I am the Queen

"Fertilized duck egg," Eric answered, nonchalant in his voice. He was already eating his second egg.

Evangeline frowned. She didn't hear anything like it before.

But then, she shrugged since it was neither bad or delicious. It was okay. She pressed the egg against her lips and sucked from its crack. Something shot in her mouth, and she stopped sucking. A little stunned and uneasy, she munched the chunky flesh.

Crunch!

Her brows creased as the food ground between her teeth. It was soft and crunchy and . . . slimy.

Shrugging away the weird combination of textures, she pushed it down in her throat as she peeled the rest of the shell, exposing the yellow gooey substance.

She looked at Eric from the corner of her eyes. He smiled, nodding at her. Holding her breath, she ate the unknown yellow substance with close eyes. To her amazement, the texture was coarse but soft while the taste was very far from exquisite, though not entirely bland. It was okay.

"Here. I've cracked it for you." Eric handed the last egg to her, beaming as she accepted it.

Not minding the taste, she drank the juices before she sucked the rest only to stopped when she couldn't slurp anything. She peeled the shell, a little curious of what was inside. And accidentally, a big chunk cracked and shed from the pressure she let out, and what was in the darkness came in full view under the warm lights.

Black. It was black with protruding beak as mouth and little claws as feet. It was covered in white slimy fluid and had tiny furs and little veins swarming in shades of purple green and blue like tiny worms. But what bothered her was its eyes. It was white with no life whatsoever, looking straight at her.

Her fingers visibly trembled, and before a scream echoed in her mouth, her eyes rolled at the back of her head. Darkness consumed her, and the last thing she heard was the frantic voice of Eric.

"EVE!"

----

Evangeline woke up as the warm rays of the sun slip from the gap of the window curtains, replacing the darkness with morning lights. She groaned in protest, pushing herself from the bed. Sitting, she rubbed her eyes and frowned when she noticed she was still wearing the clothes she wore yesterday.

Thinking back, she didn't know what happened after the dinner with Eric. There was like a thick fog surrounding the memory in her brain.

She must have passed out from too much stimulation. Shrugging, she got up and went for the bathroom. She felt icky and sticky at the knowledge she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday, and the makeup on her face itched.

After bathing, she walked out of the bathroom, glancing at the clock. It was still early in the morning, so she took her time to doll up before she finally went out of her room.

The delicious smell of steamed salmon, poached eggs, and freshly toasts bread wafted in her nose that made her stomach growled in delight. She didn't pay her stomach any mind. Her eyes were busy assessing the man who was cooking in the open kitchen in a simple shirt and jogging pants. His wet tousled hair was, like yesterday, swiped to the side with some hairs falling on her forehead while his eyes were unhindered by any obstruction.

He must have noticed she wanted to see his eyes without glasses, and she giggled at the thought. Waking up every morning with him, the person who she saw first before she started her day, really made her mood brighten that not even the end of the world could dampen.

Feeling full of bliss and contentment, she approached him, floating as she strode.

Eric's lips kicked up in a smile as he sets the dining table with plates of food in hand. There was silence between them, but their eyes spoke endless emotions. Not until Eric sets the dishes on the table and turned to the open kitchen to prepare her tea did the silence was disturbed.

Evangeline propped her head with one hand, elbow resting against the table as she watched Eric prepared her tea. Her pets at the side were lying on the ground with belly full of undigested food.

"What happen last night?" she started, "I seem to forget what happened after you fed me that mix rice."

Eric paused, took a quick peek at Evangeline and simply answered, "You pass out." If she didn't remember about the fertilized duck egg . . . that's probably for the best.

Evangeline's brows crumpled. "Oh . . ." She didn't have any history of passing out. Her heart was strong, and her mental tenacity was top notch. At least, she believed so. The stimulation must have been really intense for her to pass out.

"You know . . . I have a strange dream last night." She shifted the conversation.

"What kind of dream?" Eric asked, sauntering to the table with a teapot and cups in hand.

"It's really strange. In the dream, I was chased by these . . . tiny chickens without eyes." Evangeline's body quaked from some reason while her fine hair rose on end, goosebumps crawled on her skin. Her brain continued releasing dark fogs, clouding her memory, didn't want her to remember anything.

Strange . . .

Eric skidded to a stop, lips smacking in one line. I guess that means no chicken for a month.

He poured tea on her cup, placed it on the table, and stared at her. He felt the warmth radiated from her, and his eyes softened.

