In the middle of a vast field of greens filled with white flowers lies a gigantic tree, where in its branches spread in a spider web fashion. The gentle and cool wind, which was playing along the grasses and flowers, as well as the tree's leaves that creates a large shade underneath the branches accompany it. It can fit multiple groups of people and around the ends of the field are rows of trees.
A tall woman with long, blond hair tied into a high ponytail walked up towards the giant tree and stopped in her tracks once she got near it but she stayed out of the tree's shade and looked at what is in front of her—more like, who is in front of her. The woman has bright, blue orbs and a fair tone of skin.
"Life has always been something we couldn't understand. Sometimes, it's on our side and sometimes, it's against us. It is something that can either keeps us high or low, makes us weak or strong. And along the way, we find ourselves lost in the middle of the road in life's hands. Have I gone lost? Of course I did. Have I found my way?"
A beautiful woman in a white dress was facing the tree's trunk, looking up at its branches and leaves with a smile. As she felt the blonde's presence, the woman turned around to face her and the woman's smile grew into a grin, it looked like that the woman has been waiting for the blonde.
"Yes, I did."
The blonde smiled back at the other before she walked towards the woman as the wind continues to caress everything it touches in its gentlest way.
Sounds of multiple footsteps and the rough sounds of the vehicles' engines can be heard in a slightly busy town of Healdsburg, California. The scenes changed to a home division near the main town, where in its pathways were cemented with stone and the rest were covered with Bermuda grasses. Children are playing on these grasses along with other children and their pets. Couples, and the young and old are taking walks and some groups of families were spending time with each other in their own yards.
"My mom used to say that you can meet your soulmate through dreams and that you can meet them during your childhood. Those dreams will disappear by the time you reach 11 years old and will reoccur again once you have reached the age of 20. However, if that happens then those dreams will be unclear and the only way to clear little by little is to try and remember that person's face or remember the place where you met that person. Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself; I'm Eli. Eli Ayase. A rancher."
And within the whole place, there is a mansion placed at the far end of it. It is so large that one can be overwhelmed by just looking at it. Its pathway towards the civilization were being covered by the leaves of the trees that came from above and these rows of trees were placed each side of the pathway and there are large spaces of Bermuda grasses that spread throughout of the land, starting from the rows of trees. It may look lonely at first glance but as one decides to go deeper into it, it could realize that the mansion's presence is not that lonely at all, judging from how multiple children were playing around the yard-like spaces.
"As I grew up, I began to realize that this kind of thing is a phenomenon that is happening to the world right now and that it had become a common trend for people who were desperate to find their significant others. And I am already one of them."
"I am still finding her and I need to remember her face, which I can't, so I have to remember the place at least."
Inside the mansion is a vast living room that has a large staircase located at the right corner of the house. In the middle is the living room itself, there is a young woman with long blonde hair tied into a high ponytail, her physique matches that of an athlete but a little more bulky and her height is as tall as an American basketball player; 6 feet in height. She is wearing a half-sleeved, light blue, polo shirt and black jeans with matching red and white-striped rubber shoes. She left the first button of her polo opened.
The blonde's bright, blue orbs were fixated on the huge television screen where there is a news going on, which is a wedding. There is a large amount of people in their tuxedos and dresses and there are two other people in the altar, the background around them is a wide field of greens, which is covered with white flowers and there is a gigantic tree behind the couple. The lightings were not too bright and the scenery is just perfect, thanks to the help of the tree's large shade.
"We are now here in Mirage Fields located at Woodstock, Vermont where we can see here that two famous celebrities namely Leon Havenral and Alice Gollenski, who is now Alice Havenral, are finally married. We can clearly see how happy they are in their wedding!" The male news reporter delightfully says from the screen and the blonde just listened to it, her eyes seemed to be catching something in the background and it made her furrow her eyebrows, creating a crease on her forehead like she is remembering something when she saw the field.
"I absolutely agree with you, Mr. Willows. The venue is just so perfect for their wedding, with all those stunning fall of the leaves and the cool wind to match along with the spaciousness of the field!" A female reporter beside Mr. Willows followed up.
