“Right, I guess I don’t have to come too,” I mumbled.
“Don’t sound so sad. I’ll choose to stay in bed any day than go out to meet all the random people that mum and dad want me to meet,” she said before she giggled.
Her giggling ended up in rough coughs that made me believe that she may not need to pretend to be sick in order to stay in bed.
“You should get in bed. You’ll sleep in my room tonight, right?” I asked while still feeing uneasy.
“Yup, and you’ll sleep in mine. When morning comes, you’ll be Diana and I’ll be Dahlia,” she said before winking at me.
...
“You look exactly like a princess in this dress. I knew that it would look perfect on you, but this just exceeded my expectations!” my mother exclaimed.
Life as Diana meant waking up extra early and getting dolled up. The day of her engagement was undoubtedly a big day for her and also the two families. Our parents did not spare any expense in making sure that she was dressed up for the occasion.
“Thank you, mother,” I replied with a polite smile.
“It’s too bad that this happened on such short notice. If we had more time, we could have gotten a better dress tailored. I was thinking more embroidery here and here...” my mother said with a regretful look on her face as she pointed to various parts of the dress with her index finger.
“I think this dress looks very beautiful already,” I replied sweetly.
“Do you really think so? Well, you do look stunning. Your hair also looks so perfect. Everything about you is just so beautiful,” my mother complimented me again as she inspected me over and over again from head to toe.
By that time, I should have been used to the fact that no one could tell us apart when we made our switch, but I still found it a little unnerving. There was always a small fear at the back of my mind that we might get caught; however, when I thought about the fact that even our birth parents couldn’t tell us apart, I doubted that anyone else could.
Diana was supposed to meet Anthony at his house which is the Vulkan’s main family estate. The fact that our families were not on good terms meant that we had never been invited there before. The luxury of the mansion did not surprise me but the nervousness that bubbled up inside of me until it grew almost uncontainable did.
“Listen, Diana. Today is a very important day for you and also our family. That being said, you honestly don’t have to do much. While we sort out some paperwork, all you have to do is spend some time with Anthony,” my father instructed before smiling my way.
“I understand, father,” I replied obediently the way that Diana would have.
“Don’t worry about anything. Just be your perfect self,” my mother instructed as if something like that could be achieved effortlessly.
By that time, I had already lost count of the number of times that I heard the word ‘perfect’ since my day as Diana started. Diana was probably sick and tired of hearing that word and I had started to feel the same. I couldn’t wait to meet this Anthony person so that we could quickly get this over and done with. A simple and polite conversation was all that I had expected to share with him on that day.
“Although I’m sure that you two have met before, let us formally introduce you two to each other. Anthony, this is Diana from the Alnault family,” Anthony’s father introduced me to his son with a smile.
“Diana, this is Anthony. The only son and heir of the Vulkan family and your fiancé,” my father said before beaming a smile.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Anthony said politely.
“It is a pleasure...” I replied as politely.
I was certain that there was no pleasure in the two of us meeting and that we were probably just confused about our emotions but had no choice but to play along with the will of our parents. Regardless, I made sure to smile beautifully at him to show him the Diana smile that I had practiced.
“Well then, we’ll leave the two of you to get acquainted with each other,” my father said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
His touch told me that the fate and future of our family was in my hands now and that I could not afford to fail them all. Everyone left the room soon after that and Anthony and I were left alone to get to know each other better, whatever that really meant.
Time seemed to tick by so painfully slowly as we stood there just staring into each other’s eyes without knowing what to say. Although I knew that I should start a conversation with him, when I stared into his clear blue eyes, I couldn’t think of anything at all. I vividly remember thinking that he had very captivating and attractive blue eyes now that I could see them up close.
It didn’t take long for me to feel uncomfortable under his intense gaze as he stared at my face. Although his blue eyes looked so clear, they also looked empty in a strange why and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The longer Anthony stared at me, the more uncomfortable I got. I knew that I had to come up with the words to break the silence before things got even more awkward between us, but I truly didn’t know what to say to him.
“Is that dress uncomfortable?” Anthony suddenly spoke to my surprise.
“Well...” I murmured while still stunned by both his seemingly off-topic question and also the fact that he had started a conversation with me.
Even though his question sounded innocent enough, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was an underlying or hidden meaning behind it.
--To be continued...