Of loves and reasons 1.98

Once night came, two carriages positioned themselves at the entrance of Hephaestus' mansion. One that Hephaestus contracts and another one from Hera. Kain, Hephaestus, Scheherezade, Sakura and Ana left in the first carriage, while Viggo and Semiramis left in the second, where Hera and Odysseus went.

The whips and the neighing of the horses were heard, then the carriages began to move. On the outside you could hear the trot of the horses and the rattle of the wheels on the cobblestones.

Inside Hera's carriage, Viggo and Semiramis were sitting in front of Hera and Odysseus, so through the window it seemed to go backwards. Each of the young men was dressed in their best garment. Viggo was like most men, dressed in a frac suit, as did Odysseus sitting in the front seat. On the other hand, Semiramis wore a beautiful yellow one-piece dress that exposed her shoulders and highlighted her large neckline. On her neck she wore a beautiful gold necklace of fine links and a red ruby that was almost lost between her large breasts.

On the other side, Hera was wearing a soft blue dress and two earrings with large diamonds. Her business smile gave her a pleasant air as her blonde hair was arranged in a tomato, with two gold chopsticks crisscrossed in the shape of an X. Each toothpick had a sapphire as its tip.

-That dress suits you very well- Hera said amicably.

-Thank you, the same can I say about you- Semiramis replied in a cordial tone.

-You don't have to be so formal; we're just talking-

-It's respect-

-If you say so- Hera replied in a relaxed way, then she looked at Viggo and continued -young Viggo, I must say that you have good taste. You look like your father in many ways, I hope you continue to choose with that intuition and do not let yourself be captured by the innocence of some girl-

Viggo only showed her a brief smile and then looked out the window. Odysseus who was sitting in front of him kicked him slightly in the taps and stared him in the eye. Viggo let out a sigh turning his eyes to the sky and said -thank you for your compliment, Lady Hera-

-Leave it, Odysseus- Hera said in a funny tone -some of your ways are very similar to Kain, but let me clarify one thing, young Viggo. Your father's arrogance is tolerated because he is strong, but you are not, remember it-

Viggo forced a smile as the corner of his mouth shivered -I'll remember- replied.

-That happens to you as arrogant, brat- Odysseus said in a strict tone -one should always be courteous to others, even if it is only for education-

-Yes, yes, Grandpa Odysseus, I will keep that in mind-

-I'm not your grandfather, brat, but when we train, I'll give you a good one. Let's see if you continue to be so arrogant-

At the same time that Odysseus and Viggo argued, Hera looked at Semiramis and smiled as she turned her eyes to the sky and shook her head, in a gesture of annoyance. Which relaxes Semiramis a bit.

-Well, enough, the important thing here is that- Hera continued as she looked at Semiramis -I would like to ask you what you were doing before you came here-

Viggo stopped arguing with Odysseus and paid attention to the question Hera asked Semiramis.

-Why?- replied Semiramis.

Hera always kept the smile on her lips and continuous -because I would like to hire you-

-You don't know me at all-

-It is not necessary; I have the intuition that you are a good element. With Odysseus here by my side, the same thing happened as well. Even if he and his siblings failed their family entrance exam, I still felt like they were good elements. So, give them a house in the suburbs and some money. I only had to wait a year and I got a big surprise-

Before Semiramis could say anything, Viggo said with a big smile on his lips -brother, did you miss your family entrance exam? How bad were you?-

-Shut up brat, it's not your business- said Odysseus, looking out the window. At the same time, Viggo began to laugh, but Hera coughed and caught his attention. Viggo covered his mouth and was silent, but he kept giving Odysseus a mocking look anyway. The latter seemed ashamed of his past.

-Well, as I was telling you- said Hera -I have a similar hunch with you. So, I would like to hire you, but before that, I would like to know what you were doing before coming to Orario-

Semiramis stared at her for a long time and put her hand to her forehead for a moment.

-You don't have to worry- said Hera -my husband must have put one of his protections on you, right? If I were occupying any power in you, you would feel a discomfort like a severe headache-

Semiramis nodded and looked at Viggo. He looked at her back and nodded in agreement. Then Semiramis looked at Hera and replied -I was selling valuable goods in different cities. To be more precise, I would buy goods from different ports and take them to the merchants. They paid me the merchandise plus a commission-

-Merchant- Hera said as she nodded -Do you plan to continue doing that?-

Semiramis shook his head and said - I would like to settle down, with Viggo we are thinking about the type of business we would like to set up, but we have not yet decided. However, I would like to dedicate myself to jewelry and precious stones-

-Do you know about jewelry and stones? What kind of stones or jewelry do you own at the moment?-

Semiramis again looked at Viggo and he nodded with a smile to convey assurance. Semiramis nodded with a smile and looked at Odysseus -excuse me, but could you look the other way or cover your eyes?-

Odysseus frowned at such a request, but this time it was Viggo who kicked him in the tap. Odysseus looked him in the eye and Viggo waved his head to do as she asked. Odysseus let out a sigh, looked at Hera, and she nodded. Then he covered his eyes and Semiramis lifted her dress showing her long and beautiful legs. On her right thigh she wore two black garters, which pressed the Bag of Plenty against her leg. Semiramis let go of the bag from both leagues, took it out, and then pulled down her dress.

