"Nia, come on! What are you up to?"
The melodious voice cut through Hedonia's reverie, prompting her to pivot swiftly. Before her stood a girl,a vision of enchantment, with her short, raven-black hair framing features kissed by the sun. The radiant glow of her deep, dark skin under the sunlight transformed her into a goddess, a living embodiment of celestial grace.
Waving with an impatient elegance, the girl's golden dress embraced her slender form with tailored perfection. The dress, a testament to divine craftsmanship, added a regal touch to her allure, harmonizing earthly beauty with an ethereal charm.
In that moment, the sunlight seemed to bow to her presence, casting a spell that elevated her to a realm where beauty and radiance merged seamlessly. Hedonia, momentarily captivated, found herself drawn into the orbit of this celestial being, where each movement painted a masterpiece against the cosmic canvas.
"Amara... I apologize, sincerely. I got lost in the labyrinth of my thoughts, and I forgot about our plans. I'm truly sorry," Hedonia expressed, her eyes filled with contrition, meeting the gaze of the short-haired girl.
Amara's response was a soft smile that held both understanding and compassion. "What could have kept your thoughts in such a captivating labyrinth? If you want to share, I'm here," she offered, the warmth of her smile inviting Hedonia to open the door to her inner musings.
Hedonia, with a gentle shake of her head, returned the smile. "It's nothing worthy of stealing your precious time. Let's go. I'm sure Eudaemon will have his way with words if we're both fashionably late."
As Amara gracefully left the cafe, Hedonia took a moment to collect her belongings. The quiet ambiance of the cafe echoed with contemplation. Picking up the fragments of her thoughts, Hedonia felt a sense of gratitude for Amara's understanding.With a sigh of relief, Hedonia exited the cafe, the door chiming softly as it closed behind her. Outside, Amara waited with a patience that mirrored the serene glow of the twilight. Hedonia quickened her pace, impatiently wanting to be on Amara's side.
Regrettably, she collided with an unyielding force. "My apologies; my gaze was not aligned with my path," a voice, sweet and gentle as a lullaby, graced Hedonia's ears. The familiarity of that voice tugged at the edges of her memory, an elusive whisper dancing on the precipice of recognition.
Raising her eyes to meet the owner of the voice, Hedonia was confronted by a visage of ethereal beauty—the incarnation of unrealized dreams and forbidden desires. Porcelain skin, unblemished by the touch of shadows, exuded an otherworldly luminosity, a canvas upon which the gods had bestowed their divine artistry.
The eyebrows, meticulously shaped as if sculpted by celestial hands, framed a pair of kaleidoscopic eyes that defied categorization. In their depths, an entire universe unfolded, each hue merging seamlessly with the next, rendering an indescribable symphony of color. Hedonia, enchanted and bewildered, felt herself drawn into the kaleidoscope's embrace, lost in the labyrinth of hues.
A cupid's bow adorned lips that spoke of secrets only whispered among the constellations. The jawline, gracefully carved, stood as a testament to the delicate equilibrium between strength and elegance. A face, small yet perfectly proportioned, defied the constraints of mortal imperfection.
Long tresses of pure white cascaded with a celestial radiance, reminiscent of soft clouds adorning the bluest of skies. As Hedonia beheld this celestial being, she resisted the temptation to caress the heavenly strands that flowed with a lustrous glow.
This girl, this epitome of perfection, seemed to embody the gods' favored creation, each feature a testament to divine artistry. In this encounter, Hedonia stood witness to a celestial muse—a living poem etched with verses of unparalleled allure.
"Excuse me, miss? Miss?" The girl of impeccable grace snapped her fingers before Hedonia's dream-laden gaze. With a blink, Hedonia was rudely yanked back from the ethereal realms of her imagination, her cheeks suddenly painted in hues of embarrassment. How had she managed to drift into daydreams about this perfect stranger?
"I'm terribly sorry. I got lost in thought for a moment. Are you hurt?" she stammered, eager to escape the clutches of her own awkwardness. The girl, a vision of kindness, offered a gentle smile and shook her head, as if dismissing any traces of harm.
In that instant, Hedonia felt a celestial elevation, as if the cosmos had aligned for her exclusive pleasure. It was as though the universe had yielded to her rule, with stars twinkling in cosmic obedience. A surge of bliss enveloped her, a sensation of unparalleled blessing and joy.
"Um, well, then, I'm sorry again for bumping into you," she uttered, inwardly rolling her eyes at her sudden bout of stuttering. The girl, a paragon of kindness, reassured her with words that seemed too sweet for the reality they inhabited.
"It's okay, dear. It's not just your fault. I share the blame for not watching where I was going," she replied, emanating an otherworldly kindness that defied the harsh edges of the mundane world.
Hedonia, struck by a momentary paralysis, could only blink in rapid succession as the epitome of perfection before her bestowed the endearment "dear" upon her. "I-I... Hedonia," she stammered, her voice barely escaping the confines of her frozen body. A chuckle, as celestial as the stars themselves, reverberated from the goddess's lips, eliciting a response that bordered on the divine.
"Well, Hedonia, my name is Lana. Nice to meet you."
