Early in the morning, Siora and her mother went to the market, which was quite far from their village. It took an hour and a half to pedal an old bicycle to get to the market.
Siora rode on her mum's back, not caring when others laughed at her. Humans who have no heart even feel happy if they see their neighbours struggling and experiencing sadness.
Siora was tired and exhausted, but eventually they arrived at the biggest market in the district.
"Drink first," Solana said, handing her a bottle of water she had brought from home.
Without saying anything, the exhausted Siora gulped down half the bottle of water her mother gave her.
"I hope it's real gold, Mum."
"I hope it's our luck," Solana said hopefully.
The mother and daughter started looking for a gold shop in the market, as they had never bought gold before. Siora also asked the parking attendant there.
After a lot of searching, they finally found a gold shop. Siora immediately offered her gold that was the size of an irregular marble.
"Please wait a moment, Miss. We have to check this first," said the shopkeeper who was usually called Mr Gery.
Siora said yes, hoping in her heart that the gold was real gold because her two younger siblings were waiting at home hungry.
After waiting for a while, Mr Gery came out with a friendly smile.
"This is pure and old gold. It weighs twelve grams, you can see this," Mr Gery said while showing his gold scales, "One gram is valued at 940,000 rupiah, that means the total amount of money is 11,280,000 rupiah."
(Let's just say that's how much the gold is worth)
Siora and Solana were shocked to hear this, they had never held so much money as their mother.
"Are you serious, sir?" asked an incredulous Siora.
"Yes, that's right. But if I may know, where did you get this raw gold?" asked a curious Mr Gery.
"It was left by my grandmom," Siora lied.
Solana remained silent, there was no way they could tell the origin of the gold. Mr Gery immediately paid some money to Siora which made Siora hold back her tears because she was happy.
After getting the money, Siora immediately put it away because she was afraid of being robbed. She only took out a few sheets to shop.
"Mum, we can finally eat well," said a happy Siora.
Solana shed tears, at least their family had hope of eating. The mother and daughter went shopping for groceries such as rice and other items. Those who never ate meat immediately bought chicken and fish. After shopping, the mother and daughter decided to go home.
The tired body was gone when Siora saw her mother's bright smile.
On the way home, Solana said she wanted to cook fried chicken and fish soup for her three children. Solana felt very sure that the gold was a form of God's love for their fate.
Just like leaving, an hour and a half had passed and they finally arrived home.
Neighbours who saw the two of them carrying home a large number of plastic bags, immediately curious peeked from the terrace of the house.
"Woah, you bought so much, where did you get the money?" asked Marina, feeling envious.
"Wherever you get the money, it has nothing to do with you, Marina." Said a displeased Solana.
"Wow, just spending that much is already arrogant to death. Usually crying from hunger, huh?" she insulted as usual.
"I'll take your words to heart," said Siora with a sharp look in her eyes.
"Sis, never mind. Let's go inside!" said Neia who was helping her mother unload the groceries from the handlebar of an old bicycle full of black plastic hangers.
Maylin, who saw her mother and sister carrying a lot of groceries, immediately opened the contents of the groceries.
"We're finally eating chicken," said the fifteen-year-old girl.
"Be grateful," Solana reminded her daughter.
"Mum and Siora take a break, let Neia and I do the cooking."
"Come on, I'll help," said Solana.
"Mum, you must be tired, just rest." Maylin said.
"No, I'm not tired." replied Solana who immediately went to the kitchen.
Solana and her two children went straight to the kitchen to cook while Siora excused herself to pay the electricity bill that had been disconnected for a long time. Tonight they would not sleep in the dark again.
***
Night came, somehow the village was very quiet when it was usually crowded, especially since Siora's house was on the side of the road. The drizzling rain had been falling since the afternoon soaked the earth, after dinner Solana, Neia, and Maylin had fallen asleep while Siora could not sleep.
A strong gust of wind slightly shook Siora's house, giving her goosebumps for no reason. Siora began to feel that something strange was happening tonight because her chest felt very pounding.
"Siora…" called a voice from outside the room. His voice sounded very soft, touching Siora's heart.
She knew very well who the owner of this voice was, "Axe…" Siora said from the doorway.
"Come, come with me, aren't we getting married tonight?" Axe replied softly.
"Does it have to be tonight? Isn't it too soon? What if my mum and sister wake up? They'll definitely be looking for me." Siora was worried.
"They won't wake up, trust me," Axe replied, "But if you're not ready yet, I'll wait for you. I love you, Siora," there was no disappointment in Axe and his answer made Siora grateful inwardly.
"But I miss you, do you want to come to my place?" Axe asked again while holding out his hand.
Siora nodded, he approached Axe and then accepted Axe's hand. The two of them stepped towards the back door, behind a puff of white smoke, Axe and Siora disappeared.
In an instant Siora had moved to another realm, the woman was surprised when she saw Axe's palace which was already crowded with people and even lots of food treats. Music accompanied Siora's arrival, two maids brought Siora into one of the rooms to change clothes.
"Why is it so crowded?" Siora asked confused, "Yesterday this palace was so quiet, there were only a few servants seen,"
"That's because today is our wedding day. They have all prepared to welcome my Queen. But you asked for time yourself, so let's ignore what you see right now," Axe replied as he took Siora's hand for a gentle kiss.
"Am I really doing this?" asked Siora silently, "Axe is very kind and understanding to me, I'm more comfortable when I'm by Axe's side. But the truth is that it only took me a few days,"
"All the miracles that came after my sadness seemed so fast and confused me,"
Axe smiled at Siora's heart. The king wasn't angry because he knew that Siora's decision was already made to marry Axe, even though they were of different nature and kind.
Axe could understand that his woman needed time for her peace of mind.