"And guess who is behind of this glorious wedding that we have here, Ms. Hyport?" Mr. Willows asked the female reporter who looked at him, "I believe there is only one woman we know who can do such magic!"
"That's right! It's none other than Ms. Umi Sonoda! And she has a special announcement for everyone later on!" Mr. Willows stated as he focused on the audience, including the blonde.
The TV screen's scene switched to a beautiful woman with long, blue hair and sultry, sepia eyes and on her each sides are the two reporters. The woman is wearing a casual white shirt with a black blazer to top it off and is wearing blue pants with white rubber shoes.
"Ms. Sonoda, how have you been doing in this lovely weather?" Mr. Willows asked as he looked down at the woman while pointing the mic on her mouth with a good distance.
"I have been doing very well, especially when I saw that the wedding arrangement is a success." Umi released one gentle smile.
The blonde's eyes widened as she saw that smile. From a distant part of her memory, that smile looked familiar, it felt like she has seen that smile countless of times and because of that, there is a sudden loud beat inside her chest. And she could actually feel that.
"Are there any other celebrities who were asking requests for your magical hands to arrange their wedding, Ms. Sonoda?" Ms. Hyport asked.
"There are a lot of them and they are pretty much overwhelming but since arranging a wedding is my passion, I can't just say no to them." Umi answered.
"Ms. Sonoda, we had seen a lot of magic coming from your beautiful wedding arrangements from the past 3 years, will there be more of them for many more years to come?" Mr. Willows asked.
Umi chuckled, "Of course there will be more of them over the next years. I have a lot of designs in mind that I would also like to try and improvise."
"And for this special announcement, you were referring earlier.. What could that be?" Ms. Hyport asked.
Umi then cleared her throat before speaking, "I am accepting decent applicants to be my helper in arranging the future weddings. One who really knows how to beautify a wedding with its own magical hands. For those interested, you can visit my mansion here in Woodstock, Vermont. The landmark is the church over there." She pointed at the tall church outside of the fields, it is across of the field's entrance, and the camera operators pointed their cameras at it.
"And there you are, folks! All interested applicants can have a talk face to face with Ms. Umi Sonoda right here to talk about your dream job as a wedding arrangement manager! Back to the studio!" Mr. Willows said.
The blonde reached for the remote and clicked on a button to turn off the television. She stared at the blank screen for a moment and softened her eyes.
"Mirage Fields huh…" She muttered under her breath before standing up and heading towards the staircase to go to the second floor. She then went to her room to open up her computer and typed on the keyboard to search up about the said field. It revealed up the details as said from the news. The female continued to study it for a short while.
Then a knock on the door occurred and the blonde just blinked before speaking, "Come in."
The door opened, revealing the female's maid, who bowed and stood up again to speak, "Ms. Eli Ayase."
"Ugh, you always say my full name whenever you greet me." Eli rolled her eyes and the maid chuckled, "It's my trademark." The maid replied.
"Sounded like you got that from someone though."
"Not really."
"Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I just want to inform you that the ranch is doing nicely but we need to buy new set of stables for the horses that will be coming soon by next month." The maid stated and the blonde hummed.
"Next month huh… This month is November, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I see, I will tell Tina to hire some workers for the new stables." Eli then shuts off her computer and stands up to face the maid, "And I will be going somewhere."
The maid blinked a few times, "To where, ma'am?"
"To Woodstock."
"In Vermont, ma'am?"
"Yes."
"What's with the sudden interest in going there?" The maid listened intently.
"Umm, I will apply as a wedding arrangement manager." Eli answered.
"A wedding arrangement manager? Why are you interested to be one?"
Eli just stared at the maid like it was mentally informing her about it and the maid immediately realized that. With a hand over her mouth, the maid spoke again, "Oh dear, ma'am. Don't tell me that you finally found…"
Eli just smiled and the house cleaner let out a short gasp of happiness before letting out a cheeky grin, "Oh my god, ma'am! You finally have a clue after 5 freaking years!"
Eli chuckles, "Well, I was too busy with the ranch that I didn't get to check the television and watch news."
