For a normal person, being left-out or deprived from society is sort of… lonely.
No one understands you. No one tries to. No one even wants to.
Yet… we wanted someone… to reach out and understand.
And she knows it well how to be excluded from the society.
Prologue Watching From Afar
It was your usual afternoon at the bustling city of Prontera. It was a sign of prosperity and peace that life continues to prosper even when people seek out danger on their quests. Streets filled with different kinds of people from all over the continent – each has their own share of stories to tell…
But I have my own…
I'm just your ordinary swordsman that you can find at the novice parts of the field of Prontera or other dominant sites for rookies to train in each city. My name is Ronwald Eisach, blonde short clean cut hair with a medium physique for an eighteen year-old lad. I'm normal amongst my ranks and a hardworking soldier to serve under the mighty King Tristran III.
I don't know where my story started about her… but ever since then; I keep on watching her – from afar, not to be noticed by her. She sells very cheap perfumes on her stalls although wearing such a grand red dress – almost looks like on the times of the renaissance. She wears a red lace on her wavy long auburn-hair and ribbon-like choker on her neck. She carries herself with a dignified posture, lady-like and delicate. She's taller than me, about as tall as six pickies in my estimate. Her figure can be compared to a dancer at Comodo… or more grandeur even. I couldn't imagine how beautiful her body would look like if she ever wears a dancer's uniform. Her eyes though, are one of the most noticeable features of hers - kind and gentle and as deep as the open sea. I always wanted to stare deep down into her eyes for so long.
Yet, I'm only obliged to watch from afar.
Everyday, she constantly and eagerly shows the people her wares but no one seems to notice even her radiant beauty. As if… she was not even seen by the people. Her cheerful and merry shouts to lure in buyers were also in vain. Selling three of her special perfumes for less than five hundred zennies is already a huge sale but no one seemed to notice even if she ever faints on the spot.
She still smiles though… like a lone blossoming rare flower in a lost misty forest. Though only I can see.
She also sings for some time whenever she thinks that people doesn't even take notice of her bargains. It seems ironic but it looks like no one does, always and whenever she tries to. I can hear her humming even from afar and from the noise of the people make. Sometimes, she seats in her little wooden stool beside her stall and reads a small book within her delicate hands. A hint of smile was across her face, seeing that she enjoys what she's doing… even if no one pays any attention to her effort to sell…
Why am I the only one who notices her like this? Watching from afar or stealing glimpses of her whenever I pass, I can't seem to accept that no one even tries to make a bargain at her. Everyday, my heartaches as I watch her try to sell her wares with that kind smile of hers only no one to listen or even to notice. She's just like a flower… an unnoticeable flower.
It has been so long and I've been watching over her. Maybe since I was just a trainee novice, I already seen her there… I only did not realize that I've been watching over her for so long.
"She needs at least a little attention… from all of her hard work, I think she deserves it." I squinted aside as I try to observe what she could be doing.
With all of my courage within my chest, I try to act normally - as if I didn't recognize her while she was trying to sell her wares, I decided to approach her. There are three thousand zennies inside my moneybag beside my scabbard and I intend to splurge it all in buying her wares… normal prices without bargains. I just felt that she needed some kind of bonus.
Slowly, her shouts are becoming more and more evident but I already had her in my sights – she is after all my purpose.
"Come one! Come all! Cheap perfumes for your beloved! Bargain sale! Bargain sale! Three of my specialty perfumes for just a quarter of a price from the original!" still cheerful and enthusiastic but it seems that her bargain is way too much that she could close her stall if ever a swarm of locusts came in.
A small grin crossed my face as I locked my eyes with hers. Somehow, I felt a sense of comfort from the moment our eyes met. I was closing in on her and she knew that a potential customer has arrived at last at her stall. She stood up before me as she prepares to welcome me to her wares.
"Hello miss, I've seen that you're selling quite a bargain here today!" I cheerfully greeted the lady with the best smile I had trying to earn her friendliness.
"Yes sir! I'm willing to sell the top row, which is my specialty of the crop, for just a quarter of their original price!" She seems happier this time and maybe because that a customer had finally come up to her.
"Okay then, how much is that one?" I pointed out randomly from her most prized wares since I intend to buy it at the original price. It doesn't matter what it smells like but I'm willing to splurge everything what I have.
She gasped for a while to catch her breath but there's a shimmer in her eyes that she could finally let go of one of her precious, "That sir is what I called the Etoilenoir. Tears of the black rose were used in creating this special perfume…"
It was the first time I've felt that she seemed truly happy about what she's doing…