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Malisha was so furious she saw red. The day that had started well had ended up being the worst day of her life yet.
She had waited for so long. For too long to redeem herself. She had even hoped to make a new name for herself. A new name to wipe away every stain from her past life.
Today had accorded her a perfect chance and the perfect opportunity to slip back into the halls of Society. However, after the events of the morning, nothing short of a miracle could save her.
Therefore yes, she was angry.
Four years of hard work had all gone down the drain, and she could not make up her mind whether she was angrier at herself or him for provoking the incident.
Why did he always have to make it so hard? Had he been absent from the situation, had it been someone else. Then, Malisha was sure that the situation would have been less dire and not as bad as it had eventually panned out.
Why did he always seem to derive so much pleasure in tormenting her? The answers evaded her, but certainly, it was all his fault. She finally decided.
" Urgh! " She screamed as she pulled at her hair in a fit of frustration.
" Who on earth goes out horseback riding and in the wee hours of the morning at that?" She grumbled to herself even as she walked down the pathway that was beside an empty asphalt highway.
It was a lovely day, nonetheless with great weather and a beautiful view. On any other day, she would have taken the time to admire the scenery. To bask in the glory that nature provided, but the same view now seemed like it was mocking her. It invoked such feelings within her that seemed to put a damper on her already frayed-up moods.
And yet, the poplar trees continued to dance in the wind. The palm trees stood majestically, waving their branches at the mid-morning sun. In the distance, the silhouette of a great city glimmered. Tall, shiny glass-covered skyscrapers immersed within a sea of green.
That had been her earlier destination.
She scoffed at the thought, and yet, her actions could not diminish the beauty of any of it. Not of the city. Nor that of the glistening blue lake some several leagues to the west of it.
It was the lake of Urb. The gem of the city and the capital city of Veterum. She was supposed to have made it to the annex there, but thanks to him and his endless shenanigans, it ended up becoming the place she had failed to arrive at for her new job appointment.
Her mind drifted back to the incident, and Malisha found herself frowning at the recollections she was having.
"Who were they?” She muttered to herself even as she thought back to the group of ladies that had gathered around him and her other arch-nemesis, Genevieve Mathers.
“His visitors or part of his harem?" she added scathingly. She still bore in mind that the man had been anything but kind with the words he had doled out on her, and it made her angry.
"Seduce him? What a ridiculous notion!" She scoffed. Outraged and burning up with so much anger that it soon became a welcome distraction that served her overt escapism rather well. For that was who she was in a nutshell. Malisha was a person who could not bear the thought of shouldering responsibility or reaping the repercussions that her actions had just sown.
It was easier than thinking about the alternative or the whirlwind soon to be unleashed upon the Veterum grapevine. It was easier. She decided as she embarked down the path of anger.
"Seduce him?" She repeated the words to herself. She reflected on them if only to keep her mind from going down that particular lane.
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