Aristia thought back to the time in the alley.

She had been too preoccupied thinking about the heroine, herself as villainess, the male leads, and what would happen to the heroine. With Owen there, she hadn’t really been paying attention to her surroundings.

But Owen wouldn’t be imagining things.

Then that left the question: who would be watching them?

She nodded at Owen. "But you didn’t see anyone?"

At her question, Owen shook his head. "No. I also didn’t sense any danger in their gaze." He said.

Aristia nodded. She couldn’t come up with an answer and Millie wasn’t there. If she had been there, she would have known. There was nothing else that could be done.

They bought the milk candy before going to Willows Haven.

Vivian had never been to Willows Haven.

The place was warm and lively. It was easy to overlook the fact that the children who lived there had no family or were abandoned.

It wasn’t that the children weren’t affected by their pasts and experiences, but being surrounded by other children in such a lovely atmosphere lifted everyone’s spirits.

It didn’t take long for any child who joined Willows Haven to get used to staying there. Their physical and mental health improved by a whole lot.

Vivian was impressed, knowing that Aristia was the brains behind Willows Haven.

She was surprised to see that the children seemed to be very familiar with "Aris" and were used to her visiting.

She got a few snippets of something that a girl named Leilani would have done if she had been there.

When one of the children said that, the mood plummeted a bit before one of the older kids quickly changed the topic.

Vivian was curious, wondering who this Leilani was, especially since she could see the frown settle on Aristia’s face.

Before the sun could set, they returned to the Grand Duke’s mansion.

After they changed clothes, Lucas took Vivian back home.

Her parents were ecstatic as always.

"Your brother and sisters will be back soon for the Kingdom’s anniversary." Count Quentin said to Vivian as the servants laid out dinner.

Vivian nodded though she felt somewhat disappointed. It felt like her siblings hadn’t spent much time away and were already back soon.

Thankfully, she now had a solid reason to leave the mansion, all thanks to princess Aristia.

The day of the Kingdom’s anniversary was approaching and quite a few academy students from Amberale had already returned to the kingdom.

The rest were either already on their way or preparing to travel.

Vivian got up. "Mother and father, I already had dinner with princess Aristia, so I’m not hungry. Please excuse me." She said.

The couple nodded and waved their hands. "Go ahead, go ahead. You need to rest properly. You still have classes with the princess tomorrow." Count Quentin said.

Vivian nodded and left the dining room.

***

Back in the Grand Duke’s mansion.

Aristia took a bath and got ready for bed. Adeline helped her put on her nightgown before wishing her a good night’s rest.

After getting Aristia’s reply, she closed the door behind her.

A yawn slipped through Aristia’s lips.

"Oh right, Liam, Paige and Ivan will be back in the kingdom tomorrow."

During dinner, Ivan had contacted her through the communication link that they were close to the kingdom.

Aristia had given a short answer in response. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Ivan any longer, but being exposed to those dreams and seeing the way he acted towards original Aristia in those dreams made her feel weird.

She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, pulled the blanket over her and went to sleep.

She witnessed another memory.

But she was not watching through original Aristia’s eyes. She was just like an invisible onlooker, possessing no form but existing.

It was like she was watching a movie, except that she was inside the television.

Carolyn was in an alley, surrounded by a familiar group of boys. Aristia recognized them. They were the same as the boys she had saved Carolyn from.

The scene from earlier unfolded and Aristia’s eyes widened when the boys really moved to grab Carolyn.

[Is this it? Is the book giving me a chance to see another male lead?] She felt a rush of excitement at the thought.

She watched keenly, making sure not to blink.

It was almost as if the scene had reduced to slow motion.

As the hand came in contact with the dress, just at the same moment Aristia had acted, a small pebble hit squarely on the leader’s wrist.

"Ow!" The leader yelled, turning around with anger on his face. "Who did that?"

The other boys shook their heads.

Aristia was speechless. [Wait. This isn’t the original Aristia’s timeline, this is the memory of the evening!]

But soon she noticed something. The direction of the stone hadn’t come from her direction.

She had been standing in the direction of the alley’s entrance, but the stone came from the side, above one of the walls in the alley. That spot was dark.

Her eyes dilated. So, there was someone there?

She saw a faint movement in the shadows before a figure jumped down.

Everyone turned to the source of the sound.

The excitement in Aristia had reached its peak.

Finally! It was finally time!

As the figure landed lightly on the ground, he casually dusted off his sleeves.

The excitement in Aristia’s eyes died down. At this moment, she just felt like cussing at something.

The reason was because the boy had his back turned to her. Added to that, he wore a hooded cloak. So not only could she not see his face, she couldn’t see his features!

What kind of wickedness was this? Because that was what this was. Wickedness! Pure, steaming wickedness!

Yes. Aristia chose to cuss the plot.

The leader of the group of boys scoffed, lowering his hand and rubbing the part the stone had hit which had turned a redish purple.

"Who are you? You’re bold."