Chapter 53- Maira’s Inferiority

The room was dim.

Muted streaks of daylight slipped through the gaps in the old wooden shutters, casting faint patterns over the walls.

Dust hung motionless in the silence, save for the muffled tremor that came from beneath the bedsheet bundled in the far corner of the mattress.

Maira lay curled, her body hidden under the faded cover, as if trying to disappear into the fabric itself. But the trembles betrayed her.

So did the soundless, choking sobs that escaped with every breath.

Her knees were drawn to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around them, as if she was trying to hold herself together—physically, emotionally.

But she was breaking.

Her body flinched again—sudden, violent, like a heart punched from the inside.

A fresh wave of tears soaked the edge of the bedsheet near her cheek, where her face pressed against the fabric, muffling every sound she didn’t want the world to hear.

But the pain... it pulsed louder than anything.

She had heard everything.

Everything.

Last night, she had stood outside the very door that now guarded her grief. One hand raised... almost knocking. Almost brave enough to interrupt, to speak.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she listened to everything after Asperia pulled Vex back into the room.

To the breathless moans.

To the creaking wood.

To the rhythm of two bodies moving in a way that needed no words—no explanations.

She had always imagined him wild, maybe cruel—the way he killed those evil men, but somewhere deep inside, hers.

That one day... maybe. If she gave everything.

If she proved herself. If she stayed close enough, long enough.

She’d seen the way he glanced at her, sometimes.

How he saved her. How his voice changed slightly around her. It was foolish, childish even—but she’d fed on those little sparks, letting them grow into something dangerous.

A dream.

A silent hope.

But outside that door... it all shattered.

And the worst part?

It wasn’t just the fact he’d slept with someone.

It was who.

Asperia.

The princess.

Confident. Possessing Everything. Wise. Walking Fairy. She’s just the kind of woman who belongs with a man like Vex.

Maira’s hand tightened against her thigh beneath the sheet, fingernails digging into her own skin.

’I’m nothing like her.’

She was soft. Frail. Poor. A village girl who didn’t even have shoes until last year. What did she have that could compare to a princess? To that strength? That grace?

She couldn’t even protect her own sister.

She couldn’t speak up when she wanted to.

She couldn’t walk into a room without lowering her eyes.

The thought clawed through her chest again, ripping deeper—

’Of course he didn’t see me. Of course I was just a burden to be protected once, not someone to stay beside him.’

And yet...

Even knowing that...

Even as she sobbed and curled tighter under the weight of it all, some piece of her heart—wounded and pathetic—still clung to that one small thread.

’Maybe... I could’ve loved him more.’

Maybe her heart was clumsier. Maybe her hands weaker. But she would’ve given him everything. Every broken piece. Every ounce of courage she’d ever gathered.

She would’ve followed him into fire. Would’ve stood behind him, even if he never turned back to look.

’Was that not enough?’

"Hic...sob...n-no.." Her tears came faster now. Her breath hitched painfully as another tremor passed through her.

And then...

Then the coins.

That final moment.

Like the world laughing at her illusion.

Gold.

So much of it. Dropped like scraps onto the table. Each coin glittering with a message:

You are nothing. You have nothing. You mean nothing.

She had never hated herself more than in that moment.

Never hated her own worthlessness more than when she saw how rich he was. How powerful. Untouchable.

How kind, even in the way he ruined her.

Because he hadn’t done it to hurt her.

He had done it because he didn’t know she could be hurt that way.

And somehow, that made it worse.

Her breath caught again, chest spasming with silent grief.

’I shouldn’t have felt this way.’

’I shouldn’t have hoped.’

She buried her face deeper into the pillow, the sheets soaking in her despair, shaking, aching, silently wishing she had never met him.

But even now...

Even now, her heart betrayed her.

Because if he walked in that door—

If he just held out his hand—

She didn’t know if she had the strength to say no.

"Hic...n-no, don’t hope...Please.."

Thud

"Fuck, ow, that was definitely not a good idea."

The voice broke the silence like a rock through glass.

Maira flinched beneath the sheet.

She knew that voice. She knew that laugh—rough and lazy, even when it was half-whispered through a hiss of pain. The same voice that had haunted her thoughts all night.

The one she had dreamed of curling around her like a whisper in the dark.

Her heart lurched, panicked, confused.

The window creaked behind her. Footsteps shuffled against the wooden floor. A faint grunt followed, like someone brushing dust off themselves.

Then—

"...Maira?"

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Please.

Just go away.

She didn’t want to be seen like this. Not by him.

"Oi," Vex’s voice again, light, testing, with a note of his usual mocking grin. "You hiding in there like a dying squirrel or something?"

She didn’t answer.

Didn’t move.

But her breath shook, and that was enough. He heard it.

"...Hey," he said, quieter now. "Are you crying?"

The teasing tone dropped. She felt his steps pause, the floor holding its breath with her.

A long silence.

Then slowly—carefully—his weight shifted again, foot by foot, until he was closer. She could almost feel his shadow crossing her from behind the bedsheet.

"Maira..." his voice was lower now, gentle. Not his usual casual, cocky drawl. It was... unsure. "...Was it something I said?"

That was the worst part. The genuine confusion in his voice.

Like he didn’t know.

Like he didn’t understand why she was breaking.

A tear slid from her eye and landed warm on her lip.

"You... don’t have to act like this," she whispered, muffled into the pillow.

His footsteps stopped.

"Like what?" he asked.

She turned, just slightly—just enough to peek at him through the damp fabric. Her teary eyes met his startled gold ones, and for a second, the world stopped.

She hated him in that moment.

And she loved him more than ever.

"...Like you care."

That sentence hurt to say. It burned.

Because a part of her wanted him to care. So much it made her ache.

Vex blinked, his cocky smirk flickering, gone like a candle blown out.

"What the hell does that mean?" he muttered, confused. "Of course I—"

"No, you don’t." Her voice cracked. "You just think I’m some little girl you saved. That I cry because I’m weak. That I’ll follow you around like a puppy no matter what."

He frowned. "Maira, what are you—?"

"I heard you." Her voice broke into a sob. "Last night. I heard everything."

The words hit him like a slap.

His face changed.

He didn’t speak.

Just stared.

And somehow, that silence was worse than anything he could’ve said.

"I was outside the door," she whispered, voice trembling. "I thought... maybe if I knocked, you’d come out. Maybe you’d... maybe you’d look at me the way you looked at her. Just once. But..."