Why me?

Elira stood in the glow of moonlight, her voice quiet but piercing through the silence.

"Then… why do you want to marry me?"

Elric turned slowly, the weight of that question evident in the slump of his shoulders, the tight line of his jaw. But he didn't look away from her this time.

"You could've chosen anyone in your kingdom. Any noblewoman. Anyone who already knew your world. Who would accept your curse without questions. So…" she took a step closer, searching his face, "why me?"

For a moment, he said nothing. His silver eyes shimmered—troubled, tired.

Then softly, he answered:

"Because the mirror chose you."

Elira blinked. "What?"

"That mirror was sealed by my ancestors," he said. "It opens only when someone bound to the curse's fate steps near it. No one has passed through it in over two hundred years… until you."

She stood frozen.

"I don't know how you're connected to it," he continued, "or what role you're meant to play. But the moment you stepped through… the curse reacted. I felt it shift."

"Shift how?"

"The night after you arrived… I transformed later than usual. And I remembered more. Things I usually lose when the beast takes over."

Elira's brows furrowed. "You think… I'm affecting the curse?"

"I think you're not here by accident," he said. "And maybe—just maybe—you're the key to stopping it."

She sat down slowly, mind spinning.

"You think marrying me will fix it?" she asked, not with sarcasm, but genuine confusion.

"I don't know," he said, voice low. "But I know the curse responds to emotion. To bonds. And I've never felt a connection like this before. Not with anyone."

Her heart skipped once. Then again.

He wasn't being dramatic.

He wasn't trying to charm her.

He was being honest.

Vulnerable.

Raw.

"And if it doesn't work?" she whispered.

"Then I lose control. Slowly. Fully. Forever."

A long pause.

She looked at him—at the man, the beast, the prince beneath it all.

"Then let me help you," she said.

His eyes widened.

She took a step closer. "I don't know what my role is yet. But I want to know. I want to understand. And if there's even a chance I can help you break this curse…" she swallowed, "then I'll try."

He stared at her for a long time. No smirk. No sarcasm. Just stunned silence.

"You'd stay… even now?"

"I'd stay for answers," she said. "And for you… if you give me the truth."

He nodded once.

Then whispered: "Then I'll give you everything I know."