Chapter 23: Chapter 23

My eyes instantly flew open as I gasped for deep breath... My body feels so weak. It felt like I swam at an endless ocean. Good thing I was able to wake up from that scary dream...

I decided to get up to get dressed. As I roamed my eyes around the room, I knew right away that there iwas something wrong...

The bed... The room's wallpaper... The furnitures... Everything looks different now!

"Since when did Reiko decided to change the villa's decorations?" I asked myself, while looking bewildered.

At that time, I heard soft knocks on the door. It must be Reiko or Van...

"Oh,yes! We're supposed to roam around the tourist spots. We are in the middle of a summer trip afterall!" I said to myself.

My worries were washed away with that idea. I hurriedly opened the door----

"Morning!" I excitedly greeted them. My smile instantly vanished when I realized that the person standing by the door was not Van or Reiko...

Instead, two girls wearing a maid's uniform appeared at the doorsteps.

"Did Van and Reiko asked you to pull a prank on me?" I asked them.

The two girls looked at each other, looking so confused.

"W-We deeply apologize if we disturbed your sleep, but your father ordered us to help you prepare for the party, Miss Seira..." one girl dared to speak.

Wait, did she just call me Miss Seira?!

"If you'll excuse us... Here is your ordered gown delivered straight from London, Miss Seira. It just arrived yesterday." the other girl informed me, as she showed me the expensive- looking emerald - green gown.

"I-I'm sorry, but this is all wrong! First,my name is not Seira---!" I stopped at mid-sentence when a middle-aged woman wearing eyeglasses joined the two maids. Based from her appearance, she looks like she's the maFrom her

appearance, she looks like the headservant of a rich household.

"Is there something wrong,Miss Seira?" inquired the newly-arrived woman.

I'm starting to get hysterical at the sight of them...The way they look at me as if I came from the outer space...

"I told you,my name is not Seira!" I blurted out.

The Headservant sighed in return. She turned her attention to the younger maids.

"I'm so sorry if the maids woke you up early. Do you want me to fire them?" she suggested.

The two maids bit their lip as they heard her. They looked like they are about to cry any minute now.

And for some reason, I felt sorry for them.They will lose their job without any valid reason, just because of me.

Then, one idea suddenly flashed into my mind. It's no use getting frantic at this time...

I counted one to ten on top of my head,and took a deep, calming breath.

"T-There's no need for you to do that. Could you two help me prepare for the party?" I asked the two maids.

The two of them were clearly shocked on what I said.

"Yes, Miss Seira!" they said in unison, once they recovered from shock. The Headservant gave them one, last look. Afterwards, she looked at me straight in the eye...

"Well then, I'll be leaving you now, Miss Seira..." she gave me a polite bow, and then she walked away.

Once she was out of sight,I felt a sudden pain on my head

"Are you alright, Miss Seira?" asked one maid.

"I'm fine. It's just a little migraine...And by the way, could you just call me by my name? You don't have to add honorifics on my name." I requested.

"But we don't have the right to do that!" the other maid objected.

"Please? It would be easier to all of us." I interjected.

The two of them exchanged puzzled glances again. They were still reluctant by the idea.

"Okay, how about this, you can call me just by my name when there's only the three of us. Is that fair enough?" I made a deal.

The two of them nodded timidly as an answer.

"Good...So what are you supposed to do with me again?" I asked them.

"You should take a bath first, Seira... Then,we'll both fix your hair and make-up..." the maid answered.

"Can I ask you something first? How long have you two been working here?" I started to implement the plan...

Both of them puzzily frowned at me.

"Since you were in your last year of highschool." one of them responded.

"Meaning...just this year?" I asked, since I am still a senoir highschool student at Naha High...

I didn't know that I was about to hear the biggest shock of my life...

"I think you got it all wrong... What we meant was, we've been serving your family since you were 17 years old... We've been working here for 8 years now..." the other one explained it to me.

