Maï opened her eyes, disoriented, and blinked a few times before sitting up. When she looked around her, the rain was gone.
She lay on silk sheets, the air thick with incense. The room was vast, adorned with carved wooden panels and lanterns that glowed like captured stars. Her breath quickened, and her heart was pounding.
Her reflection in the bronze mirror stole her breath. The girl staring back wasn't Maï. Her long brown hair was now as dark as the midnight sky, her light brown eyes had turned a deep grey, and her skin was almost as white as snow. She couldn't believe it.
Maï's lips parted in awe. "What... this is insane..."
Instead of panicking, laughter bubbled in her chest. She stood and twirled in place, her expression joyful for the first time since a moment that felt like forever. Every detail proved she was the world she loved the most.
But she stopped suddenly. "But it seems egoistic. I left my family... my life behind, and I don't even regret it," she thought to herself, feeling guilty, then looked again at the mirror and smiled. "Which family? Those people who can't even try to look at me? I had no life there; now I'm living my dream!!" she said loudly and cheerfully.
Just then, the door opened; on the other side stood a tall man with dark brown hair and piercing hazel eyes. He looked at her with a cold gaze "That's what I thought. Pretending to feel unwell to get others' empathy—you're so pathetic," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. But Maï? Her smile just widened. "Wow, you're Wei Shen! This is really perfect!" she said enthusiastically.
Wei Shen's expression turned to disgust. "Are you crazy? Your madness will bring dishonor to our family," but his words only made the moment feel more real to her. "Oh, you know, the truth is that I've always admired you from the start. You were my second favorite character." (It's a lie; she had hated him all along the story and cursed him every time she'd read a chapter).
He made a step backward, as if trying to escape an abomination. "Mad person! You speak nonsense!" But she ignored him and started looking in the air and smiling like in those good-ending musical shows where people visualize how their "NEW START" will be good.
Wei Shen stared bewildered, then walked away trying to forget all what happened, "She has finally lost her mind" he whispered to himself in shock, but what could he do about it?