The news of Cliff's death had spread throughout the village. Still, only a few noble-hearted people wanted to help organize Cliff's funeral. Even his brothers and sisters did not come just because Cliff was the only brother who lived poor and destitute.
Even after the funeral was over, none of the relatives and neighbours were willing to condole with Solana and her three children.
Amid Siora's grief, Tracy and Aiden suddenly arrived.
"Here's some money from my dad; maybe you need some money to eat," Tracy said, sounding arrogant.
Without any compassion or manners, Tracy threw a thin envelope at Siora.
"Take your money back; we don't need it!" Siora refused.
"How arrogant! You feel rich already, huh? Your house is about to collapse like this, but you're so arrogant to refuse other people's gifts," Tracy said.
"Are you so arrogant that you can't respect grieving people?" Solana, who couldn't take it anymore, asked. "What's the point of you being educated and attending school all this time?"
Being commented on like that made Tracy grin, and her facial expression clearly mocked Solana.
Siora stared at Aiden with a gaze full of hatred, anger, and resentment.
"As a husband, you should be able to educate your wife so that she can be more polite to her elders," Siora said to Aiden.
Aiden looked away; he had never seen Siora's gaze like this before.
"What's the point of being polite to poor people? You people deserve to be insulted, you unselfconscious humans."
"Get lost!" Maylin shoved Tracy out of her house. "I swear to God, someday you'll be begging under our feet for food!" Maylin said with tears in her eyes.
"Haha... don't speak too highly. Once poor, you'll stay poor. Don't dream of becoming rich. The devil at the other end of the village knows you'll always be poor!" Tracy replied, not to be outdone.
"Don't say that, let's go home!" Aiden urged his wife.
Siora looked at her mother, who was wiping her tears. Tracy's insult when she was Cliff's niece was so cruel. No one cared about their grief. The worse they got, the louder others laughed at their family.
Siora's heart broke even more when she saw and heard her sister and mother's sobs. She ran backwards, more precisely to the forest, to meet Axe, who was always faithful in listening to her complaints.
"Siora," Axe called out, stopping Siora in her tracks.
This woman immediately hugged Axe, shedding her heart-wrenching tears.
'Wosh!'
The dense forest had instantly turned into a beautiful garden, but in Siora's view, this had become commonplace.
"What else makes you sad besides your father's death?" asked Axe, who apparently knew about Cliff's death.
"Because my family was so poor, there were only a few neighbours who took care of my father's funeral. I'm fine with that because I realize my family is poor, but Aiden and Tracy's arrival has hurt my mother's heart."
"They insulted you?" Axe asked, prompting Siora to answer with a nod.
"I'm tired of living in poverty, Axe," Siora complained, sobbing again.
Axe stroked Siora's hair so gently that the man looked away.
"I've fallen in love with you, Siora," Axe's words instantly transfixed Siora.
She released her embrace from Axe and wiped away the tears that were still rolling down her cheeks.
"If only you were willing to marry me, then I would give you a fortune," Axe said, making Siora surprised to hear it.
"We come from two different realms; how can we get married?"
Axe smiled, and the man looked into Siora's puffy eyes.
"Marry me, Siora. Whatever you ask for, I will grant it," Axe said as if hypnotizing Siora.
A few moments of silence, as if bewitched by Axe's treatment, good looks, and affection, made the woman answer: "Okay…" Siora replied.
Axe smiled at Siora's answer, and the man embraced Siora again.
"With me, I won't let others step on the pride of you and your family. I will help you take revenge on those who have hurt you," said Axe, holding back anger because if that anger was released, a village around the forest would disappear.
King Axe is indeed from the Tiger demon nation, but until now, Axe has never shown his true form to Siora. Axe understands that the way he is doing it is wrong, but this man has fallen in love with Siora.
Siora, who originally came with sadness, now feels happy when there is Axe, who sincerely loves her.