My eyes widened in shock as I heard them. I almost fainted but good thing that I was able to hold on to a certain chair for support.

"Since I was 17! I timeslipped 8 years later, and that means I'm almost 25 years old now?!" my mind

screamed.

"Oh, no! You look so pale! Would you like me to get you a medicine for your headache?" one of the maids worriedly offered.

"This must be the side effects ot that accident!" said the other.

"A-Accident?" I paparotted.

"Oh, I'm sorry... Maybe you don't want to remember it anymore..." they apologized to me.

"N-No... Please tell me. I want to know---what really happened." I pleaded.

One of them started to speak, while still looking a little hesitant.

"You were involved in a traffic accident at one of your father's business trips...You managed to survive,but you were under comatose for almost 8 years...But you woke up last month. And that is the reason why your father is having a welcome party for you." she relayed.

"---but the doctors said that you are suffering from partial amnesia. You could remember some of the memories of your early years. But not all of them. That's why you don't remember us." the other maid piped in.

"A traffic accident that happened 8 years ago?" I asked again.

The two of them nodded in return.

"Thank you for telling me all of this." I murmured.

After that, I decided to go to the bathroom to get ready for the party.

I just had this feeling that I will knw more about the "so-called-accident." once I'm there...

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A young man was muttering something under his breath as he impatiently waits for the party to start. He badly needed to go outside to smoke, but his Editor-in-Chief wanted him to stay put and get ready to take some pictures of one of the most important party in the world of the rich and powerful... And besides, he wanted to see for himself on what has become of Yoshida Seira after being under comatosed for 8 years...

The fact that she's alive made him hold an 8-year grudge to her.

"What's with that angry look?" asked his Editor-in-Chief.

"This is what I hate about rich people...Since they have all the money in the world, they don't care if they cause incovenience and sadness to people like us..." the man mumbled,as he finished his cocktail glass in one gulp.

"Take it easy on the drink, boy. And just relax,okay? They'll be here any minute now." encouraged Mr. Matsumoto, the Editor-in-Chief of the Entertainment gossip magazine...

The man just grunted. He took another glass of whiskey from one of the roaming waters and emptied the glass in one shot.

"You'd better pay me well on this one, boss. I'm a paparazzi, not some kind of goody old shoes photographer for stupid parties like this!" he spat out, while fiddling with his camera.

"And speaking of rich people...They're here!" Mr. Matsumoto spoke, while tapping the man's shoulders, signalling him to get ready.

The young man lazily held his camera, as he waited for the main personality to enter the hall...

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I suddenly froze on my tracks as I took a quick peek of the people waiting inside the hall. Those people were eagerly waiting for me to make an entrance.But the crowd are total strangers to her... I loosened my grip on my father's arm, who is standing beside me.

"What's wrong,Seira?" her "father", Mr.Yoshida, asked her.

"N-Nothing." I forced myself to answer.

"Shall we go,then?" my "father" asked me again.

I just nodded as an answer.

My "father" and I made our grand entrance by walking at the long,red carpet that leads us inside the party hall.The camera bulbs started flashing right into our faces and it made me feel dizzy. But good thing my "father" is securely holding my arm, which prevented me to fall down from the sea of reporters...

I tried to familiarize myself with the people's faces but I failed to recognize any of them.

The sea of strangers parted into two groups while giving is way to go upstage...

Once we reached the stage,my "father" led me to the nearest chair beside him.

I heaved a sigh of relief once I took my seat.My knees are starting to get weak because of the tension building up on my system...

I'm not used to this kind of overwhelming attention from all of these people... When I looked up to divert my mind and forget about my throbbing head, I caught one familiar face that I wouldn't be able to forget even in the million years to come...

"Van..."

But I felt a sudden chill on my spine as I continued to stare at him...The man who has the exact image of Van is staring back at her with much hatred in his eyes.

If those eyes could kill her with just one look, she could've died already...