Tangled By Fate

552  TOURING

"Oh my! What do we have here?"

Ovior came out of his office as well and looked in the same direction. "Dorothy?" He stepped forward and came closer. "Why are you here? I thought you would be resting."

"I didn't want to stay in the room alone. Are you busy right now?" Dorothy's eyes shifted toward Zinnia.

Ovior immediately replied, "No, I'm not busy at all. Let me introduce you. She is Zinnia. She is Arthur's friend. We work together. Zinnia, this is Dorothy from the Eckles family."

"'The' Eckles family?" Zinnia pondered for a second before smiling at a noble lady. "I never thought I would have the chance to meet the famous lady from the Eckles family. It's a pleasure to meet you, My Lady."

"The pleasure is mine." Dorothy gave a slight bow to show courtesy. "Are you a magician, Lady Zinnia?"

Zinnia chuckled. "Oh, no. I'm someone who protects the important people in the tower. I'm a warrior, not a magician."

"I beg your pardon," Dorothy quickly apologized.

"It's fine," Zinnia brushed it off. "Aren't you quite a charming lady? Is this your first time in the Magic Tower? Why don't I show you around?" Dorothy politely refused, "That won't be necessary. I've already visited this tower some time ago with Ovior."

'Did she just say that she visited the tower with Ovior? Our 'Ovior'? The same guy who never paid any attention to any woman in his life?' Zinnia secretly glanced at the man in question and saw him looking at the noble lady. His loving gaze made her bite her tongue.

'My, my… am I seeing things? Is he really Ovior or someone else? Who is this girl?' Numerous questions rushed into her head. She couldn't believe her eyes after seeing him smiling at a girl. 'Just who is she?'

"So many things have changed in the past few years. Would you like to look around? I have something to finish. Then, I will join you for dinner. Is that okay?" Ovior gently proposed the idea. Honestly, he would rather spend a few days with her. However, Zinnia brought up an urgent task and he needed to check it out.

"Yes, indeed," Zinnia went along with his comment. After Veronica came to this tower, this place changed in the blink of an eye. Why don't I show you around?"

"She is right," Ovior went along. "It will be safer to go with her. Since most of the people here don't know you, you might be uncomfortable."

"All right," Dorothy agreed instead of speaking her mind. She wanted to be with him. She didn't like to be around people she didn't know. Especially someone wearing revealing clothes and acting as if she (Z) was trying to seduce Ovior.

"I'll see you in a bit." Ovior's loving gaze plastered on her as his hand stroked her face.

After he went back to his officer, it was just Dorothy and Zinnia.

Zinnia smiled at her. "Shall we go?"

Dorothy reluctantly nodded. The two of them walked around. Zinnia told her the paintings, sculptures and jewels that decorated the wall. All of the pieces had significant stories behind them.

"You are very knowledgeable about arts, Lady Zinnia," Dorothy commented.

"Oh yes, I learned about them when I was a child. It was a boring lesson anyway."

"How is it boring? Art, history and culture make us who we are. We must never forsake them." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"That may be true. However, some people are practicing literature, are they not? I don't see the reason I have to do the same. I can do other things that people aren't doing.

"What can be more important than our culture?"

"Protecting human lives… or rather, peace?"

Dorothy bit her lower lip. She didn't know why, just Zinnia's very presence made her uncomfortable. Moreover, whatever she thought was important in her life, 'that seductive lade' effortlessly made them insignificant. She was no fool. She knew that nothing was more important than human life. She knew that very well. She couldn't remember what happened to her but she was unconscious. When she opened her eyes, Ovior and Arthur were all grown-ups. She missed how they grew up and she was upset that she didn't grow up with them. Furthermore, she knew Zinnia was correct but she hated the fact that she lost to her. She had no idea why she had these ugly feelings and she found everything around her unreasonable. Confused by her own emotions, she looked away. Her face turned red. She didn't talk for the rest of the tour.

'What's with her attitude?' Zinnia wondered as her eyes swept toward the girl. As mature as she was, she respected that everyone had different opinions. Most of the people wouldn't have the same opinion as her and she respected everyone's opinions, ideas and thoughts. However, she didn't like it when someone pushed their opinions on others. She was interested in Dorothy because Ovior was so gentle with her. She never saw him acting like that. That didn't mean she wanted to fight with a mere child. She calmly tried to deal with the argument that almost surfaced.

The rest of the evening, none of them spoke. Zinnia dropped her in front of Ovior's office and bade goodbye.

After she left, Dorothy knocked on the door and the door opened automatically. She found Ovior behind his desk.

He dropped his quill and looked at her. "Are you done touring? That was fast." He smiled at her.

"Talk about feeling uncomfortable. I don't want to see her again." Dorothy frowned just thinking about Zinnia. She strode toward the desk.

Ovior was surprised to see her angry. His surprise soon turned into concern. "What happened? I thought you would enjoy the tour." He gently held her hand and pulled her toward the couch. As they sat side by side, she told him, "I don't like her. She doesn't dress properly and something is irritating about the way she talks. I don't like it when she is around you." She looked at him cautiously and said, "Please don't work with her anymore. I don't like her."

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