What is there to wonder about? Does it not matter what I have to say?
Why act so high and mighty?
I do not act high nor mighty.
Don't I? My body tells one story, yet the mind says another. Oh no… the moment is not prime for me to consider the feelings of another woman. For that to even happen, I need a large bed, servants, and a feast inside the highest peak of the Imperial Castle in order to consider it the 'right' moment.
What am I talking about? Would that not be considered safe? Or was I sarcastic?
Am I dumb all of a sudden, or what? Of course, I was sarcastic. Of course, it would be safe. But it is not required. Haaah… Celine might be right after all. I know jackshit in matters of the heart. She considered it, yet I do not. Wasn't I trusting her?
By the Vita, I must be going mad after all. What does my trust in Celine have to do with all of this? Miyanna kissed me without my knowledge.
So what? Would I have stopped it?
Of course, I would have.
Bullshit.
Not bullshit, truth.
So, let me understand. If Miyanna dares to kiss us again, will I stop it? If things get out of hand, will I really be able to stop it? Or at least pretend to want to stop it?
I would and I will.
I am arguing with myself. I think I know better than to try to lie to myself. Look at me, my heart is beating like that of a rabbit's. I wish for it to happen. I might even pray for it at this point.
Stop it.
No. I need to at least not try to fool myself. How can I lie to myself and expect to tell the truth to others?
*Sigh* I'm right. I must not do that.
Then, am I finally agreeing on something with my own self?
Not quite. I will apologize to Miyanna, and we will talk like adults. I cannot worry about the feelings of yet another person now. The road is long ahead. And the dangers are just as many.
Tell that to my body. Am I to ignore the pressure as if it's not there?
The alcohol is disturbing my own thoughts with temptation. That's all.
Whatever.
Yeah, whatever.
As Blanc was arguing with his own reasoning, the two women had descended near the pool and were sitting on the bench carved in rock, where they used to dip their feet into the water.
Miyanna was looking at the water as it reflected her own distorted appearance.
"I should never have told him," Miyanna muttered, "Vita, I am fucking dumb."
"Why not? Don't you feel better with that guilt off your shoulders?" Celine asked as she splashed water around.
"No. I made the best night of my life awkward all of a sudden," Miyanna sighed.
"It became awkward because of Blanc's tongue. He did not understand what all that meant," Celine replied.
"Why did you want me to tell him?" Miyanna asked, turning her head towards her.
"Noble Bloods all have multiple partners, Miyanna. Blanc will have to as well, even if he does not want to. Especially now that his Noble Blood has fallen out of any type of power. In the past, I thought I would be able to love him more than a thousand could. And I could and will. But the truth is, he will need more even if he does not know it." Celine explained losing herself in the water around her.
"Y-you want me to?" Miyanna muttered.
"What? It's normal. My father has three wives. Lady Fiamma of Blood Seraph, the mother-in-law of Blanc's sister, has twelve husbands and eight wives herself. High Monarch Corin, Vita rest his beautiful soul, had five wives who all passed before him. There is no Noble Blood in the whole Empire that does not do it; even the rest of the mainland of the continent more or less does it, and for one simple reason."
"What reason?" Miyanna asked.
"True Vita. This is a secret of the state, but I will tell you. While Raw Vita does not pass through generations, True Vita does. Which makes True Vita congenital," began Celine, "Meaning it can be passed to one's own kids. Do you see my eyes? Those are from the True Vita that my father harvested. He received them from a Crystal Basilisk in the Surem Mountains. And it shows fluctuations in the state of a person. An amazing skill to have when you are part of the Noble Blood who guided the decisions of the High Monarch."
"But a skill doesn't make it worth it," Miyanna said.
"One no, but generations of such advantages do. My father's True Vita offers him more, but this is all that passed down to me. And it could be passed down multiple generations until it loses its effects. And that's just him. My Birth Mother, my grandparents, and all those who came before them did it, and I have benefited from all of them to some extent. Affinity to different elements of magic, strength, a longer lifespan, and much more."
Miyanna remained silent at her words.
"And so," Celine continued, "It becomes a tradition so deeply rooted that the children of Noble Bloods could be considered geniuses favored by the Vita besides the children of commoners."
