§
The awkwardness was almost overwhelming after my companions woke. I had already slipped out of Mireia’s hug and into my yukata before that, but with none of their items in reach, the other two needed me to retrieve their clothing for them.
We all kept our backs to each other while they put things on, without anyone saying a word until Mireia shyly declared, “It’s okay to look now.”
Once facing each other again, nobody was really looking anyone in the eye. They both did send curious glances occasionally toward my tummy, so I finally broke the ice by going over to Rod first and kissing him on the cheek.
Holding my surprised fiancé’s hands in mine, I told him, “With your help, our babies are now out of danger, and are now safe and sound, inside me. Thank you, Rod.”
I could say that for certain because, unlike a mortal, a being like myself can sense her children, even at this stage. I could see how Mother hadn’t noticed her new daughter at first, because I had to concentrate at this stage to detect them, only a couple weeks beyond fertilization, but their spirits were distinct, even at this stage, and one of them was clearly Mother.
He nodded, with complicated feelings wrinkling his brow slightly. I smiled, kissed the other cheek, then moved over to Mireia, taking her hands in mine and kissing her cheek as well.
“And thank you for lending us your womb, Mir,” I told her. “These babies began inside you, and they will always be your daughters too.”
We shared an awkward breakfast on the tatami platform while I listened to whispers between the staff about how the three of us had spent the night. Our behavior now was simply confirming to everyone that we had done what we did, but the weird thing was, they weren’t scandalized.
If anything, they sounded relieved, because I had done the sort of thing Mother and Owen did on occasion. In their case, the third party would be a favored courtesan, it seemed.
They were happy to see me behaving more like Mother than like Father. Well, in this world, under the influence of fairies and benign, civilized monsters like succubi and vampires, the morals definitely take a different shape at times, so aristocrats weren’t expected to keep perfectly monogamous relationships.
The only problem was, they were quickly getting the wrong idea about Mireia. She had been something of a mystery to the staff since our arrival. They were now landing on the idea that she must be a prostitute in either Rod’s or my employ.
Okay, that wasn’t totally wrong, since one could think of a concubine as an official, aristocratic prostitute on a long contract job. But it wasn’t right either. It is more correct to see a concubine as a second-tier wife, especially considering she is protected for life by her master’s legal obligations to her, mirroring the marital obligations of a husband and wife to each other. And of course, Mireia couldn’t become Rod’s concubine officially until after our wedding.
Because of this, I called Genette closer during our meal and asked her, with enough volume that other maids could hear, “How are the arrangements for Miss Mireia coming along?”
“Sir Makit promised to have two maids selected for her today, My Lady,” Genette dutifully reported. “However, appropriate quarters are an issue. Until you take over the Ducal Apartments, we have nowhere to put her, because the guest quarters are all in use. He wants to know if you would prefer she continue staying in the servants quarters, or if perhaps, you prefer she should move in with either you or His Royal Highness?”
I heard a bit of unnecessary whispering in the background. Genette’s lupine ears were picking it up too; I saw her eyes twinkling and the corner of her mouth twitching with mirth.
I glanced over to see Mireia turning apple red, but that was fine. It was time to get her used to it.
“She’ll receive this suite once I relocate to the Ducal Apartments, so she might as well move in now,” I announced.
Rather than more whispers, that declaration received stunned silence. Of course, my suite had only one bedroom, so I realized that this had been a declaration that Mireia would be sleeping with me from now on. Even Genette’s eyes grew slightly.
With my cheeks coloring as well, I bulled past it by raising my chin a bit and announcing, “She’s precious both to myself and my fiancé. Is there any issue?”
Genette recovered and noted, “Naturally, there is no issue, My Lady. However, may I be permitted to offer advice?”
“Of course,” I nodded.
“It might be best to make an announcement concerning Miss Mireia’s position, to remove any confusion, My Lady. There are some unfortunate rumors circulating about her.”
“I see,” I replied, then looked over to my breakfast companions.
Rod was wearing a wry smile while looking at the now cherry-red Mireia. He noticed my glance and answered, “An official announcement isn’t appropriate until after our wedding, Ti. But you can control the rumors with a private statement to your staff.”
“You want me to make the statement, or do you want to make it yourself?”
“It’s your castle, Ti. I’m just a guest here. And I think it would work better, coming from you.”
I was suspicious he was just passing the buck back to me, but he was probably right. Coming from him, it might be heard as the Royal Prince disrespecting his spouse and forcing his mistress into her life. They needed to hear my acceptance… or rather, my approval of the arrangement.
