Another year passed.

Briana and Eva would clean the house in the morning, have lunch with the servants after the masters had their lunch, study with Esmeralda during her teatime that lasted around two hours. then return to their work, before heading home for a late dinner.

Esmeralda was home schooled and her tutors came in the morning. She learnt whatever that was befitting of her status such as languages and the arts, then the basics that is needed to support a husband's work and to manage the household, such as mathematics and accounting. Her afternoon was kept free to attend tea parties or gatherings to build or maintain relationships with other families.

Her old materials that her parents had kept for keepsake to remember their daughter's growth by was given to the girls to use for their learning. Eva did not bother holding back since her family already believed that she had potential in this area. Her learning curve became incredibly steep and astounded Esmeralda. Briana encountered a lot more difficulty but her competitive spirit made her work doubly hard.

She hoped that her good performance would help her raise the value of her opinion despite her young age. She had gotten BaoBao to pretend to be a rat again and tear the letters up, which BaoBao obeyed reluctantly. He did not want to risk having a knife thrown at him once more. He had already almost aroused suspicion when he suddenly went lightning fast the previous time, he could not do it again. However, no matter how many times the letter got torn, a new one would arrive. The person was really desperate to "get that eyesore eradicated".

Before they knew it, Esmeralda's birthday was around the corner once more. They would always hold a party to celebrate her birthday and this year was no different, except that Eva and Briana were now looking at a pink envelope placed in front of them.

They did not have to open it to know what it contained.

Briana slid the envelope across the table and back to Esmeralda. "Thank you for the invite, but we won't be going."

"But-"

"Even if I could, I don't want to."

"Why don't you want to?"

"Little miss, please know your place, just as we should know ours. Your parents have already indulged you by allowing you to teach us. Doing anymore will be overstepping your boundaries."

She looked at Briana tearfully. "I just want to show everyone how class distinctions are stupid... Don't you think so?! You're both servants but your brains aren't any inferior to mine, especially Eva! Why's it fair that the both of you can't get the same opportunities as me? Don't you want to change anything?"

"We're happy with the way things are."

Esmeralda looked shocked to hear her answer. "Why...? How can you be okay with this?"

Briana and Eva kept on a poker face and lowered their gazes.

"I'll leave you alone for awhile to calm yourself." Briana held onto Eva's hand and pulled her out of the room, leaving a downcast Esmeralda behind.

Briana had fully expected for Esmeralda to give up on them but she was strangely more persistent instead. She continued to teach them and never stopped asking Briana if she changed her mind every now and then.

 

A month passed by since the invites were sent out. Finally, it was the day of the birthday party. Eva had spent the previous year observing how everyone did their jobs. Now it was her turn to be a part of the action. She helped with whatever she could do with her small stature, which unfortunately was not very much.

Eva was just bringing out more clean plates to the spacious ball room that was now lavishly decorated, like the front garden and backyard was, when she heard Esmeralda's parents joyfully welcoming who she thought must be a close family friend.

"This is my son, Austin. He's finally back from his boarding school." The boy bowed slightly and greeted them.

"Oh! Just look at how much he's grown, he looks so smart now! I last saw him when he was only 5 years old! Esmeralda, introduce yourself and show Austin around."

Esmeralda did as she was asked. She waved her hand and smiled brightly. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Esmeralda! Come, let me introduce you to my friend then we can go around and have fun together!" She held him by his wrist and dragged him off.

Her mother sighed. "If only my daughter had at least half of your son's demeanor. Just look at her."

Austin's mother laughed reservedly. "Her innocence and honest personality is her charm."

While the wives continued in their pointless banter, the husbands broke off into a conversation about business and the economy.

When Eva was about to step outside of the ball room, she decided to glance at Esmeralda who was still pulling Austin through the small crowd. Austin looked quite impressive to her. His ash blonde hair was combed smartly, his black eyes were clear and sharp, and he seemed to have a presence around him that she could not explain.

Now it's down to who Esmeralda likes to determine who's the-

Her thoughts got interrupted, she froze in her steps, and her heart skipped a beat when she found that the pair of clear black eyes was now looking straight back at her piercingly. She quickly ducked behind the wall to her side and pressed her back flat against the wall. Only after a few seconds did she realise that she had not been breathing. She lightly panted as she patted her chest.

What was that?

What was what?

That.

What happened?

He looked at me.

So?

His gaze felt strange.

How so?

I don't really know how to describe it. It's like he saw through me or something. It feels eerily familiar too. Like... Like... Eva tried hard to recall why she felt that his gaze was so unsettling. It's like Vlad's! For some reason, it's like his! Ugh... I thought I've already moved on from the previous world...

Actually, it isn't that much of an issue if you haven't moved on. It's high time you should know about something... There's a chance that another soul would transmigrate along with you.

What do you mean?

As long as you were what filled a person's mind when they were dying or when their soul is shaken or loose, their soul has a chance of following yours. The stronger their obsession, the stronger their determination, the greater the chance will be.

