Born Liliana Franscesa Gattioni, Lily was the sole daughter of the head of the Gattioni Family. Formerly known as a Crime syndicate, they had turned over a new leaf, sponsoring multiple nonprofit organizations and charities.

They had since distanced themselves from committing crimes as her father Lucian followed the wishes of his late wife who had been a police officer. He had raised her with great care but due to his past reputation, parents had instructed their children not to play with her, leaving her isolated.

The children who did approach her though were off putting as even the young Lily could tell they had ulterior motives for being her friend. They wanted to be her friend because of her family, not because of who she was. She grew used to being alone and thought it would be okay but Luna was the one who changed her mindset.

Lily and Luna met in their first year of high school and by chance had ended up sitting beside each other. Lilys first impression of her classmate that her given name of Soluna was interesting. Also the way she didn't smile all that much and was so serious, her short chocolate brown hair and eyes gave her a cool impression like some sort of Prince. Instead of cracking a joke, she instead put on her smiling mask

"What a pretty name~! My name is Liliana Gattioni. Nice to meet you~".

She thought her name would get some reaction out of the girl, making her show her true colours.

"Thanks….and uhh nice to meet you…?"

Luna seemed uninterested, responded with a tilt of her head as if to say 'So what'. She was absolutely unaware of the significance of her name. Her classmates however reacted at the name, some clambering to make their acquaintance with her, talking about how they wanted to be her friend, asking about her family and any plans they had that Lily knew about.

Lily could only continue to fake her smile, afraid to reject their advances outright, instead rebuffing them in the vaguest ways she could. While she and her classmates laughed, she began to feel even more alone.

"So annoying. You girls are so fake…. You aren't trying to be her friend, you just want to take advantage of her because of her family. A true friend doesn't care about crap like that. Now buzz off!"

Lunas sudden berating growl stunned both Lily and her classmates.

"H-how dare you! We aren't like that! You know that Ms. Gattioni?!"

The classmate whose name Lily had long since forgotten had their cheeks flushed in embarrassment when they were called out like that.

"You don't even dare call her by her first name? Some friend you are. Class is about to start. Go away now or you can spend the first period in a hospital!

Luna couldn't help but scoff at such shallow behaviour. She quickly glared at the other party and threatened violence, her narrowed eyes and cold gaze resembled the gaze of a fierce beast.

The classmate was so scared that Lily thought she might pee herself, the reaction was something Lily couldn't help but find refreshing. She didn't think she would ever be able to do something like that. She began to grow more curious about her seat neighbour but unable to bridge the gap herself.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Let me know if they bother you again, I don't mind chasing them away...Also I think your name is cool."

Luna sudden whisper caught Lily off guard, she turned her head to Luna only to see that the other girl had already turned her head away to look at the front. Lily didn't know what to say about the sudden compliment but she quickly noticed that the tip of the girls ears had become a bit red.

'She's embarrassed? That's so cute!'

"Hehehe~. Well in that case, please take care of me~! You can call me Lily, that's what my family calls me!"

Lily leaned in to whisper that while class was underway, not wanting to draw attention to the two of them again

"...Luna..and likewise"

The soft response was how their beautiful friendship began. Lily eventually became more extroverted, willing to put herself out there and make friends, even if it was only at a superficial level while Lunas cool expressionless face had made her quite popular with the girls.

Some girls even went as far as calling Luna a 'Prince' while Lily was the 'Princess'. Of course, Luna was outraged by such a nickname but she didn't have the energy to constantly complain and bicker about it out loud, resorting to grumbling about it when the two of them ate lunch together.

Deep down, Lily believed that her friend would never know how much their first encounter had meant to her. She had saved her from the darkness of isolation, bringing light and colour into her world that had been so dominated in shades of grey.

Two years flew by when tragedy struck Lunas life. One day without notice, her parents vanished. There was no note, no reported accident, they were just gone as if they had disappeared into thin air as if they never existed. She had been left to raise her little brother alone.

She could no longer hang out after school, needing to find a job to provide food for her family. Lily had tried to help but Luna's pride had pushed her away, threatening her with never talking to her again if she tried to bring money into their friendship as she didn't need any handouts.

Left with no choice, Lily could only back away at the time, not daring to step on her friends' toes even though it hurt her to see Luna like this. To make matters worse, less than a month later, Lily found Luna bawling her eyes out in the stairwell. It turned out that her little brother had contracted a mysterious illness with no cure and needed to be hospitalized.

Never before had she seen her friend, someone who seemed so calm and collected all the time crumbling. Unable to hold herself back, Lily hugged her friend and whispered in her ear

"I'm here for you. Let me help…. Please!".

Her heart ached for her friend as their tears soaked her shoulder. It took about 20 minutes of consoling for Lunas tears to stop. Once she had composed herself, Luna had flushed in embarrassment and tried to assure Lily that she was fine and didn't need help.

"Lily..I'm fine. Really. Things will work themselves- ouagh..?!"

A strong flick between the eyes caught her off guard and interrupted her attempt to talk..

"DON'T GIMME THAT! I'M HELPING AND THATS FINAL!"

Lily inadvertently shouted that in Lunas face as she held her hand, her finger stinging in pain.

"If your pride wont let me help you for free. Fine. Then I will just hire you! Whether it's as a bodyguard, secretary or companion, it doesn't matter! You and me, we are friends. That won't change for anything!"

"Lily…."

"Also why the hell is your head so hard?! I feel like my finger might be broken!" She added, holding up her finger which had started to swell.

"....."

Lunas touched expression faded, a sigh escaping her lips before she let out a soft laugh

"Hahaha ... .You really know how to kill the mood huh!"

"Eh? How did I do that?"

Lily eyes widened innocently, completely oblivious to why her friend was laughing at her.

"So should I be calling you Young Miss going forward?"

Lunas voice was tinged with a teasing tone as she pat Lilys head as an attempt to console her for hurting her finger. .

"Bish, you dare?!"

A growl slipped from Lily as she glared at her best friend like she was a mortal enemy but the head pats quickly melted her expression into a somewhat sloppy smile.

"Girl you are really hopeless…"

Luna sighed in disbelief but deep down. she hoped that Lily would never change. In a world where it felt like the world around her could slip away without a moments notice, she was grateful that she had such a soft and loving best friend.

From that moment onwards, the two best friends were practically conjoined at the hip, always hanging out together whenever possible. Lily did not encroach on Lunas' personal time with her brother, even going as far as never having met him in person.