“I …”
No. 3 suddenly felt dizzy.
What does that mean? No. 3, just Diana? She thought she had been doing this already, but it was clearly that it was not enough—Actually, despite her thinking that she did her best, Hassad still saw through it. Diana’s injury was the proof of No. 3’s failure. If it were not for No. 3, Diana would not have been injured…
“Reply quickly,” Lazer touched her quietly with his elbow and whispered warningly in her ear.
“—No. 3 does not exist, understood,” she repeated emptily. Although she was slightly dazed, her body reacted instinctively, pushing her to stand in front of everyone in a Diana-like manner. Hesitation was no longer an option. She could only continue; that was her job. “Leave it to me. If the guests dare to doubt me, I promise to shut them up.”
The Juan couple nodded lightly and left.
Lazer and the girl stood by Diana’s bed for a while. He raised his head long after the couple walked away and sounded overwhelmed. “Do not cry. The family head’s request may be ridiculous, but this was far better than the punishment we could have received,” he whispered.
“I did not cry,” she shivered upon hearing his voice.
“Then what is that on your face?”
“I said I did not cry,” her voice sounded harsher than before. He looked down and saw tears streaming down her face. Her expression was full of resentment, as if the anger in her body could not be released. He was the only person she could confide in.
“No. 3, you…”
“Diana,” She corrected, with flame burning in her eyes. Although this may only be a flame of anger, he was mesmerized by it. The girl standing in front of him was almost the same as the real Diana. “At least I get to throw aside the name that was simply a unit used to number products, right?”
He stared at the girl, trying to make his voice sound pleasant. “I said, you are just a pawn to them. It does not matter what your name is.”
“You may be right. You and I are both pawns.” She shook her head and looked at the girl on the bed in pain. “—We are all pawns. Miss almost died, and all they care about is the banquet afterwards.”
There was no change in his facial expression. He was already aware of this fact. This made the girl cringe in embarrassment; she should have known this a long time ago, but it was not until now that she was forced to accept what she and Diana truly were. The Juan couple was merely using their daughter as a pawn in the throne war. Even if Diana succeeded in becoming the queen, the Juan couple would simply use her to intervene government affairs, becoming the true rulers.
Both herself and Diana were just pawns in their game of becoming rulers.
“What should I do?” She covered her face, feeling at a loss and letting her tears fall.
“It is simple. If you do not want to be a double, you can leave.”
“But what about miss? What should she do?”
“Who knows. She will figure it out herself.”
She sobbed with her head down. “Teacher, why are you… so cold-blooded…!”
“I do not want to be called ‘cold-blooded’ by a lizard demihuman,” he retorted. He then coughed lightly and looked at the door. “Leave now, the maids will be here soon. Go back to your room and think about what we just talked about. Do not worry about Diana; figure out what you want to do.”
“And what do I do after that?”
He thought about her question.
“If you want to leave, I will support you.” Then, he silently added, “… Either way, even if you are no longer called ‘No. 3,’ you cannot be a real Diana.”
—Did his reply mean that, even now, he still was not pleased with her performance?
She reached that conclusion in despair, then returned to her room with a tear-streaked face.
The Juan couple’s instruction and Lazer’s comments continued to battle in her heart. She sat on the ground with her head in her hands, feeling at a loss. The Juan family gave her everything but also took away everything… she thought she could sacrifice everything for them unconditionally.
“I do not know anymore… I… do not know anymore…”
She murmured and shrunk into a ball.
The sun rose, but she still was unable to fall asleep.
