Lotuses and Spider Lilies — Meilin

We spent four weeks in Eikasia, helping with the repairs.

By the time we were getting ready to leave, the town was finally regaining some of its original spark. The seeds we had planted in the vacant garden had become seedlings.

“It won’t be long until the flowers bloom.” A young gardener commented with sparkly eyes. He had worked hard on those plants, spending day and night taking care of them.

“Thank you for your hard work.” I beamed. I had hoped to stay to admire the blooming flowers, but unfortunately, I was on a quest and had already spent so much time in Eikasia.

“Seems like you adore flowers.” Jianyun made his way towards me. His clothing was stained with mud, and his face had gotten slightly rougher through days of hard work. It might just be me, but he looks better this way. “Indeed, I do.” I’ve been fond of flowers since I was young, and can recognise many of them.

“If I had to guess, your favourite would be lotus?”

My eyes widened in astonishment. “My, how did you know?”

Jianyun chuckled, his laughter as pleasant as ever. “Just a lucky guess. And also your name, as well as the lotus pattern on your hat. I must say, lotus suits you perfectly.”

“A flattering mouth I see.” I do know when one’s trying to sweet-talk me into something. But a sincere soldier like Jianyun? I wonder what he wanted.

“No, no, I truly mean it.” He smiled at me with his tired eyes. Now that I think of it, Jianyun has been acting strangely lately. We’d gotten closer, which was natural, given that we had worked on the garden together, but it feels like he’s trying to hint at something to me.

Hmm…I reached out and gently brushed some dust off his hair.

“Ah.” His face tinged with pink, “It’s quite all right, Meilin, I can do it myself.”

“Aha!” My face lit up. I understand! He doesn’t like physical touch! Is he still upset about the time I held his hand? Is that what he’s been trying to tell me? “I’m sorry, Jianyun—”

Someone shoved me from behind, and I fell right into Jianyun’s arms.

“A-are you alright? Gee, Eros, watch where you’re going!” Jianyun frowned at the young man behind me, and as he looked down at me, his face only grew redder. I guess he really hates physical contact.

A snicker can be heard, an angelic, lovely, feminine voice. It belonged to the one and only—Lady Elpida.

She was clutching her stomach in an attempt to suppress her laughter. “Hehehe! You really are oblivious to these kinds of feelings, aren’t you, Little Mei? You’re denser than I thought.” I tried to pull away from Jianyun, but he protectively clung to me.

“Lady Elpida.” I greeted her, and finally, Jianyun let go of me. He went to have a staring battle with the brat—Eros, who was cheerfully eating grapes Haruki had brought.

“Mr. Jianyun, if you don’t mind, I’ll borrow Little Mei for a bit.” She waved at him, “Eros will keep you entertained.” What she meant was: I hope you can take care of this brat for me, he’s such a pain in the neck.

She dragged me away from the garden, closer to where the people now resided. The buildings I’ve rebuilt were similar to the apartments I’ve lived in on Earth. Some villagers preferred houses of their own, but it was quicker and easier this way.

“It’s impressive how you’ve attracted such a handsome young man.” Lady Elpida patted my shoulder, “All I have is Eros.”

I’m not sure what Lady Elpida meant by "attracted," but I assume she was referring to getting Jianyun to join my party. “It’s mostly with Yulan’s help.” I can’t really remember, but I think Jianyun joined us because of her.

“Oh ho? Perhaps I should ask her to introduce me to some young men.” Lady Elpida joked, with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Anyways, back on topic. I believe you'll be going to Mysteria sometime soon.”

I nodded. That was the plan, but I could see worry flashing in Lady Elpida’s eyes.

“Unfortunately, that area has recently been ambushed by monsters.”

Ambushed? By monsters? But why? This sounds oddly familiar. If the monster forces continue to wipe out cities, Elysium would be nothing but a land of corruption.

Lady Elpida seemed to have read my mind, “The monsters are looking for a witch possessing a wish orb. Most witches and wizards reside in Mysteria, so it’s no wonder that they went there in search of you. But don’t worry, the monsters were defeated and taken in as captives.” Phew, thankfully, there won’t be a second Tian Cheng.

“But still, it would be dangerous for you to roam an area the monsters had just raided. There’s a high chance of a second attack. So I suggest you take the second fastest option, by boat to Kingdom de Fleuve.”

