The bakery was quiet in the late afternoon, the scent of cinnamon and warm bread lingering in the air. Marco wiped his hands on his apron and leaned against the counter, watching the golden light spill through the window.
Carmine sat across from him, her merchant's cloak folded neatly beside her. She had come not just to check on the plan — but to talk.
"I've been thinking," she said softly. "About you. About Colden. About… everything."
Marco tilted his head. "What about?"
"You love him," Carmine said. "I see it. I feel it. But I want to understand it."
Marco smiled faintly. "It's not complicated."
She waited.
"When I was fourteen," Marco began, "maybe fifteen… I worked part-time at a brothel. Cleaning mostly. Running errands. I wasn't supposed to talk to the workers, but there was this boy."
He paused.
"He was beautiful. Not just in the way people say. He was… free. He didn't hide. He didn't flinch when people stared. He didn't care if they whispered."
Carmine listened, eyes soft.
"One day, I asked him," Marco continued. "'Why don't you care what people think? Don't you feel ashamed?'"
He smiled, remembering.
"He looked at me and said, 'I don't care. For god's sake, it's not a crime to have feelings.'"
Carmine's breath caught.
"That stuck with me," Marco said. "He told me I was lucky — lucky to know what I felt at a young age. Because some people spend their whole lives trying to forget who they are."
Carmine looked down at her hands.
"I used to feel ashamed," Marco said. "Disgusted with myself. But he made me see that love isn't something to hide. It's something to live."
Carmine blinked back tears.
"I love Colden," Marco said. "Because he sees me. Not just the good parts. All of me."
Carmine nodded slowly.
"I think I love Elaine," she whispered.
Marco looked at her.
"I didn't know it," she said. "Not really. But now… I do."
They sat in silence, the warmth of the oven humming behind them.
And something shifted.
They weren't just allies now.
They were kindred.
No longer awkward. No longer hiding.
Just two people, learning how to be whole.