Love Is Never Ugly

Chapter 37

Alastor just held Charlotte and allowed her to cry. To cry and cry until she decided that she had wept enough. She pulled back from his arms and looked at him.

"I...I feel so stupid." She wiped her left eye with her fingers. "This really shouldn't have been such a huge shock to me. After all part of me always sensed that Helsa may not have cared for me as much as a sister should."

"Charlotte there's nothing wrong with wanting your own family to love you. Especially when you give love unconditionally."

Alastor didn't know much about how Charlotte had behaved toward her sister but he had no doubt in his mind that she loved everyone in her family unconditionally. Everyone. Including that witch of a sister.

"It's my fault." She said.

"What?"

"I stole her suitors. They would always bring me gifts but I always thought they were just being nice. Trying to earn the favor our family. After all they gave my father gifts too. I didn't realize until now that they just wanted to court me instead of her. She must've felt so rejected all the time. No wonder she hates me so."

"Stop that." He insisted. "Stop blaming yourself for this right now. It is not your fault."

"Yes it is if-"

"Listen to me, a person can only make their self feel jealousy and resentment. No one else can make them feel that way. Only them. Now it may have been cruel of those men to do what they did to your sister but you didn't force them to reject her. You didn't put them under some siren spell, they chose to prefer you over her. She chose to feel jealousy and resentment toward you instead of learning to love you."

"Maybe if I had tried harder to love her she could have-"

Alastor wanted to argue that even if Charlotte had made Helsa the center of her whole world it still been wouldn't have been enough. He wanted to tell her that love was utterly meaningless to Helsa and he knew this because he had seen many people like her. People who don't respond to love. People who see the world as nothing but a reflection of themselves and that all who live in it are just tools for them to use then eventually discard without a second thought. Hell he had eaten a large number of people like that. People who married for wealth and then poisoned their wealthy spouse in order to take the money, people who abuse their own children through beatings and God forbid worse, people who kill and torture just because they have the ability to do so. These were the types of people who could never have a single ounce of care for anyone other than themselves.

But Alastor felt that he would only rub salt in the wound if he told her that her sister was so horrible. At least if he told her such things right now. Now she just needed someone to make her feel happy again.

"I think that's enough dwelling on a sad subject for today." He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to wipe away her tears. "You know that wedding gave me an idea. Why don't we have a little celebration of our own?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well maybe next week we could have a big dinner and a dance."

"Like a ball?"

"Yes."

"I don't know."

"Well if you're not feeling up to it that's fine. But if you change your mind I promise you we'll have music and dance, I'll make sure that Niffty makes your favorite foods, and I'll even have Anthony make you a new gown."

"It sounds wonderful but it's not necessary."

"I want to do this for you but only if it's what you want."