"Oh Maya, I love you."

"Marcel, I also love you."

"Let's get married, Maya..."

Maya...

Maya...

Maya...

Maya...

"MAYA! WAKE UP!"

"ehhhh, Miya, why'd you wake me up It's just getting to the good part."

"What good part? It's already 7 am Go wash your face it's full of drool."

I've been having the same dream for over a year now, it's always just me and Marcel being lovey-dovey with each other. I might not sound like a morning person but I do not mind waking up early to go to the academy because he will be there but the current problem right now is that I am too shy to talk to him. We used to talk all the time before but now that I see him again, everytime I look at his face I just see the dreams over and over again. I can't maintain eye contact with him so I just deflect by just looking at my book. I really want to talk to him but I can't muster up the courage to speak to him so all I do now is sit in the same spot where I can see him when training.

"Why are you wearing that?"

"Because it's my uniform? I need it to enter the academy?"

"I know that you pagehead, I meant why are you wearing that today, you are not going to school."

"What?"

"You are meeting the person you are gonna be engaged to today."

"I am getting engaged!?"

What? What is happening why am I suddenly getting engaged, I thought I wouldn't need to be engaged so early because I am only the third princess, my engagement is not as important as my other sisters so why?

" Last night it got decided."

" How?"

" Roulette."

"What? My engagement got decided using a roulette?"

"Well, more precisely the reward that was going to be given to the hero was decided using a roulette. you just happened to be in it."

"So I am going to be engaged with the hero?"

I guess it is not so bad if it is the hero but I already made a promise to someone though, maybe the hero will be nice enough to hear me out and maybe not get engaged with me.

"You should be careful. Maya."

"Why?"

"I hear a lot of nasty humour about that guy."

Nasty humour on the hero who brought peace to our nation by killing the previous demon king when he was 10? I can not imagine it but on the other hand, maybe it takes a monster to kill the demon king while someone is still 10. This is getting scary though.

"There are some that reported that he killed his own parents. Some also shared that he can be abusive toward the other sex.

"No way, he is the hero. That seems far-fetched for someone who is meant to save all of us."

"That might be so but at this point he is also a monster who is strong enough to kill a demon king when he was still just a child."

" And I am supposed to get engaged with him? This sucks."

"Welp, good luck out there my dear sister."

"Why don't we switch then."

"I am already engaged to my love."

"Well lucky you then."

Stupid sisters both of them actually happy with being the person they actually love while I am here getting stuck with a monster. I do admit the monster is handsome but I am not really the one who cares about the face. I am not saying that Marcel has an ugly face, I am just saying that his face is at least what I like more. Do I escape out of here? I have nowhere to go though so I think things will just get complicated.

I am not against getting engaged but I want it to be with Marcel. Marcel is my friend way back when I was still a child. He used to come to the garden which is usually my spot to read books. I love the feeling of the air and the sun hitting my skin while reading a book surrounded by plants even these days I still love reading books outside near plants or trees. There is currently a similar spot in the academy grounds where I usually watch the weapon-fighting students practice. At first, Marcel is just there because the adults do not want him to overhear what they are talking about, for days Marcel just sits on the other side of the bench quietly, sometimes I can feel his gaze but whenever I try to look back he just looks at any other direction except mine. After some days, I wanted to finally talk to him and so the day before that I practised the whole night in the mirror saying hello, over and over again. The day had arrived and Marcel finally went to the garden, I tried to say hello to him but I couldn't so the start of the day was just the usual silence. I was getting sad for myself because I did all of that practice just to not say it until I heard Marcel muttering something. At first, I could not recognize what he was saying but once he got his composure right he finally said it clearly.

"H- Hello, Princess Maya."

I was happy when he finally greeted me, I wanted to greet him back but words won't come out of my mind. I was given a second chance right then though so I did not want to waste it. I kept repeating 'Hello.', 'Hello.', 'Hello' in my mind until a minute later I finally mustered to courage to finally say it out loud.

"Hello hello hello."

