The grand hallway of the Rotschy estate echoed faintly with the soft, deliberate taps of
high heels against obsidian marble. The torches along the walls flickered with a cold bluish flame, casting long shadows as Rena
made her way toward the grand dining hall. Her transformation had changed her, not just physically but in the aura she carried—there was a cold elegance to her now, something
ancient and commanding in the way she walked, her silver-white hair cascading down her back in glossy waves, the crimson-tipped
ends swaying slightly with every step. Her blood-red eyes shimmered with a quiet, unreadable fire, and her skin had the soft glow of something not entirely human.
She wore a long, regal gown of red and white, fitted at the waist and flowing like liquid silk around her legs. Every detail was meticulous—from the diamond-threaded lace of her sleeves to the delicate embroidery of lunar patterns at her hem. The heels of her crimson shoes clicked rhythmically, a bold echo in the silent halls.
As she entered the dining hall, the air shifted.
There they were—her mother and her mother-in-law.
At the far end of the long obsidian dining table, Naoko Rotschy sat in her usual place, poised and untouchable. Her silver hair gleamed under the chandelier's light like woven starlight, cascading flawlessly over her shoulders. Her eyes, those infamous silver voids, looked straight ahead—cold, unreadable, and devoid of even the faintest flicker of emotion. She wore a pitch-black royal gown with high shoulders and diamond embroidery, sharp and somber in style, yet disturbingly beautiful. Her pale skin seemed like porcelain sculpted by divine hands, untouched by time.
Beside her, in striking contrast, sat Amelia Amberhart.
Her long crimson hair was tied in a low, elegant braid over one shoulder, and her golden eyes—always calculating, always watching—softened just slightly when they landed on her daughter. She wore a white gown threaded with golden light, her posture regal and immaculate.
Amelia's lips curved into a smile. "Riena… is that you?"
Rena's eyes flickered with something akin to warmth. She approached, her stride graceful. "Yes, Mother. It's me."
She moved closer, her presence serene yet strong. Amelia's gaze swept over her daughter's new form, taking in the transformation.
"I wasn't expecting your Awakening to take this form," Amelia said, voice cool but tinged with rare curiosity.
Rena nodded. "Neither was I."
As she took her seat beside her mother, her crimson gaze was inevitably drawn to the woman who had reshaped her fate: Naoko.
The matriarch of the Rotschy family sat in silence, her gaze unfocused, as if the world itself was beneath her attention. She hadn't acknowledged Riena's arrival in the slightest.
Rena swallowed.
Then, slowly, she turned her gaze toward Naoko and said with practiced calm, "Thank you, Lady Naoko."
Naoko finally looked at her.
Her face remained impassive, blank. Her silver eyes were endless, merciless.
Rena's breath caught slightly in her throat. Even now, even after the Awakening, after the bonding, after the blood—they terrified her. Those eyes. That stillness.
Naoko's voice was like glacial wind: "Don't misunderstand. I didn't do it for you. I did it for my son."
Rena's throat tightened, but she nodded respectfully. "Yes… I understand."
Naoko added, "You are his wife. You will need to prove that you are worthy of him."
"I will," Rena replied quietly.
The silence that followed was almost sacred in its weight. Amelia didn't speak, and neither did Naoko. It was as though nothing more needed to be said—yet everything unsaid hung heavily in the air.
After a few minutes, the staff began to enter silently, bearing golden trays of food—lavish dishes of roasted moonbird, steamed starblossoms, crystalline fruits, and wine that shimmered faintly with mana. The table was set like a feast for gods, every piece of silverware and plate polished to perfection.
As Rena reached for her wineglass, her voice broke the tension softly.
"Lady Naoko," she said.
Naoko turned her head slightly.
"Where is Jin? Will he not be joining us tonight?"
There was a brief pause.
Naoko's silver eyes met Rena's again, but this time there was a flicker of annoyance in them—barely perceptible, but there.
"No," she said. "He left with Sion again. They're off making trouble.
Rena" is everything okay "
"Yes," Naoko said. "A minor headache. Nothing worth your worry."
Rena looked down at her plate, forcing her expression to remain neutral, even as a strange twinge of discomfort bloomed in her chest.
Beside her, Amelia sipped her wine in silence. Her expression unreadable.
Rena knew better than to press. But still, she couldn't suppress the quiet ache that filled her chest when she realized she wouldn't be seeing her husband tonight. Not after the training. Not after what they shared. The memory of his scent, of his heat, of the way he'd smiled at her with that teasing grin—it lingered far too vividly.
She picked at her food in silence.
Naoko, with her elegant detachment, continued eating slowly, each movement graceful, mechanical, untouched by emotion.
Rena risked another glance at her. She had always known that Naoko was terrifying—not in the obvious sense, but in the way that ancient weapons were terrifying. Beautiful, still, and capable of devastation beyond comprehension. It wasn't just her power. It was her utter indifference to everything but her son.
"Lady Naoko," Rena said again, softly. "Do you… always eat dinner alone, when jin is away?"
Naoko paused mid-bite.
Then she looked up and said with an icy smile that never reached her eyes, "I do everything alone, girl. Get used to it."
"and..... Jin is not forced to do anything. He is free to do whatever he wants as long as he does not hurt himself."
Rena felt the chill of her words settle in her bones.
Amelia, without glancing up from her wine, murmured, "Some women forget how to be human when they become gods."
Naoko's gaze flicked to her sharply.
"And some women cling to humanity like a drowning man to a stone, even when it makes them weak."
Amelia smiled, soft and poisonous. "Yet still, I sleep soundly at night. Can you say the same, Lady Rotschy?"
The silence after that was suffocating.
Rena sat between two empires of power, and she felt as though she were a child again.
The meal continued.
And somewhere, beneath the surface of all the tension and grandeur, something ancient was beginning to shift.
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