"It's a dream. Don't overthink it," he cooed.

"Mm . . ." No words came out from her lips as he approached her, closer. His fresh after shower smell caused havoc in her system.

". . ."

". . ."

Without her knowing it, her eyes closed. Silence descended across the room. Cleaving the stillness was the rhythmic pounding of their hearts and the raspy sounds of their breaths. The warmth of his breath came closer and closer . . .

Diiinnngggg~!

Their eyes flung open at the same time. Eric's back snapped straight. His head spun in the direction of the entrance door while Evangeline pouted.

"A visitor?" Is it Daniel? Eric turned to open the door but stopped when Evangeline pulled his clothes.

Turning around, he was greeted by Evangeline's lips. Her smooth arms circled his neck as she tiptoed to reach his lips. Her legs trembled, a little unsteady. His arms wrapped around her waist, steadying her, and his wide eyes gradually closed.

Ah . . . life with her is contentment in itself.

The light pressing of their lips slowly turned to something erotic when she opened her mouth, urging him to explore her, which he did. Their tongues met in warm greetings, interlacing with each other smoldered by their saliva. Their groans muffled as he led her tongue inside his mouth, sucking it lightly before caressing it at the second sound of the bell. Hesitant, he pulled away after he licked her lips.

"I better . . . get the door . . ." Eric was panting, voice strained. He strode towards the door, being careful that he wouldn't steal another glance at Evangeline's beautiful sultry face while Winter followed behind him tail wagging.

In front of the door, he took a deep breath to calm the heat of his body before he peeked at the spyhole and saw a woman he was not familiar with. Based on her clothes, she was not an employee in the condo.

He answered the intercom, and both of their faces reflected on the screen. Though the woman appeared harmless and naïve, he didn't know her.

"Yes?" he said, gone was the warmth in his voice.

The woman's eyes rounded, surprised showered her face before recognition registered in her eyes. She smiled, showing her crook canines.

"Hi! I'm Lilybella Waltz! Is teach––is Evangeline there?"

". . ." Eric's brows pulled together. His guard didn't loosen one bit even though he didn't feel any animosity from the woman.

"What are you doing here?"

Evangeline's voice sounded from his back. Turning, he saw her haughty face complete with raising brows, hand resting on her slanted waist, staring directly at the woman who called herself Lilybella Waltz.

"Teacher!" Lilybella claimed in happiness. Her smile grew wider.

Eric's eyes never strained on Evangeline as he asked, "You know her?"

Evangeline didn't answer and just gave out a single nod.

It was when Eric glanced at Lilybella. His tight face visibly loosened. "Wait a minute. I'll open the door for you."

The instant the door opened, Lilybella zoomed passed the door towards Eric. Eric took a step back as Lilybella's big shining eyes swept him up and down before she excitedly stared at Evangeline.

Lilybella already knew about Eric since her mother had everyone related to Daniel be investigated. Eric, in the picture, was nerdy and nothing like the handsome man in front of her, but they were vaguely similar nonetheless. Thus she still needed to ask, not minding the big furry beast who was sniffing her.

"Teacher! Is this Eric?! The man you like? The reason why you were so depressed and ran away from Burberry? The reason why you wanted to climb Evermountain to go soul searching to forget him? His Highness said that he went here just to see you. How romantic!"

". . ."

". . ."

Caught by the sudden surprised attack by Lilybella, Evangeline couldn't react. Lilybella was talking her most embarrassing moment so nonchalantly with an innocent face! How evil!

"W-w-what are you talking about?!" Evangeline stammered. "I wasn't depressed! No one can make me depressed! I told you, 'depressed' is not in my dictionary! And me climbing Evermountain was purely to connect with nature! Understand?!" She defended herself as her hands exaggeratedly gesturing here and there. Embarrassment, so hot, spread all over her body, eyes avoiding Eric's gaze.

Lilybella blinked once, finger pointed at her chin. "Oh? I thought that was the reason." She then clasped her hands near her chest. "As expected of teacher! How silly of me to assume something like a man can make you depressed! Besides being strong and independent, teacher is an amazing person who loves nature! You really are the epitome of us women! Lilybella is really glad to learn under you, teacher!"

". . ."

". . ."

Evangeline awkwardly cleared her throat. "Enough of that. What are you doing here?"

Lilybella giggled like a little girl before she answered.

"Let's go to the amusement park!"