I said too much, I only needed to say one hello. My face was so red but at least I finally said hello. As time went by we got closer and closer to the point where I could share with him the books that I love. I got so comfortable talking to him that 3 times I accidentally became the only one who talked the entire day. I got so engrossed in retelling the stories I read that I just talked the whole day. I tried apologizing to him about it but he just responded that it's fine and that he is happy to see me happily talking about something. There are 3 books that I read to him completely and those are [ Maiden Who Lie], [ Forgotten Pasta], and lastly [Farewell Gift].

[Maiden Who Lie] is a story revolving around a lady who just lies all the time just because she thinks it is fun. One time she saw someone get injured, and the injured man asked for the lady to call a medic. The lady reassured the injured man that she had indeed informed a medical personnel but in reality, she lied and the man died a slow death while clinging to the false hope that help would come. The other time a lost child approached her for help, the lost child asked the lady if she saw the lost child's parent. The lady responded that she saw them go to the alley. The Child followed the lady's direction and went into the alley but of course, all of what the lady said was lies and the lost child stayed missing after that. These cycles of lies continued until one time she unknowingly encountered a god. The god asked the lady a question. 'Do you prefer truths or lies?'. The lady answered with truth which is a total lie. The god acknowledged her answer and made it so that everyone around her would only speak the truth. The rest of the day went as usual until she went to the town. She is a frequent roamer in the town so people know about her. She is there to meet up with a friend, usually when she and her friends meet up they would hug and greet each other with pleasantries but this time it's different. They still hugged but the words that came out of her friend's mouth were not pleasant.

" You really are a piece of garbage."

The lady was confused if what she heard was accurate so she just went and ordered drinks on the bar but as she ordered the bartender said something.

"So you are here to smooch off your rich friend again huh?"

The lady was confused for the bartender was still using his friendly smile but those words that were coming out of his mouth were hurtful. Realizing what people were saying the lady ran outside the bar and then bumped into her crush. She was hoping that her crush would be there to comfort her but instead, it happened again, those people had gentle smiles on their faces but the words that were coming out of their mouths were nothing but ruthless.

"This is the girl that keeps on following me around, honestly she is kind of creepy."

"Seriously dude that is the girl? not worth it man."

"Disgusting."

Something is not right the lady assumes. Everyone around her just kept on spouting worthless nonsense towards her. She went around the town but all she could hear were those ruthless words and at some point, she just could not handle it anymore. The god appeared again right before her and the lady begs for the god's help. The god once again asks her the same question telling her that choosing the other option will make all of these stop. The lady chose that she prefers a lie. The lady felt relieved that all of these were about to stop but the god replied.

"Since you prefer lies, I will give you a favour and make my previous statement a lie."

The god lied to the lady, all of this suffering is not stopping. We do not know what happened to the lady but this is where the story ended. When I read this to Marcel he was speechless, now that I think about it I do not think it was appropriate for a child to read but I just take whatever book I can reach and this just happens to be one of them.

The next one was the story called [ Forgotten Pasta]. It is a short story about a man and a woman. When they were kids both of them liked eating at a certain restaurant, and both their parents met up there for a gathering. The boy and the girl both ordered a cake, they both loved it. They noticed that they also served pasta but as they were already full with their cake they told each other instead that they would get the pasta next time. 7 years have passed since then and now they are teenagers, both of them happened to go to the restaurant at the same time but now ordering burgers. Both were happy with what they ordered but then they noticed, that the restaurant offered pasta, they remembered from the last time that they were going to order the pasta but since they felt full now they instead promised to get the pasta next time. Another 7 years have passed and now they are now on their 20s both bustling and improving their careers. Both entered the restaurant at the same time and now they bought pizza. The two of them satisfied with their meal went and paid the bill but then they noticed, the restaurant sells pasta but since they already paid they just promised each other to buy the pasta next time. 10 years have passed and now they are in their 30s. Both have met up again in the same restaurant but now they are no longer alone. The girl came with her husband and her son and the boy came with his wife and his daughter. The girl's family bought steak while the boy's family bought lobster however both their children wanted cake so they got it. The kids enjoyed the cake but they noticed the pasta, they promised each other to try the pasta next time but the girl and the boy already had forgotten about the pasta.

