Jealousy

The sweet scent of the freshly cooked dishes filled the air. The bellies of all ten attendants growled as they patiently waited for the food to get ready. 

" Take your seats, my fellow adventurers. The food is almost ready. " Azhar chided, his tone low. 

In a hurry, all of them went to sit down around the fire. Vritra was silently observing them all. 

Sana looked towards Vritra. She wanted to sit beside him and finally have a talk with him for the first time. 

But the seat on his right was already taken by Jackal. Just as Sana began to walk towards the stone on his left, Linda sat down there.

Tsk. 

Clicking her tongue, Sana could only sit away from him, looking at Linda jealously. The young, cute girl had just taken her seat. 

'Wait, it was this easy to change the future? Just because I changed my seat, Linda is sitting here, and instead, Sana sat on the stone opposite to the camp. ' Vritra pondered, without displaying any surprise on his face. 

Soon, everyone was seated around the fire, and the food was finally ready. They were all excited since it even consisted of meat, which they could only eat a few times in a year if they were lucky while in the Sanctum. 

" At least we are rewarded with such delicious food after working hard every day, " one of the boys said, as Azhar passed food to them all on their plates. 

" Hello, I am Linda, " Turning her head towards Vritra, the little lady spoke with two small dimples forming on her rosy cheeks as the petite girl smiled. 

" I am Vri-" Vritra looked at her and nodded. He was still thinking about the change in events. 

" I know, you are Vritra, right? I have never heard a name like that before. It sounds unique and good. " Linda said, talking to him as if they had known each other for years. 

" Hmmm " was the response she got. 

" Oh, if your food isn't enough, you can take some of mine. My little belly probably won't fill that much meat anyway. Hehe, and I don't want to look fat. " She added, rubbing her belly and laughing melodically. 

Her laugh brought a smile on everyone's faces. 

But, Sana chewed her finger instead of the meat as she watched Linda get all lovey-dovey with her lover. 

'Well, we are lovers in a way. After all, he likes me, and I too... Oof, this is too much for my heart. ' Sana thought, feeling extreme jealousy towards Linda. 

If Linda wasn't such a young and cute girl, she might have already thrown her away from the seat that should have been hers. 

But Sana's entire body tingled, and her heart thumped the loudest, as Linda raised her hand to touch Vritra's hair. 

A burning sensation filled her chest, making her feel something extremely unpleasant. 

' H- How dare she? Now I can't neglect this anymore. Touching someone else's property is a big no, even for cute young girls. ' 

Sana stood up while carrying her plate and walked towards Linda. 

" I think you would look better with longer hair. Maybe you should try growing them in the future. " Linda said, as she touched his hair. 

Vritra didn't react in any way. 

He only focussed on eating. 

The fact that Linda wasn't like that with the other male attendants made the burning sensation even worse for Sana.

But Linda do gets friendly with others very easily. 

Although this trait of hers might lead her to problems in the future, after all, most boys might misunderstand even simple smile from her for feelings. 

" I have something important to talk to my- COUGH to V- Vritra. Can we change seats? " Sana asked, in a friendly tone with a forced smile as she walked and stood in front of Linda. 

Her entire body was still burning hot with the fire of jealousy while her heart felt heavy. 

She was just a young girl with different fantasies about love, and she was attracted to how he secretly admired her and always helped her without saying a word.

" Uh... Sure, I didn't know you two were close. " Linda blinked her big eyes, then she giggled and walked away from there carrying her plate. 

And now, she sat exactly at the seat where she was sitting in Vritra's vision. 

'So the future is unchangeable after all, no matter what I may attempt?' Vritra stared at the young girl walking away and then sitting on the stone. 

She instantly began to talk with the other girl, looking as cheerful as ever.

Vritra heard the rustling of clothes beside him as Sana sat down. Her mood seemed to have improved slightly. 

"..." He looked at Sana's face and waited for her to speak, but she just buried her face in the plate and began to eat. 

" So tomorrow might be the day when we all enter the inheritance. As fun as our trip has been so far, it would still be quite dangerous. " Azhar spoke, and after a pause, he added: 

" So how about we share something about us or talk about just anything? "

" I have just the perfect idea. How about we talk about our ideal love partner? " Linda spoke. 

The cute little girl was quite interested in hearing about others' love stories. 

"YES!!" 

Sana was the first to agree, as she responded in a slightly louder voice. Then, sensing others' gaze on herself, she spoke: 

"Cough. I-I think that would be an interesting topic. " 

And soon the others agreed too, so one by one, they began to share the qualities of their ideal lover. 

" I want a good-looking partner, and he needs to be rich so I can enjoy the rest of my life, also he should be caring and love me a lot. When I meet someone like that, I will charm him with my cuteness. " Linda said, giving a sweet smile looking at everyone. 

Then one by one, everyone shared their image of the perfect partner. Finally it was Sana's turn. 

If it had been before, she could have easily answered about her ideal type of man, but that had changed now. 

After thinking for a few seconds, she spoke: 

"Mm. Someone who loves me crazily and cares for me the most, and... he should look good with longer hair. " While speaking, she secretly glanced at Vritra's face, who was still busy eating his food. 

" Okay, I will go first. " Jackal spoke. Though it was Vritra's turn, but he just began to speak: 

" I want more than one wife. All need to be very beautiful. They should treat me like their king. They need to be rich so they can take care of me for the rest of my life, and I don't have to work a day in my lif-" Jackal just kept on going, but was stopped by others. 

Now everyone was looking at Vritra, waiting for him to speak, especially Sana. 

"..." He finally stopped eating and felt that he should speak something. After all, he needed to have a serious discussion with everyone now. 

" My ideal partner, huh…? " Vritra mumbled and thought about this question. 

Instantly, the image of a beautiful brown-haired woman appeared in his mind. She was the most gorgeous and perfect woman he had ever met. 

'Sigh. That life is already over. I need to get over Mirelle, but can I really do that? ' Vritra sighed internally. 

" Hey, tell us about the type of wife you want. " Jackal spoke, feeling impatient. 

" I already have a wife, " Vritra mumbled while deep in thought. 

"..." All of them fell silent and stared strangely at him. 

THUD

Sana's plate slipped out of her hands, her eyes wide open. 

She was frozen and felt as if something was stuck in her throat, making it impossible to even swallow her saliva. 

Her vision seemed to get blurry as she felt her eyes welling up with tears. It hurt her more than she could have imagined. 

' I-Is this how it ends? ' she thought, turning her head down. 

Sana didn't want others to see her like this. This pain made her realise how much she had started to like him in such a short time. 

"Hahaha! I didn't know you can make jokes too. We were brought to this Sanctum together and have been here for almost a decade... tch yet you didn't even know my name. 

Anyway, I have never seen you even talk to anyone. When did you get a wife? " Jackal laughed, shaking his head. 

Vritra finally came out of his thoughts. The others relaxed too, thinking that it was just a joke. 

But the one most relieved was Sana. She felt as if she had just received a second life, but she still couldn't stop tears from dropping down. 

' Why am I like this when I don't even know anything about him besides his name? But then why do I feel so happy now? ' she thought and sighed, as she happily wiped her face. 

Vritra glanced at Sana, seeing the reaction that he wanted then he looked at the others.

" There is something important I have to talk to you all. " Vritra spoke with a serious expression. 

This was the time to start manipulating all of them. 

Then, before they could speak anything, he picked a stick from the ground and began to scribble something on the ground.