The office of Steve and Elisa was located on the first floor of the administrative building, right next to the factory. It was their shared space, where the scent of fresh coffee mingled with the aroma of new blueprints. By now, it was impossible to imagine them apart; they worked as a single mechanism, complementing each other in every gesture.
At the back of the office, a small door led to a cozy courtyard. There, beneath the shade of a spreading ornamental fir tree that Steve had planted with his own hands, stood a wide wooden bench. This had become their sacred place. In the silence, Elisa would speak in a low voice about the customs and traditions of her distant homeland, Marionis. In these moments, they forgot about Torsken and their enemies, completely dissolving into each other's presence.
— You know, Steve, — Elisa said, leaning against his shoulder as she gazed at the soft needles of the fir. — In Marionis, the trees sing when someone with a pure heart passes by. Your tree is silent, but I can feel that it loves you.
Steve smiled and pulled her closer.
— Everything here loves you, Elisa. Even these old walls.
One of Steve's favorite activities during rare moments of rest was working through the archives. He had brought an old, time-worn box of letters and journals from his aunt's house. He was particularly intrigued by the identity of a postman named Hall—a man who seemed unremarkable, yet whose name constantly surfaced in the history of this region.
— What do we know about him? — Steve mused, sifting through the yellowed pages in the office. — A lonely man who fell in love with a rich man's daughter and, according to rumors, lost his mind. They said he discovered an invisible world… Wait!
Steve froze, scanning the uneven lines.
— This is Marionis! It turns out the postman was the son of an unknown woman. She had come from the forest, exhausted and weary. Her name was Ragneya!
Elisa sat bolt upright, her eyes widening.
— Ragneya? Oh my God, Steve! In my family's chronicles, there is a story about my great-grandmother's sister named Ragneya. She vanished in the forest while fleeing from conspirators. We thought she had perished!
— Read further! — Steve handed her the letter. — "Ragneya was not of this world; her beauty was both frightening and breathtaking..."
— Steve, do you understand? — Elisa's voice trembled with emotion. — Your postman Hall is the son of a Princess of Marionis! Ragneya fell in love with a human and became pregnant. Her royal parents were against a union with a mere mortal, so she fled. She was found by bandits, she suffered, and then a hunter saved her… but he was killed. That means Hall is our kin! We are linked by the blood of the ancient rulers of Marionis!
Steve quickly found another letter, addressed to Stella, the wealthy man's daughter.
"Stella, my dearest! I must see you. Meet me at our place by the stream. My heart can no longer remain silent."
— They loved each other, — Elisa whispered, wiping a stray tear. — Tell me, what happened next?
Steve opened Stella's diary and began to read aloud. Their voices merged, reconstructing events from a century ago.
— "Hall looked terrible," Steve read, taking on the role for Stella's sake. — "His face expressed such grief that it frightened me. I asked, 'Hall, will you come tomorrow?' And he replied, 'No, my dear, sweet Stella. I will not come now.'"
— "But why?" — Elisa picked up Stella's part, her voice filling with sorrow.
— "Another postman will come to you now."
— "And you?"
— "What about me?" — Steve's voice as Hall became even more pitiful. — "I never had a home, never had friends. In your house, I found everything I was looking for. I am so sorry that it all ended this way."
— "Will there never be our cheerful conversations again?"
— "Yes, sweet Stella, goodbye!"
— "Will there never be our fun games?"
— "Neither our favorite games, nor our laughter…"
— "But why, Hall?"
— "If I tell you, I will only break your heart even more."
— "Tell me, what happened?"
— "Because I love you!"
— "What, Hall… are you serious?"
— "I see. You do not take my words seriously."
— "Why do you say that?" — Elisa's voice trembled as tears rolled down her cheeks like a miniature mountain stream.
— "Because to everyone, I am a worthless, failed postman. 'Mad Hall,' they all call me. Perhaps they are right! I am not worthy of living among clever, bright people. I am not worthy of you."
— "But you are not like that, I know you well!" — Stella tried to wipe her tears, but they would not stop.
— "The most precious things I had, besides my mother, were only you, Stella! The heavens took her from me, and now I have lost you too! Now I have no reason to live in this world…"
— "But why do you want to leave?" — Stella asked. — "Why don't you want to fight?"
— "Boys fight in beautiful fairy tales, but in the real world, it is not so. I am not a prince or a warrior. I am a wandering, mad postman. In the eyes of people, I am absolutely nobody! In my difficult moments, everyone will reject me."
— "I do not think so!"
— "Why?"
— "Because I love you too! I realize now that it is not you who must fight, but I!" — Stella covered her face with her hands. — "I only now understand that everything depends on me. Otherwise, I will lose you."
— "Stella…"
— "I know you are a worthless postman!" — Stella embraced him. — "I don't care about that. I care about our love! I want to go away with you! Take me with you!"
— "And what about your parents, your engagement?"
— "My parents will be fine. If I stay with them, I don't know what will happen to our love. People might trample it! As for the engagement, to hell with it!"
— "My Stella!" — Steve read as Hall kissed his beautiful Stella. — "We shall flee to Marionis together!"
— My goodness, what a beautiful love! — Elisa wiped away her own tears.
— Come to me, my love, — Steve said, taking the girl onto his lap. They kissed each other deeply.
— This story has moved me so much, — Elisa whispered. — I want to find everything related to them with you.
Holding his beauty with one hand and the papers with the other, Steve opened one more letter, addressed from Stella's mother to her own mother.
"Dear Mother, everything is well with us! I will visit you soon. Stella and I are raising her son by the postman. We named him Dex..."
Steve practically leaped from his seat, nearly dropping Elisa.
— What?! Elisa! Dex is my direct ancestor! I am a descendant of Hall and Stella!
Elisa froze, and then a radiant smile lit up her face.
— Steve… you are not just a man. In your veins flows the blood of heroes and the royalty of Marionis! Our great-grandmothers were sisters! All of Marionis mourned Ragneya for decades. Her disappearance broke the King's heart. The throne passed to my branch, but your branch is the elder one!
She embraced him tightly, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride.
— We are not just lovers. We are the return of a legend. Two stars that have finally met after centuries.
Steve stood tall, his gaze turning to steel.
— Everything has fallen into place. The enemies of Marionis are my personal enemies now. I give my word of honor: I will uncover all the secrets of our family. I, the descendant of Princess Ragneya, the noble Hall, and the great Dex, will find those responsible and destroy them!
— And I, Princess Elisa, will be with you until the end! — she proclaimed, the power of a true ruler sounding in her voice. — Our love is not an accident; it is the continuation of history. We are the Prince and Princess of two worlds. Let our enemies tremble!
Steve embraced her, and in that embrace was a strength capable of crushing any obstacle. The descendants of Marionis had united, and this alliance was invincible.