I remember the pain I felt when I finally came to. I noticed that she was gone; unsurprising as it was, it still stung. All I found was a note.

Dear Zihark,

I love you, but the pressure is too much. None of the people I used to be able to rely on are willing to help me anymore. I realize I must sound like a horrible person, but that's just because I'm weak. I'm too weak to stay with you. My mother discreetly told me the other day that I'd be welcome home if I left you. I know that you said you would never dump me, and I feel terrible that I have to… but I think it would be better for both of us, if we didn't see each other anymore.

Desdemona.

I picked up the note, and I started tearing up. I didn't just tear up; I cried. I cried longer than I ever had before. I felt helpless and alone. I moved back east, although I couldn't face Daein again. In Crimea, the relations between beorc and laguz were… less cold, is what I'm willing to say.

While working in Crimea, I tried to secretly help laguz whenever I could. Somehow, I ended up working for another egalitarian mercenary, who seemed nice enough. At the same time, I met a charming young woman.

But her flaws amplified in my mind. She was a little devious, and her memory was not too great. Those were the things I knew her for the best. While we did become good friends, nothing happened beyond that.

There was also a man; a nice man, who wanted me to marry his daughter, who I met a few years later. She was sweet as honey, but she loved me, in a way that I knew I couldn't love her. Sadly enough, I had just told her how great she was, but found myself forced to reject her.

And I realized something; I didn't have to accept any girl; the commander seemed to be doing fine without a girlfriend—although, who knows? It's possible that he and his tactician were doing more than business together—I could be happy single.

I had been happy single for the seventeen years before I met her. But at that moment, all I hoped was that I could forget her.

And then… without warning, a woman came behind me, put her hands over my face, and said, "Guess who."

I could recognize her scent—as the most beautiful scent in the world. I could recognize her voice—as the most beautiful voice in the world.

"Desdemona?" I asked.

"Aw, shucks," she said. "You do remember me."

"How could I forget you?" I asked.

"Well, you don't always remember everyone you break up with," she said.

"And?" I asked. "You dumped me."

"I did what I had to do, for your sake, Zihark," she said.

"My sake?" I asked, "Didn't you dump me because you couldn't take the pressure of being in an interracial relationship?"

"That's… that's what I wrote in that note," she said. "But… it wasn't only that. The pressure of being in a relationship with you was a factor, but it wasn't the main factor."

"It… it what?" I asked. She looked at me.

"Zihark, I was pregnant… with your kid," she said.

"My kid?" I asked. "That sounds like a perfectly good reason not to dump me!" I knew I sounded angry, and really, it would have been hard not to be, given that Desdemona not only left me but also didn't tell me I was a father.

"The Branded…" she said, "Otherwise known as 'parentless'."

"I'm a parent!" I shouted, "You're a parent!"

"The parents of the Branded don't exist according to society," she said. "That's why I left you… and when I gave birth to her, I gave her up. Told the parents that I just found her lying around. But I'm sure her face reveals my maternity."

"But it shouldn't matter anymore!" I said. "Daein currently has a Branded queen. Daein."

"I realize things have gotten better," she said, "That's why I went looking for you. I still love you, Zihark. But surely, you have moved on."

"Actually…" I said.

"Come, Zihark," she said. She kissed me gently. I was so certain this was a blissful dream. But it wasn't.

"Desdemona…" I said, "Let's find our daughter."

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, "If we have a daughter, I'd like to meet her."

"Well, you are an anomaly among men," she said, "Most men would jump at the chance to avoid a child they didn't know they had."

"Well, yes, we know that I'm an anomaly," I said, my face flushing again. "That's how we fell in love in the first place."

And that night was the first good night's sleep I'd had in the past seven years.