I am the Queen

When Eric and Evangeline finally got out of the Horror house, people shot them weird glances. Some lingered their eyes while some stole a glance. It was apparent that they were used to such scenes already. Ladies were fainting while the male carried them outside. It was a regular occurrence in the horror house.

Eric decided to take a moment\'s rest at a nearby bench. Still, Evangeline showed no sign of detaching herself from him. And of course, he too didn\'t mind that she was clinging to him so tight.

Straddling her on the chair, he tenderly stroked her back and hair. She was still hiding her face from everyone, and he thought she must be embarrassed.

They remained like that while they wait for Daniel and Lilybella to come out. Until Evangeline moved and gradually pulled herself away from Eric.

Head lowered, voice a little weak, she said, "Eric, I\'m thirsty . . ."

Looking at her, she was so different from her usual self. It was like all her pretense and façade was stripped from her, leaving only her raw form. And Eric, for a moment, couldn\'t react. The fear must have been so intense it even scraped away her disguise.

Her pretty face was covered with tears, eyes red with layers of moisture. Her expression was so pitiable it could melt anything!

Unable to control himself, he wiped away her dried tears. "Un . . . I\'ll go and get you something to drink. Are you going to be okay here?"

Wiping her wet face herself, Evangeline nodded before she removed herself from Eric\'s lap and sat on the bench with a blank expression.

Standing up, Eric was hesitating before he said, "Wait for me for a minute. I\'ll be right back."

The moment Eric was no longer in sight, Evangeline slumped on the bench and hid her face in the confines of her palms.

"Ah . . . What an utter disgrace. A humiliation. An embarrassment."

She can\'t believe she had lost her grace and poise against an artificial ghost. She had no more face to show Eric!

Though she had to admit all the pressure and accumulated stress was dispersed by screaming her heart out. She was even feeling light and relaxed.

Until her body tense upon hearing a voice that was very familiar to her.

"Evangeline? Evangeline Krisnov?"

Raising her head, Evangeline saw two girls. One with short hair and the other with long golden hair in a high ponytail.

Jennifer Dovinson.

What were the odds? The first person she thought was her friend was literally standing in front of her after so many years.

"It really is you!"

For a moment, Evangeline thought Jennifer was glad to meet her by her tone of voice, but finding out her true color made her think twice.

"An acquaintance of yours?" the girl with short hair asked, and Jennifer answered, "Oh, right. Fu, this is Evangeline, a classmate of mine in elementary."

"Hi."

Fu simply greeted while Evangeline didn\'t respond. She was still caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the mastermind behind her, not wanting to have friends.

"Evangeline, what are you doing here in Everland?" Jennifer questioned, her friendly smile never left her face. "Ah! Don\'t tell me. Are you having your vacation here? That would be perfect! Our classmates are having a reunion in the twentieth. You should definitely come."

Most of Evangeline\'s classmates in elementary were kids from Everland\'s aristocratic family. They wanted their children to have an early connection with Daniel Richardson. However, in high school, the requirements to enter Unmei Academy were a lot stricter, and some didn\'t make the cut.

No matter how much influence these families have, the academy didn\'t relent, and the majority of these kids went back to Everland. Jennifer was among those who didn\'t make it and left Burberry –– continuing their high school and college in their home country.

Twitching her brows, Evangeline wanted nothing more to do with her past. But she also didn\'t want to lose, especially not to this woman. Knowing Jennifer, she would definitely spread the news about her being in Everland. And if she didn\'t show up in this reunion, they might say she was chickening out. They probably thought she didn\'t make it in life, and all other gossips they could think of, that was why she didn\'t want to come.

Evangeline didn\'t care if it was another who gossiped about her, but not Jennifer Dovinson. She would show her she was no longer the naïve kid she used to be. Show them how she had become a woman who everyone revered.

"Sure," Evangeline answered, a haughty smile on her lips.

Clapping her hands together, Jennifer beamed. "That\'s great!" She then picked her phone from her pursed and said, "Let\'s exchange numbers, and I\'ll add you to the group chat later."

Evangeline didn\'t resist, and after they exchanged numbers, Jennifer beamed once more, though her smile was a tad bit force. It was more than seven years already that they had last seen each other, and Evangeline had only grown more beautiful each passing year. Though she was a bit chubbier compared from the last time she stalked her profile picture. Nevertheless, the woman was still gorgeous as ever, causing her to irk in irritation.

But no matter. Jennifer heard that Evangeline\'s life hadn\'t been easy since her mother died and was discarded by her father. Compared to her, an heiress with a handsome fiancé, living a life to be envied, Evangeline was nothing more than a pretty face.

Jennifer smirked in triumph.

"Eve."

