"Wahhh…. *sniff* *snuffle*" There was a little boy crying in the meadows filled with flowers. He had green hair, and wore a weird hat of something you can't explain. There was no doubt in style that this was our illusionist Fran… Yet you can doubt it's him as well, since it was unusual for him to cry. But this was the past. Fran was probably on five to six years old. Who knew that Fran was actually such a cry baby?

He looked beat up. Maybe he was crying because he was bullied. Well if he looks so different from the rest of the world because of that hat, then he will be bullied. And yes. He was indeed bullied.

Fran didn't want to show his face to anyone, which was why he hid in the flower-filled meadow. No one but him knew about this place, apparently, since you'd have to crawl through a small cave till you reach this small, beautiful, meadow hanging on a cliff. But he wasn't expecting a visitor.

Fran heard the rustling of the flowers. It wasn't just the wind, since this sound was the sound of footsteps. He turned to see who it was, but there was no one. When he turned again, he met the face of a cute young lady who was also his age. The girl had long, scarlet hair. Her smile was cute as well.

She stripped off Fran's hat and put a crown of flowers on his head. The young boy blushed, and after a few seconds realized that he still doesn't know this girl.

"*sniff* W-who are you?" He asks, wiping away his tears with his arm. But the girl didn't respond. She just smiled. It made Fran wonder if she could talk or not.

"I-I'm Fran… Nice to meet you…!" Young Fran was very expressive. He was also shy and had the urge to be different, compared to the present and future Fran.

The girl just nodded. 'Looks like she can't talk then…'

"Can you speak…?" The girl just nods, and brings out a basket. Inside were a lot of apples, a pencil, and a sketchpad. She wrote down her response in the sketchpad.

[No. I can't.]

When she wrote that, she offered Fran an apple. [I really like apples. Here, you can have one… But in exchange for your hat. I really like it.]

Fran was wide-eyed. Someone, other than his grandmother, was being kind to him. Someone also actually liked his hat. This was the first time something like this happened to Fran.

[My name is —] Fran just nods while munching on his apple. He was really happy to meet someone like her.

The scarlet haired girl grabs his hand while wearing Fran's hat, and runs with him across the meadow. They were both enjoying their time together, playing games and whatnot. Fran finally found a friend.

The time came when the little girl had to go home. Fran also had to go home to prevent worrying his grandmother since it was getting kind of late.

[Can I keep the hat?]

"Eh…? I'm not sure… I don't even know how that hat got there in the first place…" Even this young, Fran was already conjuring up illusions. He just wasn't aware of it. "But I guess you can have it."

They both finally left. The next day, they played with each other. And the day after that, and the day after that. One day, though, the girl didn't come to their secret playground. Fran wondered why… and thought that she probably couldn't make it here for personal reasons. Though it wasn't only that day. The days after that, she still didn't come. Fran was kind of worried.

So the young illusionist decided to go visit that girl's house. He knew where she lived since he accompanied her home one time… But the house wasn't there. It was just rubble, and some burned wood and ash.

"Ah… Yes… This house burned down several days ago… Everything was buried under a pile of rubble, and no one escaped alive…" says an old passerby. Upon hearing this, Fran burst into tears. His one and only true friend… died. He cried, wept, and mourned for this girl's death, his face already on the rubble in sadness and despair. Then he came upon something… something very familiar. It was a sketchpad.

Fran frantically dug under the rubble to get it. When he did, he clutched onto it so tightly and cried some more. He opened the sketchpad, seeing a drawing of an apple… or more of a design. Was she designing an apple hat for him in exchange for his eccentric hat? The boy turned to the next page. It looked like a final message she wrote for Fran. It said,

[Fran… Stay strong… Fight back… And grow… Grow into a better person. You're not as weak as you think. I know… and… —-] The rest of the message was burned. Illegible.

On that day, Fran started to wear an Apple Hat. This Apple Hat was his own illusion. He didn't cry anymore. He was expressionless. He took that promise with the girl too seriously.

—-

"*Yawn*" Fran awoke from his short slumber. Looks like he was dreaming about his past.

"Oy…! Wake up! The Prince needs you to accompany him on a mission!" Says Belphegor, as he threw knives on the illusionists frog hat.

"Bel-sempai… Stop throwing daggers on me. It hurts." He says, as he removes the daggers from his hat.

"You're no prince. You're just a fallen prince… No… You're a fallen princess… Hime-sama, it's time to cut the fringe of your hair so that you would look more delicate."