28 Inner Desires

Three weeks had passed since Eli's life-changing encounter with fate.

Her uneventful high school days slowly turn into a series of astonishing escapades. Unlike before when they're bland and boring, now almost everything from this chapter of her youth is noteworthy, not only because of her surreal experiences with fictional creatures, but also because of her unexpected makeover.

The ash-haired bookworm should've seen it coming, though. After all, she's now the human vessel of the most attractive woman in the imaginary land of Aristia – a royalty blessed by the goddess of love and beauty to boot.

Consequently, Eli got one boisterous morning one day.

Everyone's eyes were on her when she entered the classroom, silver grey hair neatly tied up into a high ponytail and face rid of her thick-rimmed eyeglasses. For she is a school geek with old-fashioned tastes, she certainly doesn't stand out in terms of appearances, especially with her specs and unruly curls. Yet, with a little tweak in her modest presentation, the class seemed to be thrown into disquietude.

Their reactions weren't well-received by the bookworm, however.

All she thought about was how flustered she was for being the centre of attention so early in the morning. If it wasn't for Venus's nagging, she'd just remain plain as usual. Then again, if she didn't accidentally break her glasses on a Sunday evening, she'd have no excuse to use her contact lenses. Earlier this morning, after poring over her frame with the contacts on, Venus proceeded to talk her into styling her hair for a change.

A week prior, Venus grew fond of this world's cosmetics and fashion trends after seeing her mother's make-up collection. It's a bit ironic, considering that she herself is already the epitome of beauty. As way of fulfilling her promise to let her enjoy a second life, Eli started bonding with her by letting her dress her up however she wanted and browsing the internet for the latest fads. The whole thing bore Eli to death at first. She wasn't really into this kind of idle gimmick. Yet, she stayed considerate of Venus and was quite delighted that she finally found something worthwhile in this world.

And so, even if it meant sticking out like an eyesore, she conformed to Venus's new religion.

"Woah, what's with the new look?"

"She in love or something?"

"That's a first. How surprising."

"She does look a bit different."

"Maybe those glasses were magical."

On second thought, she might regret this a little.

Eli doesn't want to stir up misconceptions, especially when it comes to one of her greatest insecurities. Unable to withstand this scrutiny, she decided to let her hair loose again once lunch break came. When Venus tried to chide her for her lack of confidence, she managed to deviate her attention to the subject of nail art to which the former Empress gladly partook in without realizing it's a bribe.

"Luckily, skimming through that fashion site last night paid off," Eli mused in relief.

With that out of the way, Eli serenely continued on her daily venture – attending afternoon classes, having a brief self-study right after, and moving on to her part-time undertaking at the library. She was bemused to see the place almost soulless. It wasn't until Hal's arrival that she recalled the reason for this.

"Tomorrow's Club Recruitment Day, remember? Everyone's busy with preparations, unlike a certain someone," he quipped, glancing at her with a knowing grin.

"Yeah, unlike you, Hal," she flatly retorted, indifferent to his attempt in humor.

"I'm an exception, you know. I guard the library day in and out."

"Which also means you're not in any club. By the way, for your information, I helped a club in making a script. They even praised my writing."

"Probably about some kind of 'a better love story than Twilight' troupe... Such a hopeless romantic~"

"Stop spouting nonsense."

The library assistant and his helper just continued bantering like this even when they started working.

Their task for today is to organize every bookshelf in the most visited sections on the first floor. Since the library was as good as empty, they also took the chance to clean an area frequented by students.

Hal was sitting on a step stool as he arranged one of the upper rows of a bookshelf while Eli was doing the same below. They were still talking about her story when something caught his attention.

"I saw you tied your hair up this morning. Why undo it?" he asked out of nowhere, much to her surprise.

"I-I'm just not used to it," she reasoned while darting her eyes around to evade his gaze.

Hal then suddenly descended from the chair and approached her. Baffled, Eli tried to turn to him but only to be swerved back around by the shoulders.

She's now back to facing the bookshelf while he stands behind her, rummaging something in his pocket. He then started brushing her hair and easing out her uneven locks before using his hand to comb it together.

"What are you doing?" she questioned with puzzlement.

