Chapter 3 Nobles' Banquet

"Disperse! Disperse! Disperse!" The loud voice of someone on the bass porch echoed in the room. The harem could be seen dispersing themselves. Frightened faces could be seen on some of the women. Elena was still staring at the harem women.

"Ayla!" Someone suddenly grabbed her arm roughly. Elena gasped, especially since she was called by a name she had never heard before. Although it had been called by the guard who brought her back to the harem.

"Don't you make any more noise in here!" It turned out that the person who grabbed her arm was a hooded woman with a cynical face.

"Commotion?" Elena frowned. "I didn't do anything!"

The woman led Elena to the corner of the room. Her cynical face seemed to stare at Elena without tenderness. But Elena wasn't afraid, she met the woman's gaze with her own.

"You're almost dead! Don't ever mess up again if you don't want to end up worse than yesterday!" the woman said threateningly.

Elena shook her head vigorously. As if her head was spinning, they were talking about something she didn't know. Elena was sure that there must be something wrong with her. Because the last thing she remembered was her body jumping from the fifth floor of the exhibition building.

The woman pushed Elena, causing her to flinch. Then, the woman stepped away leaving Elena in her reverie and trying to remember something. The woman's back disappeared further behind the door, while Elena continued to remain silent in the corner of the room.

"Ayla!" Someone's call broke her reverie. She saw a young woman with wavy golden brown hair making a small run towards her. She frowned, feeling unfamiliar with the woman.

"Ayla, you're finally alive." Elena's body froze as the young woman embraced her very tightly, while Elena's head was still spinning with the unfamiliar name calling.

"You?" Those were the only words Elena could utter. She couldn't ask questions that would raise suspicion.

The woman released her embrace from Elena's body. She looked intently at Elena's face. "You don't remember who I was after the impact?" The woman asked again, while Elena immediately shook her head slowly, an inducement to find out all the irregularities.

"Poor girl." The young woman immediately grabbed Elena's wrist and led her up to the right step.

Elena sat right next to the blanket and head mat that were lying there. Meanwhile, the woman with golden brown hair picked up a mirror that was next to her headboard. She handed it to Elena.

Elena accepted it hesitantly, but she was also eager to know what had happened to her. She froze when she saw that the face in the reflection was not her. She almost dropped the small mirror she was holding.

She gently stroked her yellowish cheeks. Some parts of the face of the woman in the mirror were almost similar to her, although there were some differences. Her large almond eyes with brown irises with lush lashes, oval face shape, high cheekbones with dimples that made the woman in the mirror so beautiful.

Elena tried to recall the past memories of the woman named Ayla. She didn't know much, only memories related to the torture and humiliation inflicted by some of the harems and guards here.

"Poor woman." Elena muttered softly. "I promise to avenge all your heartaches. Rest easy there. From now on I will be Ayla."

"Ayla, how? You've seen the wounds on your face, right?" The question from the golden-brown-haired woman jolted her. She instantly turned her head towards the woman.

"Yes," Ayla replied. She looked back into the mirror. The wounds in the form of scratches and bruises were blue. There were also traces of dried blood. "I will repay them for what they did to me. Just watch!"

"Ayla, don't do that. They'll beat you up again, you were almost dying that time." The woman insisted on preventing Ayla's intentions.

"Take it easy," Ayla said with a sly smile as she returned the mirror given to her by the tanned-haired woman with rosy cheeks. "I'll make them bend the knee to us, and they won't dare to do anything else."

"Ayla, why are you so different," the woman chided. She looked into Ayla's flashing eyes. It was as if there was a fire burning in her spirit.

"I'm still the same ...." Ayla stopped her speech, of course Elena inside Ayla's body didn't remember her.

"Patra," the woman replied. "How could you forget your best friend's name?"

"Sorry Patra, it's probably because of the impact on my head," Ayla replied.

Their conversation had to stop, as the door to the harem room opened. Someone was seen entering it hurriedly. Ayla glanced over, it was the man she had met at the gate. A middle-aged man in his fur vest.

