"Shall we begin then?" Alfred asked, smiling.
"Before that, I assume the contents of our discussions would bore the young ladies. Why not let them enjoy this beautiful morning outside, perhaps with a cup of tea in hand?" Lea intervened, her voice warm but firm, "No point listening to old folks talking numbers."
"A wonderful idea, Lady Lea," Jena nodded, before turning to her daughter, "What about it, Olivia?"
Olivia looked at her mother, silent and expressionless, before getting to her feet, facing Celine and Miyanna, "If the Ladies would have me, I would be most honored."
"Certainly," Celine said, rising gracefully.
Miyanna and Sophie followed suit, prompting a moment of confusion from Celine, who glanced at her sister with a questioning look. Sophie only smiled in reply.
A weird answer, but an answer in itself.
With a sigh, regaining her composure, Celine turned towards Olivia, a smile already painted on her lips, as if born with it, "Join us, Olivia. I promise you, the tea we've prepared is to die for."
Olivia dipped her head in agreement and stepped toward them.
"We'll be off, then," Celine said to the others at the table.
"Enjoy yourselves," Lucien replied with a wave, watching as they exited the room, before turning back towards Alfred and Jena, "Now then, where were we?"
Outside, at a circular table that stood on the edge of a terrace, overlooking the gardens in front of them, four women sat on chairs just as elegantly decorated as the table itself, waiting for the maid in front of them to finish preparing the tea.
Celine placed a hand on her abdomen, moving her hand around the bump there, aimlessly thinking of her husband as she waited.
"If you do not mind my asking, how far along are you?" Olivia asked, noticing Celine's movement.
"Over twelve weeks into the pregnancy," Celine replied, her sapphire blue eyes refocusing on the reality in front of her, "It barely became visible."
"Is it difficult?" Olivia asked, honest curiosity in her voice, to the point she forgot who she was speaking with, "The pain, sickness, and all that."
"No pain really, but that sickness is overwhelming sometimes," Celine chuckled, "Especially when one thing you ate happily yesterday makes you puke today."
"Or when you wake up and suddenly you are dizzy," Miyanna sighed, "That gets me every time."
"Oh, are you pregnant as well, Lady Miyanna?" Olivia asked, surprised.
"I am about… ten weeks in, I think," Miyanna smiled, placing her hands over her belly as well.
"Do you wish for children as well, Olivia?" Celine asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Who doesn't, sister?" Sophie giggled, her golden yellow eyes looking over her sister's abdomen, "Isn't that one of the few joys in life? To be a mother? To hold your child as you watch them sleep?"
"I don't really," Olivia shook her head, "Never thought much about it."
"Really? I thought you wished for such a thing," Celine replied, surprised.
"I am curious to hear how it feels, yes," Olivia shrugged, "But I am not yet certain I wish to put my body through such a thing."
"To each their own, I guess," Sophie sighed, offering the empty cup to the maid to fill it with tea.
"Well, I was always more interested in making money, more than finding love and having a family," Olivia said, honestly.
"And yet we took you away from the meeting. We can go back if you wish," Celine replied, feeling guilty for her.
"Ah, don't worry," Olivia waved it off, "It was too important for me to have a say, all I hope is that it goes well. I am happy, however, I get to meet the wives of the man who saved me and the lives of my servants."
"Was he well?" Miyanna spoke next, looking at Olivia, "Did he look tired? Sad?"
"None," Olivia shook her head, "Although my servants were perhaps rude to him, because of all that had happened right before they came.'
"It's understandable then," Celine replied, "You can't blame someone for being afraid after the tragedy that almost happened."
"Yes, he most likely took it like that as well, as he did not seem to care," Olivia nodded, offering her cup of tea to the maid.
"Still, that was a while ago," Miyanna muttered, looking at the gardens in front of her eyes, "I wonder how and where he is now."
"I would not worry too much, sister," Celine replied, "This time, he had time to prepare, time to think and plan, and we helped as much as we could. He will be fine, no point thinking too much about it."
