Feigning Innocence

Taken aback by how his beloved suddenly started shooting him a pointed gaze, Zen went silent still for a moment and stared back at Anastasia.

Her ocean blue eyes seemingly darkened at that very second, telling him of their unfathomable depth. He never saw her muster such a scornful expression before - at least not that one directed to him.

"Sia...?" 

At his flabbergasted call, Anastasia forces herself to snap out of it and collect herself together again. As much as she wants to go hysterical or throw everything off at that very minute, she feels the need to keep her cool. She can't let her rampaging emotions get the best of her.

All she has now are her incomplete memories, after all. There's still a lot of missing puzzle pieces. She can't look at the bigger picture at this point, and no matter how much her past reeks of nothing but tragedy, she needs to put the pieces back together.

"More than anything, though, I have one certain concern to be really wary of..." Anastasia silently pondered.

"What happened before and after his father shot me? Was he on his side or not? Considering how much he favored him above everyone else, there's a chance that he had allowed it in the end or was involved in one way or another. He was in that flashback, after all."

It may be true that Zen has been doing nothing but take care of Anastasia ever since she woke up to this second life. But then, there's still the fact that he's hiding many secrets from her, including the truth that it was his father who killed her and this whole thing about him being a scientist.

There had to be a reason why Zen didn't tell Anastasia about the latter earlier and still didn't with the former. What's more, she could remember that she had been experimented on way back before she died. Since he's a scientist, there's a slim yet existent chance that he's involved in it either.

"At any rate, I still can't recall enough details to say whether he's genuinely taking care of me or not - and whether he's also one of the main reasons behind my death or he's just purely my revivor..." Anastasia continued to contemplate, casting down her gaze.

"But I don't want to be played nor tricked anymore - just like what those monsters did to me... So, for the meantime, I'll pretend clueless of this certain memory. I'll find things out for myself and until then, I'll play this charade."

Anastasia isn't so gullible that she will fall for acts of kindness and love alone. She'd been there before, after all. What she wants here is the truth, and as of now, only distrust can help her uncover it without getting lied to. 

She shouldn't trust anyone too easily - not even this person whom she fell head-over-heels in love with.

"I-I'm sorry, Zen. I'm not angry or anything..." Anastasia apologized frantically, getting rid of her foul mood at once.

"I-It's just that... It's disgusting. I vomited, after all. You shouldn't hold me yet."

Seeing her fidgeting in her seat and looking all embarrassed, Zen takes a moment to let everything sink in before heaving a silent sigh of relief. He really thought he screwed up at something he had no idea about.

"It's not disgusting, you know. You'll never be disgusting either..." he reassured her before reaching out for her hand and holding it anyway.

"Do you want to rest for now? You probably ate too much and ended up throwing everything up."

"Yeah, I did. I'm so sorry for ruining our breakfast..." she begged pardon again, letting him support her as she stood up from her seat.

"And to everyone here too, I'm so sorry. The food's very delicious, though. That's probably why I ate too much."

"We appreciate your compliment, Young Miss," Rupert chimed in from beside her, smiling softly all the while.

"It was nice meeting you all today. Thanks again."

Sparing one last smile at the maids and menservants, Anastasia eventually turns around and walks with Zen all the way back to her bedroom.

---

"You sure you're alright now?" 

At the moment, the two are keeping each other company inside a room lit by the morning sunlight that's penetrating through the window. A reposeful atmosphere hangs by the air all the while, creating a serene ambiance.

Zen had Anastasia lay on her bed after giving her some medicine for her stomachache. It just happened that it was really her belly's fault in the end. 

He's now sitting on the side of her bed with a fond smile gracing his features. While he just keeps exchanging looks with her, he's gently stroking her hair as a way to soothe her to sleep. 

Anastasia appears really exhausted for some reason. Her eyes are barely open at this point.

"I'm fine, I promise. Just a bit of rest will do," she reassured him as she rubbed her cheek deeper into her soft pillow.

"Alright, then. Sleep for now. You can tell me more about it later..." he replied warmly before leaning closer and kissing her forehead lovingly, much to her surprise.

"Rest well, Sia."

Though taken aback by such an affectionate gesture, Anastasia forced her eyes to shut closed the moment Zen pulled away. He then eventually stood up and took his leave after seeing her already asleep.

She waited for the sound of the door closing before opening her eyes once more. As much as she didn't want to be affected by that, she still found herself blushing a little at how warm and soft his lips were when he kissed her. 

However, her eyes narrowed in skepticism eventually, not wanting to fall for the act if it's indeed one. She then stared at the direction where he walked off to, a heavy emotion layering over her unsmiling expression.

"If everything does turn out to be a lie in the end..." she trailed off with a scowl marring her frame.

"I swear I'll get out of here as soon as I can."

---

At the other side of the door, Zen remains standing in silence with his head stooped low.

Far from his warm and gentle expression earlier, he's now wearing a steely expression with a frown hanging over his frame. His glinting crimson orbs took form of these slit-like pupils, emphasizing the clamor of emotions that's stirring within him at the moment.

"Yeah, right. As if you ate too much... You haven't even finished half of your plate..." he then suddenly muttered with vehemence, clenching his fists all the while.

"Why did you lie?"

In all actuality, Zen was pretending too. He didn't know what got to Anastasia out of nowhere, but he could tell that something's gravely wrong - perhaps, something that had to do with her memories.

Since she's acting like normal and even more submissive to his romantic gesture than usual, he just decided to play along too. He tested the waters for a bit, and in the end, he sensed that she did recover some of her memories again.

But then, unlike before, she didn't say anything, so he can't be sure if his presumptions are real. He presumed that it's related to his mistakes and transgressions to her in the past - he thought so because of how she looked at him earlier. 

It's the abhorrent look of someone who had been betrayed. 

"I see... So that's how it is..."

That's when Zen spreads a sly smirk out of nowhere, his half-lidded red irises brimming with a dark emotion.

"But no matter what happens, I swear I'm never going to let you go... Sia."