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I was lying on the emerald grass, listening to the roaring waters falling down the cliffs of the Edith Mountains and watching the golden glows of the fireflies hovering near the trees like fairy lights decorating them. The stars in the inky blue sky shone like diamonds holding the millions of wishes of the people far and near. I took a deep breath and smiled at the beautiful natural scenery around me. It was a huge contrast to the bustling city of Leto, and the current weather was much more pleasant than the bitter cold blizzards in Sierce. A sense of peace washed over my heart.
I looked down at my hand that’s holding a piece of parchment. It was a letter from Olive, and it read:
Dear Dahlia,
I hope your travels in the Edith Mountains with Aaron are safe and lively. Things in Leto have changed so much ever since we met. I know my actions made you doubt my sincerity, and I broke your trust in me. However, if we hadn’t met, I wouldn’t have had the courage to make a change in my life and fight for the freedom to be my own person. Thanks to you, I can be Duke Cyrus and be myself.
I know you cut ties with your parents ever since you were shipped off to meet me in Leto, but I believe you deserve to know how they’re doing. Your parents had their debts paid with your dowry, and they can keep the Joyce Manor. However, I heard that your father loved to gamble and still does. So, I made sure that all the gambling dens of the Tara Kingdom refuse to let your father in. It’s time that your parents learned to lead quiet lives in the manor.
I’ve been very busy handling Duke Cyrus stuff ever since you and Aaron left for the Edith Mountains. I want to make changes to the Duchy of Cyrus that will soon impact the Tara Kingdom as a whole. It’s time that women like you and me had the freedom to conduct their own paths and saw they can do more than just be a wife and mother. Even if they decide to get married, they will no longer have to be confined to their husbands’ house. It’ll be a long path for me to do this, but I won’t give up. If Aaron will fight for equity for half-beasts, then I will fight for equity for women.
Remember, you and Aaron are always welcome to my residence. I hope we’ll see each other again soon.
Sincerely,
Olive
I smiled at the letter, knowing that Olive didn’t have any hard feelings against me when I didn’t say goodbye to her before Aaron and I left for the Edith Mountains. She and I knew we’d be going our separate ways after the king annulled our marriage. My friendship with Olive was indeed complicated, but we managed to patch things up and have a mutual understanding between us with trust and respect.
“Dahlia?”
I looked up to see Aaron standing near my head and looking at me with a smile on his face. From my perspective, he appeared upside down.
“Hey, Aaron.” I said, smiling back at Aaron, “Martha sent us another letter on the updates on Fort Hawke and Winni?”
“Actually,” Aaron replied, sitting on the grass next to me and handing me another piece of parchment, “Winni sent us a letter this time.”
“Really?” I asked, beaming at the news that Winni wrote a letter herself as I took the letter to read it.
Ever since Aaron and I began our journey in the Edith Mountains, Martha would send us letters to give us updates on Fort Hawke, especially Winni. We’ve heard Winni’s been making fast progress on her education. So, hearing that Winni wrote a letter of her own was definitely an accomplishment worth praising Winni for. Aaron and I always believed that Winni was a smart girl, even when everyone else thought she’s a lost cause for school because she’s a half-beast like Aaron. The key to helping Winni with her education was to have faith in her succeeding and be patient with her as she learned.
I opened up the letter to see slightly crooked handwriting, but it wasn’t messy enough to make it difficult for me to make out what it read.
Dear Aaron and Miss Dahlia,
Martha and I have been receiving your letters, and Martha’s been helping me read them. Now, I can read them on my own! I even begged Martha to let me write a letter to you on my own! Can you believe it? This is my first letter! I hope this letter turns out well at the moment it reaches you.
How’s your journey in the Edith Mountains? I’ve heard from your letters that your adventures were eventful, and you got to see and hear some amazing sights and sounds! I imagine your adventures are like those I’ve read in fairytales! I wish I could tag along with you two, but I want to focus on school first! Maybe school can help me learn and grow, so I can be smart enough and old enough to go on adventures with you! And maybe one day, I can see the Edith Mountains, too!