Everyone turned and saw a tall, lean geeky man holding bottles of water. His messy hair half-covered his eyes, and the thick frame of his glasses almost swallowed half of his face while a scar smudged his left cheek.

"Eric." Evangeline strode towards the guy and introduced him, "Eric, this is Jennifer my classmate in Elementary and her friend Miss Fu. Everyone, this is Eric, my boyfriend."

Though feeling a little embarrassed and moved at the same time at being called her boyfriend for the first time, Eric still managed a, "Hello" without showing any emotions on his face. He could tell that something was off with the tone of Evangeline\'s voice.

Fighting the smugness in her smile, Jennifer greeted back, "Hi. It\'s nice to meet you." Very nice indeed. She then turned to Evangeline, eyes flickering with superiority. "Actually, you can bring your boyfriend along in the reunion. Many of us will bring a partner, so . . . I think you should bring him with you."

Jennifer didn\'t know why Evangeline chose such an unappealing man to be her boyfriend, but the situation greatly favored her. Imagining her bringing this kind of man at the reunion will surely be a scene she greatly anticipated.

Comparing Eric to her fiancé, she wanted to laugh out loud.

Ignoring the obvious sign of ridicule from Jennifer towards her boyfriend, Evangeline answered casually, "Sure."

"Awesome! I\'ll see you there." Jennifer beamed. Then she clapped her hands together in a sign of apologizing and said, "Sorry, we\'ll have to cut our meeting short. Our friends are waiting for us."

Sporting a sorry expression, Jennifer waved her hand. "Evangeline, see you at the reunion. Bye."

Jennifer and Fu strode passed Evangeline and Eric but not until Fu gave a curious stare at the tall man before she shook her head.

When it was finally the two of them, Eric opened the bottled water and handed it to Evangeline and asked, "A reunion?"

Evangeline chugged the water down her throat. The cooling sensation somewhat extinguished the burning fire in her body. Gulping the water until the lost drop, she wiped away the excess liquid from her lips before she spoke.

"It\'s a reunion with a bunch of classmates in elementary since a lot of them originally were from Everland. And since I\'m here, might as well."

"Oh." Eric believed there was more to it than that, but since Evangeline wasn\'t ready to tell him, he wouldn\'t press the matter.

He opened another bottle of water and handed it to her. "That\'s nice. You get the chance to see and catch up with your classmates."

Evangeline scoffed before she drank the water he handed to her. Apparently, she was back to her overbearing and haughty self. Finishing her drink, she flipped her hair and sneered.

"School reunions are nothing but scams. Nobody actually misses you and wants to see you. They just wanted to know how you\'re doing in life if you\'re successful or not."

". . ."

Eric pursed his lips. He didn\'t respond since he had never been in a school reunion before, or any reunion for that matter.

Peering at Eric under her lashes, Evangeline said, "You\'ll accompany me, right?"

Eric smiled and patted her head. "Of course."

"Teacher! Teacher\'s boyfriend!"

Eric and Evangeline glanced at the source of the hyperactive voice and saw Daniel and Lilybella walking towards them. Daniel had an unusual pale, placid face and disheveled appearance while, in contrast, Lilybella had an extra glow to her. She hopped towards Evangeline and exclaimed.

"Teacher! The horror house lived to its reputation! The rumors are true! It\'s a place where couples became intimate with one another. Even his Highness, which is usually reserved and shy, pretended to be scared. He jumped and hugged Lilybella when a ghost appeared. And he grabbed Lilybella ha––umph!"

"That\'s enough out of you. Any more, and I\'ll make sure you\'ll stay inside that Horror house as a permanent ghost." Due to the still lingering fear, Daniel forgot all manners and directly threatened the woman. He clamped her mouth shut with his hand to stop her from saying his greatest embarrassment and shame.

Lilybella only responded with a giggle, clearly oblivious to his threat.

Sighing, Daniel removed his hand from her lips, which caused the woman to pout. He ignored her and casually glanced at his watch. It was nearing six in the evening. "It\'s getting late. The park will close at ten, though most of the rides won\'t be accessible after eight. I say we still have one or two more rides before we can call it a night."

Circling her hand on Eric\'s arm, Evangeline leaned against his shoulder. "Eric, I\'m tired. I want to go home," she whined, tone asking to be spoilt.

Eric shot a smile her way before he faced Daniel and Lilybella. "Sorry, is it alright if we go ahead?"

"Eghhh?" Lilybella protested. "But, it won\'t be fun anymore with his Highness and Lilybella."

Are you telling me I\'m boring? Daniel glared at Lilybella before he decided to ignore her existence. "Since you two wanted to go home, I don\'t see any more reason to stay either. After all, I\'m just here to accompany you guys around."

"Boo!" Lilybella could only puff her cheeks and pursed her lips. With everyone voted to call it a day, she couldn\'t do anything but follow the majority.