In a universe where words danced on the precipice of flattery, Hedonia's heart wished to serenade Lana with praise, but she restrained her expressions, preventing her sentiments from spiraling into the abyss of embarrassment. "Hi. Nice to meet you too!" she managed to articulate, her voice a harmonious blend of nervousness and enthusiasm.
Lana, once again, graced her with a heavenly smile. "Well, Hedonia, I need to go now. I hope we meet again in the future." Hedonia nodded in agreement, mustering a sincere smile. "Let's meet again in the future, then!" Their eyes locked—golden orbs meeting kaleidoscopic splendors. "I hope so. I really want to meet someone as cute as you again."
In that fleeting moment, the cosmos seemed to conspire to weave a tale of chance encounters and the promise of cosmic rendezvous.
"Bye, Lana," Hedonia bid farewell to the celestial presence before her, the ethereal connection lingering in her heart. Swiftly, she rejoined Amara, who had been observing the encounter from across the street with an amused smirk. "What?" she questioned, feigning innocence as her brows arched suggestively, accompanied by playful hand gestures. Hedonia rolled her eyes, the ghost of a blush threatening her composure. "Shut up! I don't talk about you and Lukas, right? So mind your business, please. Now let's go, or we both will get killed."
Amara chuckled, understanding Hedonia's wayward charm – a combination of toughness and an underlying softness. With a shared laugh, they navigated the bustling streets, leaving behind the radiant specter of Lana and the spellbinding encounter.
*Present time, in the hall*
The hall echoed with murmurs and anticipatory whispers as Hedonia returned to the stage. The cosmic theater brimmed with eager faces, each a universe waiting to unravel its mysteries. Amid the cosmic ensemble, Hedonia prepared to unveil the memories that wove the tapestry of the present, a saga born from the cosmic dance of chance and inevitability.
"In that distant chapter of my cosmic existence, it marked the genesis of our encounter. Or, at least, that's the impression that memory leaves me." Hedonia adorned a bittersweet smile, contemplating the paused fragment within the cosmic tapestry.
Choi Wooyoung, unable to fathom the revelation, voiced his incredulity, questioning Lana's lineage. "Is she truly Mr. Kim's daughter? Remarkable."
"Her radiance stands in stark contrast to her father," Sakura interjected with cosmic wit, casting playful cosmic shadows upon her teacher. Meanwhile, Kim Hongjoo, entangled in the cosmic trance, remained silent, entranced by the unfolding celestial memoir.
The cosmic narrative pressed forward with the entry of Louis Cooman, a man with a brown coat whose inquiry echoed in the cosmic hall. Hedonia acknowledged the silent queries resonating through the cosmic consciousness, wearing a celestial smile as she addressed Cooman. "Mr. Louis Cooman, your curiosity echoes in the cosmic symphony. I sense a collective inquiry within all of you.Is Lana the same ethereal being, you wonder?" Cooman, along with those in his cosmic wake, nodded in silent unity, their eyes widening with cosmic comprehension. "Yes, she is," Hedonia affirmed, unraveling another thread of cosmic truth, leaving the celestial audience bathed in the glow of realization.
"So she is our Lana. No wonder that face seems familiar," the white-haired boy with black lines from before spoke. Hedonia nodded in agreement. "How? How did all of you know my daughter? What do you mean by 'our Lana'?" Kim Hongjoo finally emerged from his deep trance, bombarding the people from the other side with questions. "Well, Mr. Kim, they are from another universe, and they knew your daughter, specifically from Rep Universe 12. How? You will know in due time," Hedonia answered the worried father's questions.
"So, can we get back into memories then?" Hedonia looked around and saw people nodding in agreement. Just as she was about to resume the cosmic journey through memories, someone interrupted her. "Miss Hedonia, I knew Lana too. In fact, all the people from my universe knew her. But, the Lana that I knew was a villain. Am I right?" A boy with green hair, resembling broccoli, asked. Gasps and murmurs ensued, but Hedonia silenced them with a stern glare. She took a moment, closing her eyes as if reminiscing, before offering a reassuring smile.
"Yes, she was. I cannot conceal this vital truth, one that you should grasp. To the world, she wore the cloak of a villain, but to me, she remained simply Lana—my Lana. In the eyes of many, she bore the title of a monster, yet in my gaze, she was my empress. She constituted my entire world; I existed and functioned solely within the sphere of her presence. Without her, my days became indistinguishable from the endless nights, devoid of the luminance that her essence brought to the fabric of my existence."She paused for a moment, her gaze wandering into the depths of a time gone by, as if she were reliving the delicate tapestry of her past. In that suspended instant, her eyes became vessels, carrying the weight of every precious moment spent—24 hours a day, 7 days a week—a lifetime encapsulated in the sanctuary of her memories with Lana.
"Each heartbeat, a testament to the symphony we composed together, resonated with the echoes of the profound love that transcended the perceptions of those who judged her. In her, I found a universe that no darkness could extinguish, a celestial tapestry woven with threads of devotion that surpassed the limits of mortal understanding. She was not just a chapter in my story; she was the entire narrative, written across the cosmos in hues of passion, sacrifice, and boundless affection."