Kingdom de Fleuve? What a fancy name.

“Afterwards, you’d arrive at Arcana, then finally at Aokaze Peak. That’d be the safer choice for now.”

So one extra stop. It should be fine, I guess.

“That’s it, I hope you’d consider The Lady Elpida’s suggestion, Little Mei. Nine times out of ten, I’m correct.”

“Sure.” It’s not like we’re in too much of a rush. It sure seemed like a long time I had spent in Elysium, though.

Lady Elpida grinned, her smile oddly resembling the brat. Which led me to ask: “How did you meet Eros?”

“You wanna know?” She looked at me questioningly, but still answered.

“Eikasia only became the garden of pleasures a few years ago; before then, it was actually a part of Tian Cheng. I was originally a citizen of Mysteria, a place of strays—in other words, non-human beings. My family was banished from the place around two hundred years ago, and I'm still not sure why. What does this have to do with Eros? Be patient and listen! Don’t you want to listen to Lady Elpida’s splendid voice? Ahem, after being banished, we lived on the outskirts of Tian Cheng, which then became Eikasia. Most people are familiar with the second wave of the monster attacks, which devastated most of Tian Cheng. However, only few are aware of the first wave, which occurred ten years ago. My family was killed by that wave, leaving only me. They had cast an illusion to conceal me, with the illusion orb that now belonged to Eros.”

I listened silently, but questions just kept popping into my mind. And when was she going to tell me about her meeting with Eros?

“The attack had left Eikasia deserted. I met a young boy, not quite an adult yet, drawing on the ground with a stick. The piece was spectacular, capturing the beauty of the former city, now destroyed, perfectly. I had requested him to sketch me a couple of times, and I was impressed, so impressed I took him under my wing and granted him the illusion orb. I bestowed him with the name Eros.”

Eros was play-fighting with Jianyun, snickering at him and running around like a child. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, but his actions told otherwise. The fact that Lady Elpida even gave him a chance was…astounding. I guess she has a taste for odd people.

“You must be wondering why I gave such a powerful orb to him.” Lady Elpida was glancing in the same direction as me, “He might seem childish, but he has a brilliant mind. He can think of things normal people could never think of, no matter how hard they rack their brains. His quirkiness, you could say, is a way to balance out his abilities. If he were a normal acting person as well as a genius, you might as well call him an elf.”

“I have another question.”

“Ask away.”

“Why was your family banished?”

Lady Elpida’s face darkened, and her lips pursed. “Because of me.” She lifted her sleeves to reveal her hand, which was covered with unusual patterns. The floral markings ran along her arms; in a way, they weirdly match her elegance. Her nails were also unearthly, similar to the shape of flower petals. When I get back to Earth, I’d get my nails done like this with Haokei—oh, right. I’ll go by myself.

“Your nails are beautiful, Lady Elpida.”

Lady Elpida looked at me with a gentle smile. “Thank you.” She sounded oddly genuine and humble, which led me to believe she isn’t fond of her nails. “If you like them that much, I could give one to you. Hehe. Back to the question, these markings are the sign of the blessing. And the blessing belongs to the royal family of Mysteria, and the royal family only. The fact that I have it is a mistake."

"A deadly mistake." She paused. "We were accused of theft from the royal family and were banished. We were lucky only to have banishment as our punishment. In other nations, we would be let off with a head.” She chuckled, but in her eyes flared a tint of hatred.

“How did you get the blessing in the first place?” I noticed that behind her bangs, a reddish spider lily symbol was printed on her forehead, glowing ever so faintly. An ethereal sight indeed.

“It was said that my mother had an affair with the young prince.” Lady Elpida shrugged, “But of course, we don’t know if that’s the truth. It might just be a rumour that the strays spread amongst themselves. Even if it happened, she never admitted it. One of the benefits that stemmed from this blessing is that I possess the ability to mitigate corruption. If it had no use, I might as well call it a curse!”

“That is a useful ability indeed.” I had been meaning to ask Lady Elpida about it, but I forgot. She still told me in the end.

I imagined the ability to be obtained through a potion, similar to what Celeste would come up with. I sighed.

I guess I can’t simply acquire the skill.

What a shame.

With such power, such kindness, such tragedy… I couldn’t help but wish Lady Elpida would join us.