ZANILLIA IS HERE

The maids formed a circle around me and kept adding different kinds of hair accessories to my hair, causing the weight on my neck to become even more heavy. In addition to the heavy weight on my head were the numerous clothes wrapped around my body. My breathing turned hurried as it became hard for me to breathe while draped in such thick clothes. Damm. The expression on my face became contorted as I let out a complaint. 

“Can’t I change into something lighter? I can barely even breathe in this dress.” I dabbed the sweat that was starting to cluster on my forehead with the sleeve of the dress. 

“The minister told us to dress you up in this outfit and we dare not disobey his order, my lady.” One of the maids gently explained. 

“I understand, but can’t you see that I’m barely surviving while garb in this attire? Get me something lighter!” I hollered at them in order. Who cares if they were following someone else’s order? I don’t want to be the first person who died while suffocated in a dress. 

Ever since I found out that I wasn’t in a dream, my mood this morning has been quite distressing. Now, the only speculation that could come to my mind is that my actual body died while cleaning up the library storage room and then ventured into the afterlife to become this girl named Zanillia. 

But why would I become someone else if I’m dead? Shouldn’t I be here with my soul instead? Although, the face I bore is quite a beauty who wouldn’t panic after realizing that they were wearing someone’s else face. Just what the hell is going on? Or could it be that this is all an illusion? My mind became even more muddled as I questioned myself.

The maids’ minds were in mayhem as they contemplated, whether to follow the young lady's request or stick with the minister's order.

“Are you done dressing?” Amid their predicament, Minister Zhao walked into the room, which sent a wave of relief down their surging hearts. The maids quickly bowed towards him in greeting. “That dress certainly looks great on you.” He saw my dress and complimented me with a smile. 

I almost rolled my eyes when I heard his flattering remark. “Can I change into something else?” Since he was the one who ordered the maids to dress me up in this dress, he should be able to order them to change it into something lighter. 

“What a rude behavior.” The same woman who had admonished me yesterday, or should I say my current identity stepmother walked into the room and berated me. “How dare you speak to your father without even a greeting?” 

Today, the woman was dressed in an even more luxurious outfit. Her dress was embroidered with a flowering gold pattern. She wore bold makeup, generating the effect of how an actual villainess looks like in those fairytale movies. 

“And here comes the villainous character.” I rolled my eyes backward as I muttered to myself.

Perhaps hearing what I said, the woman became enraged, her nose flared as she pointed at me.

“You evil wench!” 

“That’s enough, Belia.” Minister Zhao had a scowl on his face as he stopped his wife. If it weren’t for her powerful background, he would have admonished her for stepping out of bounds. 

“Belia? Tch.” I sneered. “You’re unworthy of bearing such a name.” Last night when checking this body over, I saw that there were numerous scars on it. 

Now facing the clear disparagement in the woman’s eyes, I knew she must have been the sole cause of the reason why there were numerous scars on this body. How dare such an evil person like her bore the same name as mine.

“What do you say? How dare you!” She waves her hand forward to slap me on the face. I swiftly draw backward, evading her confrontation. 

The laid-back father soon interfered. “That’s okay.” 

“Do you hear what she just said to me? It’s a curse that a girl like her is born into this family. She’s just as vulgar as her lowly mother.” 

“I said that’s enough!” The vein in Minister Zhao’s head protruded as he shouted. 

The woman witnessed this and knew she must have stepped on her husband's bottom line this time. Still, she didn’t back down as she turned to face Minister Zhao in accusation. 

“Are you trying to protect this bastard, now? If you hadn’t brought that lowly woman into the house despite my refusal, maybe all this wouldn’t have happened. I truly regret marrying you.” As she finished saying this, the woman charged out of the room angrily. 

Just like in movies, all villains always have a sad backstory. Although I do feel a bit of pity for the woman, that wouldn’t erase all the evil deeds she had done to this body. Or perhaps if it hadn’t been for a certain person's greediness, all this wouldn’t have happened. And then I wouldn’t have found myself in this situation either. 

Two sighs resounded out at the same time. One from me and the other from this so-called father of mine. Damm. Although I’ve always dreamed of having a father figure in my life, I’ll never pray to have someone like him as my father. Never! 

Minister Zhao lifted his head and saw this unrecognizable daughter of his. A sigh escaped from his mouth once more, before he then waved in dismissal towards the maids, “Take the young lady out of the house.” 

The maids instantly complied with his order and brought me outside of the gate. 

In front of the gate, a carriage has been stationed there. The horse was busy grazing over the little grasses in the soil. Hearing the messy footsteps, its ears perked up and it stared in the direction of the manor gate. 