"Stressing would do you two more harm than good," Sophie added, "And it would not bring him back sooner either."
"Well, aren't you the sweetest thing?" Celine chuckled, pulling Sophie's cheek lightly, "Since when are you so acute in matters of love, little sister?"
Sophie's yellow eyes dug under Celine's skin, making her skin itch lightly, as she replied, "You are not the only one with lessons in such things, sister. If you do not remember, we were both taught at the same time when we were younger."
Celine shrugged, taking the cup filled with tea, bringing it to her lips, "All I remember is you sleeping through most of them."
"You had lessons in such things?" Olivia muttered, shocked by what she heard.
Somehow, it was only now that she remembered she was in the presence of Noble Blood. The beautiful weather and the casual way they were talking made her drop her guard.
A thing she did not even realize was done intentionally by none other than Celine.
"We did," Celine nodded casually, trying to keep Olivia's guard down, "To be able to control our fates, and our husbands when we feel the need to."
"What do you mean?" Olivia wondered, curious.
"Having a husband as Blanc is… rare, and most of the time you have to make do with lesser versions of men so vile you would rather not do it at all," Celine began.
"Tell me about it," Olivia scoffed. "All of this started because Blood Elna wants to ruin us, just because we refused to let him add me to the few dozen concubines he's already collecting."
"We were taught how to act in a situation where you already are one of a dozen," Sophie continued in her sister's stead, "How to take advantage of other's mistakes, how to keep yourself, and your children safe, how to gain and not lose your standing, and how to control the one who thinks has all the control."
"Roughly said, but correct," Celine giggled, her eyes on the cup of tea in front of her, "But now, with a husband like Blanc, all those lessons are… useless."
"I don't know shit about the lessons you speak of, but I agree nonetheless, hubby is nice," Miyanna added proudly, not realizing she let go of the commoner in her for just the tiniest bit.
But Olivia did not even notice, as she was lost in her own thoughts for a bit, offering Celine enough time to think about the conversation they had so far.
Luckily, everything that Olivia said matched in some way Blanc's second part of the letter he sent them, which made it easier for Celine to get a read on the woman in front of her.
However, one thing they discussed at the Concord when the letters arrived, which had yet to be mentioned by Olivia, was the topic of marriage.
"You make the man sound too good to be true," she said, "But in a way, the lessons you speak of remind me of the relation my mother and father have. He is the head of the Company, but she is the one making the decisions. She was the one who gave the final approval for our side of the meeting, and she was the one who proposed a possible marriage between Blanc and me."
"..."
There it was.
The first direct attempt at bringing that conversation forward.
Alfred's previous attempt was laughable, but Olivia, with her guard down, mentioned it in passing without realizing it, exactly what Celine wanted.
Only then did Olivia realize. Only when Miyanna was staring so deeply into her soul that she felt death draw near, did she realize what she had just mentioned.
Luckily, with a hand on her shoulder, Celine stopped Miyanna from acting up.
For she knew politics and all that such a thing involved better than she could ever hope to.
But Olivia, in her newfound panic, was faster, "I-uh… I did not mean it like that. As I said, I am not interested in marriage, nor in Blanc. Well, uh… I mean, His Lordship is an interesting person, but I plan on marrying someone only for the sake of my family, not because I wish to. And either way, he had already said that such a thing is definitely off the table if you, his wives, do not agree to it."
"Calm down, Olivia, breathe," Celine said with a smile, "I believe you."
Sophie giggled before adding, "It is foolish to think our side did not expect such a request to happen. Political marriages are more common for us than ever marrying out of love."
"W-Wait, so… does that mean you would agree to it?" Olivia asked, shocked.
Celine began laughing loudly, while Miyanna stared blankly at the woman.
The woman did not want to be married, but wished she had the option available.
Celine couldn't blame her for that, but neither would she easily agree to it.
Her husband's hand was only theirs, and they were ready to share only with those who deserved it.
And up to this point, Olivia was not deserving of it.
"No," Celine and Miyanna replied in unison.