Chapter 351: Bonds (ii)
After drinking the water, Ang gave the ss to Dau saying, "Can you pat me?"
Tears fell down from Dau''s eyes, and she hugged Ang.
Ang was caught off-guard since she didn''t even expect a pat.
She didn''t try to stop Dau, nor said anything. She just sat there and let Dau hug her.
Dau gulped down and slowly opened her mouth to say something, "Ange"
Maybe it was because Dau was hugging Ang in a way that her ears were being covered, or maybe she was lost in her thoughts, that she didn''t react when Dau called her name.
Dau patted Ang''s head and said, "Ange"
"Huh?"
Ang looked up in shock.
Tears stopped falling down from her eyes.
"Y-You could speak?", Ang asked,pletely baffled.
Dau shook her head and said, "It''s me, Dau"
"Huh?"
Dau sat down and ced her hands on Ang''s shoulders as she said, "It''s Dau"
"How is that possible?"
"I don''t know, but I am Dau"
Ang shrugged Dau''s hand and stood up from the chair.
"This is a bad joke, Sherley. I don''t know how you can speak, but please don''t try to imitate my friend"
"Lil Das said the same thing"
"Das knows?"
Dau nodded and said, "He confirmed that I am Dau"
"No way!"
Ang ran at Dau and hugged her, saying, "Is it really you?"
Dau hugged her back and said, "yes, it''s Dau, your friend"
"Is it really you?"
"Yes. I just answered the same question"
"Are you sure?"
"I am sure"
"This is not some kind of prank, right?"
"It''s not"
"Das has told you to act like Dau, right?"
"No. It''s me, your childhood friend and your bodyguard"
"Ex! Ex-bodyguard",mented Ang.
Ang tightened her grip and said, "Thank you. Thank you"
They both had already started crying in each other''s arms.
They kept exchanging remarks on each other.
After Ang was calmed down, she sat on the bed and Dau filled one more ss of water for her.
"Thank you"
Ang was drinking water, but all her attention was on Dau.
It wasn''t like she didn''t believe Dau''s word. She was just a little unsure whether Dau was telling the truth or not.
''What if it''s Sherley with Dau''s memory?'', Ang thought as she gulped down thest sip.
Dau put the ss on the table and sat on the sofa in front of the bed.
Ang patted the bedsheet on her left side and said, "Sit here"
Dau stood up and sat beside Ang.
Ang grabbed Dau''s hand.
Noticing Ang''s behavior, Dau smiled a little and said, "Are you still unsure I am Dau or not?"
"It''s not like that. I am just scared"
"Scared of what?"
"What if you are actually Sherley with Dau''s memory, and you haven''t realized it yet?"
"Lil Das said the same thing"
"What else did he say?"
"He yelled at me, pushed me down, said so many mean things to me, but I somehow convinced him that I am Dau"
Ang furrowed her eyebrows and said, "How?"
"I let him decide", Dau ced her other hand on Ang''s arm, which was already holding Dau''s hand, and said, "I will do the same with you"
"..."
"I will let you decide who am I", Dau rubbed her thumb on Ang''s palm and said, "Who do you think I am"
"Don''t make me ask such tough questions"
Dau smiled and said, "Should I say some of our secrets, which we promised to not tell anyone"
"What if they were in Dau''s memory, and you are just reading her memory?"
"If that was the case, then I wouldn''t have asked for your permission. And if I was Sherley with Dau''s memory, my personality would have been different"
"Your personality was different when you woke up after your ten-year slumber"
"But in the end, it was me, right?"
Ang nodded and said, "Alright. You may speak one of our secret"
Dau grinned as she cleared her throat and said, "You were nervous for your first kiss, and worried thinking ''what if you mess up'', and practiced kissing on me"
Immediately, Ang''s face went red as blood as she pped Dau''s lips to stop her, and said, "You promised you would never mention it again!",
"But I asked your permission"
"You could have said something else!"
Dau looked down and smiled firmly as she said, "Ange"
"W-what is it?"
"Do you regret practicing kissing on me?"
"W-what are you asking?!"
"I am being serious"''
"Well," Ang averted her gaze and said, "I don''t regret it or anything. But I just feel disgusting remembering I did something like that"
"You feel disgusting thinking you practiced kissing on me?"
