I am the Queen

Time crawled seconds by seconds, and the line moved inch by inch, and their turn gradually got closer and closer. All thanks to some people who backed out.

Evangeline's stomach started to twist. Her limbs tingled, chest tightened, breathing accelerated. She even felt her insides quivered, shooting bolts of ice in her entire body.

She rummaged through her pursed for her handkerchief and secretly wiped her cold sweaty palms. Though she was cold to the point that her whole body was shivering, she was sweating excessively!

She closed her eyes in an attempt to stay calm, stroking her hair to soothe her nerves.

At the side, Eric's eyes twinkled in amusement, dropping from time to time at the nervous Evangeline. Clamping his lips together, he turned to the other side as he covered his mouth with his hand, biting his lips to restrain a smile.

Then he heard a low, quaky voice at his side.

"I-it's. . . it's safe . . . right?"

Swallowing his grin, Eric needed something to distract himself so he wouldn't burst out laughing at the adorable image of Evangeline's nervous face. He removed his hand from her shoulders and casually fiddled with his bag and fished his glasses compartment.

"For the record, there's no accident happened in this ride. So it should be safe." He removed his glasses and put it inside its compartment before storing it in his bag.

Evangeline clasped a hand on her elbow and gave out a wavering smile, eyes avoiding any eye contact. "R-right . . . I-it must be safe, or they'll be facing lawsuits left and right."

In comparison, the more the line above them thinned, the more Lilybella's grin widened. Bouncing from foot to foot, squealing and giggling, she grabbed Daniel's arm.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, are you nervous? Lilybella heard the climb is more than fifty stories at ninety straight degree angle, and it has four loops! Just imagining dropping from that height lighting fast is enough to make Lilybella shivered."

Grimacing, Daniel had a pinched expression. He wanted to swat her hand from his, but since they were in a public place . . . He took a deep breath. Holding his irritation at bay, he pulled his arm from her grasp, pretending to fix his cuffs before folding his arms across his chest.

He arched a brow, giving a glassy stare as his mouth opened to provide a snarky remark only to be interrupted with Evangeline's trembling voice.

"N-ninety degrees? L-loop? D-drop?"

She was muttering incomprehensible words. Her face was whiter than usual while her eyes were unsteady.

However, before anyone could comfort her, it was their turn in line. And like fate was teasing her, the only seats empty was in the front and second row. Giving them the first-hand experience VIP seats.

In an attempt to ease her nervousness, Eric chose the second row, which Daniel thought didn't help much since he could practically see Evangeline trembled even more.

When everyone was finally seated, safety belts and over the shoulders straps clasped, and the loud clanking sounds of chains slowly pulled the carts up the tracks.

Evangeline's fingers clasped the over the shoulders strap like her life depended on it. Her fingers were frigid and white from the pressure she was exerting, yet she felt it wasn't enough. She wanted her hand to be one with the strap, but the excessive sweat on her palms made her loosen her grip, causing her insides to twist.

Ignoring what she was feeling, the cart continued to climb higher and higher slowly, and along with it was Evangeline's palpating heart. With each climb, her strength was disappearing, leaving her in a quivering mess.

In slow motion, she turned her head towards Eric.

"E-Eric . . ."

"Hmm?" Eric replied, looking at Evangeline with a nonchalant face.

Evangeline's lips quivered, even her tongue trembled as she forced out the words.

"I-I . . . I want to get ou––Aaaarrgghh!!"

Evangeline had barely the time to finish her sentence when the ground came rushing towards her. Wind splashing her face violently. The speed was so fast it defied gravity. She felt like her body didn't even have a single mass. Her head snapped back, and she could swear her soul was almost knocked away.

In instinct, she closed her eyes, hoping to lessen the fear while her throat never stopped screaming, mixing in the cacophony of sounds erupting from everyone.

She was savagely thrown left and right that she thought her neck would snap from the force. She had internal chest pressure from taking quick rapid breaths to fuel her screams.

Suddenly, her body lost all tension, feeling weightless. If not for the thundering beating of her heart, she thought she had no flesh.

Before she could take another breath, the world turned upside down, around and around, left and right, up, down, up, down while the air in her lungs disappeared, and she ran out of voice to scream. Her breaths were coming in short burst. She felt her bladder loosened. Her brain was shutting down while her limbs were paralyzed on the spot as tears pooled on her quivering lashes. Wishing nothing but for all of this to end.

And her wish was granted. The carts gradually stopped, slowly moving upwards. She opened her eyes and released a respite breath as her unsteady gaze stared at the sky.

Sky?

Before she could contemplate why she was seeing the sky and not the ground, the metal clunk once more, and she found herself hurled forward as the cart shot backward towards the ground. For a moment, she thought her soul really did leave her as her vision briefly went black. It would have been nice if she did faint. She didn't have to experience another round of this madness.

And just when the comforting escape of fainting touched her consciousness –– it was over, and the carts slowed to a crawl.

It was, at most, two minutes. But to Evangeline, she felt every horrifying second of it. It was the longest two minutes of her life!

Her body was still frozen solid, trembling in her seat. Her strength still hadn't returned, and Eric had to peel her fingers from the strap and support her out of the cart until in the open space.

At the same time, a grin never left Daniel's lips. Clearly enjoying the rare sight of Evangeline showing weakness, looking so vulnerable.

"Want another round?" Daniel teased.

Evangeline wanted to rip the grin on Daniel's face, but the bitter bile at the back of her throat cause her stomach to lurch. Her hand clamped her mouth while her other hand gripped her stomach.

Supporting her, Eric asked with a voice full of worry as his face. "Eve, are you alright?"

Evangeline raised her hand and walked away from Eric. "I'm fine . . . you go and enjoy the rides first." She swallowed the bitter bile back before she pointed at a bench not far away. "I'll just take a quick rest over there."

"I'll go with you," Eric said, walking towards her, attempting to take her hand.

Recoiling, Evangeline's head whipped to the side, hiding a bitter smile. "I'll only feel bad if you do that. Just go and enjoy yourself. I'll be alright once I rested a bit." That was part of the reason, but the biggest part was that she wanted to be alone. She didn't want anyone to see her weak and sorry state. It only made her feel pathetic and vulnerable.

Of course, Eric understood what she was feeling. Thus, he didn't move nor said anything when Evangeline slowly yet confidently strode towards the bench. The way her legs wobbled while her head was raised high, shoulders square, back straight –– was funny. Eric bit back a smile. She's so adorable!

Shifting her head from Daniel to Evangeline again and again, Lilybella clasped her hand and beamed. "Lilybella is a little thirsty! You guys enjoy yourself first. Lilybella will go together with teacher."

Waving her hand goodbye, she then ran after Evangeline, skipping and swinging her arms as she did.

. . .

. . .

It was quiet for a moment before Daniel cleared his throat. Looking at Eric, he gestured his head towards the rollercoaster.

"Want to go again?"

Eric blinked before he nodded.

"Sure."