In Siora's view, the sky in the demon realm always looked twilight and orange, making Siora never tired of seeing the beauty of this other world.
"Siora," called Axe.
"Yes, what is it?" asked Siora.
"You've seriously answered my proposal, right?" Axe asked again, immediately receiving Siora's nod and smile. "Then tomorrow would be a good time for us to get married," he told her.
Once again, Siora only replied with a nod. Who knows what was in this woman's mind when she accepted Axe's invitation to marry even though this man was not human. In fact, Axe was exactly what she needed.
Good looks have indeed captivated Siora. Since Aiden dumped her, Axe was the only one willing to hold her in sadness.
Their embrace slowed down as time went on. Siora was surprised when Neia woke her up. This woman changed her position to sitting, and for a moment, she looked around her.
For a moment, Siora was confused. She was still in Axe's arms earlier, but why was she now under the cherry tree at the back of her house?
"Sis, why do you like sleeping under the cherry tree this late at night?" asked Neia, who was wondering.
"It's already evening?" Siora repeated her sister's words because she hadn't realized it was almost evening.
"Yes, I saw you sleeping under the cherry tree since noon," Neia answered again.
Siora gasped in shock, hearing her sister's narrative. She remembered that she ran into the forest this afternoon and met up with Axe. Even Siora remembered that Axe asked her to get married tomorrow.
"Hi, why are you two there? Come on in!" called Solana to her two children.
Siora did not answer her sister's words. She entered the house, which was still pitch black and without lighting.
She again felt how evil the residents and neighbours in this village were to them because even when she prayed for the spirit of her father, no one wanted to come.
Siora couldn't get angry or protest because her family had always been ostracised in this village.
"Soon, one week after Dad's death, I'm going to migrate,' Neia told her mother and sister.
"Don't!" said Siora disapprovingly.
"Why, Sis?" asked an astonished Neia, "If I don't go, our family will be like this."
"I said no, so just no!" said Siora firmly. I have something I want to do; just wait a little while until the time," said Siora, really confusing her mother and two younger siblings.
"If we don't work, what will we eat? All the onion and rice farmers don't want to give us jobs just because they are afraid of contracting poverty like us," said Neia, who was starting to feel annoyed.
Suddenly, Siora took out something golden yellow from her pocket. She remembered Axe giving it to her earlier.
Solana and the other two children were surprised to see a gold-coloured object the size of a marble in Siora's hand.
"Siora, where did you get it?" asked a curious Solana.
"When I went to the forest and sat under a tree, I found this thing," said Siora, lying that the gold was Axe's gift.
"Are you serious?" asked an incredulous Solana.
"I don't know if this is real, but Mum and I should go to the gold shop tomorrow to make sure," said Siora.
Maylin picked up the gold; she noticed how it sparkled in the candlelight that lit up their house.
"It looks real; who would dump gold in the forest?" asked Maylin, surprised. She never believed in the fairy tale of the Black Gold Forest, where there was treasure.
"I don't know, just consider it our fortune," replied Siora.
"It is said that before it became a forest, the place was once excited by the discovery of a gold mine. But, everyone suddenly stopped looking for gold there because the guardian there did not accept and asked for human sacrifice,"
"Since then, everyone who mined in the forest immediately returned the gold they took to avoid the wrath of the forest guardians there," Solana told the story she had heard from her own husband since Cliff was a native there.
"Sis, just give it back. I'm scared; maybe we'll be the sacrifices," said a scared Neia.
"I found it; doesn't that mean it was given to me? Never mind, don't be afraid. The forest guardian demon over there won't be mad at us just because of this piece of gold, especially since our family is poor."
"Right, let's try selling it tomorrow. Wait for a week, and if there's any trouble from the demon, we'll return the rest of the money. If nothing happens, it means this is really our fortune," said Maylin.
In the end, the family agreed to sell the marble-sized gold. They couldn't wait to have the money to buy food because their family had been fasting a lot lately.