Marcel did not understand what this story meant, I can not blame him since I also did not understand what the story was at the time I just found it funny that they kept on forgetting the pasta.

The third story was [Farewell Gfit]. This story is a very simple one, it just just about a couple. The girl and the boy were living a fun life, they were friends since they were kids and now they are a couple. The life they had used to be simple and peaceful however one day a calamity struck, an unknown lifeform started to show up from outer space. Both of them ran away in order to not get caught in battle and they managed to stay hidden for some fair amount of time. However, while they are indeed safe from hiding the situation outside is not getting better, for years the battle outside has been fierce. The girl exclaims that she is scared, the boy is also as scared as her but someone needs to pretend to be strong for the sake of their sanity. After a few months, it looks like the people outside have managed to find a way to counterattack. While it is good news that they found a way to fight back, it needed a volunteer. The boy just happened to be in a profession that is good for what they need. The boy volunteered to join but before he left he gave the girl a necklace.

"I wanted to give you a ring but I think that is better to do when I come back."

The situation outside became better where it is safe now to go outside however there was no sign of the boy. In the end, the only thing left of him for her is his farewell gift.

Marcel did not know why the man did not come back but I guess one part of the story got stuck on his head.

Shortly after I shared the 3rd story something horrible happened. Marcel's family got caught stealing the taxes of the people for themselves. Their whole family was about to be banished from the nation and it included Marcel despite being just a kid. I cried to my father about it so he showed some mercy and just made it so that they get relocated to the place hearest to the land of the demons. Because of this, Marcel has to leave making it so that it;s not possible for me to see him. I wanted to at least see him off so I went my way towards his home at the time. As usual, guards were patroling alongside me but since they were slow I used my natural magic [Illusion] to slip past them.

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I wanted to get to his house fast so I took a shortcut, the slums can be used to shorten the path it would take to get there so I made a detour there. At first, it was going well until a group of guys blocked the road. I tried to escape past them by creating distractions using my illusions but one of them managed to grab me making it literally impossible to do anything back then. One of them lifted me and because I could not do anything else, I just screamed hoping for help to come. They locked me up in a cage and with that, I just wanted to cry. I just wanted to see him because it might be the last time that I would be able to see him. The thought of not being able to see him made me cry more than the fact that I am being held captive right now. I just kept on crying until I saw something on the edge of my eyes, at first I thought it was just an illusion created by me because of my sadness but no, the one I saw at the edge of my eyes was the real deal, it really was Marcel.

I was about to exclaim his name until he made the sign for me to be quiet, not wanting to be caught I covered my mouth in order to avoid any accidental noise. Marcel tip-toed his way towards my cage. I was shaking from fear but when Marcel saw that, he greeted me with a friendly smile in order to make me calmer and it worked. Marcel has the natural magic [unlock] letting him unlock anything that is considered locked. The calm did not last long though for when the cage was opened it made a screeching noise. It notified the people who captured me so in order to get me to safety, Marcel pulled me out of the cage and went to the window. Marcel carried me with his arms and he unlocked the window with his magic. He jumped down from the 3rd floor and it did not hurt me at all.

