Peace and confrontation

Minutes later, as she expected, the pair came downstairs.

With an extra addition to the group.

A stunning, awake-looking woman entered the room with a wide-eyed gaze and dark circles to match.

She was wearing a full-length robe, elegant, loose and well-behaved, but still gave off a soft sensual feel.

Carla's eyes widened. This house was shared between Diana and her boss.

"Huh...", the girls didn't seem as doubtful as she did.

The lady of the house in particular seemed more concerned with not making her uncomfortable.

"He said he would sleep down here."

Her voice was soft as silver bells. Carla erased any suspicion from her mind.

If there was an innocent tone in this world, it was that one.

Diana didn't need any reassurance. She wanted something else.

She began to cross the room in an instant. She went to the guest room, the balcony and other rooms and in less than two minutes she was back. Soon, she stood in front of the sofa, as if she were looking at a corpse.

Maybe the corpse was covered in gold and jewels, Carla thought as they approached, because the young woman bent down at the same moment.

The image of Diana rushing to take everything off a body flashed through her mind. The scene was not pretty. But when Carla got closer, she realized that it was not much different from reality.

She really was taking everything from him. All the air from the poor guy. Half-awake, Nero did not try to fight, but he must have been uncomfortable under that deep kiss.

When her friend seemed to forget about them, and Carla thought it was the effect of the alcohol, they were about to comment on the vision. But her boss had other plans.

Carla was wrong about the kiss. He seemed to accept much more than just one, since when she pulled away, panting, he pulled her over his body like a pillow.

The girls smiled when they heard their friend's childish scream, but they chose to look away when his hands became a little more animated...

Carla's heart was going crazy as she walked back to the living room.

'I really need to get married...'

...

..

The lovebirds arrived minutes later. Diana seemed to wish for a second pair of eyes on the back of her head, so she wouldn't lose sight of her fiancé.

Nero sat at the counter while Diana helped with the kitchen.

It didn't help much. As soon as she walked in, she froze in place. Pointing, still as foolish as a little lamb, to the beautiful bouquet on the table.

Her half-open mouth, wet hair and wide-eyed gaze said a lot about what the drink, and Nero, had done to her.

"Is this for me?"

'Who else would it be for?', opening the fridge, Carla began to have a headache, and a dose of melancholy.

The scent and touch of those roses were still on her fingers.

The burst of warmth she was expecting did not come with a positive response.

When she turned around, Diana was hugging the bouquet like a teddy bear.

In her eyes... tears of happiness?

"Why are you crying, idiot?!" Ema paid no attention to her boss.

"Oh, shut up, look! Look! He's so handsome!"

'Your fiancé is too...', Carla froze. Her expression, impassive with only a slight wrinkle. 'Huh, could it be the effect of the drink?'

'I'll buy a vase, later...', for some reason the three spectators stopped to watch that moment. Diana turned and smiled. Like a child, but instead of a flowery dress, she had lilies under her chin and roses touching her lips. The smiles they shared had something more.

Not like lovers. Maybe like accomplices. Children who had the joy of a best friend to play with, and the adult pleasure of being that friend's bed partner. A bonus.

'You're going to buy me more, aren't you?'

Carla pinched the bridge of her nose.

'Yes, the drink certainly kills...'

"I'm not planning on traveling for a long time, you know...", Nero answered quickly. He looked as serious as ever, although the slight smile brightened his mood.

"But it's my birthday."

"And there are better things than flowers...", her heart was racing again. Damn the drink, damn the job she had to get. "... But if you want, I can make a garden in the back."

Looking down and up, almost comparing her two possessions, she waved.

Then she went back to help Ema cut some vegetables. She had been on the first one for minutes.

Carla also remembered what she was looking for and went to help, while remembering the guest next to her boss.

'Could it be a relative?'

If so, that family really did have the best genes.

Seen from the side, with her arms and legs crossed under her robe, Carla had no idea how her little bird in love let her fiancé loose in the nest.

"Carla, the butter, please!"

"Coming soon!"

'I think I'll go back to drinking at home... I've used up all my relationship chips.'

Shaking that thought away, she continued on her expressionless journey.

...

..

"Did you hear? The house of Larx being torn apart."

A torturous silence fell over the table.

It was only slightly more temperate than usual. Even though they could remember the piles of dead clan soldiers, their appetites were not moved.

"Well...", the matriarch, sitting at the head of the table, cut the meat, slowly and smoothly. Everyone waited. "Everyone knew your new generation were made of fools. It's just a shame it was totally... A thousand years wasted. How stupid."

The people at the table, a little over a hundred in number and strangely silent, given their number, ate with more fervor.

Glasses clinked, and the cutlery never stopped. Still, they looked like predators in the nest, waiting to pounce at any moment.

"It seems that some innocents were spared. Kiles took them."

Several swallowed hard. That name brought back memories.

"Well, that blood had its qualities. As long as they live... Right now, I'm more interested in the couple who did this."

Her cutlery finally landed on the plate. Her mind sharpened as did her smile.

No one dared to look in that direction, but the atmosphere was full for them to discover that nothing good was born there.

Her silver eyes were soft as the purest honey. One of the youngest had the pleasure of looking and being seen. Alive, he trembled in his chair for a few moments until his father put his hand on his shoulder.

She liked family dinners. There were always new lambs.

"Ah, if only I had two children like those...", she began. Her disgusted and cold eyes passed over the entire table. "Alice and Nero, isn't it? It's been a while since I saw them."

She stood up. He was no longer hungry. Maybe a little thirsty.

"Send that ill-mannered creature to my room," the little lamb trembled like never before, his eyes wide and blue. He liked them. He liked his father too...

The same arm that comforted him, lifted him from the chair in an instant.

"And don't let those two out of your sight. If I learn of their steps hours later, like yesterday... Well, maybe I'll learn from them and start this clan over from scratch."