7.

Leona stares at the moons with reverence; a soft smile on her lips. No matter how many times she has seen the three moons, they are still marvelous sights to behold every time.

“Here, drink this.” A vial, containing a green substance, is held in front of her face. “This might help with your rising temperature.”

“What’s this?” She asks as she takes hold of it.

“It’s the new improved fever reducer potion from Mithra. It will deal with your fever faster.”

Leona gives the woman before her a worried frown. “Isn’t it expensive?”

“Nah.”

“Liliane.”

“Oh fine. It was a bit – a tiny bit – expensive.” She pinches her fingers together. “No need to get your panties in a twist.” Her bronze skinned Ward-Sister waves dismissively.

Leona heaves a sigh. “How many did you get?”

“Lots.” She grins cheekily,

“Liliane.”

“It is fine, Lena. I got them for you. It’s clear that the potions made here are no longer having the required effect on you. No matter how costly it is, I want you to be healthy.” She flicks Leona’s head, wincing at how hot it was. “Now drink. Your temperature is increasing and it’s getting me worried.”

Leona heaves another sigh before she did as told. She drowns the entire potion in one go, grimacing at the taste.

“Taste like a Wendure’s ass.”

“And how exactly do you know what a Wendure’s ass taste like?”

A voice speaks up, making the two ladies to jump in fright.

“Can you stop doing that?” Liliane hisses out, throwing a pillow at the intruder, who effortlessly dodges. For good measure, Leona throws the empty vial at them, and once more, they evaded the object.

“Are you trying to kill us, Ray?” Leona sighs out, her eyes exasperated. “Please, use the door instead of teleporting.”

“Like a normal person.” Liliane hisses.

Raemon just grins wolfishly at them.

“Oh, wipe that annoying grin from your face, you ass.” Liliane harrumphs, folding her arms. “You’re lucky I didn’t toss a fireball at you as a reaction.”

“You’d still had missed love.” If it’s possible, his grin becomes wider.

His response has Liliane’s eyebrow twitching in irritation. Leona just rolls her eyes, a smile on her lips.

These two will banter anywhere and anytime, even if an apocalypse is happening that very moment.

Raemon walks over to them and drops the sack on his shoulder down on the bed like couch they were sitting on.

The couch was placed close to the large windows that shows the sky.

He brings out the snacks he took from the pantry from the sack, laying them in front of them one by one.

“Ooohhh, you brought Vanilla-cinnamon-coconut cake for me!”

Liliane picks up said cake, removing the transparent cover from it. She takes a deep sniff, sighing in contentment.

“And it’s covered in honey.” She sighs out, eyes going unfocused.

Raemon holds out a fork for her and she takes it with a “Thanks”. She dives into her cake, eating slowly and in small bites to savor the taste.

Raemon brings out a covered and secured plate of blueberry soft cake, covered with caramel. He hands it over to Leona, who smiles thankfully at him.

“Thanks, big brother.”

Raemon just ruffles her hair in reply. He brings out a bottle of Magia wine for Liliane and a bottle of Mithran grape juice for Leona. He then hands them over to both of them respectfully.

After making sure that the both of them were eating and were content with what he brought, Raemon brings out his own snack - a slice of peach cake and a little bottle of Magia wine - and begins to eat.

“Are you sure that will satisfy you?” Liliane points at his plate, her mouth still chewing.

“Big sis, please don’t talk with your mouth full.” Leona chides with a kiss of her teeth, wrinkling her nose. “You might choke one of these days.”

Liliane waves her off, still preoccupied with her cake. Raemon and Leona roll their eyes at her dismissiveness. Liliane swallows, humming in happiness.

“So, Lena, where did you go?” Raemon asks. “We didn’t see you when we came back.” He takes another bite of his cake.

“Oh… Marbethta and Caelum took me to see my betrothed.”

That has both Raemon and Liliane choking on their food. They hurriedly take large sips of their drinks, signing in relief when their airways became clear once more.

“I’m sorry, what?” Liliane asks, a deadly look on her face. “Did you just say ‘Betrothed’?” She asks carefully, setting her cake down.

“I… yes…” Leona looks at them in confusion. “Didn’t… didn’t you know?”

“No!” Liliane and Raemon exclaim together, deadly scowls on their faces.

“They… they said you knew…” Leona words are a reverent whisper. “They said you knew and gave the permission for me to be betrothed to someone. That’s why I went willingly with them.” A look of horror overtakes her confused expression. “Oh Helma…”

“Leona, we will NEVER approve of anything that will stand in the way of your freedom.” Liliane announces. “We made a promise to make sure that you would achieve your goals without anyone standing in the way. Looks like we failed.”

“Then we rectify it.” Raemon says solemnly with a chilling gaze, slowing getting up.

