Colorful songbirds crooned as they sat perched upon the ever-blossoming tree en masse like a devoted congregation of acolytes. Their leader, a resplendent nightingale, commanded the flock with a single chirp. Her melodious voice pierced through her flock's chorus with relative ease as she sang to the boy who slept beneath the tree.
It was a song that few knew about, and even fewer would ever be blessed enough to hear. Tears of Nightingale was composed by a certain Mulian sovereign long before anyone present in the room had been born, many completed revolutions ago.
———
Back then he was anything but a ruler, much to the dismay of his family. He was a rambunctious, free-spirited individual with a penchant for mischief — unbefitting behavior for the son of a renowned sculptor and painter — something that caused great grief for his parents. They worried about him every day of the week.
"He made his mom and dad worry? He sounds like a bad person..."
"H-He just liked playing around a bit, little sun, th-that's all."
"Shush Daddy, don't interrupt Mommy or I'll hate you..."
"Nooooo... Daddy will cry a river of tears if you hate him, o-okay?"
Like a young, unbroken stallion, he was untameable at heart; neither the pleas of an angel nor the threats of the devil could dissuade him from doing what he wanted. He sought to break free from the rules even if it meant skirting the fine line of the law.
One day during the brave man's usual 'patrols' as he called them, he caught sight of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was the Noble Princess, firstborn daughter of the High Priestess, and future consort of the kingdom's Crown Prince. The intrepid young man, in all his sagacious wisdom, did as he always did — he followed his heart — and fell in love with the princess at first sight.
Everything went as well as you would expect for someone like him...
He.... snuck into the Noble Princess's private chambers when the sun had set over the horizon and boldly introduced himself as her future husband. She did not take to this revelation all too well, as you might have already guessed. She called her guards on the scoundrel, but none could ever catch the insolent rapscallion, for he rode upon the wind like no other in the realm.
"So he is a bad guy! Good guys don't sneak into a princess's room!"
"No, little sun! It's not like that! Da- I mean, the brave man just liked the princess a whooole lot!"
"Daaaaad....."
"O-Oh, I'm sorry, little star. Daddy will be quiet from now on..."
The rouge was without comparison in terms of his ability in fleeing as the Noble Princess would soon find out...
Every night without exception, the rogue would break into her private chambers and annoy the Noble Princess with his chitter-chatter. Every night her guards would fail to catch him, much to her dismay. This cycle continued for many nights until the princess realized the futility of her actions.
One night she finally gave up on chasing him away and let him stay — she decided she would ignore him until he gave up. That was her biggest mistake...
They eventually got to know one another a little better over many long nights after this... gracious concession of sorts, a-ahem. The young man, although full of hot air, was quite the smooth talker and a skilled raconteur. He often entertained the Noble Princess with stories of his endless exploits and encounters with adversity. Some of them sounded a little too far-fetched for her to believe though, not that she ever admitted it, out of pity for the poor man...
"So he's a liar, too... I don't like this story at all. Can you tell us a different story?"
"He was just trying to impress the princess a little bit! There's nothing wrong with lying just a tiiiiny bit as long as no one gets hurt, o-okay?!"
"But Daddy, you said that all liars are bad people."
".........."
But against the princess's better judgment, she inevitably fell in love with that bad man who told awful stories. She liked him much, much more than the cold prince who only thought of her as a tool for his bidding. The young man was a rude, noisy, annoying, scheming, terrible liar... but he really loved the princess, unlike the prince.
And so she...
———
Reed awoke in an unfamiliar place. A large, soft bed made of clouds and petals. An enormous tree loomed over the bed, acting as a peculiar canopy of sorts. Birds sang their songs outside. The rising sun peeked over the horizon and gentle rays of sunlight entered the room and illuminated his surroundings.
He checked himself out, but nothing had changed. What should have been there, wasn't.
What was there was something he didn't want. She looked all too comfortable as she slept beside him. He mused that for once, she actually looked sort cute. But he knew it to be nothing more than an apparition of something that appeared like that. What existed beneath the drooling face of this elegant girl was something that devil himself likely feared...
Reed peeled Lu'um off of himself as if she was a hibernating bear, afraid of waking her up. The last thing he wanted was an early death. He'd accidentally woken her up once before, a month ago during one of their 'extended missions' (touring Northern Mulia) of his. If looks could kill, he was sure he would have died back then.
It took the whole day and half of my savings to win her favor back after that... Reed shuddered in fright as he tiptoed away from the bed.
He had no intention of setting off the living bomb, so he carefully wormed his way out of the bed and left the bedroom as quietly as he could.
The bedroom led towards a room he'd already seen before: Lu'um's private chamber or rather, the main living of her quarters. It was quite the sight to behold, but he didn't care too much about it. Everything looked expensive and was, therefore, stuff that Reed knew nothing about. A street rat could never see the worth of shiny baubles, after all.
In any case, only one thing in the room interested him. He stood in front of it and peered inside, but nothing happened. The mirror simply reflected his image for all to see within the empty room. A closer inspection amounted to nothing; it was as if it truly was just a plain old mirror.
I know what I saw. I felt it. There's no way...
