloom and Evelyn didn't suspect anything. The Princess was always unpredictable and stubborn; no one knew what she would do until she had done it. So they didn't suspect anything.

When they had finished eating, Evelyn came up with an idea. Here is the text:

"Let's go to the village market. I heard there's a new jewelry store that sells all sorts of rare treasures," Evelyn said. Bloom easily agreed with her. "Plus, leaving the palace to get some air would do you good."

Kira thought about it and saw no reason not to go. It would be nice to see a bit of the world outside. "Yeah, why not?"

When Kira had gotten dressed, the three of them walked out of her part of the palace. They were on their way to their awaiting transport when they spotted Dae. His dragon was with him, curled up under a large cherry blossom tree. Dae was leaning against his beast, his gaze distant. The scene was like something out of a fairytale.

Bloom poked Kira to get her attention. "This is your chance to get your revenge."

"What?"

"Bloom is right," Evelyn said. "How dare that scumbag give you a hard time! Go confront him right now and teach him a lesson."

The princess felt her knees go weak as she looked over at her boss and his sleeping dragon. These girls weren't her friends at all; they wanted to get her killed!

"I'm not going."

"Wow, Kira, it seems your temperament has changed completely," Evelyn said. "You used to be so hot-blooded."

"It doesn't matter," Kira replied.

Bloom clapped her hands in excitement. "He's coming this way!" They quickly looked back at Dae's direction; truly, he was making his way towards them. His eyes were like ten thousand arrows about to pierce her soul!