"No!, No, god no! I didn''t mean that"
"Then what?" Dau asked with a straight face.
"I know I was a jerk and a selfish girl when I was in my teens, and I also realize that I have done things which I shouldn''t even imagine about. But, I can''t erase that from my past"
"I don''t want to know that. I asked what do you mean ''You felt disgusting''. Answer me that"
"I was getting on that topic," she cleared her throat and said, "So as I said, I have done things which I should even imagine about. But that''s how I was. It was me, that was my identity. I am here right now because I was like that in my teens"
"That still doesn''t answer my question"
"I am getting on it. Calm down a little,"
Ang gulped down and said, "If I hadn''t done things which I did in my teens, I wouldn''t have ever realized how broken I was, how messed up my personality was. Even when Das was born, I...."
Dau took a deep sigh and said, "You are dragging this"
"Fine! Fine, I will get to the point. You have grown very impatient, Dau"
"I am just acting like how you were in your teens"
Ang shot a re at Dau and said, "I was being selfish at that time. First, my pride and ego came in my way to admit I loved the boy I insulted the first time I saw him. And even after I admitted I loved him, I just wanted to dominate him. It wasn''t really a love, it was just pure obsession"
"Ange~"
"Don''t interrupt me!"
She cleared her throat and continued, "And after realizing all my mistakes, when I finally had the chance to be intimate with him, I backed out. After realizing what true love is, I didn''t dare to even hold hands with him"
"Ange~~"
Ang pped Dau''s lips and said, "And after that, when it was time to kiss him, I was worried that I would mess up on my first kiss. My impression of him was of a princess who is excellent in everything, and if I had messed up on our first kiss, he would know everything was a sham. So I thought of practicing kissing with you"
"Finally", Dau said in a muffled voice.
Ang removed her hand from Dau''s face and said, "At that time, I just wanted to get perfect at kissing, and you were the only person I could rely on"
"Just like that?"
"No! If you had denied me, then maybe I would have practiced with some maid"
"So anyone would have been okay?"
"That''s" Ang averted her face and said, "Don''t sweat on details"
Dau sighed and said, "You don''t have to be this nervous, you know? I was your personal maid. Even if you had asked me to go further than kissing, then I wouldn''t have minded. But of course, with no feelings. That was our deal.
"Yeah, and I was worried that you might start ignoring me"
"That was just because you developed feelings for me, right?"
Ang''s face flushed as she got up from the bed and said, "That''s not true"
Dau stood up and hugged Ang from behind, saying, "Now you believe I am Dau?"
Ang scoffed and said, "You and your ways are weird as usual"
"That''s what makes me, me. That''s my identity, that''s Dau"
Ang turned around and said, "What happened between Das and you?"
"Why do you want to know that?"
"I am just curious about the rtionship of my son with my childhood friend"
"Oh!", Dau brought her face closer to Ang''s and said, "So you are jealous?"
Ang pushed Dau''s face back with her hand and said, "Dream on"
Dau smiled and said, "Lil Das and I are"
"Are?"
"We are"
"You are?"
Dau formed a bitter smile as she scratched her head and said, "You should ask him. I can''t say that you"
Ang took a deep breath and said, "I just hope it''s not like how I am imagining. Because if it is like that, I don''t know what to do with you both"
"Here you again, threatening me"
"It''s not a threat"
"I will just say it''s not his fault in any way. So me everything on me and don''t get angry at him"
"That''s something that I have to decide myself"
"You know, he wants to make you proud of him. He greatly admires you. He told me you had a fight with him a month ago"
"We didn''t fight!", Ang shouted with a worried look on her face.
"But you were sulking, and no one other than me knows how hard you are to handle when you are in your sulking mode"
Ang rushed to the table and filled the ss with water.
"He is just like you. Just like how you wanted to prove yourself to the King, he wants to prove it to you"
"Prove what?"
"That he doesn''t need you anymore"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
THE NAME OF THIS NOVEL WILL CHANGE WITHIN 10 DAYS to, "The King''s Mandate: Anomalous System".
Please don''t forget it.
Thanks for reading~!