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SILENCE hung over the dormitory as people slept the night away. On the bottom bunk of the bed, curtains drawn around her, Oriana restlessly turned over. No matter which direction she tried to face, her thoughts kept wandering to Vincent. She drew her nose toward her shoulder, hoping to catch that cedarwood scent, but her bath earlier had washed it away. All she could catch now was a whiff of her own shampoo. Defeated, she dropped her head back against her pillow.
“Hey, Oriana.” A dark silhouette suddenly appeared on the other side of her curtains, drooping down from above. Oriana squeaked in surprise. Apparently Yana was leaning down from the top bunk, her long hair catching the moonlight and casting eerie shadows on the curtains.
“Wh-What is it?” Oriana responded, pressing a hand over her heart, which was still hammering.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
“Of course not.”
Yana always made it a priority to sleep right away in order to maintain her beauty, but today she was up awfully late.
Oriana waved her wand at the magic lantern resting near her pillow. Light spilled over her. She drew the curtains open, and Yana climbed down from the top bunk. The princess was clad in a silk maxi dress-type nightgown.
As she slipped inside, Yana said, “Pardon the intrusion.” Once she climbed under the blanket, Oriana found there was less space between them than she’d expected. She scooted over to share her pillow, but the two were so close they practically had their foreheads pressed together.
“What’s the matter, Yana?” Oriana asked.
“There was something off about the way you acted today in the lounge.”
Oriana was taken aback and embarrassed because she’d been so confident that she’d managed to act normally in front of everyone. “Did…everyone else think I was being weird too?”
“I suspect I only noticed because I was worried about you and kept my eyes on you.”
I hope that’s the case, Oriana thought. I’ll have to be more careful starting tomorrow.
As her expression turned solemn, uneasiness getting the best of her, Oriana realized Yana was staring straight at her.
“Oriana.” Yana’s pitch-black eyes glimmered under the dim light of the lantern. “You’re in love, aren’t you?”
Oriana sucked in a breath. Yana wasn’t mincing words.
Yana stared straight at Oriana, and for her part, Oriana found she couldn’t even peel her gaze away. Seeing the shift in Oriana’s expression, Yana smiled. Not the usual, relaxed kind, but one full of tenderness that came straight from the heart.
“It’s going to make you that much more beautiful, Oriana.”
“Beautiful?” Oriana choked back. She was so sure Yana would ask who the man was that she wasn’t at all prepared to hear that kind of statement.
“Love is painful, isn’t it? Heartrending. But starting now, you’re going to grow in ways you couldn’t have by yourself.”
A tear fell from Oriana’s eyes. All the tension that had built up in her body suddenly faded. Th-That means I can keep loving Vincent…for my own benefit? Her throat tightened. I tried to suffocate these feelings, coming up with every excuse in the book to do it—that Vincent already has someone else, that we live in separate worlds. But now, Yana has saved the very love I tried so desperately to throw away.
By those words, Yana had given her justification for not abandoning the affections she held—because her feelings weren’t for anyone else’s sake; they were for Oriana alone.
Before she knew it, her tears were falling one after the other, and she hurriedly wiped them away. Oriana pulled up the blanket to hide her face, too embarrassed to be seen like this.
“I-I thought I’d be bothering Vincent by feeling this way for him…”
“What’s wrong with being in love? You didn’t develop these feelings for his sake. They’re for you.” Yana gently wrapped Oriana, blanket and all, in her embrace. Being cradled in her petite arms made it that much warmer. “There’s no need for you to tell him how you feel. Nor is there any need for you to abandon your love for him. You are free to treasure it. I’m happy for you, Oriana.”
Although Oriana had found no pleasure in falling in love with Vincent, Yana celebrated it, never once acting as if her feelings were a hindrance or unnecessary.
Oriana clung to her friend and sobbed.