"If I was born in a different world, I would be free."
Astraea was born in a town that strongly believes in fate. The town has a legend. Every century, if two babies were born at the same time, then they are the destined ones that will be sacrifice...
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It's so weird to see many people running all around me, busy as hell because of something I'm a big part of, yet I felt like my body is the only thing that is there.
My soul was nowhere to be found.
"Oh, my!" My mom squealed again as she looked at me thoroughly. "You look like an angel! A pure, beautiful angel!" Her eyes almost teared up from the happiness that I longed to prove wrong.
Fake
Fake tears.
Here I was standing right in front of a huge mirror, wearing a long dress that could hide seven dwarfs inside it without being noticed. My shoulders were exposed to the sunlight streaming down from the window. I felt little tingles from my hair as it was done in an up-do style.
I don't want to do this anymore.
If only I wasn't born in this kind of place and family.
"He is so lucky!" My aunt said as she came to stand on my other side, holding my upper arm gently. "He is going to have such a beautiful wife in less than a year!"
Oh, how exciting!
If only the man and the whole scenario of this were different.
I was going to marry a guy who can't even answer a question. A guy that can be mistaken as a stone more than a living thing, and for what? Just because of a stupid legend this town has. Just because I was born at the same time as him.
How delightful!
They made me choose between, swallowing my pride alongside with my life and live a life that wasn't ever decided by me, or dying with a splattered name that would come out of everyone's mouth as poison.
But weren't both of these choices the same? I was born to die anyway.
I clap my hands together, standing straight, glaring at my reflection in the mirror. "I haven't even spoken to him, mom." My mom and aunt stopped giggling as they stared at me. Mom took a long breath, ready for the debate that happened almost every day.
"Again, Astraea! You have spoken to hi-"
"Yes! Two times where he didn't even acknowledge my existence and just stared at the wall behind me!" I could see her trying to hold herself back from doing anything shameful in front of my aunt.
"He probably had reasons."
"To ignore me?! Yes, and I will have reasons to dump him at the aisle-" A hand was clasped over my mouth, stopping me from continuing my sentence.
"Hush! She's coming. If she heard you, you would be staying in the cold for days!" Mom's words came as a harsh whisper.
I wanted to scream but I held it in. She was right. If I continued raising my voice and she heard me, she would throw me outside the house for days, praying that the gods would bless me with some sense.
Even though that sense should be slammed right into her head.
A knock came from the door. Mom's eyes widened as she stood straighter, standing near my aunt, that I totally forgot about.
A girl, almost my age, entered the room slowly, before bowing down her head a little bit, "Madam, Lady Sal is here." I have never understood where her accent came from, she is the only one in the whole household that had this kind of accent.
In our town, nobody was allowed to go outside the said lines, only if they had a death wish. For that, all of our town's citizens had almost the same traditions, so it was weird to find people talking in different accents or doing something that was unfamiliar to our town.
"Of course, let her in!" I snapped out of my zone, remembering that the monster's steps were getting louder as she walked toward this room.
The doors opened widely as an old lady walked in.
Everyone held their breaths, one wrong move and that meant punishment, and Lady Sal's punishments were no joke. She was shorter than most of us but had the gaze of a lion and words of a snake.
"W-w-what a great coincidence to see you here, Lady!" Mom stuttered a little as she tried to collect back her posture and confidence.
"It's not a coincidence, you knew I would be here all along." She gave my mom a pathetic glance before dragging her eyes back to me. "Hmm, not bad." She muttered, yet her voice rang throughout the room. I felt the lake of oxygen. "You should be proud." She started walking slowly toward me. "After all, you are the first bride of destiny after such a long time." She touched a fallen strand of hair, smiling a little bit, yet her smile wasn't comforting at all.
"Yeah, What a great honor." If I wasn't frozen in my place, I would have noticed how my throat became so dry and how my voice became so small.
She nodded in approval. "People who know their place, are great people. That's an extra point for you. Take care of it." For a second the whole place felt so cold. Her eyes sharpened like a cat and her smile turned into an evil grin. With every second passing by, I felt my knees almost giving out but I still held my place.
Yes, I was scared. But I still had some pride and I wasn't going to lose it because of some words.
"Yes, my lady." In a flash, the whole tense atmosphere disappeared and she just smiled sweetly at me as if nothing happened before, turning around and leaving me standing there.
I could hear my mom and aunts relieved sighs, and a smile grew on their faces.
"Isn't she amazing? With just words she can make us all stand on our toes." Mom laughed lightly in admiration.
I had never understood how mom could admire such a woman as Lady Sal. She was scary, powerful, and held a grudge like no other. But in our town, everyone looked up to her like a god, and yes, maybe the legends were true. Maybe, she was really sent from heaven to help our town, but then again, if I had to choose to live with her or dying out of something I didn't know, I would choose the latter.
"Anyway, let's get you out of this dress. After tomorrow you have school, you need to prepare."
"Yes, mother," I said with a deep sigh.
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"I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die,
