I asked her a question that had been sitting on my tongue for a while.
"Elizabeth… are you still pure?"
She froze. No answer came out. Her hands covered her face as quiet sobs slipped through her fingers.
"I'm… I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm already tainted. My parents pushed me to marry an old man because we owed money. He did bad things to me repeatedly."
Her voice broke. Anyone could hear the pain in it. A girl her age getting pushed into that kind of life would feel ruined, even when it wasn't her fault.
If I'm being honest, I never expected her to be married already—she looked barely twenty. Then again, considering how old and rural this place was, chances were there was no such thing as a legal age here.
Not really uncommon—even in my old world, developed countries still practiced such questionable customs.
"It's okay. No one will judge you," my finger rested gently against her lips. "Your past won't change how I see you."