Thanks to the shortcut Marcel took we managed to gain some distance but one of my shoes received some damage from the previous encounter so when enough stress from trying to escape hit my shoe it broke. The shoe breaking made me lose balance and when I tried to recorrect it, the situation have gotten worse instead and broke my feet. I basically threw myself to the ground but in order to still try to get away from danger Marcel attempted to carry me the whole way however he was not fast enough. Someone has hit his back with a large piece of wood making me fall off his arms. I was in the open not being able to run away because of my feet but in order to defend me, Marcel wrapped his whole body around me acting like a dome shield against the pursuers. They kept on attacking his back, Marcel was already tearing up with pain but even with all of that he was still making a smile in order to reassure me but I know that smile is only there to not make me realize how much pain he is in right now. In that situation I felt helpless, I wished that I knew how to fight. I wished that I tried to be stronger because maybe if I did, he would not be in this much pain. His tears and my tears were getting mixed as they fell to my face. My cry just got louder when I saw one of those men pull out a metal sword, he walked closer and closer preparing to stab Marcel. Every step that he did made me scream Stop, no, get away, over and over again but of course, no attacker would listen to that. The metal sword was about to hit Marcel when a kid almost the same age as us kicked the one who is holding a sword across the road. He was as little as us but when those people saw him they started running away.

I turned my attention back to Marcel for he lost consciousness. I tried shaking his body and calling his name in an attempt to wake him maybe up but to no avail. The kid who saved us walked toward us and pulled out a potion, its potent is something that I had not seen before as it instantly closed up any wounds that he received, he also gave me medicine for my feet. one use of it has fully healed my feet. The kid then began to carry Marcel towards the closest clinic and with that, mine and Marcel's life was saved. I tried thanking the kid who saved us but it looked like he disappeared.

I waited for Marcel to wake up because despite the medicine closing up all his wounds I was still afraid that he would not wake up. I was still in tears when his eyes finally opened. The first thing he did when he woke up was to make the same smile again to make me stop crying but this time it did not work. I just felt so bad because the only reason he got hurt this badly was because of me. I am the one who went to the slums despite being warned multiple times, it was my clumsiness that got us caught. All of this was my fault. I began questioning him and that he should've just let me go, there was no need for him to get hurt for my actions but of course, he had the same response as on every other annoying request that I have imposed on him before.

"It's fine, I don't mind."

It's not fine, it shouldn't be fine. my own actions shouldn't be affecting him this way. I do not want to see him die. He then confessed that he loves me and that is the reason why it's fine. He probably thought this would make me go 'your love is that strong for me, I'm so touched' But no! This just made me angry more because I feel the same way about him, I love him that is why I do not want to see him die. He couldn't understand that it's because I love him that I am angry that he is basically killing himself, I've seen this a lot in books and I always hated it. He then tried to distract me again but now with a necklace, he said he wanted to give this as a gift to me for he is going away.

I did not want to accept it. This just reminded me of the most recent story that I read to him. I do not want something that reminds me of you, I want you. Marcel assumed that I did not want his gift because it was cheap. I do not care about such a thing, I actually would love to have this because it's from him. In the end, I accepted the necklace but with one condition. We have to make a promise that we will be married someday. We made that promise but since both of us were just kids back then I do not know if he actually took it seriously.

"Princess Maya, the hero has arrived."

"Okay, I will be right there."

I finally get to see him now after all these years but I can not even muster up the courage to talk properly with him and worse of all I'm getting engaged to someone I do not even know personally. There is nothing else I can do but to face this so I am just going to try my best to get around this. When I entered the room where the hero is, the air felt like it suddenly changed. The air around us felt heavier and I couldn't help but feel some fear in my bones. Despite all of these I still tried to keep a straight face.

"Hello there Mr. Hero."

"You can just call me Branton."

"Okay, then Mr Branton."

"close enough."

He sounds so condescending that it is making me angry but I need to be in his good favor If I want to get out of this.

"Why did you choose to get engaged with me?"

"I did not really choose you per se, Your father was insisting that I get a reward from him but I did not really want anything but despite that, the king still prepared a wheel to decide which reward to give me, your name happened to be in it. Honestly, I got unlucky."

What? What do you mean unlucky, I know I also do not want to marry you but just calling me an unlucky pick is just infuriating.

"So are you saying that you don't actually like me?"

"I guess not."

Perfect maybe I can convince him to cancel this then.

"You see there is actually someone that I like and I already promised him that I am going to marry him."

"Is it an official engagement?"

"Nope, not really. It's just between the two of us and it was back when we were just kids."

"And you actually love him?"

"Yes!"

