Episode 7

"Papa..."

"Yes, my love?"

"I saw something that puzzled me too."

"And what was that?"

"Well, when I was gathering grapes, I heard strange noises in the vineyard."

"Perhaps an animal? I’ll have someone patrol the area."

"No, they were people, a young man and a woman."

Castiel, already presuming what it might be, tried to change the subject, but his daughter was quicker.

"The woman was screaming loudly, and the man, he was pressing his body against hers."

"DAUGHTER! Please, my blossom, let’s change the topic."

"No! Explain to me, what was happening? Why were they naked?"

"That is something only married people may do…"

"Why?"

"Ask... ask your mother; I need to review some documents until later, my sunshine."

He left the room without answering, and I found it strange, but I decided to ask Mama - maybe she knew...

...

Weeks had passed and every day without fail I sent letters to someone who didn’t even exist. Luckily, I wrote everything as if to someone I was truly in love with, because one day, I caught my mother opening my letter. When I questioned her, she merely replied that she was taking care of what I wrote, that she did it out of mere curiosity, and that she wouldn’t do it again.

And so the days, weeks, and months went by.

"*Hello dear, I hope all is well with you, I still miss you, you don't write me anymore! Today my father brought me a beautiful bouquet of yellow lilies, I had never seen such color, they are really stunning and captivating. I even tried planting some in our garden, but they all die! Mama says it's because of the soil, while Clenir says I don't have a green thumb, that's why they all perish."

"Today I saw Denis; he was suave as ever, but very upset because his parents have found him a bride. He thought it would take years and years, but in months they found a suitable wife for him. I hope he'll be happy..."

"Today Mama asked about you – they’re suspecting you don’t exist! Such slander, can you believe it?!"

I was just finishing my latest notes on the vineyards when my parents called me downstairs for a talk. I sat on the sofa across from them.

"Yes?"

...- You know, sometimes we meet someone and think they will be in our lives forever, but...well, people change, dear. They change in mind, dreams, and goals...

"That's okay."

"What your father is trying to say, darling, is that...well...this young man might have found someone in the realm where he is."

"Why do you think that?!"

"For months we've watched you send passionate letters to someone who has not responded even once, dear!"

"I already told you! He’s in a far-off kingdom to the east, for work! It takes a long time for letters to arrive."

"Five months? In five months, at least one letter should have arrived, daughter!"

"No, Mother, something might have happened."

"We think it's better for you to forget this lad. We can arrange others, right here in the realm."

"I promised I’d wait for him, and that's what I will do."

"You will do as I command, Ema!"

"Papa, please..."

"You don’t know, what if he's already married?! With children even! And here you are waiting for him!"

"Please, I want no one else; I just want him!"

For Heaven's sake! I believed this charade would last much longer, much more, now it will start all over again, I can't bear it!

"We're going to throw a courtship party for you, surely you will find the boys there to your liking."

"No! I don't want a party full of boys wooing me; I don't like it, you know that!"

"NO MORE WORDS, EMA, GO TO YOUR ROOM, AND NO LUNCH FOR YOU TODAY."

I was about to retort, but at the moment I was about to speak, it occurred to me that I might be punished, so I obeyed, climbing the stairs to my room with my pride weakened.

I need another plan!

Ema was now writing another letter, sharing her situation, her feelings of desperation, thoughts of new strategies that might work. These letters began as a means to support her lies but over time became a form of venting, like a diary, a diary in which pages were sent to someone, someone she didn't even know existed.

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