My cheeks growing warmer, I turned back to Genette, steeled my nerves and declared, “Pass this word, and have Sir Makit do the same. After our marriage, Miss Mireia will become the Royal Concubine Lady Mireia, with her master being the Royal Prince. Lady Tiana expects the staff to accord her now the respect she will be due when she is officially installed in that position. She is also my precious friend, so I am very pleased to share my bed with her.”
I was just about ready to melt by the end of that, but if it was transmitted clearly to everyone on the staff, it would benefit both Mireia’s image and mine. I mean, if I didn’t clear up the ‘prostitute’ rumor quick, she might very well have guys approaching her for side jobs, so improving her image was vital. As for myself…
Well, it would be better for them to see me as a fairy than as a vampire, I figured. I would much rather have the maids nervous that I was going to make a pass at them than fearing that I would attack them for blood.
Genette looked like she was going to burst out in laughter, and I flashed her a warning glare. Her eyes still twinkling, she nodded and bowed instead.
“Certainly, My Lady. I shall pass the word.”
I heard very little whispering after that. I don’t think anyone anticipated the ‘royal concubine’ angle.
§
The morning passed with a weird and melancholy feeling that I couldn’t quite shake off. It had a couple components to it. I had lost my maidenhood, after all. That was something the old Tiana had resolved to keep until her wedding night, and I hadn’t kept her promise to herself. I consoled those thoughts of hers that kept bubbling up inside me by reminding her that giving up her virginity had saved her mother’s life.
Okay, they were my thoughts, springing from her memories inside me, but the regrets were real.
But the other component to my sadness was the final reality that Mother was truly gone. It had been diluted before by the fact that I had been able to speak to her in Illusory Reality. Now, if I attempted to have a conversation with either my mother/daughter, or with my sister/daughter, it would be futile. Their spirits existed, and were remarkably strong for their physical age, but their embryonic minds were only a theory at the moment, lacking the necessary neurons that were still a month away from forming. Nothing existed to hold a conversation with.
Eventually, right before lunch, while Sir Makit was delivering the briefing on the castle and staff that I asked him to give daily until I was more familiar with them, I purposely broke out of it by expanding my spiritual vessel so I could think more clearly.
I can indulge in these feelings when I am resting, but not now while my people need me, I told myself.
“And lastly, I would like to confirm the message that Miss Genette passed to me,” Makit stated while removing his reading glasses.
“About Miss Mireia’s quarters?”
He nodded. “That, and her position.”
“I assume she told you that Miss Mireia is to become my fiancé’s royal concubine, once we are wed, and that she is to be treated as such from now on?”
With another nod, he agreed, “She did. She also mentioned that Miss Mireia’s quarters were to be…”
When he hesitated, I sweetly supplied, “My bed?”
Although my cheeks were heating slightly, I was beginning to get used to this topic. I was forcing myself a little, but I could play fairy when I needed to.
The poor fellow coughed in surprise, then gave a terse nod.
“Sir Makit, you served Mother for many years. What part of this surprises you?”
“Ah… well, Lady Sasara often had overnight guests, but she never had someone actually quartered with her.”
“Well, Mother treated the household staff as an all-you-can-eat buffet, as I understand it,” I answered drily. “We aren’t the same in that respect.”
I surreptitiously rubbed my tummy and offered a silent apology as I watched Makit struggle to reply.
Finally, he cleared his throat and nodded once more. “Of course, My Lady. And the news that your quarters would become hers, once you move into the Ducal Apartments?”
“Is also accurate,” I declared. Then I noticed his hesitation and wondered, “Is there a problem?”
“Yes, My Lady,” he stated, his brow wrinkling. “Until she officially becomes a royal concubine, there’s no proper way to grant her a suite in the castle solar without the appearance of impropriety. She is not an aristocrat, nor does she have any other standing that I know of…?”
He left that question mark at the end to give me the opportunity to fill him in on her background. Of course, nobody on the staff here knew that she was actually a slave. For Mireia’s sake, we were keeping that fact quiet.
I could see his problem. While she was sleeping in my bed, she was just a quiet little open secret of the castle, but once she had quarters of her own in a place as lofty as the Solar, she became a matter of public record, and her position and title needed to be revealed.
So I simply bypassed the issue. “Then, she can continue sleeping with me until that time. It will give the staff an opportunity to redecorate the suite for her.”
As long as she’s just my roommate on the down-low, everything’s fine, right?
He blinked, then nodded. “Of course, My Lady. That should work nicely.”
I bid him good day and went back to reviewing my notebook. I had stopped skimming the thing, looking for specific people to learn about, and started memorizing it from front to back. It was going to be no small task.
That’s what I was doing when I received my first hint of trouble. It came in the form of Sirth, who was monitoring the [Blood Sigil] I had secretly placed on my sister Amana’s back.
