Her gaze lingered on the person's most striking feature—delicate white spots on their skin, like fallen petals caught in moonlight.
Then, the world became louder again, just as it had been before—filled with thoughts and whispers that had briefly gone silent when she was looking at that person.
Freya Hazel rarely found herself caught off guard, but this moment was different.
The stranger's striking features were hard to ignore, but that wasn't what unsettled her.
It was the silence.
For the first time, the constant flood of thoughts from those around her had vanished. The ever-present noise in her mind—gone. There were still faint whispers, but they were distant, unclear, nothing like the overwhelming intrusion she was used to.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the person in front of her.
From a distance, she watched the commotion unfold. Her curly grayish-blue hair framed her face, her downturned gray eyes calm and unreadable. There was no disgust in her gaze, no pity, no amusement—only quiet observation, as still and clear as a lake beneath the open sky.
And that made them interesting.
***
Aurora Perish had been watching that crazy couple earlier—the ones scolding their so called child. If anyone was in their right mind, it was obvious that the child wasn't theirs at all.
She couldn't see the person's face from the back, but she was certain of it. After all, their actual child was much taller than them. Sure, there were cases where a child could be taller than their parents, but that didn't explain everything. Both parents were clearly white, while the supposed child had olive skin. And her hair color didn't match theirs in the slightest.
Even if adoption was a possibility, it was painfully obvious—those two weren't even calling the child by name. If people just used their brains, they could figure it out in an instant.
But of course, Aurora Perish was stuck in a cliché novel, which meant that most of the spectators were dumb as hell. Had it even crossed their minds that the couple might just be acting?
In this novel's world, 51% of the people had no brains at all, while the remaining 49% actually had some sense.
Aurora Perish couldn't help but feel pity.
Whoever that person was, You can do it! Good luck! Aurora Perish thought.
Then, something suddenly happened—the two stumbled back and vanished in an instant.
Aurora Perish hadn't been paying attention to what was happening earlier at all. Her focus had been elsewhere—on a restaurant with delicious looking food on display. Since she had some extra money, she figured she might as well try it.
As Aurora Perish was lost in thoughts of food, the person who had been caught in the couple's argument suddenly turned around.
Dark pink hair cascaded down their back, catching the light in soft waves. Their golden, phoenix like eyes shimmered with intensity, and their olive skin contrasted beautifully against the chaotic scene.
Aurora Perish found them oddly familiar. As she thought about it, the memory clicked—this was the waiter from yesterday.
For some reason, she still remembered them so clearly.
Then, it suddenly struck Aurora Perish—background characters in this world usually had blurry faces. Unless they had interacted or made contact with the protagonist or a side character, they wouldn't have distinct features at all.
Aurora Perish had first realized this when she was helping the original body's parents at their bakery. At first, it had terrified her, but over time, she gradually got used to it. Even now, the crowd around her had indistinct, blurred faces. The couple from earlier had visible features, but they weren't particularly striking—not like the waiter from yesterday.
Is this person one of a side character?
As Aurora Perish pondered the possibility, something nagged at her. In the original story, this body had never encountered this person in the future.
Then who is she?
Suddenly, the person met her gaze. Earlier, their golden eyes had only flickered over the crowd, barely lingering on anyone for more than three seconds before moving on. But now, they were looking directly at her—holding eye contact for longer than before.
A bad feeling crept up Aurora Perish's spine. This person had appeared out of nowhere on the street. The original owner of this body had no memories of her at all.
No matter how many times she tried to remember it.
There was no way she wasn't part of the plot. And yet, Aurora Perish had never seen her anywhere near the main character, Hyacinth Chua.
That left only one possibility—either Hyacinth Chua would meet her in the future, or she was just another disposable cannon fodder.
Aurora Perish couldn't be sure. She had already forgotten the names and faces of most side characters, having read that awful novel back when she was just a teenager.
How was she supposed to know?
If the author were here right now, Aurora Perish would have a lot of questions—starting with, Why did you make everyone so attractive? It would make sense for the main cast, maybe even the side characters, but cannon fodder too?
Now she couldn't even tell them apart.
Should she just be polite and smile? Or should she turn around and walk away? No, wait—if she smiled, what if this person was a complete lunatic? What if they decided to target her just because of a simple smile?
What was she supposed to do in this situation?
Option One: Smile and wave. Look harmless.
Downside: There's a 99% chance they're crazy and will think you're mocking them. Congratulations, you now have a new enemy.
Option Two: Pretend nothing happened and walk away.
Downside: They might find you interesting. And in this shitty novel, that means there's a 99% chance they'll start stalking you.
Option Three: Stare at them with no emotion—calm, neutral, like a still lake. No mockery, no pity. Just pure indifference.
Downside: They won't find you interesting… and they'll leave you alone.
Aurora Perish chose the third—and so, she did exactly that.
As they stared at each other in silence, a sudden shout broke through the tension.
"Police!"
The person who had been watching her immediately turned and left.
Aurora let out a quiet sigh of relief. Looks like I just avoided trouble.
The crowd that had gathered dispersed in an instant—partly because the main character of the commotion had left, and partly because no one wanted to be around when the police arrived.
Not wanting to stick around either, Aurora Perish quickly made her exit.