“Let’s pretend I live a normal life,” she said to herself.

  She was sitting in a library, waiting.

  The library was the main Shadows’ library. She always admired its construction. An astonishing building, a mountain of bookshelves within an energy glass structure and pyramidal roof. From both the outside and the inside, it was impressive. The number of books stored, the shape of the building, the glowing aura.

  What a pity that she couldn’t bring Taj here. Only pictures and recordings she could discuss with him. Not that he was a fan of great architecture. She was more of one. Taj was enthusiastic when she showed him pictures of atypical plants rather than buildings’ photos.

  Well, what could she do about it? As Taj sometimes said, ‘It is what it is.’

  She waited patiently, enjoying her time here as always.

  “Let’s pretend I am a normal girl, waiting in a library for a boy I like,” she said again in her thoughts, adding a second later. “Silly should be here any minute now, right?”

  They met more than a year ago, here, in this same library.

  He was so funny. People called him ‘Young Master,’ so at first, she was wary of him. But he didn’t behave the way she expected—the way she knew young men in her place would behave. He was humble. Curious. Joking often, showing his dimples then.

  Best of all, he was, like her, a food lover. He liked to eat good food, taste new flavors, try new spices. And he, like her, liked to judge the food.

  Right. Judging the food was the best part. Was it good? Was it bad? What had the cook spoiled, or what had the cook rediscovered? Were the ingredients fresh and composed well? What was supposed to crunch—did it crunch? And what was supposed to slurp—did it slurp?

  They would walk around the area together, try the food, and afterward, judge. Strictly, laughing severely at it because they were ‘the real experts.’

  She herself couldn’t cook. She knew how to eat, but how to cook?

  “Well done, me?” She laughed lightly.

  So, Young Master. He always added the word ‘useless’ before this title. He said he was the son of someone too important here, but he himself wanted to be treated as a low-rank Shadow.

  Useless Young Master—they laughed about it.

  She didn’t tell him who she was. Just Anna.

  “I was trying to pretend I was a regular girl, living a normal life. Eh.”

  She was aware that he assumed she was from the OFF place, and as likewise, she was aware that he couldn’t sense her energy in a way to help him uncover her origins.

  If she were from Unio, then from a Unio person he would expect Crystal energy. And she had no Crystal in her. She could fake artificial energy emanation—Taj could, to be precise. It helped her to cover the problem many times.

  Her natural energy she had to hide.

  Silly didn’t know that she hid it.

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  She knew how to do it. It was quite forgotten knowledge, but not for her family. And hiding. Right. This she could do well, too well even.

  So, Anna and Silly.

  She worked in the OFF camps for years, so she could describe them in detail. It was useful; whenever he asked about her place of origin, she talked about the OFF, or the Unio, randomly. She focused on the OFF camps, and it made him believe she was from there. But she wasn’t.

  “I didn’t lie to you, Silly; I didn’t. I never said exactly. I didn’t tell any lie,” she repeated in her thoughts.

  She felt guilty that she had to hide it.

  Silly. Silly Shadow, she liked calling him like that. He was so nice. So different from all the other people she knew.

  Except Taj, but Taj was her family and her teacher.

  Silly never forced her. Never shamed her. Never humiliated her. Others did that. Silly didn’t. He was warm. She could laugh without being scared. He was also patient. He saw the fear in her—and never pushed.

  She thought that he was waiting for her to tell him everything—when she was ready.

  One could say she hadn’t met many nice people in her life. One could say.

  She already knew she had fallen for him, for his soul.

  They had spent so much time together. It had started more than a year ago, and once they hit it off, they would meet every two or three days.

  She was allowed, officially, to visit Shadows’ territories. She had the papers. She was here legally.

  Silly showed her around. He took her on small trips to Shadows’ cities to see their greatest art. She loved it. The bizarre-looking imaginations resonated with her. Silly arranged for her also spectacles and performances to see.

  He encouraged her to go to the dancing lessons, as Shadows danced different styles to different music than she was used to. Definitely, Silly noticed she was not familiar with Shadows’ styles. She even enrolled! She loved dancing because of Taj. Taj was curious how they danced here as well.

  She saw the old energy Gate, the one that the Sect had used well over one hundred years ago. What architecture, what an artifact it was now. Energy construction that had lasted so long. Amazing, as Taj would say.

  Taj was not curious. He would rather not see the pictures. She understood. Too many memories for him. She skipped the topic.

  … And the bridge, the Red Bridge, which was used for the last alliance between Shadows and Unio. Silly showed it to her too.

  Symmetrical, a cable-stayed energy bridge with two red towers. No river, though; it was also an artifact already.

  For her, this bridge had an additional meaning.

  She was entangled in the alliance politically and affected significantly. Yet, seeing the place where the contract was signed made her laugh.

  “So, this is it.”

  But the best of all of it, of course, except Silly himself, as he was the best of the best. The second place after him and his cheeks’ dimples—the food.

  Shadows had delicious, flavorful food. She always loved cluski, noodles, and pasta. In sauce. In soup. Spicy, sweet, sour, salty.

  She would eat anything, devour it all.

  Silly joked about it when he noticed how quickly she could finish the whole bowl. He was usually halfway through his portion when she was already thinking about what to eat next.

  Lately, Taj had been saying that she had become even too much of a cluski lover, but all right, right, she would exercise. She was not worried about it. For years, she was too skinny, living fearing everything; she had felt emaciated.

  “Maybe I am a bit too chubby; thank you, Taj,” she said to herself.

  … But the food. She loved these fried egg ones, with roasted additions and fresh greens. And soybean paste soup. She loved it. And Silly. It turned out that they were on the same wavelength.

  He was like her. She was like him.

  They loved walking, talking, and eating. Enjoying what was here and now. Together.

  … She spotted him approaching. Today, they were supposed to casually walk around the city. What a day lay ahead.

  When, if ever, could she have a life like this? She dreamed of this kind of life where she could skip the hiding. Impossible?

  “Let’s pretend I could live a normal life,” she said again.