Love is an Illusion — Himari

The ball was the most fun I’ve ever had in a long time!

I’ve even made a new friend! Even though she’s a nymph and doesn’t talk, she draws beautiful pictures.

And I can’t forget Haruki’s face that night…

I buried my face in my pillow. The nymph—Acantha—tapped my shoulder in concern. “It’s nothing.” I huffed. But the truth is…he looks so cute as a human!

Wahhhh—

Why is everyone around me so attractive? I feel so out of place…

Acantha drew a picture and showed it to me. “Ah!” I shoved it away and covered my face. It was a sketch of Haruki in a suit. My face felt boiling to the touch. He’s just a cat! A cat! Pull yourself together, Himari!

I slapped my cheeks, then grimaced at the pain. Acantha fussed over me, worry written all over her face. “You remind me of Ms Yulan, you know?”

A knock came from the door. Today was the day we’re supposed to leave for Arcana. I suppose Meilin is here to pick me up. Eek! I can’t look at her either! She looked so pretty at the ball. Her hair tied up in a bun…My heart was beating so loud that even Acantha would’ve heard.

She went to open the door! No! Acantha—

It was the Queen.

Turns out the Queen thought she hadn’t thanked me enough, and wanted to have a chat with me.

I let out a relieved sigh.

“Something troubling you?” We had cake on the balcony. I shook my head. “But your face is really red.” The Queen asked teasingly.

“Is it really that obvious?” I said, flustered, while the Queen laughed.

“It’s not that hard to notice.” The Queen stared off in the distance. “Hmm…how about I tell you a story? A story of how I met Victor.”

After becoming a Queen, my family had insisted that I get married. It’s too much of a burden for a young girl to rule a country by herself! They said and recommended a bunch of young nobles to me. However, most of them were arrogant and immature. In the end, I was still forced to marry a brat, a young man who had absolute confidence in his looks and was sure he could use them to charm me. But I knew from the start he did this only to have a piece of the throne.

At the banquet where they’d announce my engagement, I chatted with as many noble men as possible, in hopes of finding a replacement fiancée. That’s when I laid my eyes on the most beautiful man in the room. He was the third prince of Rinascimento, Victor. Unlike the other nobles, he was polite and kind to the servants. He never bragged about his rank to anyone. He was a whole decade older than me, but still, in front of everyone, I declared him my fiancé. We got married a year later. Turns out choosing him was the best choice I’ve made. I still have power over my Kingdom, while Victor had my back all this time.

“That sounds like it’s plucked straight out of a light novel!”

“It’s the truth!”

“How wonderful to have such a nice love life. And there’s me who’ll never be loved.” I sulked. Wait. I blurted that out without thinking! “Forget everything I’ve just said!”

“Aha! I knew it. As the Queen, I command you to tell me about your love struggles!” The Queen had a triumphant smile on her face. She proved to be a friendlier person than I initially thought.

Oh no. There’s no way out of this now…I sighed. “I like someone. But…I don’t know anymore.”

“Don’t tell me it’s Jean.”

“Of course not! It’s just that…I feel hopeless. I like someone, but they're interested in someone else. And now I think I’m falling in love with another person. They’re not even a person! They’re a stray…”

“Acantha?” The Queen looked at me with a visible question mark on her face.

“No, no…It’s Meilin.” I covered my face, “And maybe Haruki—I know it’s stupid, don’t laugh!”

“I’m not laughing!” said the Queen, who was clearly suppressing her laughter. “I understand why you might like Meilin, though. She’s a potent orb user, and a pretty one at that. Even I'm envious of her looks. As for Haruki…as long as it isn’t Jean, then it’s fine.”

“Well, I’ve liked Meilin for some time. But she seems to like Jianyun. And for some reason, I feel pressured with her nearby.” How she makes those demands, and I can’t turn her down! “As for Haruki, he just looked cool during the ball, nothing special!”

“You’re a fickle person.” The Queen sipped a cup of tea. “From what I’ve heard, you like Meilin the most, right? You’re not sure if she actually likes Jianyun, so how about asking her? Or maybe confess already, then you’ll have a clear idea if she rejects you or not.”

Seeing my dubious expression, the Queen added, “I’ve only met Victor for one day, and already declared him my fiancé. Look how we turned out.”

“Excuse me.” I walked to the edge of the balcony. There were beautiful gardens outside, with the capital city in the distance. “Meilin.” I took a deep breath.

“I like you!” I yelled out, letting every suppressed emotion out into the air.

The Queen winced and covered her ears. “I didn’t mean this when I said confess. Well, at least you confessed to the flowers. They won’t reject you.”

"Queen Josephine!" I grumbled as she erupted in laughter.

We had spent almost two months in Kingdom de Fleuve, and it was time to move on to the following location—Arcana.

Before leaving, I took a picture with everyone using the camera I had been rewarded with.

“Look, Meilin. It looks so pretty!” I showed Meilin the group photo we took. “You look amazing in this shot!”

“It does look pretty,” Meilin observed the photo with a smile. Her smile always makes my heart flutter! No, Himari, focus on the journey ahead!

We arrived at a village further east. According to Princess Elizabeth, Arcana is a desert terrain, which makes it hard to survive its climate. In the town, we hired a tour guide and three camels. They also had us change into a long robe, with a scarf covering our heads.

“This is Arcana. Formerly known as Arkanashar!” The tour guide was a short, tanned woman with great spirits. “There are many poisonous bugs and beasts in the desert region, so I brought this handmade bug repellent!"

I took a sniff. “Ew! It smells horrible!” The tour guide cackled with laughter. She’s a really bizarre person. Kind of reminds me of the person I used to be. I constantly played pranks on others until I got kicked out.

We spent a few weeks in the desert. The tour guide, Yasmin, and I really hit it off. “Aww, I’ve almost used up all the camera film!” I wiped a fake tear from my eye. “We really took too many pictures of insects, did we?” Yasmin imitated my sad expression.

“Wait, insect photos? I didn’t take any of that! Yasmin, come back here!”

At that moment, the ground cracked open. Meilin and the others began panicking, but it was too late. The endless dunes disappeared, paving the way for infinite darkness.

We all fell in.

Ouch—

A rock fell on my head. “Meilin? Haruki? Yasmin? Ms Yulan?” I called out. No response.

I was alone in an underground cave, with no exit. I continued to march forward, yelling their names as I went.

Oh. A diamond!

And another one.

And another!

“What are you doing here?” A soft, feminine voice called out. Shivers ran down my spine. Oh no!

As I looked up, ready to meet my fate, I saw Meilin with a weirdly enthusiastic smile. “Meilin? Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!” I ran up to her with my arms outstretched.

“Himari…” Meilin embraced me tightly. Her body felt oddly cold to the touch. Too cold, even. “Meilin, let’s get out of here, quick! We have to find the others.” I tried to stand up, but was tackled to the ground by her.

“No.” She was being stubborn. She caressed my cheek, then landed a soft kiss. “Right now, you’re mine.”

Eeee—I felt like my heart was about to explode. “Meilin, how about we—”

She was now on top of me, like a predator capturing its prey. Her eyes gleamed like a hawk’s. “I love you, Himari.” The sentence echoed unnaturally through the cave, as if telling me to be aware.

“Huh?” I stared at her, stunned. Something was off.

Her eyes gleamed a vivid red. That wasn’t right. Meilin’s eyes don’t look like that. Her eyes are much softer, much warmer. These are the eyes of a predator.

This isn’t Meilin.

It’s a monster.

A monster.