20 Naomi

"I missed you a lot!" Naomi walked forward. Her movements were straight, but she jumped at Arnacia when the distance lessened. The two bodies collided, and Arnacia barely managed to stay on foot.

'Am I supposed to know her?' There was no mention of Naomi in the first two volumes.

Naomi's one hand was around Arnacia's waist. She smiled cheekily and, with the other hand, stroked Arnacia's hip.

"Did you not miss me?"

"I missed you," Arnacia smiled back.

"Then prove it." Naomi's smile widened.

Arnacia felt an invisible pressure surrounding her. The maids along with Isabelle were watching this. She tried to think of a way out.

"Let's go somewhere else," she said.

Naomi was more than happy to do so. She readily grabbed Arnacia's hand and pulled her away.

"Don't worry, Isabelle, my love. I will be back soon." Arnacia turned back and called out.

Just as the words left her mouth, she felt the grip on her hand tighten. But the person in front did not stop.

The two maids stopped right at the backside of the sleeping quarters.

"Arnacia, what did you call her?" Naomi asked, but she did not turn back.

"Isabelle? I am her lover now," Arnacia sheepishly said, hoping to avoid further conversation.

"You forgot about me," Naomi said after a while.

"No, I missed you," Arnacia confidently said. She wanted to say yes, but the disappointment and sadness in Naomi's eyes didn't let her.

"Do you remember how many votes I got last time?"

'How could I know that…' Arnacia looked around for a way to escape this situation. Naomi still held her hand. It seemed like an inescapable situation and the fear of being exposed gripped her heart.

"Tell me Arnacia, do you remember?"

"Nine," Arnacia said after some time.

"How can you forget something so simple?" Naomi turned back. Her eyes were red, and the makeup below them blurred. She stared into Arnacia's eyes for a while. "You are not Arnacia!"

"I am the real Arnacia. You lost to Isabelle last time by a little margin. I forgot the exact number, that's it."

"Witchcraft…" Naomi let go of Arnacia's hand. More like she pushed it away.

It shocked Arnacia to hear the term. Womens accused of performing witchcraft were burnt alive by the knights. There was a little arc about such incidents in the novel and it was disgustingly horrifying.

"No, what are you saying?" Arnacia said.

"What's my full name?" Naomi asked.

"I forgot…" Arnacia couldn't just make something up. There was no green-haired character in the novel, at least not in the first two volumes. Such bad luck! She complained in her heart and quickly accepted the situation.

"Listen to me," Arnacia walked closer to Naomi. "I will explain everything."

"No, stay away." Naomi took multiple steps back. "How can I trust you…"

"If you care about Arnacia even a little, listen to me." Arnacia grabbed Naomi's hands forcefully.

Naomi's struggle lessened. She looked at Arnacia, but her eyes were scared silly.

"Who are you?" Naomi muttered.

Arnacia had planned her excuses long ago if someone found out. Such silly reasons won't work for other maids. Definitely not for any knight or people she didn't know. But it could work on immediate family members or near friends.

"I woke up one day without knowing who I am." Arnacia said. "But I accepted my reality because the bath felt great and life was comforting. I wanted to talk about my situation, but it scared me after I heard maids talking about witchcraft." As Arnacia narrated, her face turned solemn. She narrated what she had prepared roughly before, but her mind was thinking about what she lost in previous life.

'Hazel, I am sorry I missed your birthday. Dad, I am sorry I couldn't save your company.' Tears veiled up her eyes.

"I also found out that I was sharing the room with Isabelle and we were lovers. So I went along with it." Arnacia spoke. "I wasn't going to tell this to anyone, but it seems we are good friends. Will you help me?"

The voice broke towards the end. Naomi felt the emotions from up close. She also saw the tears of Arnacia, and it tore up her heart. Her body automatically moved and embraced her friend.

"Don't worry, Arnacia. I am always here for you," Naomi said.

Arnacia felt better in her old friend's embrace. She didn't remember the last time she cried, and the emotion felt very wearing.

After her mind cleared up, she realized the awkwardness in it all. Naomi's hands were wrapped around her waist and slightly touched her hips.

"Can you tell me about yourself?" Arnacia gently pushed Naomi back.

But the shameless maid did not read the sign. Instead, she advanced further and pressed her leg between Arnacia's legs.

"You call me Naomi. Full name, Naomi Eeich. We used to be in the same camp two years ago, Garden of Green." Naomi said. She smiled widely and directed the retreating maid towards the wall. "We used to do a lot of fun things together."

"We can't do them now," Arnacia tried to push Naomi back again.

"Don't worry, there is still some time before the maids are called again."

'That is not the problem,' Arnacia screamed in her heart. She wanted to yell - get off me but tried a quieter measure indeed. Which fortunately worked after a few tries.

"We also made a promise." Naomi looked into Arnacia's eyes. "We were going to run away and marry each other."

'!'

'You obviously made that up.' Arnacia looked away, yet again. And she thought about it for a while.

'She must know more about me than I know about myself.' Again she screamed inside her heart. It seemed that she would be taken advantage of by Naomi if she ever asked for help, but it was the safest way, no it wasn't safe at all!

"Naomi, let's get back. I will meet you later."

"It's a promise. Don't forget about it." Naomi locked her fingers between Arnacia's fingers. "Let's go."

Naomi led Arnacia back to the campsite. The former was full of smiles, whereas the latter was in deep thought with an awful mood.

Ester and Emma were standing with Isabelle between them. They immediately noticed the locked fingers and stepped in front of Isabelle.

"Ester saw the cheater."

"Emma will never let the cheater get near Isabelle."

"Shut up, and you." Naomi pointed towards Isabelle. "You will never have the special thing Arnacia and I share."

"Ester can't understand why you still want to compete with Isabelle."

"Emma will make you remember the number of votes you got last time!"

Naomi gritted her teeth and tightened the grip around Arnacia's hand. The human touch ignited a thought in her mind. The bitter expression flipped into a canny smile. Her target was the innocent Isabelle.