The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

To think a color would mean something in this world...

She hadn’t expected it at all.

Back where she came from, red was just a color. Some might put meaning in it, but mostly it’s for festivities... And... ah, there was another event in her world where people would wear red.

Valentine’s Day.

Aisha almost rolled her eyes when she remembered it. It wasn’t that she purposely forgot it. It was just that before she could even experience why that day should even be celebrated before the world turned upside down.

In this world, it also had a similar meaning. Though it announced something to the entire planet the second she walked out of her room. Welcoming new love. That she was open to being courted, the moment her engagement to Soren was dissolved.

She frowned faintly.

However, she filed it away as she thought that there was no way someone would be crazy enough to pursue her the next second that Prince Soren breaks off their engagement. But then she reasoned it with herself that there was no way someone would be crazy enough to pursue her the next second her engagement was called off with the prince. And most importantly, what mattered to her the most was that she had no interest in love or even falling in love. She had yet fully adapted in this world and she’d rather discover more things about herself and the world she’s in, when would she even have the time to pursue love at all?

Besides, her reputation was in tatters.

Even if some fool did get any ideas, he’d have to be either extremely brave or extremely stupid.

And most importantly, she had no interest in any of it.

Love, courting, whatever these people called it. She hadn’t even finished figuring out how to survive in this world, let alone chase after some man’s affections. Where exactly was she supposed to fit in time for romance?

Thinking like this, she calmed down.

"You look wonderful, Miss," Daisy said. She circled Aisha once more, tugging lightly at the hem of the sleeve. "Whoever sent this to you knows exactly how exquisite you’d look in it."

"Don’t start on that again," Aisha said. "We still don’t know who it was."

And the thought that they knew exactly her measurements made her even more suspicious. Who could it possibly be?

If they knew her measurements like this, there was no way they could be a normal person.

She’d never anticipated having a stalker in this life.

"I know, I know. But look at you." Daisy sighed happily, as if she’d personally forgotten the mystery entirely in favor of admiring the finished result.

Aisha smoothed her skirt and continued walking down.

Zenick was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, one hand tucked into his coat pocket. When he saw her come down, he actually took a step back, squinting at her.

"Hold on," he said. "Where’s my sister? Daisy, have you seen my younger sister?"

Daisy smiled right away at his teasing.

Aisha rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help the smile tugging at her lips. "Very funny."

"No, I’m serious. My sister isn’t this beautiful. Did you swap her out overnight?"

Aisha’s lips twitched as Zenick had been just this close to the truth, and so she couldn’t stop herself from saying, "She died, and what you’re looking at is just a shell of her, fully dressed up."

It was meant as a joke. Half of it, anyway. The other half was closer to the truth that no one has to know.

She’d expected them to laugh or giggle back at her joke, but their reaction was slightly off.

Zenick’s easy expression dropped instantly. And Daisy, who was standing off to the side with a shawl draped over her arm, went rigid.

Aisha blinked at the two of them. "Why are you both so tense? I was joking."

Did they actually believe her?

Zenick’s jaw tightened. "Don’t joke like that ever again. I don’t want to hear you say anything that sounds so ominous."

"That’s right, Miss," Daisy added quickly, nodding along. "Please, don’t say things like that."

Aisha felt a flicker of unease at how seriously they were both taking it, but she nodded anyway. "Alright, alright. I understand."

Zenick let out a breath and stepped closer, resting a hand lightly on her upper arm.

She had to fight the urge to flinch. Physical contact from someone she wasn’t used to still caught her off guard sometimes. It was hard to get rid of her reflex to just hit somebody if they so much as touch her.

"Are you really okay, Aisha?" he asked, his eyes searching her face.

She met his gaze and said, "I am."

He shook his head, not satisfied with her answer. "Are you really okay about this? If you want, I can file a formal petition against the prince. I can still make sure you’re—"

That surprised her. She hadn’t expected him to be willing to go that far, especially not for someone he’d only reunited with days ago after years of not seeing each other.

But if Zenick actually did something like that, it would only make her look disgraceful in everyone’s eyes. And there was the small matter of the money. The five million more Prince Soren still owed to her once the annulment was finalized.

She placed her hand over his, giving it a light squeeze. "There’s no need for that, Brother. His Highness and I already agreed to end the engagement. It was mutual."

Zenick still looked unconvinced. "But don’t you have feelings for him?"

She almost laughed at the question. Instead, she kept her expression composed as she calmly replied, "I... don’t have feelings for him anymore."

The only feeling she had toward Soren these days was the intense desire to slap him for turning a private matter into a public spectacle in front of half the empire.

Zenick studied her for a long moment before nodding slowly. "That’s good. That’s a relief, if that’s really how you feel."

Aisha glanced past him and noticed there was no one else around.

"Where is everyone?" she asked.

Zenick’s expression shifted as he gloomily revealed, "They’ve gone ahead already."

Aisha frowned when she heard that.

From what she knew about annulment ceremonies, there had never been a situation where the party whose engagement was about to be dissolved arrived alone. They were always flanked by their family, a visible show of respect and to announce their solidarity to support their family member.

But for her parents and the Novalis family to forget this detail or even abandon her before the ceremony even started, Aisha couldn’t think of a reason why they’d go ahead without her.

As she and Zenick stepped out toward the hover car, Aisha faltered behind him. Her brows furrowed as her vision started to blur.

Suddenly, images that she had never seen before and couldn’t clearly see started to sweep through her mind.

When it finally calmed down, Aisha felt something trickle down her eyes. She rubbed it off, and when she looked down, she saw it was blood.

"Aisha!" Zenick hurriedly came to her side. "What happened?"

Aisha shook her head. "I don’t know."

Truth is, she also couldn’t understand what had just happened.

"You can’t go there when you’re like this," Zenick told her as he remembered how he almost thought she had died in her sleep earlier. "I’ll tell everyone to postpone the ceremony. You should go back inside and rest while I’ll quickly go to the palace."

"Don’t," Aisha stopped him before he could take action on his words. "Things will become more complicated if we try to postpone it. I’m fine. It’s probably because I’m tired."

Truth to be told, even now she couldn’t explain what happened to her and what those scenes she’d seen even meant.

And the most disturbing part was that the last thing she saw before she snapped out of that weird state was herself staring back at her with streaks of blood all over her body while holding a weapon, and the corpses that lay strewn under her.

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