I hope you two will return to Fort Hawke soon! I miss you!
Love,
Winni
“Winni wrote her first letter!” I said in a joyful tone, “This is absolutely marvelous! I’m so proud of her!”
“I’m proud of her, too.” Aaron said, his smile never leaving his face as he laid down next to me.
“That’s two letters we need to write tomorrow when there’s plenty of daylight.” I said.
Aaron tilted his head to the side and knitted his eyebrows together.
“Two?” he asked.
“I got a letter from Olive.” I explained, handing Olive’s letter to Aaron, “She basically told me that she’s been busy as the Duke Cyrus, fighting for equity for women in the duchy and all of the Tara Kingdom.”
“That’s wonderful, Dahlia.” Aaron said, smiling a little bit.
“She also told me that my parents had their debts paid with my dowry and are now able to keep their manor.” I added, “But, my father unsurprisingly still wanted to gamble. So, Olive decided to have all the gambling dens in the Tara Kingdom forbid my father from coming in.”
Aaron’s smile turned into a slight frown when he said,
“I remember you told me that your engagement to Duke Cyrus was your parents’ plan for you. Why did your parents want you to marry Duke Cyrus in the first place?”
I let out a long, sad sigh and replied,
“My parents are the Count and Countess Joyce, yet we’re a fallen noble family because my father owed a lot of gambling debts. Both of my parents refused to give up any valuable item in the manor, be it a sapphire necklace, a stone carving, or any fleeting pleasure. So, they thought the best way to solve their financial problems was to marry off their own daughter to a wealthy total stranger against her will.”
“Seriously?” Aaron said with his ears perked up in alert.
I nodded my head and continued,
“Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time my parents did something like that. I once told you I have two older sisters. Both of them were married off against their will for my parents’ own benefits. I remember how red their eyes were from crying because they knew they’d spend the rest of their lives confined to their husbands’ houses. My sisters never even loved their husbands because they didn’t even know them very well.”
Aaron’s ears flattened, and his eyes were like iron glowing hot in a forge.
“I must be direct with you, Dahlia.” he said coolly, “Your parents aren’t just selfish and cruel. They’re completely irresponsible, too. Fallen nobles who want to enjoy fleeting pleasures to the point they go into debt and try to marry off their daughters to solve their money problems? No wonder you said that family can become strangers when I asked you if family is more important than friends.”
“Sadly, that’s true.” I said with another sad sigh, “My sisters were the only family members who truly loved and cared about me. Seeing them leave the Joyce Manor to get married to a total stranger was heartbreaking. I used to hope that my parents would have any love or care for me. When I found out they had me engaged to Duke Cyrus, I came to terms that my parents cared more about living aristocratic lives more than they cared about their own daughters.”
There was a moment of silence between me and Aaron before I spoke up again.
“What happened to your parents?” I asked.
Aaron’s ears perked up again as he looked at me with a quizzical look in his eyes.
“My…parents?” he asked.
“You told me about your granny and how she took you in and raised you, even though she faced criticism for being a human raising a half-beast.” I explained, “But, you never mentioned your parents.”
Aaron’s ears drooped, and he looked at the ground when he said,
“I never really knew my parents. I know I used to have them, but I don’t exactly know what happened to them. All I know is that they died when I was only a few years old, and I can hardly remember them. My granny was my only family before I met you and Winni.”
My heart sank when Aaron confessed that he never had a relationship with his parents because they were taken from him far too soon.
“After I lost my granny,” Aaron added, “I wanted to have a family again after a long time of fending for myself. However, nobody in the Tara Kingdom wanted me because I’m a half-beast. After being hunted down, captured, and enslaved multiple times, I kind of gave up the hope of finding a family again.”
Aaron looked at me again with his eyes as soft as the glow of the fireflies buzzing around us.
“Then, you came along.” he said, “You bought me just to free me when everyone else wanted to buy me as a slave. You saw me as a person while everyone else saw me as a lowly animal or a prize to be won. You showed me that not all humans are the same when you took me to Fort Hawke and introduced me to Martha. It led both of us to meeting Winni and taking her in. You didn’t just give Winni a new family. You gave me a new family, too.”