"Saw what, Ka'an? Something inside the mirror? You sound just like my grandfather..."
Reed ignored her as he gazed into the mirror and said, "I did not see, so much as I felt something... I'd rather not talk about it. What is this mirror supposed to do, again?"
"It is a mirror, Ka'an. All it will ever do is reflect whatever stands in front of it. Nothing more."
Lu'um eyes imperceptibly flickered as she slowly approached Reed like a predator in the wild. "The mirror can help the lost find themselves, but at a cost. It can turn false things true. Regardless of whether those things are beneficial or detrimental to the viewer."
"But you really shocked us all yesterday, Ka'an. I've never seen someone react so adversely to the mirror before. You even fainted; The maids, Itotia, and I had to carry you all the way to my bed..."
Her hands made their onto his chest and Reed coldly scoffed. "An illusion, then? I will admit that it had me fooled until the very end. To think that I fell for a glorified parlor trick."
That was what he said, but it couldn't have been further from the truth. He just didn't want to admit it. If he did, it would mean that he was anything but who he thought he was. It was akin to being told that he was the false one, and most importantly th—
"Isn't that just you? I can only see you as yourself and no one else; who else can define what it means to be you other than you?" She gestured at the mirror that reflected them and said, "When I look at myself, I only see myself. When I look at you, I only see you."
"..."
She coiled around him like a snake, uncomfortably close and tight. "You're distorted; bent out of shape because you think the pieces don't match. I can assure you this, my beloved — they fit. I'm sure you know too, in your heart of hearts."
A door creaked open and a familiar figure poked her head through, afraid of interrupting in on the pair's conversation. Itotia forced herself to speak and said, "U-Um, am I intruding on something important? I can come back late—"
"It's fine; we weren't talking about anything in particular, right?" said Reed.
Lu'um wordlessly shrugged. She put her head on one of Reed's shoulders as if it belonged there and looked at Itotia with a gleam in her eye.
"Don't be so serious," said Lu'um.
Itotia gazed at Lu'um with a smile that didn't look like a smile and said, "Then why don't you two change out and come have breakfast with me? Grandfather Ulbo and the rest of the family are waiting for you two."
The roundtable seemed like a gathering of the world's greatest figures. Tall, handsome men and elegant women keenly gazed at Reed with warm smiles. They all looked otherworldly in the sense that not a single one of them looked like a common man. There was such a thing as being too beautiful, to the point it'd become a curse rather than a gift.
In a more primitive era, they would have been considered idols of worship, akin to the children of the gods. Itotia and Lu'um took up the seats beside him, acting as human shields for his sake.
"... This is aunty Teramosa, and this is cousin Bianca, and this is..." Itotia prattled on and on with the introductions, but it was too much to handle. It was overwhelming being in a room filled with monsters, such as these.
Reed noticed as soon as he walked in that they weren't normal in the slightest. The Anima that surrounded them was genuinely terrifying. The waves that leaked out of them were nauseating — it felt like his skull was being battered on the inside.
It was only after Lu'um secretly placed a discreet ward on him that he felt comfortable again.
A man with long, braided hair boisterously laughed and his howling laughter warped the Anima around the table like a tempest. Even with Lu'um's ward, the man's laugh felt like someone had him with a goddamned uppercut.
"So you've finally come home, little cousin! Excellent, excellent! But it seems like you've lost much, eh? You look thinner than a twig now... that's no good, cousin."
"Mmm, he does look thinner now... Are you unwell, little cousin? Life must have been hard for you, I presume," said a gorgeous woman who looked no older than twenty. Her glowing amber eyes swept over Reed in curiosity and an intrusive coldness touched Reed for an instant.
Lu'um swiftly blocked the woman's probing attempt and gazed at her with a frigid expression that lacked any semblance of warmth. It was a face that could freeze hell over; it almost looked like she was staring at something that was worth less than dirt.
"Ohh? Sister? Sorrry, about that~ I just couldn't help myself, you see... No hard feelings, right?" The young woman smiled sweetly like an angel and giggled as if it was nothing more than a mischevious prank.
"Now, now. Don't start up again, you two. How many times have we been over this?" said an older lady with a gentle smile on her face. Her tone sounded serene and loving, but beneath it, Reed felt the aura of an authoritative individual. It was a tone that had a disarming quality to it, but also some level of compulsion in it.
"Sorry, Mom."
"Sorry, Mother."
Neither of them dared delay in apologizing, fully aware of what would entail if they delayed for even a second. For if their mother asked, they would answer the call. Fear was something that had been taught early in their childhoods by their mother and obedience — filial piety — was a virtue in their household. Mother knew best.
Suddenly, the mother turned her gaze towards Reed and her expression changed in an instant. The sisters went mute and looked at each other in agreement, something that the mother noticed. A single look was enough for her to put her daughters in their place again.
It was a tender gaze filled with an endless love that none could ever emulate. It was real and overpowering, to the point that Reed could not meet the woman's eyes at all. He nervously chuckled as he squirmed in his seat like a kid and said, "I-Is there something wrong, Ma'am?"
That was all it took. Five simple words. It set off fireworks, so to speak.
How could have Reed known? There was no way he could have guessed it would cause...