I am the Queen

Evangeline studied the woman, who was sitting beside Daniel, with a smug look on her face. The moment they made themselves comfortable inside a café, Daniel hesitantly introduced Lilybella to her. Avoiding any unnecessary information about being his fiancée. She didn't have to guess it was the fiancée he was talking about based on his constipated expression.

"This must be the fiancée you're talking about, right?" Evangeline held her chin between her fingers. Her scrutinizing eyes swept Lilybella up and down, dragging each second.

The woman wasn't that pretty. She was also a little chubby and very ordinary. Her eyes were big with pupils dilating, making her appear all the more innocent while a smile was always plastered on her face. The more Evangeline stared, the more her smirking lips curved. Until her gaze stopped on Lilybella's enormous racks. It was much bigger than hers, and her eyelid twitched.

She frowned and met Daniel's gaze. "Hmp! Except for her breasts, she's very ordinary." Her mood somewhat brightened when Daniel's face crumpled.

Smiling like it didn't concern her, Lilybella's big shining eyes gawked at Evangeline with pure awe and reverence. She knew who she was. Her family told her all about Daniel's life, including all his past girlfriends. And among all the women he had dated, Evangeline Heart was the one who stuck in her brain the most.

She beamed, and with a shrieking voice, which was too fast to make out, she introduced herself once more. "My name is Lilybella Waltz! And you are Miss Evangeline Heart, right? Lilybella heard so much about you! You're more beautiful in person than in pictures! It's no wonder his Highness likes you! You are gorgeous! Let's be friends!"

". . ."

". . ."

Daniel's head was hurting the more he listened to Lilybella spouting adoring words. He didn't know what to make of her. Was she naïve or too innocent or kind or just plain idiot? She's his fiancée. Wasn't the normal thing to do is to be hostile or at least be indifferent towards Evangeline, his ex?

But then again, the marriage was purely out of obligation. There was no love or like between them. Though Lilybella kept spouting love this and that, he was not an idiot to believe even for a second that she fell in love with him in their first meeting.

Evangeline raised a brow and smiled at Daniel. "I like her. She's very . . . gullible." Her lilac orbs then shifted to Lilybella. "Since you have an excellent taste, I'll let you be one of my servants. You can be my naïve bishop, and you can start calling me 'my Queen.'"

Lilybella's face brightened and said, voice high pitch, "Thank you! Thank you so much, my Queen." Her expression then turned serious. "Lilybella will serve you with the best of her abilities––ouch!"

Daniel flicked Lilybella's forehead while the latter looked at him with her big watery eyes and quivering lips. Holding her forehead, her aggrieved face asked what she had done wrong.

"What nonsense are you spouting? You're going to be a Princess, a Queen. Have some pride."

Daniel wanted to continue lecturing her but stopped when Lilybella's aggrieve face shifted to one of excitement and happiness.

"Then, my Pri––your Highness already accepted Lilybella to be his Princess? His soon to be Queen? Does it mean we can get married now?"

Daniel was taken aback and howled, "What are you talking about?! What I mean is, you are . . . you . . . you should watch your image since your status is now my fiancée. But it doesn't mean I already agreed to the engagement. I've told you, we have a year to get to know each other and––"

He didn't finish his speech when Lilybella cupped her blushing face and turned her head away, looking all shy.

"Ehehehe. I know it. His Highness is very concerned about Lilybella. Lilybella is truly happy. Chu!"

"NO!" Daniel almost jumped from his seat. Why was talking to her so draining?

"Ehehehe. I understand, your Highness. No need to deny it. Lilybella completely understand."

"W-what! N-no . . . I . . . I don't . . ." Daniel didn't know how to respond. And for the first time in his life, he was rattled by a woman who even made him stammered for words –– not once, but many times!

He felt that no amount of reason nor rejection could deter her, and he was completely stomped for words! What's wrong with her?

*chuckle

In the corner, Evangeline giggled, and if Daniel didn't know her, he thought it was a giggle of joy. Only, he knew it to be a giggle of enjoying his situation.

He ignored Lilybella and focused his attention on Evangeline. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, one of them was why she was in Everland all alone and––

Before his thoughts could finish formulating his questions, a waiter appeared and served their food. He was stunned yet again, utterly speechless when he saw how much food was served –– especially the amount of desserts and cream and those extra cream and cream.

"E-Evangeline . . ." His voice was rasp forced out from the lump in his throat. She was digging in. Not a care of her image at all.

"W-what the . . ."

He didn't know how to verbalize the words he was trying to get out of his mouth. There were too many questions, and he didn't know what to let out first!

"E-Evangeline! W-what are you doing?!" He was alarmed when she scooped a mouthful of cheesecake and ate it. He cringed, thinking the amount of sugar and carbs on that piece of morsel.

Evangeline didn't care and answered with a mouth full of food, "Eating, what else am I doing?"

Daniel took a sharp intake of air when Evangeline shoved another spoon of whipped cream inside her mouth. At the same time, Lilybella didn't see anything wrong and munched a potato chipped dipped in creamy white chocolate into her mouth.

"E-Evangeline! W-what happened to you?! W-What happened to diet and calculating your intake of carbs? You're very particular about that every time we ate."

Looking at Evangeline, Daniel noticed her face was . . . a little rounder while an extra gloss stained her cheeks. Did she get fat? In just a week he hadn't seen her, she was a completely different woman.

His brows furrowed when something clicked in his mind. This amount of food. Not caring about her figure. Evangeline's strange behavior of wantonly indulging herself with so much sweets.

"Are you . . . are you . . . depress? Did something happen with you and Eric?"

". . ."

". . ."

A shiver ran from the tip of Daniel's toe and crawled to his spine when the room turned much colder. The dark fog emanating from Evangeline was so thick he could touch it.

Evangeline stared at Daniel. Her fork slammed against her cake in amazing speed and precision. Daniel audibly gulped, flinching from his seat.

"Whatever do you mean, Daniel?" Evangeline said, dragging the letters of his name. "I don't know the word depressed. It's not even in my vocabulary. And who is this Eric you speak of? I don't know a man whose name is Eric."

". . ."

". . ."

Lilybella shifted her gaze between Daniel and Evangeline. Her mouth never stopped munching her vanilla coated potato chips.

Daniel, on the other hand, massaged his crumpled brows. His headache was worsening, dealing with two crazy women in one day––no, in just half a day!

"Evangeline . . ." Daniel wryly sighed but unable to expressed words of comfort. An ominous feeling kept bugging him, which he constantly pushed away. Nonetheless, he needed to ask just in case –– for safety measures.

"Why are you dress like that?" This was in his mind the moment he saw her. But he pushed it at the back of his mind since part of him didn't believe it, and part of him refused to believe it. And now that he confirmed she was indeed depressed because of Eric . . . her entire attire only meant one thing.

Evangeline smiled at Daniel, one full of meaning. Her eyes locked on the strikingly perfect cone-shaped mountain. It laid in the distance like piles and piles of snow. It even appeared soft and delicious in her eyes.

"I heard Everland is famous because of Evermountain. I'm planning to climb its peak. You know, soul searching and connecting with nature and such. That's why I'm here, of course."