Before climbing into the carriage, I looked backward at the residence behind me and let out another sigh. Just how many times have I heaved a sigh today? I wasn’t sure if I had any lingering feelings left with this house. Except for the cute girl, I don’t think there’s anything to reminisce about with the one day I’ve stayed here.

Well, since it isn’t quite sure whether I’m in the afterlife or not, I’ll just go along with the flow. Possibly, I might be able to find someone who knows the solution to my problem. Shifting my head away, I lifted my foot and climbed into the carriage seat, ready to venture into an unknown land I’ve no idea about. 

The horse began to move after a pull from the handler.

Some minutes later, the moving carriage suddenly halted. 

I noticed this and turned to ask the maid who was guarding the door. “Have we arrived?” 

“Yes, my lady.” The maids pulled open the door coverage and stretched out a hand to assist me down the carriage. 

Immediately I got down, my gaze drifted to the humongous gate before me. “Where are we?” I asked the maid. This can’t be the seven realms that father of mine had spoken about, right? Although the gate looks imposing, it looks a bit lacking for an immortal palace. 

“We’re at the palace, young miss. All candidates listed on the lists are to gather at the palace before taking off to the seven realms.” The maid explained. 

“Oh, so that’s how it is. Okay, bye. Thank you for your info.” Since the maid had been very attentive to me during the journey, I bade her farewell as a bit of my goodwill towards her before heading in the direction of the palace gate. 

The moment I stepped into the gate after completing the identity check at the checkpoint, my sight was greeted with tons of dazzling rainbow colors. Thousands of girls were gathered together on the big plaza ground. Their constant chattering filled the whole place. Looking at the bright color dresses each of them wore, I felt an ache went through my eyes. Damm, is this gathering meant to be a colorful parade or what? Also, the mixture of each of their fragrances sent a choking feeling into my nose. Right now, I was very scared to walk towards them for fear that I’d be choked to death by those varieties of fragrance. 

Perhaps one of them sighted me, she immediately called out.

“Everyone, look. It’s Zanillia.”

“Oh, it’s her.” 

“I heard she went to steal from a market stall owner again.” 

“Really? That’s so embarrassing.” 

“My maidservant told me she saw her being dragged by the mobs towards the Zhao’s manor. She was only let go after the minister paid for the goods she stole.”

“What a shame. Bringing such a huge disgrace to her family. How does she still have the courage to show her face to the public.” 

“Who can tell? She has always been a thick-skinned face. I hope she’s not here to steal our stuff this time around.” 

“Everyone, hide your stuff. Zanillia is here!”

There were lots of head turn towards me and their constant whispers fell into my ears.

 ‘Hey, do I look like a thief? And besides, why would I steal any of your stuff?’ However, recalling that my identity was different from whom I was, I kept my grievance to myself 

“Hello.” The slight grin on my face seemed a little bit more constrained as I waved at them. 

“Get away from here, you thief.” One of them spat, with an obvious disdain from me.

Oh, aren’t noble girls supposed to be gentle and shy? Just take a look at the written disgust on their faces. They must hate me so much. Since my greeting was met with an unwelcoming stance, I put down my hand.

Suddenly, a cry erupted from the crowd. 

“My hairpin! I can’t find my hairpin!” One of the ladies cried after she saw that her precious gold hairpin was missing from her hair.

“Where did you hide her hairpin?” The young girl who had announced my arrival earlier glared at me fiercely as she asked. 

“Hairpin?” I almost felt like laughing out loud the moment I heard her accusation. Are people so delusional that they could just put a crime on anyone? I stood not far away from them, my expression cold as I replied. “Why would I steal her hairpin? And besides, I haven’t moved an inch from where I stand so how would I have the ability to make her hairpin disappear? Unless I’ve some magical power which even I’m unaware of.” 

“Why should we believe whatever words come from your mouth? Everyone here is of pure noble blood family while you who is born from a lowly commoner is the only one who can perform such a heinous act. Who here doesn’t know your reputation? Give back her hairpin or else, we’ll beat you to a pulp right now.”

“…” I felt dumbstruck and also found the situation funny at the same time. Are young people so scheming these days? No, it should be the people of this world who have no morality instead. I was about to retort when a voice suddenly came from the crowd.

“She wasn’t the one who stole this young lady’s hairpin.” A beautiful girl, dressed in a pure white gown stepped out from the crowd. Her face was pure and delicate, the type that could make men’s hearts swoon. Her small pink lips parted as she continued, “Besides, you were the one who stole the hairpin.” 

