The Taste of Silver | Fortune's Fool #2

prologue | a fake reality

[ a   f a k e   r e a l i t y ]

♥ louisa ♥

FOR QUITE SOME time, I had been aware of the dark irony that is intrinsically laced into each corner of the world, from the daily struggle humanity faces to the pure hypocrisy of the words we soothe ourselves with.

Like a shape-shifter, it wields many forms.

It is the evil monster that says all will be okay and then sends you plummeting into the deepest depths of darkness. The mocking parasite that convinces you to push away those closest to you and then makes you wish for somebody - anybody - to talk to. The twisted creature who, with a sadistic smile, causes heart breakers get their heart broken.

How very ironic.

With that, it is easy to view it as some wicked shadow that creeps around the streets, feeding off the twilight and mocking mankind's despair.

But if one looked a little deeper, they would notice that it is nothing more than a beast of our creation.

Too afraid to face the harsh world, humans succumb to the glitter and beauty of a fake reality. We string syllables together to form baseless phrases that can temporarily manipulate the human mind.

Difficult paths lead to beautiful destinations.

Good things come to those who wait.

Time heals everything.

Does it really?

Of course not.

The past had taught me far too well that the melodic ticking of the clock could do many things but renewing the mind and dissipating pain into moments of nothingness was not its forte.

When our pool of false beliefs gets distorted by a ripple of truth, triggered by the falling of our tears, we blame the world and turn a blind eye to just how hypocritical and border-line ridiculous we had been acting in the first place.

Feeding ourselves fabrications and then getting frustrated when we are reminded of the fact they are nothing more than empty lies.

Weak words to give solace to a lost soul.

One could probably imagine my utter surprise when five months in France had led to me noticing an actual glimmer of truth to the phrase life's too short for regrets.

Funnily enough, the little quote book that Julia had gifted me as a farewell present was presently a bedside staple.

I quickly muted my phone when it began ringing for the third time. The first two times I had declined but something told me that the curvy blue-eyed vixen wasn't going to stop until she heard the sound of my voice.

The patient woman with cocoa skin arched an eyebrow at me before speaking in a French accent, "It's almost 6.30 pm and dinner will be served soon, Louisa. If this is not a good time, we can always discuss career advice later."

It had been almost half a year since I'd transferred to Espiritu, Forteaux's sister school, leaving everything in London behind and embracing the little streets of Paris however I still wasn't used to the boarding school timetable.

A second after I had read my schedule on the first day of the spring term and seen how early supper was served at the boarding school, my face had fallen. Luckily with a gorgeous beam and light flatter I'd persuaded the kitchen staff to arrange for dinner to be sent to my room at 8 pm every day.

The light-hearted glint in Professeur Lafayette's brown eyes told me she had found out about the special treatment I'd been getting since January. It was that or Pierre had stupidly opened his mouth to his mother.