"But let me remind you of one thing. Lester has been by your side since childhood. He has always adored you. A match like that is rare. Don't do something you'll regret."
A rare match?
I used to believe that too. That Lester Vance was everything I could hope for.
We were promised to each other before we were born. We grew up side by side.
From the first stirrings of young love, I dreamed of growing old with him. I held that dream for ten years.
Every letter he sent from the front, I smoothed flat beneath a paperweight and tucked carefully into a box, layer upon layer.
During the worst of the fighting, when word came that he was dead, I carved both our names into a plaque of pear blossom wood. Even if he was gone, I would marry his spirit tablet.
That was how much I loved him.
And Lester?
To pave the way for Scarlett's entry into the Eastern Palace, he surrendered his command and laid down his armor.
He told me, "Norma, you've always been so understanding. I know you'll support my decision."
He asked me to give up my noble standing and follow him to the countryside to live in poverty.
When I was carrying his child, he turned around and marched back to the capital, all to prop up Scarlett's position.
I tried to stop him.
He said I had changed.
"The Norma I knew would never be this unreasonable."
I stood there, frozen.
Something cracked open in my chest, and the cold wind howled straight through.
Three years of marriage. Three years in that countryside, choking down porridge made from wild greens.
Hands that once held embroidery needles split open at the knuckles from chopping firewood.
When the kindling was too damp to catch, I got on my hands and knees and blew into the stove until tears streamed down my face.
I never once complained.
And in the end, because Scarlett whispered one word of grievance,
he blamed me.
I ran after their carriage.
I just wanted to ask what I had done wrong.
I lost my footing at the cliff's edge. Two lives gone in an instant: mine, and my unborn child's.