HER FATHER MARRIED HER TO A BEGGAR BECAUSE SHE WAS BORN BLIND — AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED

“He’s not a beggar, Zainab. You’ve been lied to.”

Zainab staggered home, confused.
She waited until nightfall, and when Yusha returned, she asked her again—but this time firmly:

—Tell me the truth. Who are you really?

And then Yusha knelt before her, took her hands, and said:

—You weren’t supposed to know yet. But I can’t keep lying to you.

Zainab’s heart was beating strongly.

Yusha took a deep breath.

—I am not a beggar. I am the Emir’s son.

Zainab’s world began to spin.
“I am the Emir’s son.”
She tried to steady her breathing, attempting to process what she had just heard.
Every moment they had shared flashed through her mind—his kindness, his quiet strength, the vivid stories that seemed too real for a beggar.
Now she understood why.
He had never been a beggar.
Her father hadn’t married her off to a beggar—unwittingly, he had married her off to royalty disguised in rags.

She pulled her hands away, stepped back, and asked in a trembling voice:

—Why? Why did you let me believe you were a beggar?

Yusha stood up. Her voice was calm, but full of emotion:

“Because I wanted someone to see me for who I am, not for my wealth or my title.
I wanted someone pure. Someone whose love couldn’t be bought or forced.
You were everything I asked for, Zainab.”

She collapsed to the floor.
Her heart was torn between anger and love.
Why hadn’t he told her sooner?
Why had he let her think she’d been thrown away like trash?

Yusha knelt beside her again.

“I never meant to hurt you,” he said. “
I came to town in disguise because I was fed up with suitors who loved the throne but not the man.
I heard about a blind girl rejected by her own father.
I watched you from afar for weeks before asking for your hand disguised as a beggar.
I knew he would accept—because he just wanted to be rid of you.”

Tears streamed down Zainab’s cheeks.
The pain of her father’s rejection mingled with disbelief that someone could have come so far… only to find a heart like his.

I didn’t know what to say.
So I simply asked:

—And now? What will happen now?

Yusha gently took his 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.