Prologue

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I had always known that an arranged marriage was in my future. It was just how things were done, how they had been done for centuries. My mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother: all of them married as per the will of their parents, not out of love. I had never really thought about a love marriage as a possibility for my future; it simply was never done. I would be bringing shame to my family if I was even seen hugging a male who wasn’t an immediate relative. But I was okay with that. I trusted my parents to make the right decision for me. They were happy enough together, as my grandparents had been, even if they had not lain eyes upon one another before marriage. I would just have to maintain trust in their judgment, trust that they would find someone that would support me as a husband should, one that I would be able to grow to love.

I had always had this mentality since I was a child, and it served me well throughout middle school. While friends were having their first dates and getting their hearts broken, I threw myself completely into my education. The library and I had an amazing relationship; I would be in there every day during lunch, devouring book after book in the pleasant quietness that could be found nowhere else in the school. I read of magical castles that served as schools, of evil stepmothers, and of the kind of love that was only found in stories. Even then, I hoped that my husband would love me that much one day, that he would be the prince that I was otherwise forbidden to search for.

But I didn’t expect him to make an appearance until I was in my early twenties. I loved school, and I wanted to be the first female in my family to finish high school. My mom knew of my love for education, of my dreams of becoming a doctor, but she also warned me not to dream of too much, in fear that I would get my heart broken when those dreams may be shattered. Still, I dreamed foolishly. Dreamed of completing high school. Dreamed of going away to college and then to medical school. Dreamed of becoming a pediatrician before my parents would arrange my marriage to a wonderful prince. But all of those dreams remained just that – dreams.

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