Her mother's frail voice carried a single wish—to see Nina married, to know she wouldn't be alone before it was too late.
It wasn't a demand, but it might as well have been. Nina could never deny the people she loved most.
At first, they sought someone from their own race, someone who shared their traditions and understood their ways. But life wasn't that simple. There was no one nearby in a little town in the outskirts, and with time slipping away, they turned to a human family with a son also in need of a match.
It wasn't perfect, but it was something.
I could imagine Nina's fury when they first told her. She would've fought it, her voice sharp, her protests unwavering. But when her mother's health worsened—when she saw the hope and desperation in her parents' eyes—something in her must have cracked.