"You had always been too workaholic for your own good, ma'am, but I am very glad you finally found a clue to meet your soulmate."
"Yep, and I will go to Woodstock for an application."
"I wish you luck, ma'am!" The maid said.
Eli kept her smile and nodded.
Eli held up a photo of the Mirage Fields as she stood in front of an entrance and placed her hand down, seeing the actual appearance of the field. She is still wearing her casual clothes, with the additional of a large backpack. The blonde smiled and put the photo into her pocket then she walked her way towards the field, without noticing that there is a "No Trespassers" signboard just beside the entrance but since it was slightly covered by the vines, she couldn't notice it much.
Eli looked around in awe as she walked forward, her eyes traveling the entire landscape as if she just reached the real heaven. A quiet place where she can actually feel that she just freed her soul from any problems and worries in her life. She felt light after inhaling that soothing air like it was free from pollution coming from the civilization. And the way the wind caressed her whole body and clothing just added the satisfying tranquility within herself, she never wanted to leave.
It is no wonder why it is called as the Mirage Fields.
She sooner reached the gigantic tree where Leon and Alice were married and stopped in front of it, just a step away from its large shade. Eli wanted to inspect how wide it is before going under its shade.
'There goes that feeling back then… I could really feel it as soon as I stepped inside… It feels like home…' Eli thought before she went under the tree's shade.
Not before long, she heard a voice; a shout, coming from a woman from behind so the blonde turned around to face the speaker and her eyes widened when she gets to see Umi Sonoda walking up towards her, she currently looked strict. In addition, Umi is still on the same clothes back when she was interviewed.
"Hey! Didn't you see the sign just beside the entrance?! It said NO TRESPASSING! Do you not know how to read!? This is private property! Leave at once!" Umi shouted as she walked towards Eli.
The blonde was not fazed, not even a bit, and just continued to stare at the other female. She did not know why but she felt light upon seeing Umi's beautiful face. She felt her heart pounding rapidly and loudly. Not only that, but she just could not take her eyes off the blue-haired woman.
As soon as Umi finally got near to the blonde, she then looked up at her with her fierce eyes, "Do you not hear me? I said leave this place! This is private property and you should not come here! Leave or I will call the police!"
Eli was not really listening and was just staring down at her, she felt that she has met this girl for a long time now. It made Umi blink and blush before looking away, the strictness on her face is now gone. Umi was not really used to being stared at for it makes her uncomfortable and uneasy.
"Y-You were not listening huh…" Umi then looked into Eli's eyes with a pout, "Hey!" She calls out and it made Eli blink a few times, snapping back into reality.
"Ahh, sorry about that." Eli then revealed a smile and Umi sighed.
"Why are you spacing out anyway?"
"I was thinking about something."
"What were you thinking then?"
The blonde just shook her head and bowed politely as an apology, "I'm deeply sorry about trespassing your property, I literally didn't notice that there was a signboard beside the entrance and thought that I could actually come here."
"If it was for the public then most people will come by here for picnics." Umi crossed her arms.
Eli then stood up erectly and chuckled, "You have a point. I will take my leave then." She then walked past by the blue-haired.
Umi then spun around and watched the blonde for a moment before realizing something, "Ahh! Wait!"
Eli then stopped walking and looked over her shoulder, "What is it?"
"Did you came here for a wedding appointment?"
Eli blinked, "No. I am still too young to get married."
"Then, the job?"
Eli then finally remembered what she came here for. She planned to apply as Umi's helper in wedding arrangements so then she can freely investigate about the place and meet her soulmate. The blonde then nodded and Umi groaned as she face palmed.
"So you are a new applicant. I am terribly sorry about my rudeness earlier." Umi apologized as she relieved a sigh once again and Eli continued to gaze at her.
"It's okay."
"Well, I guess we should start talking about your application. Follow me." Umi then began to walk past by her. Eli then turned her head to watch Umi for a moment before following her like a good child.
A/N: Annd here goes the chapter one of the novel! Hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Listen to music when stressed and don't push yourself too much! High five!