"I see…" muttered Miyanna.
"That's why. We were taught young, my sisters and I, to not only agree with but to some extent wish for it," Celine began talking again. "To be attracted to women to some extent, which I think also made me aid you. But what we were taught about most was to desire strength. And how to achieve it. And Blanc now stands at the crossroads of many bad things. And can easily lose himself. He is weak of heart like that… And, in a way, it is not a bad thing, but that means more work for me. And now that his family is Vita knows where, he will have to gather strength and allies. It will be hard. And he will need to be shaped with the right clay in order to succeed."
"How?" Miyanna asked.
"Blanc is caring. He is not looking at himself first. He does everything for those he cares about. You saw that too. And while respectable, if nothing happens, he loses his purpose. So I… We need to offer that purpose to him." Celine explained.
"We? So you accepted me kissing him, and did all this, protected me all this time, for me to become what? A second wife to Blanc?" Miyanna asked.
"Miyanna dear, stop acting like it does not bring you joy, you are basically smiling at this point," said Celine, turning towards her, "And besides," she continued, putting her hand on Miyanna's cheeks, "I would not deny I did this also because I found you attractive."
"Celine…" muttered Miyanna, getting embarrassed and turning back towards facing the water.
"So? Are you interested? This might be the best time to make this step. Blanc is drunk and probably going crazy upstairs," Celine giggled.
"C-Crazy? In what way crazy?" Miyanna asked curiously, though she did not want to admit it.
Celine bit her lip at her question as she whispered in her ear, "In many ways than you can imagine. What do you say? Want to go and see for yourself?"
"I…" Miyanna thought, clearly overwhelmed by everything that had happened tonight.
"Who knows when we will have time next? The wilderness is not that comfortable, and as I am now, I can still do it. But once the baby starts growing, I will not be able to help you or have fun with you both. So, what say you, sister?"
"... Fuck." muttered Miyanna.
Blanc was still lost in thought as the two women got up the stairs, drawing his attention and making him get on his feet.
He was way drunker now than before, but still somewhat able to control himself.
"I am sorry for my earlier words," Blanc began as he got on his feet and faced the two, "Perhaps I was too ru- *hmph*" As he continued speaking, Celine drew him closer and kissed him, silencing him.
He could barely hold it in now.
"Why are you looking at me?" asked Celine, her sapphire eyes shining, as she pointed with her head towards Miyanna, who stood behind her, "To her you should apologise."
"Yes, you are right," he nodded, letting go of Celine and going towards Miyanna, "Miyanna, I-"
"Kiss me," said Miyanna, out of nowhere.
"What?" Blanc asked.
"I said, kiss me," Miyanna replied, her bronze eyes shining gold like two suns.
Blanc was stunned.
He did not plan for this.
He began turning to look at Celine for aid, but a hand on his collar stopped him and pulled him back, facing Miyanna.
"Pussy," she said, before she went in to kiss him.
The kiss was long.
Longer than Miyanna expected it to be.
Blanc was stunned for a moment when it happened, but then the barrier he was barely holding up around him fell to the ground with a loud thud inside his mind.
So he went all in on the kiss before finally letting go of her.
"I told you, didn't I?" he began as he grabbed her now by the collar of her clothes, "Not to grab me like that for your own sake, hm?"
"Her sake or yours?" Celine asked, since she saw Miyanna too stunned to speak.
Perhaps shocked by what she had just done and Blanc's reaction.
"And you…" said Blanc, going towards her, "You played with me as you pleased. I am no *hmph*" he tried arguing, but Celine just kissed him again.
And Miyanna kissed him again right after.
And again.
And again.
His mind grew numb.
"Fuck this…" said Blanc, grabbing the hands of the two and taking them towards his room, "Vita, forgive me."
And a night that promised the approaching end to their stay in the cave, one that had been filled with worry and the unknown, turned into a new beginning for all of them.
One just as, if not perhaps even more, uncertain than their lives here.
As the twins were long asleep, the adults, well… found ways to entertain themselves.
And entertain they did until the dawn was approaching, finally putting them all to sleep.
A night of gems that was.
A night of Bronze and Sapphire.
And Blanc, who saw it all.