A glass bottle from the palace banquet flew towards me.
In the middle of this royal feast, I fell and was covered in red liquid.
The scent of wine wafted into my nose and hurtful words entered my ears.
"Why do I have to be engaged to this scary woman?"
Ah, those words pierced my heart. Even though I was only five years old, did I have to suffer like this?
Born with brown skin and a scary appearance. Do I have to live my life like this for the rest of my life?
Slowly the pain in my head began to spread. It seemed like the red color covering my vision was not wine but blood coming out of my head.
Finally, I will leave this world in peace.
My vision slowly felt heavy and black.
I want to get out of this rotten circle soon. Living relying on appearance feels quite heavy for me.
Enough to end this difficult journey of life and immediately face my creator.
A finger strum woke me up from this short sleep.
Someone was in front of my face.
"Ah, are you awake, Lily-chan?" a woman was in front of my face. She slowly stroked my hair and smiled. For some reason.. my head was on this woman's lap.
"Is life that hard?" the woman asked.
That question bothered me quite a bit. Ever since I became aware of the discrimination of the people around me. My body became more sensitive to their looks that looked down on me and their disgusted gazes that made me aware of the reality of life.
I hate it so much!
What makes me different from other normal girls?
Is it because my strange brown skin makes them disgusted when they look at me?
Or are my hair and eyes that are white like a dead person very scary to them?
I have given up on all of this.
The more I survive, the more insults I have to endure.
Even...
I started to hate men just because of their disgusting and demeaning nature.
The caress of her hand on my head felt very soft and made me sleepy.
Wait!
Where am I?
If I'm not mistaken, I'm at a banquet in the royal palace.
"Ah!" I got up from the lap of the woman who was stroking my hair.
"Is it already night?"
"Did my family leave me again?"
When I was about to stand up, a warm embrace enveloped my body. The embrace felt soothing and made me want to cry.
Since when did I forget the softness of this warm embrace?
"Lily-chan, what do you want? Physical strength or great magical capacity?"
"Becoming a hero or a blessed holy maiden?"
The question sounded strange to me.
I just want to enjoy life normally like other girls in general. If I were told to choose, I want my life to be full of color and happiness.
What is this? A hope filled with my complaints throughout my life?
And since when did this woman know my name?
Was I thrown away after that embarrassing incident?
Ah, that's right! It is a noble tradition to throw away their useless family members. I've heard of it, but this is the first time I've felt it.
"Lily-chan, you weren't thrown away. Why would they throw away a cute girl like you?"
Um, can she read my mind?
"Of course."
"Ah!" I was so shocked and screamed for a moment.
"W-Well.. who are you?"
"Me? Just a Goddess who happened to be bored looking at the world she created."
"O-Oooh Goddess.. wait! What?"
Do people have a strange hobby nowadays of playing with sick people? My head may have been hit but my memory is still there.
What is she talking about?
Even to trick someone's brain, strong enough evidence is needed for them to believe.
"Oh, that's very easy for me."
The woman snapped her fingers and the scenery in front of me changed.
A cool forest scenery accompanied by a fresh breeze passed by me.
"How about this? It feels calming, doesn't it?"
I couldn't say anything else. Wait! If I meet Goddess, doesn't that mean I'm dead?
My face suddenly paled.
"Calm down, you're not dead Lily-chan. You're just having a little death."
"Hey! Isn't that a big deal!" I was shocked when I heard that.
"It's okay, even if you die. As a Goddess, reviving one or two humans is just a small matter."
"Why is it that the matter of life and death of a person is so easy to talk about."
"Because I am a Goddess who created you guys."
"Ugh, I can't deny it after seeing this. So, why would a Goddess keep a monster like me here?"
"Shhh.. Lily-chan, you are not a monster. You are the most beautiful girl ever."
"Uhm.. thank you? I think.." hearing this compliment that I heard for the first time made my heart beat faster.
Wait! Since when a dying person feel their heartbeat?
"Um... Goddess... Am I going to die now?"
This question sounds ridiculous, right?
Don't people who die meet their creator?
"How much do you want to die?"
How much? That's right... I didn't think about that. Since when did I want to die like this?
"Rather than thinking about that ridiculous question, how about Lily-chan enjoy this world a little longer?"
"By that, Goddess means myself to accept the pain of suffering from life again?" My answer sounded brave but part of me wanted to go back.
"Your body is more honest than your mouth."
"Urk!" My body.. why did you betray yourself?
"You know Lily-chan, ever since I created this world. Sometimes I feel like something is missing in it."
"And.. now I realize it. This world needs Yuri's touch to develop!"
"Huh? Y-Yuri?"
I don't know what happened but it seems like this Goddess is in trouble.
"For that... Lily-chan.. will you help me open the locked garden?"
"Locked G-Garden?" I don't understand at all!
Slowly, the warm soft hands hugged my body again.
"Do you want a colorful life?"
That question was very tempting for me.
"Do you want to occasionally feel the beauty of the world that you have never felt?"
Okay, this is very tempting. Even though it is equivalent to the suffering of life, I want to feel it once in a while.
"Good! For that... I give you the blessing of the Yuriification System. A power that brings you to a new life."
"May this power give you a reason to survive, Lily-chan."
The last words sounded faint and suddenly my eyes felt very heavy.
I couldn't fight it and fell back into a deep sleep.
When I came to, I woke up in my room and found my eyesight felt strange.