This is going smoothly so far, maybe the hero is not as bad as what they were saying.

"Did he give you anything as a sign of this promise?"

" I have this necklace."

"Can I borrow it for a second?"

If this can get him to change his mind then okay but I am just going to try to give him a copy using my illusion attached to a makeshift necklace just to imitate it's touch.

"Here you go."

"I was talking about the real thing though."

"That is the real thing."

"We both know that's a lie."

He saw through it, huh, I guess there is no work around it, I handed him over the real thing.

"So this is it huh, the thing that is pushing you away from our engagement."

Suddenly everything around us became quiet and the air turned from heavy to creepy in an instant, what is happening right now?

"I locked the space around us. No one else can see us, no one else can hear us and no one else can interrupt us and I just want to confirm, this is the promise necklace?"

"yes"

He began making a diabolical smile and his face became really scary.

"Then I shall just destroy this so that nothing is holding you back from our engagement."

He made the motion to throw the necklace to the floor in order to destroy it but I moved fast, I quickly went behind his back and then leg and arm locked him from behind.

"I knew it, you are for of a fighter than you let on."

"Ever since an incident when I was a kid, I began training my own in order to be better at fighting or at least protecting myself. Now, let go of the necklace."

"So you think you can protect this necklace?"

Branton jumped and then Bodyslam his whole body backwards in order to maybe hurt me but I was fast enough to dodge it, unlike me though, the table where I put the replica of the necklace did not survive.

"Do you think you can get away making this much of a mess?"

"I loved the area around us, no one else will be coming here."

"tsk."

I rush forward in order to try to take away the necklace from his hand.

"Give me the necklace!"

"No, this junk is better being trashed."

"It's not junk!"

"It's not junk? this thing is so cheaply made that it does not even deserve to have a price tag.

While I was talking, Branton suddenly went forward so fast that I did not have enough time to dodge. He kicked with all his power but-.

"That was just your illusion?"

"I am not dumb enough to fight you face to face, I know that you would be more formidable than that.

"So what? Are you just going to hide?. You can't protect this piece of trash if all you do is hide behind your illusions.

Infuriating as it is, he has a point hiding in the shadows will not be helping me much to reach the real objective. I threw a kitchen knife towards his direction but he managed to block it however that is part of the plan because the knife is not the attack but the punch that follows it. I landed a full hit to the hero but he took that punch like a champ. He is not fazed about what just happened and so I kept on barraging him thinking what I was doing was effective but it actually was futile. He grabbed my arm and then threw me across the room.

"What even is the point of fighting so hard for this thing, does it even mean something to you?"

"Of course it does, it is the symbol of our promise."

"you say that but did you actually do anything in order to fulfil that promise?"

"Of course, I was doing something, every single day I try my hardest to approach him."

" And then what? That is right. Nothing."

"That is not nothing."

"You are just lying to yourself at this point."

What does he mean that I am lying to myself, I do try my hardest every day to approach him.

"Are you even sure that the other person remembers this so-called promise of yours?"

"Of course he would remember, we both agreed to this."

" Just like how they both agreed to eat the pasta because we know how that ended up?"

"What? This is nothing like that."

"You and I both know it's the same damn thing."

The hero kept on spewing nonsense, but despite all that, it also stings my heart.

" You are scared."

"Of course I am scared, you are someone who killed the demon king when you were 10."

"Not me, I am talking about how you are scared of him."

"I am not scared of Marcel, he is a gentle person."

"Not that part of him, you are afraid that he forgot the promise."

"I am n-"

"Here you go again with the lying, it's not that you are too shy to speak to him. You are afraid to know if he has actually forgotten. You have that necklace to remind you of it but he doesn't."

"You are wrong!"

I rushed forward in order to punch his face for spewing up those nonsense but he dodged all my kicks and punches.

" You did not want to hear him speak because he might just confirm your fear."

"stop!"

" Maybe this necklace is not a promise but really is just a farewell gift but maybe you already know that."

