Chapter 3 The wish

Everyone called her Asia, except her grandmother. She always called her by her full name as though shortening it was a sin.

Anastasia and Lucius have been friends since she moved from Merrow Glen to the city ten years ago, a little girl clutching an old wooden moon pendant on her neck. The other kids make fun of her, whispering about the strange new girl and her outdated trinket. She had to pretend not to care, but the pendant had grown heavier under stares, as if something unseen pressed against her chest every time people noticed it.

But Lucius had been the first to see her differently. He walked to her and lifted the bold huia-beak pendant hanging from his wrist, carved from dark wood, and smiled at her as if recognizing someone he had known before.

“Guess that makes two of us, then.” He said, smiling.

From that day, they have been inseparable – two odd souls walking through the city that never stops staring.

And tonight Anastasia had determined to celebrate it her way, without anyone telling her who she was meant to be. Lucius hailed a cab, and the cab sped toward one of the city’s finest stores.

Anastasia’s heart fluttered with excitement that barely fit inside her chest. This is her first time going into the city Mall, and she wasn’t going to spend a dime; her best friend, Lucius, had stolen his father’s card to get her all she needed.

He called it a gift. A small crime committed for his friend’s sake, but one that Anastasia feels bad about. Deep down, Lucius wanted to give her more, something that might make her forget the weight she carried, the quiet sorrow in her eyes that even laughter couldn’t erase.

It all started with a wish. Lucius had told her to make one, and he’d make it come true. So she wished for an extravagant party, even though she knew it was impossible. All her life, she had never had a party before or attended one. But Lucius promised to make it come true. Since they can't organize a party themselves because her grandmother was against it, he promised to take her to a club to celebrate her birthday instead.

And then, half-jokingly, half-achingly serious, she said she wished to see her crush, Mr. William. It wasn't something she told Lucius deliberately; it just slipped out, a piece of her heart pouring out into the air. William was the unknown face behind the company Liam & Group. A multi-trillion-dollar empire, known throughout the country and abroad. Yet no one had ever truly seen him before.

But Anastasia had seen him once, the day they moved from Merrow Glen. Earlier that day, she had gotten into a fight with one of her classmates that had caused her wooden pendant to fall from her neck. She picked it up ignorantly and slipped it back on, unaware of anything else. On her way back, the entire village was filled with visitors, influential figures in their small town. Then she saw him, a man walking with a group of men, but he stood out. Even though the men with him didn't look ordinary, he was different. He was tall and lean, broad-shouldered, his pale skin glowing faintly. His movement was imbued with a kinglike grace, and his presence felt impossibly divine.

Her eyes could not look away, even though she was still young at the time. When she heard him speak, she froze, struck silent as if she had been enchanted. But that same day, her grandmother strode up to her, grabbed her by the wrist, and whisked her away. They have left Merrow Glen since that day.

He looked like the kind of man who makes people forget how to breathe. Tall and composed, with amber eyes sharp as flint, his voice smoothing and commanding. Even in that fleeting encounter, his gaze was distant and dangerous, and the aura around him screamed both peril and divinity. Anastasia had only seen him once, yet his image lingered in her mind like a fever dream, impossible to shake.

When she told Lucius about the second wish, he smiled faintly and said, “I hope the heavens grant you that, my queen.”

“Not again,” Anastasia warned, giving him a final look. Whenever he said that, he made it sound like she held some authority over him, which made her feel awkward.

“I'm sorry”, he admitted with a helpless shrug. Sometimes, he would have spoken before he realized it. “I just can't help myself.”

She laughed it off. Seeing how Lucius felt made it hard for her to be upset, though she didn't want him to call her that because of the immense pain she used to feel; whenever he called her that, the pain she couldn't explain. Yet, a quiet part of her truly did hope the heavens would grant her wish, just as Lucius said

~~~

The store shimmered like a shrine of silk and glass. Chandeliers poured like light gold. The attendants greeted them with a polite and professional smile.

“You are welcome.” One of the attendees greets. “How may I help you?”

“We’d like a dress for her," Lucius said, pointing to Anastasia standing beside him, his voice carrying a confidence that belonged to someone older.

Anastasia's face turned to him sharply, and she smiled at the change of his tone. He was only two years older than her, yet he spoke to the attendees with such poise. Lucius shot her a sharp look as he noticed her reaction.

“This way, please,” the attendee said to Anastasia, and she followed her, as she still had the teasing look on her.

She tried several dresses. The red one made Lucius laugh.

“Oh no,” he teased. “That dress is here to collect souls. You’re not a danger sign, Asia. Beep! Beep! Beep!”

Anastasia laughed too; her laugh felt real. Lucius feels it, and that makes him smile. For a while, she forgot how it felt to be strange.

She changed to another one, a black dress, and it silenced the room. Even the attendees went still, spellbound by her beauty. Sleek, elegant, dark, like a midnight secret.

Lucius stared. “You look… dangerously beautiful, like the devil`s wife.