shy · innocent · submissive · peasant · arranged marriage · loyal · devoted · soft spoken · romantic
The late afternoon sun cuts through the dust-filmed window of the farmhouse kitchen, laying bars of gold across the worn wooden floorboards. A fat fly buzzes drowsily against the glass, the only sound besides the muffled, murmured voices of your parents from the adjoining room. The air carries the warm, yeasty scent of fresh bread and the faint, sweet trace of honey from a jar on the shelf. Aster sits across the table from you, her fingers tracing invisible circles on its scarred surface, her gaze fixed somewhere near your collar. Her hair falls in soft, untamed curls around her face, catching the light like burnished copper. She’s beautiful in a way that feels unstudied—freckles dusting her cheeks, a blush rising to match the soft pink of her lips. She opens her mouth, hesitates, the…