I stepped out of the house the next morning, yawning.
And the first thing I noticed were the looks.
Villagers going about their morning routines, carrying water, heading to the fields, kept glancing my way with knowing smiles and barely-suppressed amusement.
A few whispered to each other behind their hands when they thought I wasn't looking.
I ignored them and started walking toward the less crowded outskirts of the village.
That's when I heard it.
"Heard he got down on one knee right there at dinner—"
"No, no, the chief got down on one knee and begged him to marry her—"
"That's not what I heard! Apparently she confessed to him first and he was so moved he proposed immediately—"
I sighed deeply.
The rumors had spread.
Of course it had. This was a small village where entertainment was scarce and gossip traveled faster than wildfire.
By tomorrow, there'd probably be different versions of the story, each more elaborate than the last.
