It was the feeling of oveing every obstacle, only to be stabbed in the back by the person you love most.


    "This way, for what the master has prepared for you." A servant pulled back a curtain, revealing a collection of dresses all in a uniform light blue.


    "The master said you like blue, that it''s like your heart-still clear and pure despite all the turmoil."


    Max knew me so well. Like his mother, his devotion to love was steadfast and hereditary.


    "Try this one." I picked out a mermaid-style gown. I had always wanted to try this style.


    "You and the master think alike! He spent the most time on this design."


    The servants pped happily.


    Max could design clothes too?


    People with Asperger''s syndrome often have a touch of genius.


    After I changed into the gown and let my long hair down, the little cat came to rub against my legs again. As I bent down to pick it up, a servant gently scooped it up first.


    "The gown might get cat fur on it. The master is actually allergic to cat fur and other animal dander. He only keeps this cat because he takes allergy medication every time he gets near it. For your engagement ceremony tomorrow, let''s try to spare him from needing to take his medication."


    I didn''t argue with the servant about holding the cat. Max was just too good of a person, so good that sometimes I didn''t know how to respond.


    Just as I was thinking this, I heard a voice:


    "That will be all. Leave us."


    I saw Max''s reflection in the mirror as he walked toward me, wrapping his arms around me from behind. "ire, you are so beautiful.”


    I could feel my ears instantly grow hot, and my cheeks were visibly flushed.


    He nibbled lightly on the tip of my ear and, like he was teasing a kitten, reached out to squeeze the soft flesh at my waist. The


    measurements are a bit bigger now. You''ve lost weight this past month."


    "Max, thank you."


    I wanted to thank him from the bottom of my heart, because he always managed to


    be there for me, to understand me in such a quiet and subtle way.


    "Is this too sudden? I''ve actually been preparing for this day for a long time, I''ve always wanted to bring you back here, to have everyone bless us. It''s just that things were always too chaotic before, too tangled to sort out." Max looked at our reflections in the mirror together.


    ***


    That night, I had a dream. It was the great fire again, only this time I wasn''t inside it.


    I was outside, watching the mes rage. I wanted to save everyone, but there was nothing I could do.


    Just then, someone pulled me away from the inferno, while thousands of others rushed forward to extinguish the mes.


    My nightmare finally ended.


    The scene shifted. I was lying in a cradle, and my mother, Lenore, was singing a luby to me. Beside me was a little girl, ring at me with malice. A young boy ran over and touched my cheek. "ire, when you grow up, I''m going to marry you." Cóntent


    The little girl''s hateful re intensified. When my parents weren''t looking, she picked me up and left me at the gates of an orphanage.


    I didn''t cry. I just watched her. She said, "You stole Mom and Dad, and now you want to steal my Ss. Don''t me me for getting rid of you." She walked away without a second nce.


    I looked up at the orphanage. Wasn''t this the same one I had lived in? I saw Richard run over, pick me up, and hand me to Hannah.


    Hannah pinched me, who wasn''t crying, and I started wailing. Then, she spitefully handed me back to Richard.


    Richardforted me, his heart aching. “Don''t cry, don''t cry. Look at the twinkling stars in the sky. Aren''t they beautiful?"