Afterword
MY name is Tsukasa Mikuni. Thank you for reading Of Dragons and Fae: Is a Fairy Tale Ending Possible for the Princess’s Hairstylist?! It has been an honor to have my story translated from Japanese to English. Now readers outside of Japan can enjoy it, too. At least, I certainly hope you did!
So there I was, writing this story about a protagonist who works as a hairstylist. Naturally, I had a lot of trouble thinking of what hairstyles to give Mayna and Patricia. At first I thought maybe I should go with something really extravagant, like Marie Antoinette, but eventually I decided they should have hairstyles in line with modern fashion. Alas, no miniature ship models for Mayna.
Fun fact: You know in Chapter 8, when Kirion is introduced and Mayna tells the room about the most famous male hairstylist in Myulan history? That conversation was based directly on Marie Antoinette’s real relationship with her stylist, Léonard Autié. He was actually a huge source of inspiration for me when writing about hairstyling.
Oh, and Patricia’s curly hair is based on my own hair, so I think it’s safe to say I’ve depicted the curly hair experience pretty accurately. It’s thick and unruly and a real pain to deal with, but it helped me write this book, so for the first time in my life, I’m actually grateful I was born with it!
With my curly hair, I can’t just brush it and leave the house. I have to braid it, or style it, or use careful pin placement, or straighten it, or curl it in opposite directions. Every morning. All my life, I’ve experimented with hair products and accessories, and I’ve even had to cut it myself. After all, Japan doesn’t have a ton of curly-haired people, so a lot of professional barbers don’t know how to cut it. Chances are, if I go to a salon, I’ll come out looking weird.
But now I’ve channeled my lifelong hair struggles into this book, so I feel like I can finally let go and learn to love my natural curls. Besides, if Mayna were here, I’m sure she’d say, “You have great hair! It’s so easy to style!”
Before I go, I’d like to once again extend my gratitude to all of my readers—thank you! To Cross Infinite World—thank you for translating it. A big thank you to my illustrator, YukiKana, as well as all others involved. May we meet again someday!