Marie had taken it upon herself to run away from home that morning. Since the news of her engagement surfaced, she had barely had enough time for herself. Every member of her family had shown up all at once, making their already small house feel even more cramped. All they did was discuss and argue about the style her wedding dress should be, the seating arrangement, guest list, food, altar decorations — everything was being discussed all at once, and Marie was overwhelmed.
She couldn't, for the life of her, spend another moment in that building called home, listening to the elders argue about the smallest things. So that evening, when everyone was busy with the wedding arrangements — which now seemed like a full-time job to them — she slipped out of the house unnoticed.
Now, she was alone by the riverside, reveling in the peace she felt in that moment. With her eyes closed and her head raised toward the sky, she let out a deep breath as the serene atmosphere enveloped her being.
How nice it was to have this moment to herself. Everyone was so excited about the wedding, but she couldn't match their excitement no matter how much she tried. After all, it was a wedding to a man she barely knew.
By 'barely knew', she did not mean that she knew little about him. In actual fact, she knew nothing about him. She had no idea who he was or what he looked like. Heck, she couldn't even remember his name correctly.
"Nicholas, was it?" she muttered to herself while scratching her head.
All she knew about him was that he was some powerful man whom her family couldn't refuse — especially when he sent a message through her uncle, proposing to marry her.
She could still remember the day the letter came in. She had just returned from work, weary and tired, and had found her uncle seated on the floor outside, staring into the distance.
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Marie couldn't be too worried about the old man. She had lived alone with him since she was a girl and knew that it was a habit of his to sit outside on the floor. Of course, she had tried to stop him from doing so in the past, but the old man wouldn't listen to her. Now, it was normal to find him seated on the floor at odd places and odd times.
The old man had his legs folded, one over the other, and he was leaning against the wall. His old, tired eyes were staring into the distance, as though waiting for something — or someone. Probably Marie. But even when Marie came to stand at his side, he was still so distracted that he didn't notice her.
"Uncle," Marie called for the third time before the old man finally heard her. He looked so surprised to see her there, as though wondering where she had come from.
This was what got Marie worried. Her uncle might be old, but he was as active and as alert as every young man out there.
She sat down beside him on the floor and put away her canvas bag. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
The old man's listless eyes regarded her for a second before handing her an envelope without a word.
Marie, though confused, took the envelope from him and opened it to find a letter inside. She took her time reading the letter word for word, and with every second she spent reading it, her brows creased. By the time she was done, there was a frown so deep on her face that she looked at her uncle with questioning eyes.
"We can't refuse him," the old man said before Marie could fully comprehend what she had just read. His face was marred with worry, anxiety, and fear — but Marie couldn't care about that now.
What kind of sick joke was this? Marriage? All of a sudden? That too, through a letter? What idiot thought it was wise to pull this kind of joke?
She couldn't stop herself from rereading the letter, just to be sure she had read it right. And after reading the same message for the third time, Marie flipped.
"Who sent this?"
With his old eyes glistening with tears, her uncle repeated,
"We can't refuse him… Nicholas Thorne… we can't refuse him," the old man kept saying.
That night, Marie became engaged to marry Nicholas Thorne — a man whose existence she had just found out about.