Illusions, Lies, Truth

Volume 1, Prologue

Volume 1, Prologue

Translator: Raylight

Viewing the website order page, I finally clicked the button to confirm my payment. Just like that, a sum of money that was really not a small amount landed in another person’s pocket.

A giant wail rang out… Not from me but from the mouth of the golden-haired man beside me.

“You’re definitely doing it on purpose!” the golden-haired man roared angrily. Then, he turned around and vanished just like that.

I pursed my lips. “What a child, really!”

Another man, a black-haired one, stood on my other side, a gentle smile on his face. His expression looked like that of a mother looking at two children who were having a fight… Don’t be ridiculous! I’m the mother, and you are the “child,” got it?

However, saying that a mature man who was near a hundred and eighty centimeters in height was a “child” was something I wouldn’t even be able to convince myself of. After all, I didn’t even reach a hundred and sixty, and when I stood in front of him, I could only see the red tie on the front of his chest.

Back to the main topic, what I had just ordered was called a Ball-jointed doll, abbreviated as BJD. The Chinese name was qiút? gu?njié rénxíng (??????, ball-jointed doll). It was a kind of doll that could imitate a human’s movements to a large degree and was very popular at the moment.

Since word had even reached my ears, they were definitely super popular.

The doll shown on the webpage had a gentle smile and looked very similar to the black-haired man in front of me. In addition, I had chosen a wig that was identical to his hairstyle. After I put it on the doll, it would definitely look even more like him!

“Do you like it?” I asked, despite already knowing the answer.

As expected, the black-haired man smiled as he replied, “It is very much to my liking. I am extremely grateful to you, my lady.”

The man seemed to look very happy, yet I didn’t feel any sense of achievement at all. That was because this black-haired man was a butler. A true butler would never oppose their master. Even if I ordered a Barbie doll with ample breasts and a slim waist for him, the corners of his mouth would probably still be pulled into a smile as he said that he liked it?

This really makes me feel a little disgruntled. If I were to buy the golden-haired one a doll, his ecstasy would probably make me feel a greater sense of achievement?

No, no. I believe that the golden-haired man wouldn’t be that happy either. After all, what he wanted in the end was not a doll but an actual body. The reason why he had been so angry that he ran away was only because he had lost against Mr. Butler and hence was off to throw a tantrum… Even though Mr. Butler had absolutely never competed against him for anything.

Actually, ordering another doll for the golden-haired man wouldn’t make too much of a difference. After all, I had just received my salary recently!

Purposefully not ordering one for him was just a slight punishment for him. That despicable and shameless golden-haired man had deployed who knows how many despicable and shameless methods just so that I would call his name. Thankfully, I, this old woman right here, knew him all too well and my defenses against him were as deep as the Pacific Ocean; hence, he never got his way.

What? What’s the big deal about calling their names?

Don’t joke around. Their names cannot be called casually. Since the past, names have had a kind of magical power. Although the passage of time means that this power has been largely forgotten, for “things” like Mr. Butler and the golden-haired man, names still possess great power.

Don’t ever call their names, because—

Calling their name once would wish them into illusion, calling them twice would change them into lies, and calling their name thrice would make them come true.

The golden-haired man and the black-haired butler were already “illusions,” and following that, one had to be even more careful. One must not casually call their name, or else, if they were to accidentally be upgraded, then it would become a big issue.

“All of you are really such troublesome things!”

After saying that, a glance showed that the black-haired butler was still standing beside me. I hurriedly tried to mend the fold after the sheep had been lost, saying, “You are an exception!”

The butler maintained his smile, but I wasn’t sure whether he believed me or not. However, what I said was the truth anyway. That was because the butler was simply too useful!

Though I didn’t dare let him become “true” and did not even have the guts to change him into a “lie,” I still couldn’t help but find something for him to reside in. The ball-jointed dolls that were very popular recently really couldn’t be more suitable… Excluding the price that was extremely unsuitable. It was simply so expensive that I was in agony.

However, as long as Mr. Butler had something that he could reside in while he was here, then without me calling him, he could even come out by himself to help me clean, cook, and wash clothes. He was more useful than whatever automatic washing machine or vacuum cleaner there was. Thinking like this, that doll’s price was simply too cheap!

The only thing that was slightly more troublesome was that I still had to personally take out the trash. A butler who was only an “illusion” simply didn’t have the ability to walk up to the alley to throw away the garbage without causing a series of shrieks… After all, everything below his thighs was all translucent.

In the past, during a cold spell, I had nearly called the butler’s name one more time for the sake of not wanting to go outdoors to take out the rubbish. Thankfully, the garbage only needed to be taken out once a week, but I still could only barely manage to endure it.

“If there were a doll for you to reside in, would you have any way to make feet appear?” I inquired, attempting to try to even save on the effort of having to take out the trash once a week.

“For a short period of time, it should be possible. Moreover, this… ” Mr. Butler looked at the order page, praising, “This doll is really amazingly human. This would make it even easier to maintain a disguise.”

“Yeah, it’s really like a human.” I shot a glance at the doll on the webpage.

Wasn’t it so? None of the muscles on the doll’s body looked different from a human’s, and there were even veins on the skin. Really, it was too much like a human.