"Come on! All of you line up and listen to the news I bring!" The sound of the middle-aged man clapping his hands made the women in the harem begin to line up. They were lined up neatly. Even Damaris, the arrogant harem seemed to have come down from the second floor and joined the others.

"What's the info?" Damaris with her haughty face began to descend the steps and stopped right in front of Ayla.

"Later tonight, the palace will hold a dinner banquet. The harems are expected to give an entertaining performance with dances," the man said.

"Popoh, do all the women in the harem have to participate without exception?" Damaris' question seemed ambiguous. "Will she whose face is covered in scars also do it?" Damaris gave a cynical look as if mocking Ayla.

Popoh looked at Ayla who was indeed looking a little pitiful, she still couldn't say anything except to sigh in despair.

"Of course I'll come," Ayla said. "I'll be sure to present a good dance for the princes." A sly grin spread across Ayla's thin, sensual lips.

Damaris gave her a displeased look. She moved back closer to Ayla and raised her right hand and extended it towards the young woman. The look in Ayla's eyes deeply humiliated Damaris. Quick as a flash, Ayla grabbed the hand and pushed it so roughly that Damaris almost fell over.

Ayla strangled Damaris' slender neck, all the harem of face-seekers trying to block Ayla's hands. Meanwhile, Damaris could only painfully hold Ayla's hands to release them.

"Stop you guys! Or I'll twist this neck!" The entire harem moved backwards in disbelief at what Ayla was doing. Very different, the look in her eyes was sharper and stronger, not like before. Like someone had taken over that body.

"A-Ayla, let go!" Popoh, the man in the fur vest stammered at the change in Ayla's attitude. "Don't do that, otherwise the second prince will kill you!"

"Shut up!" Ayla couldn't help the rumbling in her chest. "If the second prince kills me, then this woman must die with me!"

The harem shuddered in horror, Ayla looked more like a demoness than a weak slave. Even Patra covered her mouth with both hands, stifling the soft shriek that escaped from her mouth.

"Ay-Ayla, come to your senses, you better let her go," Patra said.

"I'll let her go! But don't ever mess with me again!" Ayla began to threaten.

"Got it!" Ayla jerked Damaris' body. The look in her blue irises was pleading. Ayla released her grip from Damaris' neck.

The beautiful woman with wavy and luminous blonde hair coughed while clutching her slender neck.

"Go away!" snapped Ayla. "I will not remain silent now! I'm going to get back at you for all you've done to me, remember that!"

"Ayla?" The man in the brown fur vest gaped at the young woman's name.

"Why! You can't take it!" Ayla's voice was in a raised tone.

"Oh no, of course it's fine that you're presenting the dance at the banquet tonight," Popoh said with a wry smile. "Of course, you have to dress up nicely."

After saying that, the middle-aged man called Popoh quickly glided away from the harem room. Ayla glanced at Damaris and her henchmen as they began to climb the steps to the second floor. Two women were seen carrying Damaris' body.

"Ayla, you are very brave, be careful." Patra grabbed Ayla's wrist, while the young woman with brown irises just smiled.

***

Dinner banquet.

In a spacious room, long dining tables were lined up on the right and left sides. Various kinds of menus were lined up on the dining table. Apparently, a banquet dinner was being held that night that was attended by nobles.

On the right side, there were four handsome men dressed in noble style. It looked like they were the crown prince and the princes. The way they were dressed and the seats were quite special.

"Where's third brother?" asked a young man with dark brown hair as he sipped wine from his cup.

"You don't know his behavior, he'd rather be on the battlefield than at a party," replied a more mature-looking young man with golden brown hair.

"Does the crown prince not know? The third prince has returned from the battlefield," the dark brown-haired man said.

"THE THIRD PRINCE IS ENTERING THE BANQUET HALL!" The loud voice of the palace guard echoed throughout the room. All the attention of the nobles in the room turned towards the man with his dark hair tied back, walking dashingly with his gaze focused forward.

Some of the female nobles there looked down, though mesmerized by the man's features. The sword with the ruby-mirror gemstone tip was never far from his waist.