“No.” Leona catches his hand, shaking her head. “If you kill them now, they will know it was you.”

“Lena, you forget who I am.”

“I haven’t, Ray. Please, just… don’t. The girls still need them.”

“So, we are just going to stay still while you get married off to some idiot?” Liliane’s voice is cold as ice. “Lena, those two gave you away without our consent! We are the adults closet to you! We are the ones in charge of your welfare! For them to do that, they need to pay.” She spits out, lips curing into a snarl.

“And they will, Lily.” She replies heatedly. “But not right now. Besides, Aeron is not that bad.”

“Aeron?” Raemon squints at her.

“He’s the heir of the Blackwater family. He’s my betrothed.”

“Blackwater?” Raemon mutters under his breath. “Where have I heard that name?” He holds his chin, donning on a thinking look.

“Okay, Lena. Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Liliane sighs out.

Leona nods and proceeds in telling them how her day went. She tells them how Marbethta and Caelum came and dismissed her early from school. On their way back home, they told her the reason, adding that they (Raemon and Liliane) gave them their approval to betroth her to a new heir in the Empire. They came back home and her grandmother presented her with a dress, which she wore grudgingly. They took a mobile and went to the Blackwater home, which was outside the walls of the Empire. Leona tells them how she asked them if they knew these people outside from the missive of proposal and their wealth; their reply was no.

“Wait.” Liliane cuts her off. “Are you telling me that they knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about this family; but yet, they still went ahead to betroth you to the heir?” She grits out, eyes narrowed into slits. Leona gives a stiff nod in confirmation, making her sister hiss in anger. “Are those old fools out of their fucking minds?!”

“Lily.” Raemon calm voice calls out, stopping the bronze skin woman from going berserk. “Calm. Let her finish. Then you can rage.”

Liliane gives a hesitant nod, eyes still filled with anger. She gestures for Leona to continue, not trusting her voice.

Leona continues, her face blank. She tells them about Aeron and his mother, the manor and the garden and about the Blackwater family. When she was done, Raemon has a look of recognition on his face.

“Well, it doesn’t sound so bad.” Liliane sighs out.

“It doesn’t.” Leona nods. “The contracts states that on the sixth day after my sixteenth birthday, we are to be wed. But I won’t be forced to consummate or bear a child with him until I come of age.” She picks up her cake, taking a bite. She slowly chews, taking a pensive look. Raemon and Liliane follows her lead, digging into their cake again.

“Hmmm.” Raemon hums around his spoon, eyes narrowed. “This gives us a loophole.”

“What do you have in mind?” Liliane asks.

“I have some dirty secrets about a particular member of the family. If all goes well, my present to you, Leona, on the day of your seventeenth birthday, will be your freedom.”

“Oh.” Liliane smirks. “I take it it’s something incriminating?”

“You know me so well sister.” Raemon returns her smirk.

Leona watches the two of them, her eyes brimming with tears. The love these two have for her is heartwarming. They will do everything in their power to make her happy. And to find out from them that they didn’t approve of her betrothal makes her realize that they will never betray her. By Helma, she loves these two.

“So, a clause of the contract is that you both should be in constant communication, huh?” Liliane brings up her plate up to her mouth and licks it clean of the honey stain, getting a look of disgust from Leona. She just grins unrepentantly.

“Honestly, you never change.” Leona wrinkles her nose, getting a sassy wink from her sister. “Yes, I have to be in touch with Aeron. It doesn’t matter how many times a day we send each other messages. We just have to find time to communicate.”

“Just pray he doesn’t overdo it.” Liliane raises her bottle up, before bringing it to her lips and taking a drink from it.

“Aeron doesn’t seem like the type.” Leona waves her hand dismissively.

Raemon scoffs, a look of incredulous disbelief on his face. "You'd be surprised, dear sister."

Leona blinks owlishly at him.

“So….” Liliane pauses in her drinking, the bottle close to her lips. “How old is the lad?” She asks before going back to sipping.

“According to him, he will be twenty-eight in two months; a month before my birthday.”

That gets Liliane choking again. She spits out the remaining liquid in her mouth that hasn’t found its way yet to her windpipe, hacking out wet coughs. Raemon hurriedly hits her back while Leona winces. Once she catches her breath, she looks at her sister; eyes wide.

“Twenty-” Liliane chokes out, hacking out coughs again whist cleaning her lips – which has a trail of liquid by the corner – with a napkin.

“Twenty- eight?! What the fuck?!” She manages to crock out. She stands up, a look of rage on hers and Raemon faces. “The man is even older than us! He’s older than us Raemon!” She looks at the oldest of them with horror in her eyes. “Oh, this is horrible!” She holds her head and exclaims, before she begins to pace. “You are marrying someone who is older than Raemon and I-“

“By a gap of three and five years respectively.” Leona adds in, making Liliane to glare at her. She mimic’s zipping her mouth, allowing her sister to continue her ranting.