"Putting it back. You might as well eat both hair and dusts if you keep it like that when cleaning," he simply answered to which she just nodded in understanding.

Even so, she felt a bit flustered at the gesture. Although she's already used with the abruptness of his actions, she still tended to be a bit jittery at situations like this.

Hal, on the other hand, was acting on impulse. The sudden urge to see her hair tied up again had moved him, which he thought didn't really make sense.

"There you go!" he blurted out, staring proudly at the finished product.

Eli curiously groped the smooth fabric that he used to bind her hair together. He then told her that it's the yellow ribbon from the present he gave her before.

"Eh? You carry it around?" she voiced out in flummox, making him jolt for a second.

"O-Of course not. It just happened to be in my pocket at the moment," he lied, silently relieved that she couldn't see him blushing right now.

Eli twirled around to face him, hair gleaming silver and fluttering along with the lace. Hal only eyed her pale complexion glow while being streaked by the mellow hues of sunlight. She then locked gazes with him and grinned from ear to ear, face lit up with delight, before thanking him for tying her hair.

"Having friends sure is nice..." she silently enthused.

Hal just mirrored her smile with a soft expression of his own.

For the next hour to come, Eli discussed her daily report on Venus's recent conduct, including her new hobby. Hal was flabbergasted that the Empress would settle for something as mundane as fashion, which unexpectedly makes her inclination on par with most female teenagers these days.

He fathomed that if there's anything she'd fancy, it'd be a floating castle in the sky, probably as big as Laputa. Then again, she did purchase almost every boutique in a distinguished shopping district back in the past.

As the two moved from one section to another at a moderate pace, their conversation eventually swiveled back to the upcoming Club Recruitment Day.

"Man, it sure is going to be tough tomorrow. Some of the club presidents might come to annoy me again," Hal complained with a peeved tone.

"Do you really dislike sports? I mean, you're just so good at it that it's hard to believe you don't like it," Eli commented, glancing at his direction with an inquisitive look.

"Being good at something doesn't always mean the person likes it. Maybe I'm really just that good. You know, like an inborn genius," he remarked condescendingly to which she only gave a deadpan stare in reply.

"I'm kinda hurt you reacted like that with no hesitation."

Eli thought that like Venus, Hal has something he wants to do. Thus, she pressed on the subject further.

"I have my hands full with being the Champions' leader and the Forbidden Books' overseer. I just don't have the time," Hal finally confessed after a moment of prodding from the prying bookworm.

"Then, if you do have time, you'd actually go for it?" she inquired, much to his surprise.

Hal was thrown into deep thought at this.

He fiddled with the idea of joining a club like a normal student. For over a year now, he buried his selfish desire to act as one, thinking that he'd only be reaching for the unattainable.

However, he did get a friend like Eli this time, who assured him that he's the same as everybody else, and had perceived himself differently since then. He now wondered if the same notion can be applied to this matter as well.

"To be honest, I'm quite fond of it. Sports was reminiscent of my childhood when I'd play out in the field, which was the only time I'd feel free, way before the whole debacle with the prophecy."

Eli froze at his sullen mien.

Harrison Louen, according to the Book of Metis, was a battered child.

Perhaps, he's now referring to the one thing he enjoyed and cherished so much that he managed to still feel alive despite his hellish sufferings that time. She had read how he'd often sneak out just to bask under the sun – a momentary escape from reality.

Just like how reading helped her forget the world around her, doing that helped him recall that he's only but a normal child.

Hal was able to decipher her reaction with a single glimpse. He then quickly took back his expression and smiled at her enigmatically to which she only responded with a remorseful look.

That is until a light bulb lit up in her head.

"Hal, why don't we go see the clubs tomorrow? Together!" she chimed in with evident zest, much to his bafflement.

"Didn't I tell you already? I can't," he replied with the face of a son who's put in charge of the house while his parents were away.

"Pretty pleasee...?! I promise it'll only for a bit. You can have the library guarded while we're out. Pleaseeee...!"

Eli decided to act selfishly in his stead.

The reason behind it is the same as why she's doing Venus the favor of making her a runway model almost every night. She just wanted to have this pretentious classmate of hers a blast, mixed with the taste of his much-awaited freedom.