Chapter 579 Is Today My Birthday?
"Let's go, Miss Joanna," Josephina took the initiative to say the words she was certain the nervous Joanna wouldn't utter in the next twenty minutes.
As they stepped out of the sitting room, Josephina led the way followed by Joanna and then the guards and other maids followed behind while maintaining distance from her.
Joanna's heart pounded against her chest when they drew closer to the building which was a five minutes walk from the Queen's quarter.
Her hands shook violently and her stomach tightened like a woman who was meeting her groom on their wedding night. The absentminded lady whose mind had been all over the place was surprised when Josephina informed her that they reached their destination.
"Ooh... we are here already," Joanna exclaimed. By this time she could no longer hide her anxiety.
Just then Chris stepped out to meet them in front of the door.
"His Majesty is waiting for you inside," Chris informed her. He instantly stepped out of the door to give her access to the house.
Joanna stared at the door as if hell was waiting for her inside.
"Miss Joanna, are you ok?" Chris was forced to ask when Joanna made no sign of stepping foot into the room.
[Isn't this what I wanted? Wasn't talking to him face to face the reason I followed him to his sacred home, so why am I hesitating now that I have gotten what I wanted? What am I afraid of exactly?]
Joanna kept on staring at the room whose door she was certain was left open specifically for her sake.
[What was meant to happen will surely come, Joanna. Avoiding it won't solve anything. Facing it is the right thing to do]
Joanna concluded in her mind. She released her clenched fists and took a step forward.
The moment she stepped into the room she was greeted with thick darkness. As if that wasn't enough, the door was immediately shut from the outside.
"Why is it so dark in here?" Joanna muttered. She dared not take a step forward as she wasn't familiar with the set-up of the King's room.
"Josephina never told me that horror setting was the theme for tonight's meeting. What would she have done if I was a timid person and fainted as soon as I stepped into this creepy place?" Joanna spoke as if there was someone in the room with her.
Joanna took another at the room with hopes that she would get herself familiar with the darkness but that didn't help much.
Just when she made up her mind to use her flames to navigate her way around the room the lights came on.
The bright colourful light that came didn't illuminate the entire room but a certain part. And the lights were so mesmerizing that Joanna couldn't help but admire it for a few minutes.
Joanna was trying to figure out what was happening when the television came on and immediately, messages started displaying on the huge plasma television as if it was being controlled by someone.
"Happy birthday to the most beautiful girl in the universe," Joanna read the first message that appeared on the screen with mixed feelings.
"Wait, is my birthday today?" Joanna mumbled and scratched her head as if she was having difficulty remembering something.
She tried to shove her hand into her trouser's pockets only to recall that she had changed into a different outfit before she came there.
"I guess it must have clocked midnight already," Joanna muttered and lifted her eyes to look at the television screen once again.
"My wish has always been to see you happy doing whatever you want. I tried for so many years to fulfil this wish of mine. Although I ended up failing, my wish hasn't changed," A sweet smile appeared on Joanna's glowing face after reading the message.
"So this is the reason he always tried to make me laugh in the past?" Her smile broadened as if he was in front of her.
"I know growing up hasn't been easy or pleasant for you but I saved some amazing memories I thought you might have wanted to see again" Joanna narrowed her eyebrows as she stared at the screen eager to see what those words meant.
"My life has been nothing but a living hell ever since I was conceived in my mother's womb. I doubt they are memories considered amazing during those years," Joanna grumbled. Her expectations dropped to zero as soon as she finished talking.
She was about to look away from the screen when pictures started displaying on the screen.
The first picture was one of a cute tiny little bun wrapped in pink clothes. If not for the baby's unique purple eyeballs she wouldn't have recognised the baby to be her.
After that the pictures of when she was a toddler rolled in. On the television screen, pictures of every stage of her life got displayed one after the other until it got to her current self.
What was more astonishing than the fact that she didn't recall taking the pictures was the fact that she looked genuinely happy in every single picture that was displayed on the screen.
The pictures were just perfect, especially the ones after she turned fourteen. It was as if the photographer waited for the moment she smiled the brightest to capture the moment.
"This is insane," Joanna blurted, her right hand covering her mouth which had dropped open.
Just as she thought she had seen it all, videos of her memories started to display on the enormous television screen.
All her life, Joanna believed there were no memories worth calling memorable. She was so certain that every day of her nineteen years of existence was nothing but terrifying nightmares she never wanted to remember, but these pictures and videos she watched proved her wrong.
They were moments when her smile shone brighter than anyone she knew. She laughed harder than those who took making her life a living hell as their goal. They were also times her excited eyes sparkled more than the night sky.
These were all her memories, how come she never recalled any of these amazing moments?
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