Chapter 23: ★Miss red can be nice★

    ~Chapter 23~

    As soon as her eyes snapped open, I froze. We stared at each other aimlessly. But instead of the venomous glare I expected, she frowned.

    Looking so confused and disoriented, she whispered softly."Why are you looking at me." Her voice is barely audible, and the tone~lord have mercy~ tone was not something I’d ever heard from her before - gentle, almost vulnerable.

    Not matching the personality I knew of her. "Huh?" I stood there, dumbfounded, struggling to reconcile this new side of Miss Red.

    Did she hit her head somewhere, ~haha~ I laughed inwardly? I did hit her, but that didn’t mean she would be looking this confused.

    Her frown deepened, and she raised a hand to her face, wincing as if in pain. She looked around, taking in her surroundings, and her confusion grew more. "Why am I on the floor?" she muttered, trying to push herself up.

    But she didn’t make it far as she groaned out, dropping back down, clutching her head in her hands. I didn’t hit her that hard, did I?

    I watched, transfixed, as she struggled to slowly sit up again and for a moment, I forgot about the terror she’d inspired in me. I need to help her.

    She was looking like a woman who was hurt and disoriented, and something inside me stirred... not exactly sympathy; ~ After all, she had been the worst to me, and it was only today I knew her~ but something close to it.

    Without thinking much, I reached out to her, holding her as she gently got up.

    She sways, trying to get her footing, making me quickly hold her elbows as she finally gets her balance. She brought her hand that had been holding onto her head to gaze at the blood stains. She hurriedly touched the wound on her head again before looking at me with wide eyes.

    "What happened to me." She kept touching the wound on her head, wincing with a puzzled expression.

    You don’t know, Looking at her confused just as she’s looking back at me with the same expression.

    I hesitated, unsure how to respond. Did she genuinely not remember? Studying her face, searching for any sign of deception, but all I saw was confusion.

    Did she really not remember, or were her acting skills top-notch?

    Think fast, Katya, I told myself. If she doesn’t remember, I wasn’t about to confess my role in knocking her out.

    But what if she was pretending, trying to lure me into a trap? Wanting me to tell her the truth so she can forgive me. I quickly pushed the thought aside – this was Miss Red, the witch of witches, after all, the devil incarnate.

    Forgiveness wasn’t in her vocabulary.

    I was going die before she ever changed that character of hers, and I genuinely want to know why she’s so mean and arrogant.

    "I found you unconscious, so I was checking if you were still breathing and helping you get to your room," I said, the words rolling off my tongue with ease. It was the perfect lie for the perfect occasion. I watched her closely, praying she’d buy it and she did.

    Inwardly I smiled. But her gaze narrowed as she showed me her blood-stained hand. "Who did this?" she asked, her soft voice going low and menacing.

    Was she back to her senses, oh no, she is going to kill me.

    Still maintaining my lie, I feigned calmness, careful not to rush my response. "I don’t know. I was heading to my room when I saw you lying unconscious in the hallway." Holding my breath, hoping she wouldn’t see through my deception.

    She took a step closer, her eyes boring into mine, making me instinctively recoil. My heart was pounding, and I almost took a step back, but I managed to hold my ground. She raised an eyebrow at my defensive behavior, but mercifully, she didn’t press the issue.

    Instead, she spoke words that left me stunned: "Thank you." I stared at her, mouth agape, wondering if she’d grown two heads.

    Come on, this was the devil incarnate, the woman who’d almost mushed my head into the wall.

    I like this version of her better. A wicked thought crept into my mind: maybe I should have hit her earlier, or perhaps I should go hit my tormentor, too, to see if it would work the same magic.

    The absurdity of the thought made me want to laugh, but I knew better than to tempt fate; my tormentor wasn’t going to be weak if I tried hitting him like I did with Miss Red.

    Her voice broke into the fog in my head, "What’s your name, I haven’t seen you before." Surprised by her question, I raised a brow. She really did forget me.

    My hit must have erased me from her memories. But that didn’t make sense – if she’d lost all her memories, she wouldn’t have recognized this house, would she?

    Should I answer my name truthfully or lie? A shiver ran down my spine as I pondered the implications. Lying was risky – she was bound to find out my real name eventually. So, I opted for honesty.

    "Katya, I’m a new maid here," I replied, watching her closely, wondering if mentioning my position as a maid would trigger any memories.

    After all, She carries herself like someone who doesn’t associate with people below her social class. Would she even remember interacting with a lowly maid like me?

    I waited for her response, my heart pounded in my chest. Would she recall our previous encounters and finally lash out, or would she continue to treat me like a stranger?

    Her lips curved upward in a gentle, warm smile. "Thank you, Katya. I’m Adelasia," she said, friendly. I already knew her name, but I feigned ignorance, playing along.

    "You’re welcome, Miss Adelasia," I replied, sounding polite too. Can’t she see my face was also bloody, or her eyes got hit too? I was still trying to wrap my head around this new, affable Adelasia.

    "Oh, please, call me Adelasia," she said with a chuckle, shaking her head in a playful gesture. "I’m not that old, hahaha." Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she jiggled her shoulders, drawing attention to her chest.

    Still reeling from the shock of her new behavior, wondering if this was some kind of ruse. I hope that this unusual behavior of hers wouldn’t arouse suspicion among the other higher-ups, who knew how she originally behaved.

    "Alright, Katya, I’ll see you around," Adelasia said, passing me and walking toward the elevator. "Thanks once more for your help." She smiled at me over her shoulder, and I forced a smile in return, still processing what had just happened.

    Watching as the elevator doors closed behind her. Had my hit to the head somehow altered her personality, or was this just a temporary aberration?

    What have I done to her?