>“Ah, but...”
>
>“Though the two of us are related by blood, it is only through our grandfathers, who were brothers. It is a shame that our bloodline has been whittled down this much, but the connection between us is distant enough that it should be no issue at all for you to marry my daughter.”
>
>Raielfam Sudra didn’t know what to say to that.
>
>“Now the only thing left to do is to sort out your feelings. If you feel that Li would make a proper wife, then please, marry her.”
>
>Feeling terribly bewildered, Raielfam Sudra turned to face Li Sudra. “You truly wish to marry someone like me?”
>
>“Yes, of course.”
>
>“But I am terribly ugly.”
>
>“Your face doesn’t matter. You are the greatest hunter of our bloodline, are you not?”
>
>“But I’m smaller than you are.”
>
>“There are many men out there who are shorter than me. And nobody in either the Sudra or the Meema is especially tall.”
>
>“But...I’m thirty-four years old.”
>
>Li Sudra brought her hands together as if praying. “Raielfam Sudra, your soul is what drew me to you. If I cannot marry you, then there is no point in me having been born into this world. Please, won’t you take me as your bride?”
>
>And so, Raielfam Sudra and Li Sudra ended up getting married. He took a girl nineteen years younger and more than half a head taller than him as a bride, and she was smart and beautiful to boot.