-You can look, Odysseus- said Semiramis.

To which Odysseus uncovered his eyes and looked towards her. Then he noticed the leather bag tied with a rope.

For his part, Semiramis released the tie of the bag and put his hand, and then took out a mahogany wooden box. It should be about fifty centimeters long, by twenty centimeters wide and about ten centimetres thick.

-Wow, I thought only my husband had such a thing- Hera said amazed by the leather bag that looked normal to the naked eye.

-It's not the same- replied Viggo -it's far from being on par with my father's ring, but it still serves us-

Hera stared into his eyes and seeing that he was telling her the truth, she nodded -understand- said changing her sight from Viggo to Semiramis -now What do you want to show us Semiramis?-

-This- said Semiramis, resting the box on her lap and opening the lid. Then she turned it so that Hera could see, and the goddess opened her wide eyes in a gesture of amazement. Inside the box was padded with a soft, white fabric, while being divided into ten spaces. Each space contained a beautiful, oversized gemstone and beautiful color.

-Can I?-

-Sure-

Hera stretched out her right hand, took the violet ruby, and hollowed out her left hand. She deposited the ruby in her left palm and hollowed out her right hand to stick it to the left so that the ruby would not be at risk of falling. She looked at it in wonder, inspecting to see if it had imperfections or cracks, but the stone was in the best possible condition. She showed a big smile, let out a sigh, and returned it to the box.

-Keep that- Hera said with a big smile. Then she looked at Odysseus with a serious look and said -cover your eyes again-

Odysseus let out another sigh and covered his eyes again. Then Semiramis put the box in the bag and put it back in her leg, between the garters.

-To be something so valuable, you take it in a peculiar place- Hera said.

Semiramis finished fixing the garters, leaving the bag securely fastened and under her dress. She looked at Hera and nodded -yes, it is that with Viggo we wanted to see the possibility of selling the stones-

-Oh, if that's why, when we get to the auction, you can give them to me, and I sell them for you. They will give you a better price if they know who supports their sale. Many nobles and rich men will try to buy them to gain my favor-

Semiramis looked at Viggo and he nodded. Then Semiramis nodded and said to Hera -okay, I'll take care of it-

-I'm curious How have you been able to navigate and negotiate all this time without Viggo?-

-At first it was complicated, but our sponsor introduced us, and we worked together. I think a lot of the success has been thanks to Viggo. He has good instincts and knows when someone is lying to us or wants to hurt us-

Then Hera looked at Viggo and re-evaluated him. Then she let out a sigh of frustration and said -a pity, young Viggo, if only you could accept falna-

-But I can't, so let's just leave it at that- Viggo replied with a business smile.

Hera nodded and looked at Semiramis -that said, I have several jewelry stores- Hera said -for now you could start running one that is to your liking and if you do it right a year from now, I will revaluate your position-

-No, well, it's that me- Semiramis replied hesitantly. Hera was one of Viggo's father's wives, so she didn't want to offend her –I want my own shop-

-I understand you- Hera replied without changing her kind expression -but in order to have your own jewelry store, you must first know how the item works. I advise you to first work in my store, meet the people who move in that area and then decide if you want to continue. Once you decide, I won't stop you if you want to be my competition-

Semiramis smiled, looked at Viggo, and he nodded with a smile. Then she smiled more intensely and looked at Hera -gladly, I will not let you down- replied.

-You don't have to be so nervous; I do this with everyone I find interesting. Jason, Odysseus, and Achilles were the same-

-Yes, but you gave us a hovel to live on- said Odysseus with a certain tone of reproach -you are passing one of yours fine jewelry stores to manage-

Hera let out a rarely seen giggle and stretched out her hand to comb his hair in a sweet gesture -don't be like that, I gave them a lot of money for the little gluttons to eat as much as they wanted, didn't I?-

Odysseus nodded and let out a sigh, recalling an old story from more than 70 years ago. When three small-town brats arrived in Orario with nothing but hope.

-Returning to the subject of shops- continued Hera looking at Semiramis -I have always asked my husband to make jewelry for my stores, but he always goes negative. Why you don't ask your husband to ask Kain if he can teach him, it would be a good addition to your future store-

Semiramis looked at Viggo and the latter made a forced smile.

-Dad is someone who likes to make weapons much more than jewelry- Viggo said -at least, that was the excuse he gave my aunts-

-So, anyone else ask you?- asked Hera.

-Yes, my aunt Mikoto and Isabel, but Dad also told them that he didn't feel like it-

-I see- replied Hera, looked at Seramis and said -there you go. If Viggo manages to learn Kain's skill, you will have a great source of production. My husband's designs are elaborate and beautiful-looking-

Semiramis nodded more and more excitedly, thinking that little by little things were happening. She only had one unfinished business left with herself so she could say she is successful.