Yonah laughed. Surprisingly, she felt few negative emotions towards Mika. Now that her feelings were no longer affected by Elfin’s, she expected to feel a lot of animosity towards the brunette, but that wasn’t the case. She rather liked Mika. True, the love was gone, but that was to be expected. Mika was just a likable person. But even with that likability, reservation tugged at her heart. *I wish I could just hate you.* It was easier to be childish sometimes: no more nuanced outlook—just deciding arbitrarily how you felt about something with no regards to whether it was fair or reasonable.

*I wonder if Elfin can feel the ugliness inside my heart.* Surely he would be disappointed in her. Perhaps even repulsed. *But wait. Mika showed the ugliness in her heart to him and he still loved her. Maybe….* She ended that thought right there. Mika was Mika. Even with that ugliness, she was still a thousand times more beautiful than Yonah would ever be. The halfling couldn’t help but snort. *Ah, great, here I go basing my self-worth off of competing with other women.* Her mother would’ve scolded her, were she here.