I am just frozen on the floor right now contemplating what he is saying, is this actually all true?

"You are questioning yourself now so I guess it is alright for me to just do this now."

"what? No!"

He took out the necklace and raised it with his hand.

"Stop!"

He wrapped his hand around the crystal that hung onto the necklace.

"Don't do that."

He then proceeded to crush the crystal.

"So your love is as fake as this counterfeit crystal huh."

My anger right now is on the roof. My vision is getting darker and alongside that, the whole room began to transform. My illusions right now are going out of control making the whole room get enveloped in random stuff making it very disorienting. I began to rush forward again to Branton but now my punches and kicks are finally hitting him.

"I do not know if I am actually lying to myself when I say I was trying my best."

Branton tried to counter attack but he just attacked a clone made from illusion. After whiffing his counterattack, I managed to get more hits towards him.

"I do not know if he actually forgot the promise."

I did not let up with my attack and I managed to get a clean kick on his stomach.

"I do not know much about anything."

Branton was just laying on the floor so I grabbed him by his collar.

"But I do know two things. My feelings for him are not fake and I know that I want to be with him! So give me back the necklace. Give it back.... please...."

I did not notice but while I was on barraging him with attacks, the air around us changed. The heavy creepy scary vibe that it was spewing before disappeared. I am just on my knees right now crying because the necklace is now crushed into a million pieces. The hero who was staying quiet finally made a move, I thought he was about to attack me but instead what I felt was a reassuring sensation on my head. He had put his hand to my hair, I looked up to see his face and it was just him smiling, but unlike the diabolical smile that he had before, he is currently giving a more friendly vibe.

"Look at your pocket"

"What?"

I checked my pocket expecting nothing but I felt something In there, something hard like a rock. It couldn't be, It's the necklace!

"How?"

"I put it in your pocket when your leg and arm locked me at the beginning."

"Then the one that you destroyed were?"

"The replica that you made."

"So all this time I was fighting for the wrong necklace?"

"I told you, why were you trying so hard for something that is garbage."

"I thought that was the real thing."

"You got so caught up in the moment that even your own illusion fooled you."

I can not believe it, the necklace was in my possession the whole time. I thought I would be angry that I got played like this but in all honesty, I am just relieved that it's safe and intact.

"Hey, I will help you."

"With what?"

"Getting married to that Marcel guy."

"wait reall- ouch!"

"Woah be careful, you didn't realize it but you injured your feet."

He is right, I probably did not realize it because of the adrenaline but oh man this hurts.

"Here, use this."

This medicine, it's just like back then.

"Was that kid you? the one who saved us back then?"

"Bingo, that was me hahaha. I saw how you pretty much proposed to him, pretty bold I must say."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaa.

" You are still going to be engaged with me."

" Why?"

" Because your father is a pain and also isn't this better because what if some other guy who actually is obsessed with you gets matched with you? Isn't it better in this situation to be engaged with someone not interested in you?"

"You have a point. So what do you mean by help me?"

"The actual help I can provide you is actually minimal because only you can actually win him over, what I can say though is that you can ask for my help if you need it."

So the hero Branton is actually going to help me? Wait.

"Why did you do all of that?"

" Do what?"

"The all menacing things like the smile and the scary aura you were outputting. "

" Honestly, I was just angry that despite proposing to someone before, you did not even make a move. We would not even be in this situation if you at least had the courage to actually begin a conversation with him.

" Seriously? That's it?"

" Yep, even had to bribe your sister to scare you."

That wretched sister of mine, I am going to rip her hair off.

" Just so you know if you don't manage to win over Marcel in a little less than a year, I will have to marry you for real?"

"What?"

" Yeah, so good luck getting him to marry you."

"Why put a time limit though?"

"So that you do not slack off and drag this any longe--- wait, I am going to be living in this palace while I am engaged with you right?"

"Yes, I think so"

" Can you show me the way to the garden?"

" Sure but why? it's like 7 pm right now, it will be dark there."

" I just think I saw something so I would just like to confirm this for myself."