So... Are you saying that Vlad could be Austin in this world?

Yes. In fact, he could very well be LongFei as well. Or Ethan. And ZhangYong. There were times when you felt some similarities between them, right? You also found the attention they paid to you incomprehensible, right?

Eva could not hide the shock she felt from her face. How- How can this be? It must be mere coincidences? Why would anyone-

Eva, we can't afford to reject this possibility just because you refuse to believe it. The second male lead of each world has been consistently going OOC, we need to account for it whether we like it or not. 

But... Why...?

"Eva! There you are. What're you doing standing here?"

Eva's head snapped up upon being called to see Briana frowning at her. Realising that she had been neglecting her work, she hastily took out a small notebook given to her by Esmeralda that she now carries around in her pocket. "Sorry."

"Doesn't matter, the little miss is looking for you again. Let's go."

Eva nodded and followed her into the backyard where a group of children were gathered under a tree. For a moment, the image of Violet, Leah, Stephan, and Ethan under the cherry blossom tree overlapped with the current sight.

"There she is! This is Eva, the girl I was telling you about. She's suuuuper smart! Dylan and Saddie has already met her! Eva, this is Austin! He's the child of my parents close friends. He's really smart too, like you!"

Eva kept her gaze lowered and bowed low and politely to everyone present as a greeting.

Silence hung thick in the air as everyone waited for either Austin or Eva to start a conversation. Esmeralda laughed awkwardly, "Perhaps we could play a ga-"

"Is she done with her work?" Austin suddenly asked Esmeralda.

Esmeralda looked at Eva, to which Eva shook her head.

"What time will she be done?"

"Probably when the party ends." Esmeralda answered in her stead.

"I think you should let her retire for the day. She looks very pale." Now that Austin pointed it out, everyone else noticed that she indeed looked paler than normal.

"It's okay. My sister's not that weak, she should be fine after a short re-"

"I don't think your masters would like it if any mishap happened out of your negligence, would they?" Austine asked with a charming smile that did not reach his eyes.

"Ye- Yes... You're right. I'm sorry. I'll take my sister to the servants' quarters now."

When they reached the servants' quarters, Eva immediately held up the same note from before in front her face, peeking from behind the paper up at Briana. "Sorry."

Briana stared at the note for a while before she finally broke into a smile. "Just rest well here. I'll go no-" Sounds of scribbles interrupted her.

"I'll go back out later. You were right earlier."

Now Briana's eyes lit up with satisfaction. "That's my sister. I'll go now."

After five minutes of composing herself and refocusing, she returned to work and actively avoided the four characters she flagged out for the rest of the night.

 

Unbeknownst to her, when Esmeralda showed Austin and the others to the second floor of her house that had a more private and cosy sitting room, Austin had spotted her when he looked out the window and into the backyard.

For some reason that he could not explain, his eyes seemed to naturally drift away in search for her image ever since the first and only time he made eye contact with her.

The first time they made eye contact had been because he felt someone's eyes on him. The moment they made eye contact, he found himself unable to look away, even after she hid behind the wall. It was very brief but there was a strange sense of recognition and familiarity when they made eye contact. It was only when Esmeralda started to introduce him to Dylan and Saddie that he finally peeled his eyes away from the wall that she hid behind.

How stubborn. He thought while watching her work. She still doesn't care about herself, huh? Wait, still? Why did I think that? He immediately caught the oddity not only in his behaviour but also in his thoughts. A momentary headache attacked him and he frowned.

"Austin, is something wrong?" Esmeralda noticed his frown.

The other two also looked at him and Saddie had a worried look on her face.

He smiled and reassured them, "Nothing. So who goes first?"

Time crawled by and the guests finally started to trickle out of their estate when it was past midnight.

After the last guest left and all the servants were busy cleaning everything up, Esmeralda's parents asked her about her thoughts on Austin. When she spoke nothing but good about Austine, they seemed mightily pleased.

Esmeralda's mood however hit rock bottom when her parents sprung an unexpected news on her. "I'm so glad that you see him in such a positive light. He's your fiance."

"This was something we talked about before with his parents and they confirmed it today."

"Out of all the dukes, his father's the most influential and we're sure it'll be passed down to Austin too. You won't have a hard future."

"So keep building your relationship with hi-"

"I'm only 10!! I may think positively of him, but I don't like him!"

"You'll grow to like him for sure. He'll definitely be a catch in the future and we've already secured him for you!"

"No! I don't like this!" Esmeralda ran off and retreated into her room with Briana following her in a run.

Her parents sighed. Her father hugged her mother. "She'll understand our intentions one day when she's older."

While all these were going on, Eva was observing through BaoBao as usual. I wonder if she'll indeed grow to love him... Or would she love her childhood friend who's sadly a mere future baron as compared to future duke Austin...

Well... If we assume that Austin's the second male lead like Vlad was...

Then this plot would be some love conquers all, heroine leads a revolution, kind of story. The next question is how would my family be involved in all these?