Eliminating the closest disasters.

Duchess Mila frowned at Deanna and the woman drew her curious gaze away from Sigrid.

"Haha, your grace, I do not mean anything by my words. It's just that our husbands are supposed to teach us how it's done. How will Siggy do it if she has never done it before?"

Sigrid scoffed internally. I can assure you, I am a kiss master, she thought.

"She just needs to put her mouth against his and he can take it from there." the duchess replied loudly.

Even though she was putting on a serious face, she seemed to be somewhat flustered. Her plan had not been to delve into deep details, it was to skim over the top and pray that her granddaughter was a wise woman who could learn and be proactive after Roland showed her what to do.

Sigrid giggled and decided to play with her grandmother, "Grandmother, I don't know anything, after I put my lips on his, what do i do next? What about my tongue, should I....."

"I think this is enough." Mila put the pillow down.

The duchess cleared her throat. "It is far from enough, we have yet to explain to her the most important part, the joining of husband and wife." Again, she cleared her throat, fighting a non existent cough. "Errr, your husband will put that...his..."

She could not bring herself to explain more, not to her wide eyed granddaughter that was holding an amused smile on her face.

"Yes, it's enough I think, you will just lay down, he will do the rest and I will give you a book to learn the rest on your own." she suddenly decided to stop.

"Why didn't we start with the book?" Iryne asked.

She believed that they would have saved themselves from a lot of embarrassment if they had just done that instead of going around in circles.

Thinking back to her first night with her husband, she recalled something that she felt obligated to share with her daughter.

Lady Iryne looked at her daughter, the only one that she had, her baby that had not experienced hardships but now found herself being thrust into the midst of battlefield.

"Siggy.." she said softly. "When you are joined with your husband on the bed, on the night of your wedding, it will hurt at first. Do not be scared, the pain will not last long and you will never experience it again.

Do not be afraid to receive your husband again, there are some duties that matter in marriage such as this one. It will also help to bring you closer to your husband. We all know how reluctant he is about this marriage." she finished off with a mutter.

"We did not beg them for this union, it was the other way round. If anything, we are the ones that should be reluctant, entering the royal family is like entering a lion's den. On the outside, it's great, on the inside you have guard against everyone and everything. It's a good thing that you will not have to live in the king's castle." Duchess Mila voiced her dissatisfaction in a disgruntled voice.

"Grandmother, did Rosalind reveal why she did what she did?" Sigrid asked.

Iryne huffed, "Hmph! do we need to ask, we all know that it was the Ye family which instigated her, clearly they are unhappy about the fact that the formerly agreed upon engagement has fallen through."

The marriage had been established for the sake of both families enjoying mutual benefits, the Ye family had been the one to spread the word about the engagement.

That Sigrid was now marrying into royalty was a slap in their faces, obviously they had assumed that the Thorin's had betrayed their alliance and sought to get back at them. 

"Do you want me to...." Deanna passed a hand over her throat.

"As expected of a villain's cohort." Sigrid heard Cosmos's voice in her mind.

She ignored the banking official and shook her head, dismissing that suggestion. Rosalind was still useful to her in the battle against Emmah. Sigrid knew that she could count on Rosalind's big mouth and empty head to lead Emmah down many pits.

"No, keep her alive and ensure she stays here until such a time when I tell you to let her out. Her parents will not bother to show up looking for her, I sent Lanai to pay them them off handsomely, they were quite glad to get rid of her.

Mrs. Alexander is pregnant right now, with another mouth to feed on the way, she was rather relieved to hear that her daughter whose reputation has been tainted has found a husband among the duke's staff."

The story about Rosalind's poison attempt was out, all over the city it had been told and re-told. If she said anything about Sigrid in future, people would assume it was in retaliation or out of jealousy. 

"Grandmother, I made a list of servants we need to terminate immediately after my wedding, they are not loyal and down the road, they will bring us trouble." Sigrid said.

Lanai brought the hand written list over, handing it to the duchess. The old woman squinted and frowned upon reading the very first name.

"Mirena!" she exclaimed.

With the exception of Sigrid, all the women looked at the closed door, Mirena was standing guard outside. She had served the duchess for forty years, not once had she done something that could be perceived as not loyal.

She was extremely subservient to the duchess, quick on her feet and very forward thinking. On the estate, she was one of the most respected servants, given respect near that of the duchess herself.

"Grandmother, some years ago a few months before I was born, Mirena got pregnant out of wedlock, she had the baby in secret and you made her hand the child over to an orphanage." 

To Iryne and Deanna, this was new information that had never crossed their ears before. Both of them looked at the duchess, hoping for confirmation.

The duchess was solely focused on Sigrid, laced with intense doubts.

"How do you know of this?"

"I heard about it in passing, one of the cooks and an older knight were discussing it, calling you heartless for not allowing Mirena raise her child on the estate which has enough resources to support many people. Both of them are on the list by the way, they need to go." Sigrid told her.

"Permanently." Deanna commented.

"Grandmother," Sigrid took the older woman's hands. "If Mirena's close friends think this way, what about her? She must resent you but have no way of expressing it."

"She was pregnant for a married man that already had a main wife and a secondary consort." The duchess scoffed. "I did her a favor and found a good orphanage for that child. Over the years I have been funding that orphanage and caring for that girl.

Mirena knows this as well, if it was not for me the girl would have been raised as a servant, mocked by everyone for being a bastard. Mirena would not be working here anymore, she would have long been terminated and ruined because her reputation would be long gone."

The duchess slapped the bed in fury.