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She sat down, her legs too weak to support her. Her heart struggled with anger and love. Why hadn’t she told him? Why had she let him believe she was discarded like trash? Yusha knelt beside her again. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I came to the village in disguise because I was tired of suitors who loved the throne but not the man. I heard about a blind girl rejected by her father. I watched you from afar for weeks before proposing through your father, using the disguise of a beggar. I knew she would accept because she wanted to be rid of you.”
Tears streamed down Zainab’s cheeks. The pain of her father’s rejection mingled with disbelief that someone would go so far just to find a heart like hers. She didn’t know what to say, so she simply asked, “So what now? What happens next?”
Yusha gently took her hand. “Now you’re coming with me, to my world, to the palace.”
Her heart leaped. “But I’m blind. How can I be a princess?”
He smiled. “You already are, my princess.”
That night she barely slept. Her thoughts revolved around her father’s cruelty, Yusha’s love, and the terrifying unknown of the future. In the morning, a royal carriage arrived in front of the hut. Guards dressed in black and gold bowed to Yusha and Zainab as they stepped out. Zainab held Yusha’s arm tightly as the carriage began to move toward the palace.
When they arrived, the crowd was already gathered. They were surprised by the return of the lost prince, but even more surprised to see him with a blind girl. Yusha’s mother, the Queen, stepped forward, her eyes narrowed as she studied Zainab. But Zainab bowed respectfully. Yusha stood by her side and declared, “This is my wife, the woman I chose, the woman who saw my soul when no one else could.”
The Queen remained silent for a moment, then stepped forward and hugged Zainab. “So, she is my daughter,” she said. Zainab nearly fainted with relief. Yusha squeezed her hand and whispered, “I told you, you are safe.”
That night, as they settled into their room at the palace, Zainab stood by the window, listening to the sounds of the royal complex. Her entire life had changed in a single day. She was no longer “that thing” locked in a dark room. She was a wife, a princess, a woman who had been loved not for her body or her beauty, but for her soul. And although in that moment of peace she felt relief, something dark still lingered in her heart: the shadow of her father’s hatred. She knew the world would not accept her easily, that the court would whisper and mock her blindness, and that enemies would arise within the palace walls. Yet for the first time, she did not feel small. She felt powerful.
The next morning, she was summoned to court, where nobles and leaders had gathered. Some jeered when she entered with Yusha, but she held her head high. Then came the unexpected twist. Yusha stood before them and declared, “I will not be crowned until my wife is accepted and honored in this palace. And if she isn’t, then I will go with her.”
Murmurs filled the room. Zainab felt her heart pound as she looked at him. He had already given everything for her. “Would you give up the throne for me?” she whispered.
He looked at her with a fierce passion in his eyes. “I did it once. I’d do it again.”
The Queen stood. “So be it known, from this day forward, Zainab is not just your wife. She is Princess Zainab of the Royal House. Anyone who disrespects her disrespects the crown.”
And with those words, the room fell silent. Zainab’s heart pounded, but no longer out of fear, but out of strength. She knew her life would change, but now it would do so on her own terms. She would no longer be a shadow, but a woman who had found her place in the world. And the best part was that, for the first time, she didn’t have to be seen for her beauty. Only for the love she held in her heart.
News of Zainab’s acceptance as a princess in the royal court quickly spread throughout the kingdom. The nobles, initially puzzled by the new princess’s blindness, began to see beyond her disability. Zainab’s demonstration of dignity, strength, and, above all, unconditional love for Yusha, led many who had previously doubted to begin to respect her.
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