“Lena, he’s EIGHTEEN years older than you.” Liliane continues, her brows furrowed in agitation. “Eight. Teen. It’s too much.” She shakes her head vehemently before she continues to pace.

“Well, at least it wasn’t as shocking as Caelum slapping me.” Leona shrugs. Liliane pauses in her pacing, looking at her in shock. “No wonder his wife looks the way she does after he beats her.”

Leona’s eyes go wide when she realizes what she just said.

“Umm…”

“Lena, what did you just say?” Raemon asks carefully, tone and face emotionless.

“Umm…” Leona couldn’t say anything. She just laughs nervously.

“Okay. I’m gonna kill him~” Liliane says cheerfully. She calls the wine to her and turns the liquid into an ice dagger, before swiveling around and heading to the door; a cold and chilling sweet smile on her lips. Raemon stands up and joins her, procuring a dagger into his hand.

“No!” Leona scurries to get up, running to block their way. “No. You are not killing him!” She states sharply.

“Raemon.” Liliane calls out sweetly, staring at her sister with a cheerfully look. “Open a Gate.”

“You two, enough.” Leona lets out a long suffering moan, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You can’t kill him. Not now. Please, just…” She heaves a sigh, looking at them pleadingly.

The two adults spare a glance at each other before acquiescing.

“Fine.” Liliane mumbles stiffly. She turns the dagger back to its liquid form and sends it back into its bottle.

“But if he touches you again, I’m cutting his head off.” Raemon snarls, dispelling his dagger back into the shadows.

“No objection here.” Leona nods. “So.” She claps her hand, a happy look on her face. “How were your missions?”

The three of them make their way back to couch, the atmosphere brightening up.

Raemon tells them how his mission in killing a warlord went easily, and he doesn’t spare them the gory details. The two ladies stare at him in awe, paying keen attention to his adventure.

Once Raemon is done with his tale, Liliane tells them about how her crazy master took them to the ruins of Magia, seeking to kill the resident Nagima. She hurriedly assures them that she helped her to escape, unknowingly to her master. That brings a smile on Leona’s lips. After that, the three drone on about everything and nothing in particular.

Leona tells them about what she saw in the Blackwater home, especially the flowers. Liliane is surprised to hear that a Moon-Night Musk still existed and she shows great enthusiasm to see one once again.

What even amazed her siblings is the fact that three of the world’s most famous people are related to the Blackwater family. Liliane gasps in shock that come six months, she will be related to her childhood hero; Seylafina Blackmoon.

They halt their conversation for a while, allowing Raemon to return the plates and bottles back to the kitchen via a Shadow Gate. He walks back after a minute or two, and Liliane continues their discussion. Their voices drones on and on, eventually drawing Leona to sleep.

“And the man had the guts to look down on me as if I were some-“

“Lily.”

Raemon softly calls out to her, making her pause in her rant. She turns to face him, a questioning look on her face.

The sight of Leona fighting slumber makes a soft smile to grace her lips. Her eyes go soft, gazing at the teen with affection.

Raemon lets a deep chuckle as the Vermillion heiress blinks sluggishly, fighting back sleep with determination.

“This girl.” Liliane lets out an amused huff. “Maybe this might help.” She then proceeds in softly singing in Mithranese.

It doesn’t take long before Leona falls into deep sleep, making the two sigh in relief.

Raemon gently carries her over to her bed in a bridal style. Liliane moves the thick covers out of the way, giving way for Raemon to lay her sleeping sister on the bed. Once Leona is laid on her bed, Liliane covers her, making sure not to jolt her awake.

Raemon walks over to her nightstand and switches on the music box sitting it. The familiar tranquil music spills out, making the two smile in remembrance.

Liliane and Raemon each lay one last kiss on her forehead before they stealthily walk away from their slumbering sister; their footstep silent as ever.

Liliane locks the balcony doors before walking over to Raemon, who is waiting by the door. He opens it and they walk out of Leona’s room.

Before fully walking out, Liliane snaps her finger and the crystal lights switches off. She tosses one last smile at her sister’s sleeping form before walking out, closing the door gently behind her.

Liliane and Raemon walk to their rooms in silence. Seeing as their rooms are close to Leona’s, they didn’t walk for too long. Liliane’s door comes into sight and they halt in front of it.

“You know most of their weaknesses, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Can they be killed easily?”

“…no.”

“Then we find a way. Leona is not going to be in that marriage for long. Even if we have to negotiate or kill them, she gets her freedom back before her seventeen birthday. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good. Then I bid you goodnight Ray.”

“Night.”

With that being said, Liliane walks into her room, closing the door behind silently.

Raemon breaths out through his nose before going to his room, mind running through many contingency plans.