"… the husband of the year."
Asher frowned as his brows furrowed, but said nothing. Instead, he assisted her until she was standing in her stature like a gentleman while she looked at him with strange emotions in her eyes. He knew all the faces on this floor, so he was certain she was from another class.
Was she another admirer of his?
He narrowed his eyes. "Are you alright?" he queried whilst studying her out of habit.
Nothing. She was too star-struck.
"Miss?" he spoke once again after a minute of letting her stare, patting her knuckles because she was still gripping his uniform's placket. This time, Cosette snapped her eyes as she hurriedly released his uniform as soon as she realized her grip.
"Uh." She laughed awkwardly, holding her hand behind her. "Sorry."
Cosette stepped aside stiffly and motioned her hand. "Sorry for blocking your way. Go."
"Go?" his brow arched. His tone and expression forced her into a state of panic. Did she come off rude?
"Uhm... I'm mean…" She cleared her throat and felt like shrinking under his gaze. Her mouth opened and closed, but her voice wouldn't come out.
"Miss, this is a floor..."
"Yes, I'm sorry! Goodbye!"
Asher trailed off, blinking his eyes before he raised them at the young lady dashing away like a bolt of lightning. His brows creased, tilting his head to the side.
"What was that about?" he muttered with myriads of question marks over his head. The way Cosette was like she was fleeing from a crime scene.
"The students getting admitted to this Academy just get weirder and weirder." Asher shook his head while flattening the crease she created in his uniform before resuming in his steps as if nothing happened.
*****
Cosette only stopped when reached the ground floor, catching up to her breathing while holding onto the railing. Her face flushed in red, patting her chest to calm her speeding heart.
"I met him," she breathed out, raising both her fists to her lips, recalling Ashen's handsome face. "I even spoke to him!"
"Kya—" She covered her lips and looked around cautiously, suppressing her joy in meeting the male lead, Asher Quinn, in person. She was on cloud nine, although she fled like a criminal.
Her meeting with the villain, Maxen, felt like watching a heart-wrenching movie film. It tugged her heart that she felt like crying with just the thought of it. On the other hand, meeting Asher was different. It was like meeting a celebrity!
Her breathing even grew ragged as she tried to calm her heart. If only she could scream right at this moment, she would've done it, since it was hard to contain the happiness welling up in her heart.
"Gosh… I met the husband of the year…!" Cosette pressed her lips into a thin line as she recalled Asher's heart-melting gestures and dialogue in the novel.
In the novel, Asher was known to be an aloof person. He was the typical male lead who had it all: wealth, power, fame, and beauty. Say it, he had it. But when Asher met the female lead, his uneventful life turned upside down. Just like every cliche novel, the ever-perfect yet cold man slowly warmed up all because of the power of love!
A lot of readers admired him as he set the bar too high. He became a doting boyfriend who only had the female lead in his eyes. And to think, a reader like Cosette would be able to meet him… it was truly a dream come true — even though he was still in his teens!
She could actually die without regrets now. What a simple-minded girl.
"Ahh… I'm so happy." A relieved smile dominated her face. She would treasure that simple meeting forever.
When she recovered, Cosette still wandered the academy hoping to see some characters in the novel. But alas, she didn't meet any of them, aside from Asher.
She was already happy, though. Meeting Asher was like winning the lottery.
After wandering the academy, George, Cosette's personal driver, picked her up. Sitting on the back seat of the car, a bright smile was dominating her face. Even if she tried to take that smile off of her face, she couldn't. It felt like it was already cemented in her face.
George could not help but glance at the young miss through the rear mirror. His brows rose in confusion but kept his mouth shut like always.
"How the day passed by so fast," she muttered, leaning the side of her head as she gazed outside the window.
The sky was already painted in a warm tone of tangerine, and the lights from the cars on the highway were already twinkling like stars on the land.
"I can't sleep yet," she told herself, smiling. "I still have something to do before I wake up from this dream."
And that was to eat dinner with Cosette's father.
Living in this body for two days granted her the chance to meet the important characters in the novel. So, this dinner was the least she could do for the villainess in the story. It may not change anything in the story, but at least in her memory, she could delude herself that Cosette had a warm memory of her beloved father.
The two of them just needed to communicate, that's all. So, that was her plan before the day ends.
When Cosette reached home, her father hadn't arrived just yet. So while waiting for him, she washed up once again and rolled around the bed while hugging the pillow to muffle her squealings.
KNOCK KNOCK!
"Young Miss, it's time for dinner. The Master had already returned."
Cosette gazed at the door and grinned, eyes glinting in excitement. "Coming!"
Cosette hurriedly jumped out of the bed to stand in front of the mirror, practicing the real Cosette Blac's demeanor and expression. If she acted too excited, it would only make her father suspicious. Same with if she acted too sweet.
Cosette Blac was aloof, sharp, and cunning. So, she had to exert a bit of effort to be the same with a touch of the Cosette that was now inhabiting this body.
"Let's do it like how sister Cozie will do it!" she cheered, eyes blazing with determination.