Tears began to well up in my eyes when I confessed,
“Aaron, you and Winni are not the only ones who have a new family. When you two came into my life, I felt that I have a new family, too. I always viewed Martha as a big sister, but you and Winni made my new family bigger. When my own sisters left the Joyce manor to get married, and my parents didn’t treat me well, I’m always welcome at Fort Hawke. You’re always welcome at Fort Hawke, too.”
Aaron moved his hand with his palm up as an invitation for me to hold it. I happily placed my hand in his. My hand looked to be at least half of the size of Aaron’s hand when they’re touching, but it was an adorable sight. Aaron gently wrapped his hand around mine, careful to not let his long, sharp claws scratch my hand. His hand was as rough as sandpaper from the callouses on them, but it’s as warm as a cozy hearth in the winter.
Aaron and I looked up at the sky to see the stars sparkling in the infinite sky giving a blue hue that’s so dark, it almost looked black.
“There are so many stars in the sky.” Aaron said quietly, “Without all the lamplights in the way, I can see them much clearer. Is it true that humans chart stars and find pictures in the sky?”
“Yes, Aaron.” I said, nodding my head, “The ‘pictures’ in the sky are called constellations. When I was younger, my sisters and I would stargaze together before we went to bed to find the constellations. My sisters would tell me the stories behind the constellations, too.”
“The constellations have stories, too?” Aaron asked.
“Uh-huh.” I said with a smile and pointed at the constellation that looked like a centaur, “That’s the centaur, a creature with the upper body of a man and the back of a horse. In most of the stories I’ve read with my sisters, centaurs were written to be silly and not at all serious. However, there’s one centaur in the stories who’s different.”
“What’s his name?” Aaron asked.
“His name was Chiron.” I said, “He was more like a human than the rest of his brethren. He was a voracious reader and strove to work on his education. He grew to be a wise teacher of the heroes of mythology.”
“That sounds just like Winni’s story.” Aaron said with a smile, “She’s always eager to learn. I’m sure she will grow up to help half-beasts achieve the same education humans receive.”
“You’re right, Aaron.” I said, “It’s like Winni’s story is written in the stars.”
“Do you think we can have our story written in the stars, too?” Aaron asked.
“We’ll have to ask an astronomer about that.” I said, giggling, “They’re the experts on charting stars.”
“Dahlia,” Aaron said, turning his head toward me, “Is it true that humans make wishes on the stars, too?”
“Yes, Aaron.” I said, nodding my head as I turned it toward Aaron, “We even wait for the shooting star to come because we believe wishes made on shooting stars are the ones that will most likely come true. So, if we were to see a shooting star, what would you wish for?”
Aaron shrugged his shoulders and said,
“To be honest, I don’t know what I would wish for. Besides, I already got everything I ever wanted. What about you, Dahlia? What would you wish for?”
“I don’t need any more wishes.” I replied, “I have everything I wanted, too. Besides, I know one of my past wishes is being fulfilled.”
“What’s that?” Aaron asked.
“I want to see my sisters again.” I answered with a soft sigh, “I miss them so much. I’m sure once the women in the Tara Kingdom get more freedom and rights, my sisters won’t be confined to their husbands’ houses. When they don’t have to live with total strangers, I’ll be able to see them once again. I’ll introduce you to them someday.”
“Do you think your sisters will like me, even though I’m a half-beast?” Aaron asked.
“I’m sure my sisters will love to see you.” I said, smiling, “Martha once said you’re a looker when she first met you. My sisters would say the same thing.”
Aaron’s ears twitched, and a dusting of pink appeared on his cheeks.
“I look forward to the day I meet your sisters, Dahlia.” he said.
Aaron and I smiled at each other and continued to look at the stars above us. We don’t need an astronomer to write our story in the stars for us. It’s already written in the stars for us before either Aaron or I knew it. There will always be people who will criticize a human having a romance with a half-beast, but we’ll let them say what they want. We don’t give a thought of what everyone says about our relationship. Aaron is mine, and I am his, and nothing in the world can change that.