“What are you saying? How dare you accuse me of stealing her hairpin?” The girl raged, but if one looked closely at her they could her expression faltered at the end.

I turned to look at the beautiful girl in surprise, wondering why she had stepped out to defend me. 

“Wrong accusation? Tch.” The beautiful girl sneered. “Why don’t you take off your waist pouch and show us the content inside? Of course, if I’m wrong, I don’t mind kowtowing to you in front of the crowd in apology. But what if I’m right?” There was a smile in her eyes as she deliberately dragged out the last sentence.

“You…” The noble lady was tongue-tied because she knew the other party was right. She had indeed taken the hairpin to accuse Zanillia of stealing. But she would never agree that she stole the hairpin. She gnashed her teeth together and took out the hairpin hidden in her waist pouch. “Take your hairpin. I saw it by chance on the floor and decided to keep it until I found the owner. Don’t be careless next time.” She threw the hairpin at the girl and dashed angrily into the midst of the crowd. 

‘Ha-ha-ha’ I let out a mocking laugh seeing her embarrassing actions. It was really good seeing her being slapped right in the face.

The noble girl’s face turned even more red when she heard Zanillia’s laughter behind her. She gnawed on her lips, wishing she could dash out to teach her a lesson. But recalling her earlier embarrassment, she could swallow back her raging anger. 

Since the allegation had already been cleared, I walked towards the beautiful girl and thanked her “Thank you so much. If you hadn’t stood as a witness for me, I wouldn’t have known how to liberate myself from her evil scheme.” 

“It’s no problem.” The girl's mouth turned into a smile when she heard my words of gratitude. “I’m also glad to be of help.” 

“Thank you again. My name is Be… I mean Zanillia.” I immediately corrected, stopping myself from blurting out my actual name. 

“Xinger.” The girl also introduced 

“Singer? That’s a nice name.” I flashed a grin as I complimented her. 

“It’s Xinger with the X.” She explained to me nicely.

“Oh.” I then realized that I’d made a mismatch with the first letter of her name and instantly blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry. I thought it was Xinger with the S.”

 “It’s no problem at all, and nice to meet you too, Zanillia.” After the friendly complimentary, Xinger and I parted ways since our short relationship was only that of an aid. 

Before long, the thick voice of the guard captain sounded through the whole plaza. 

“Everyone, gather around. His royal majesty has arrived!” At his shout, everyone immediately organized themselves and formed a proper line-up. I also followed suit. 

“Oh my goodness, that’s his majesty!” One of the ladies let out a low squeal due to excitement. 

“I can’t believe that we get to see the king before the commencement of our journey to the immortal realm. This is surreal.” 

Low whispers pervaded the whole plaza. I silently stood behind the ladies; my gaze focused on the middle-aged man who was standing on the higher platform of the plaza. The man was dressed in a red luxurious robe, embroidered with the image of a six claws dragon, signifying his identity as a ruler. Standing beside him was his entourage of eunuchs and maids whose duty there was to make his appearance seem even more imposing. 

“Silence everyone!” The guard roared out again. 

This time with the king’s grandiose presence, everyone present observed a quick taciturn.

Seeing the proper decorum, the king began his speech. “It’s a great honor for me to witness this magnificent change in the history of mankind. Millions of years had passed. A lot of people died in the hope of witnessing this day. Unfortunately, the heaven doesn’t decree so for them. I’m so fortunate that in my time of reign, the immortal realm which has been shut off from the human realm for millions of years would finally open up its sealed gate to the mortal world. Now that the divine decree has come forth to the lord of the seven realms to select his predestined bride from the mortal world, I’ve decided to let the Princess join in the participation of the bride selection to form a strong alliance between the mortal and immortal world.” 

The moment the king ended his speech, the listener below burst out into an uproar. 

“What? No way!” 

“Isn’t that a big kill? Everyone knows that the princess is the most beautiful maiden in the kingdom. Contending against her is the same as a smelly dung next to a fragrant flower.” 

“I previously had my hope up earlier. Now with the princess's participation, I don’t think I’ll ever stand a chance beside her.” 

“This is unfair.” They all grumbled. 

“Enough!” The king roared. “That is all I have to say. I hope that you’ll treat the princess with care and respect during the journey to the immortal realm. Anyone who dares to go back on my order would have every member of their clan executed.” 

It was clear that the king was directly threatening them to give up the competition. This doesn’t sit well with the noble ladies. Who doesn’t want to be the bride of the immortal lord? Although a lot of them were dissatisfied with the king’s words, they didn’t dare to voice out their complaint for fear that the king would use them as an example to all. Hence, they could only swallow back their discontentment.