Queen Of Monsters

"Is this seat open?" The man's deep voice questioned.

Ru Naya raised an eyebrow.

"Depends," she answered casually, "If you answer one question."

"Shoot."

"Why didn't you say hello to Zan Mei?"

Yan Lin grinned at her, "I couldn't interrupt the interesting conversation you both were having. So, the prince is really that handsome, huh."

Ru Naya chuckled, "are you jealous, Yan Lin?"

"Nope," he smiled, "I know that your heart belongs to me."

Ru Naya rested her face on one palm and extended the other to him. With tanned skin, dark eyes and an amazing smile, Yan Lin was beautiful. His physique was also good, which he had acquired from hunting and long hours of working as a junior blacksmith. Sure, he wasn't the prince but Ru Naya didn't need one. All she needed was a man who would support her unconditionally, which Yan Lin did readily.

He grasped her hand in his own, and smiled softly at her, the love in his eyes brimmed to the surface.

"Is Zan Mei joining us in our hunt?" Yan Lin questioned her.

Ru Naya nodded happily. The fact that she was going to go hunting with her bestfriend and boyfriend put her in a cheerful mood. However, Yan Lin's face fell.

"It seems like we hardly have any alone time with each other anymore." He complained but Ru Naya could see that he wasn't being serious. She knew that he was secretly happy because now he could invite his other hunting buddies along as well.

"We will have enough time once winters come," she winked at him suggestively and Yan Lin blushed.

Yan Lin had grown up in the slums and a few years ago had finally found a job as a junior blacksmith. Since most of the work was done in the summers meant that Yan Lin found himself extremely busy during the season. On top of that, he went hunting on his free time, hoping to score some animal so that he could have meat for his family and a carcass to sell. As much as Ru Naya wanted to spend time with him she knew he was very busy, and wished for winters to come swiftly so that he could finally relax.

They couldn't talk for long since it was going to be noon soon and so the peak hours of the business would start. Therefore, he quickly kissed Ru Naya goodbye, before leaving as well. Ru Naya smiled and waved him goodbye as she headed back home. She squinted at the sky, glaring at the sun. Noon didn't just mean peak hours for Yan Lin's work, it also meant that lady lessons were still ongoing. Not only would the snobby royal tutor be there, so would her sister and her cronies getting their lessons from him.

She trudged through the city and walked to her house reluctantly. As she had predicted, the place was filled with Ru Yaya's friends who had congregated in the courtyard for their lessons.

Everyone stared when Ru Naya walked in and immediately the cronies began whispering amongst themselves. The ladies had to grudgingly accept that Ru Naya was the prettiest girl among them all, but it wasn't the only reason they disliked her, the other reason was her boorish and unladylike behaviour that was the bane of the high society. The girls spent day and night preparing to become proper ladies, especially now since the prince had announced his intention of getting married. So when they watched Ru Naya who went about her life and did whatever she wanted without a care in the world made them hate her.

But despite of it, there were many who were happy. The Ru sisters were already so beautiful and this meant that one less girl they had to compete with for prince's affection.

Not that Ru Naya had a chance to begin with.

Among them, Ru Yaya seemed like the best shot since she was already so perfect. If only Ru Naya was even a percent as good as her older sister then she would have already gotten proposals as well.

"Nana," a gentle voice floated in her ears as Ru Naya was passing by.

Ugh! Ru Yaya had spotted her.

Ru Yaya looked beautiful as usual, and carried herself as if she was a fairy among mortal men. Her soft features begged to be c.a.r.e.s.sed and loved and she truly looked otherworldly with her smile and her charm. She really was the pinnacle of how a lady should be. If her ambition hadn't been that of becoming the next queen, she would have been married to a man of higher standing already.

Who wouldn't want her after all?

However it wasn't just proper mannerisms that was needed in the high society; families that held the powerful positions dealt with more pressures in the society, and one silly mistake could spell the end of their hard earned careers. To navigate the life where more backstabbers existed than one could count, one must be even more shrewd and cunning while appearing as the perfect person.

And Ru Yaya had that covered.

Everyone believed that Ru Yaya was a harmless being, and indulged her by pampering and adoring her. Only Ru Naya wouldn't do that. Before she had known better, she would repeatedly call out Ru Yaya on her vicious behaviour and didn't treat her like a goddess that Ru Yaya had always believed that she was. This made Ru Yaya loathe her younger sister very much.

Ru Yaya sneered at her sister inwardly when she spotted her, but outside put a face of concern. Ru Naya didn't put in as much effort in her appearance as the other ladies did. Thus, unlike them, she wasn't wearing any makeup or pretty clothes. Ru Yaya thought her younger sister looked truly pathetic.

Ru Yaya had been treated so well by everyone and it had gone to her head. She hated, hated Ru Naya to the core. How dare she not look at Ru Yaya with devotion?

Yet, she smiled softly and called her pet name Nana, looking like the paragon of beauty and grace.

"I'm so jealous," one of the ladies commented loudly, "Ru Yaya is so pretty!"

The women present there were some of the biggest supporters of Ru Yaya. Since anyone who didn't worship her had their chances of becoming a proper lady viciously sabotaged by her as she would spread rumours about the offending lady's virtue, or even paying people to physically attack her to disfigure her. Ru Naya knew it all too well what happened to those poor ladies, after all, for twenty years she had been Ru Yaya's victim.

These girls listened to her every command and truly believed that the eldest Ru daughter was the future princess. Therefore, they didn't miss a single chance to compliment her and put Ru Naya down to win her favour.

"Ugh," another spoke up, "kind of sad that Ru Yaya dresses up so elegantly yet Ru Naya looks like she's homeless!"

"Nana, where were you? I couldn't find you anywhere!" Ru Yaya said dramatically. Her lovely face was marred by fake concern, it was also noticed by the others present there and their thoughts were obvious on their faces: Ru Naya for horrible for worrying her caring sister.

"Ru Naya is so lucky to have such a lovely sister!" a lady sighed, "to have the future queen worrying about her younger sibling...where else could you find such humility?"

Humility my b.u.t.t, Ru Naya thought but didn't voice it out loud. She didn't want to give any opportunity to Ru Yaya to twist her words and manipulate others using them. She had been burned by her older sister enough to know to remain silent because no one would believe her anyways.

"Meeting Yan Lin." Ru Naya answered loudly. The ladies wrinkled their noses as if they had smelt something bad.

"Oh, I can already smell that sewer rat," a girl snickered, causing Ru Naya to roll her eyes.

She knew that the ladies would make fun of anyone who dared to associate themselves with Ru Naya so she was used to their jabs. It didn't bother her but she wanted to remind the other ladies that she didn't care about becoming the wife of the prince and that their viciousness was a wasted effort upon her.

She scampered off before anyone could comment on that and went to her room to pack her belongings for the future hunt.

"Ru Yaya," one of the ladies finally spoke, "I heard from someone that Ru Naya is going to go on a hunt with those scoundrel people again."

Ru Yaya nodded as she inwardly hoped that a witch would kill Ru Naya during the damn hunt.