"Take care, you two, don't go too deep into the river," said Celine out loud to the twins, Kael and Lune, as they were playing in the river, splashing each other.
They were at a river about a mile away from the cave, a beautiful place that was blossoming with life, now, during springtime.
She came up with the idea to take the twins out for a walk, to let them play and distract themselves for a bit, as their hearts were too heavy with sorrow, and their minds were filled with curiosity and worry, given their young age.
And now, she was watching them play while lost in thought.
I wonder how my father is… never mind. He is too wicked to let the Vita take him.
But how are my sisters at home? Do they miss me? How I wish I could drink a cup of tea and speak about nothing with them.
If everything goes wrong, and we have to leave the forest to live elsewhere, I should tell Blanc to go back to my home. I'm sure my sisters will love him.
Hm, haha, yes, that would be nice.
He would surely make a good impression on them. Maybe even becoming friends.
But if I know my sisters, Sophie will be the one to get the best along with him. I fear she might even get to love him.
Haha, yes, she would do that, then cry about it. About how sorry she was. Then keep doing it.
"Sister Celine, are you okay?" asked Lune from the waters below.
Celine nodded at her with a smile, "Yes, why?"
"I saw you laughing alone," Lune replied.
"I just enjoy watching you two play, do not mind me," Celine replied, as the two got back to playing.
How sweet these children are. They were mad at me before, but it seems they have forgiven me.
And how sorry I am that they have to bear such burdens. At least they are not alone.
If nothing else, at least they have each other.
But Blanc makes sure they are not alone. He tries with all his might. Even if it appears that too takes its toll on him.
From what Mother-in-law Mera told me, he always cared for his two younger siblings.
However, caring for and playing with them when one wants to is very different from keeping them alive, fed, and happy.
He is no God, no perfect being. He is just a young man.
For all his good sides, there are bad sides to him as well. And funnily enough, even those things seem like good things in disguise.
If it were upon him to decide, he would bear all the burden of the Blood. All their sins. As long as it kept them together.
And he tries that even now. To think about everything and how to make our situation better. I love him for it.
But is it selfish of me to want him to take a break from all this thinking he does?
I have enough brain for both of us. And while he is intelligent, I am even more so.
I have been thought to be.
But he chooses not to. He tells me almost everything on his mind, yet he never asks for help.
He keeps on smiling, acting like he could never be happier. Yet his eyes barely dried last night's tears.
He thinks I do not know he leaves during the night to watch the smoke rising in the distance. But I do.
When he first left, I thought he was going into Miyanna's room. So, I pretended to sleep and followed when I knew he would not hear me behind him.
I saw him watching. Praying. Wiping the tears, he tried to keep back like a wooden dam trying to keep back a whole river.
He was strong, but not powerful. His mind was still weak.
But what does the world expect from a young nobleman, who until a month ago did not have to worry about the lives of several?
He was not trained for such a thing. But who is really?
Ah, my poor husband. My handsome, hardworking husband. If only you would ask me to help you solve them all.
But as a good fiancée, if you refuse to ask, I take matters into my own hands.
There is no Maroux who isn't plotting something, somewhere.
"Sister Celine," said Kael, coming out of the river to drink some water.
"What is it?" she replied, as she watched him.
"Is something wrong with Blanc lately? Did we anger him that badly yesterday?" he asked.
"He was worried, that's all," Celine replied.
"But why doesn't he eat enough food? He eats less than we do," Kael muttered.
"Do not worry, Kael, perhaps he is just worried about something. But he would have told me if that were the case. He tells me everything, you know?" giggled Celine.
Kael shrugged his shoulders before walking back to the river, "I am happy you two have a good relationship."
So do I, Celine replied in her mind.
We have a good relationship. A very good one at that.
But as I fear, that might change slightly. And not because of me or him, but because of her.
In the first week or so, I could have sworn that he would be the one to fall for Miyanna just because he is young, and his body dictates more of what he does than his mind.
But it appears I was mistaken. And my attempts to figure out the situation only make him question everything else.
I can't even blame Blanc if he feels confused by all that happened during the last days.
Especially between Miyanna and me… sigh.
This woman takes confusion for love, and because of that, does stupid stuff.
Like a few days ago.
If that day I didn't feel something wrong happening, and started looking for them, I would have never known.
When I saw her approach him as he was harvesting Raw Vita, I froze.
I thought she might harm him and try to escape. But what she did relieved and angered me at the same time.
It relieved me because she did not hurt him when he was most vulnerable.
And it angered me because she kissed him when he was most vulnerable.
He does not even know that it happened. He was kissed by a woman he surely does not share feelings with, yet he does not know it.
If he were awake, conscious, present, and in full control to stop or allow the situation to happen, I might have joked about it, pretending to be mad or hurt by it.
But he wasn't. So I couldn't just do nothing.
When he came back, I sent him back and almost killed Miyanna myself with my own two hands.
I pushed her for an explanation. Why did she do what she did? Why use such manners?
She did not reply.
I pushed harder, but for the warrior that she was, she could cry a whole storm when it came to it.
I was arguing with a woman the same age as me. Yet her soul was like that of a child who never knew love.
But her tears did not deter me. So I pushed harder for an explanation and the whole truth of who she was.
She gave up and told me everything. And it finally made sense.
I was still angry with her, so we returned in silence after I told her to keep her distance from Blanc for a while.
Not out of jealousy but out of concern for her life if Blanc were to hear of what happened.
Still, for the next few days, we talked here and there, explaining her… uh, explaining.
I don't feel good.
"Sister Celine!" yelled Lune, seeing Celine throw up behind a tree.
She rushed outside the water towards her. Kael followed shortly behind her.
"Are you okay?" asked Kael, offering her the water flask.
Celine nodded, wiping saliva off her lips, "Mhm, maybe the breakfast did not agree with my sto-" she wanted to say, but kept on puking.
She barely managed to stop herself after throwing up three more times.
She was dehydrated, her mouth full of a bitter taste of stomach acid.
She washed her mouth with water, then drank the whole flask.
Kael and Lune watched her warily as they got into warmer, drier clothes to take her back to the cave.
"What could have made her like this, brother?" asked Lune in a whisper.
"Well, didn't she say it was the food from the morning?" Kael replied.
"Well, yeah, but this is the first time it happened. It was Blanc's cooking, and she never had issues with it," she said.
"What are you saying, Lune?" asked Kael.
"Baby, maybe?" Lune shrugged.
"Baby? As in?"
"Mhm," Lune nodded.
"How about we just ask her instead, hm?" said Kael, to which Lune nodded as she walked towards Celine, who was now calming down, a little bit of color returning to her eyes.
"Celine, are you better?" asked Lune.
"A little bit, yeah. Sorry," said Celine.
Lune shrugged the apology off, "No need to, sister, but instead of food, could it not be… You know?"
"Be what?" Celine asked.
"Well, you know, uh…" Lune wanted to speak but lost her words due to embarrassment.
"Lune wants to ask if it could be a baby?" Kael sighed, replying in her stead.
Celine's eyes went wide, then she began thinking, calculating something that only she knew.
But then, tears came out as she covered her mouth to stop her sobbing.
"Let's go back, I have to talk to Blanc."