Chapter 37 - Maya Rosenwald P12
Chapter 37 - Maya Rosenwald P12
~37.12~
*****
Later that evening, after getting Sophie some clothes to replace the rags she was wearing, then getting her plenty to eat, we ended up at one of the unused royal villas. Serah, Stella, and I had just moved into a new dorm the day before, but now here we were moving into this villa.
Lanti couldn't let us stay in her villa, even overnight, because of royal etiquette, but that didn't stop her from setting us up in another one nearby. She said we could stay there instead of the dorms if we wanted. Maya, Lena, Cel, and Chris were allowed to stay there with us, since officially Maya was publicly a noble until she finished the academy. We couldn't have a royal under the same roof, but nobles were fine.
Sometime after dark and after Sophie was in bed, I found myself walking around the garden behind the villa looking at the flowers under the moonlight. I wasn't expecting to run into anyone there, but there was one person.
A red-headed elf.
"Aira?" I said as I approached. She was standing underneath a tree where you could see her from where I was standing but nowhere else.
"Greetings, Lady Elise."
Title?
As I got closer, I noticed her expression. Her brows were furrowed, and her eyes were sharp.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, stopping about six feet from her.
"I know what you said to Rhia."
"What I said to her? Have I said something inappropriate?"
"Very."
"I've said a number of things to her, none of which I thought were inappropriate. What are you referring to?"
She held out her hand. "I don't want anyone to overhear. You're a telepath, right? You spoke to her telepathically at the party."
"I did." I took her hand. The moment my fingers touched her, I felt a strange tingle. Hmm… "What did I say that you have a problem with?"
"You promised to help her with her name. I understand that you might have some pull with royals across the continent, but you're just getting her hopes up."
"What do you mean?"
"The king is a very uncaring man. He has refused every attempt to change Rhia's name on paper. He won't even acknowledge that she has a preferred name. All of his wives and every ducal house has tried to push him to approve the name change. Your idea to pressure him with other royals won't work either. Even Lady Mabel has pressured him and he won't budge."
"I see…"
"Do you understand now? He won't budge, and getting her hopes up is only going to hurt her."
"How severe is her dysphoria?"
Aira stepped back, but held onto my hand. She clearly hadn't expected me to ask that question.
"How do you know about that? Did she tell you?"
I raised an eyebrow. Well that sounds suspicious. "It's common sense, no? Dysphoria is a mental condition caused by a mismatch. In this case, Rhia is a woman with a male birth name and suffers for it."
"Wha… okay, never mind."
"No, you thought I picked up on something."
"It's nothing."
"It's clearly not nothing. You came here tonight to confront me about getting her hopes up, then for just a moment you thought I knew more than I do. I already want to help. If there's more to it, please tell me."
She looked away and didn't answer immediately. After about twenty seconds, she finally said, "It's not my place to say."
"I think it is. I'd be willing to bet you have her permission to talk about whatever it is. You wouldn't have hesitated to answer."
She gave me an angry look. I could see the fire in her eyes. "Why?"
"What?"
"Why do you want to help her? She's a royal from another country. If you're looking to gain favors with royals-"
"I'd burn more favors than I'll gain helping her."
"Then why? It doesn't make sense. You'd never met her until two days ago. And when you offered your help, you'd met her literally less than two minutes prior! What's your game?"
"You find it suspicious that some random stranger from another country wants to help?"
"Yes! I find it very strange. I can't wrap my head around it. And what's more, I know you can't follow through on your offer to help. It won't work!"
I shook my head. "If one method doesn't work, there's always another."
"You can't be implying you'll resort to force… I know you're a blank, but you'd be making an enemy of an entire nation."
I shook my head. "No. I don't think that would be necessary in the first place, but I also won't resort to it. You're distracting the conversation from the important point. Is there a deeper issue?"
She hesitated again, but came out with it. "Rhia is transgender."
My eye widened, and I felt my mouth fall open. "You're serious?"
"Yes."
"I thought-"
"We want everyone to believe she was born female, but that's not the case. That's why her father is so adamantly against anything. He wouldn't even allow her the medication! But everyone else in the palace was on Rhia's side, and we've hidden the medication from the king for eight years."
"So she's been taking hormone medication since ten years old?"
"Yes. Puberty blockers until fifteen, and full treatment since then."
I gritted my teeth. I'm going to fix this. "Can she bear it for another couple years?"
"Getting cold feet with your offer?"
I shook my head. "No. I'm doubling down. Give me a couple of years, and I'll have a way to fix everything."
"What do you mean 'everything'?"
"Her name and any body changes she desires."
"You sound like a five-year-old."
"A five-year-old dreams of big things, but this is no dream. This is reality."
"That's what I'm saying. You can't magically fix a person's body, and you're not about to use her as a test subject."
I shook my head. "You care for Rhia greatly. Enough that you came here to tell me off about giving somebody false hope."
"I deny none of that."
"You would come out happier if I helped her, no? That's more motivation for me. If I help her, I give two girls what they want."
"Funny way to put it, but you're not wrong. I would also be happy to see her get what she wants. But why? Why go so far? What do you get out of it?"
*****
Revision: 2025-2-12