Effie continued to stare at him in confusion.
"Yeah. And?"
Sunny was baffled, too.
What was this reaction?
"What do you mean, yeah? That's a serious problem, you know! How can you surrender yourself to someone else, just like that?"
Effie laughed quietly.
"That's just marriage, though?"
Sunny stared at her in complete bewilderment.
"What do you mean?"
Effie smiled and took a sip of her tea, then shrugged.
"Well, what you described simply sounds like marriage — what marriage is supposed to be, at least. Marriage is all about trust, after all. You have to
trust your partner, and they have to trust you. Naturally, nothing is absolute, and trust is not absolute either."
She leaned forward and gave him an amused look.
"But, Sunny… imagine entrusting your infant child to someone when you have to leave — defenseless, fragile,vulnerable… infinitely precious. That is what spouses all over the world do every day, and that is the level of trust they have in each other. If I trust my husband enough to surrender my son to
his care, why would I not trust him with my own life? My life seems trifling in comparison."
Effie shook her head and chuckled.
"Trusting them completely, giving them the power to influence what you do, and being at their mercy… always, and absolutely. That's just marriage. You
are supposed to surrender to the person you love — that's what love is. So, as long as the feeling is mutual, I don't see what the problem is. Not much of a conundrum, if you ask me."
Sunny just stared at her, completely stunned.
That… was definitely not a perspective he had ever considered before, or had even imagined before.
It was entirely ridiculous, bringing down his mystical existential dilemma down to earth so thoroughly that it suddenly seemed ordinary and mundane, not even worth mentioning.
As if there was no dilemma at all.
'That's just… what love is?'
Surrendering to someone...
Trusting them completely.
Sunny stared at Effie some more, then slowly shook his head.
"You're a insane woman, you know that?"
Effie scoffed.
"Oh, really? Remind me, which one of us frequents a psychiatrist?"
Sunny took a deep breath and looked down.
He really did not want to answer…
But sadly, he had to.
"...I do."
Effie nodded with satisfaction.
"Exactly, so don't go around pointing fingers at people… especially at insane people. They might bite it off."
Grinning, she raised her cup and finished her tea.
Outside, a stormy night was falling upon Mirage City.