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By the next day, everyone knew that Gilgamesh and Arturia Uruk were going to sue the National newspapers for publishing lies about their private life.

Immediately following that official declaration, it also came to public attention that the newspapers had hastily paid what Mrs. Uruk had requested; they had most likely chosen to do that to avoid a formal lawsuit that would have damaged their reputation even further.

They had profusely apologized for the 'regrettable mistake of having false information and fabricated pictures in their paper,' and that they would 'terminate any information from the source [they] had misguidedly believed to be reliable.' After all, if the most powerful and famous couple in the world sued them for good reasons, it meant that it was time to back down and apologize.

The result was the increased popularity of the Uruk name, and a sudden surge of the company's prestige. It was exactly what Arturia and Gilgamesh had wanted: a perfect way of closing an unpleasant incident and a positive reimaging for Uruk Enterprises.

Since such news was widely spread and incessantly talked about, even Iri, in her secluded place at the private clinic, ended up hearing about it. The white-haired woman only heard the summary of it all on the Sunday news, and when her sister later came, she asked Arturia about it, wondering why she had to get information from a secondary news source about something like that.

Irisviel did hesitate at first. If her sister had not told her on her own, it meant that she probably did not want to talk about it, but there was also nothing wrong with asking, right? She therefore decided to gather her courage and inquire about the lawsuit she and Gilgamesh had filed – because when something as serious as a legal matter involved Ria, it could be worrisome.

"Ria, I was wondering," she began one late evening, as soon as Arturia had put Shirou to bed and was back in her room. Gilgamesh had come to have dinner with them as well, but he was now outside on a phone call. "I heard on the news that you and… your husband… intended to sue the National newspapers."

Her sister had never been the most talkative of people, but the silence that followed was long even for her.

So Iri went on, "The reporters said, and later denied, that your husband… that he… well, that he was… unfaithful. I know it's a contract and it's not a matter that should concern me, but if such a thing about him is true, Ria, I–"

"It's not," Arturia replied, calmly and reassuringly. "Gilgamesh didn't do anything of the kind, he didn't cheat on me. The press invented lies, and that was the reason for the lawsuit. However, the National newspapers have already issued a formal apology and also given an adequate amount of money to a charity of my choice. The matter is already settled."

Iri stared at her, gaze pensive, trying to conceal her wariness at her sister's almost frighteningly efficient decisiveness, before speaking up once again.

"Ria… what happened to have the reporters come up with such a scandalous story?"

Arturia's green eyes clouded over a little. She did not want to do what she was about to do, but she had already decided it on her own: she was not going to tell her sister about many of her dealings with Gilgamesh. Iri knew about the contract, of course, and about the general resolutions she had agreed on with him, because during the past few weeks, the blonde woman had filled her in about what had happened in her three months of coma, talking about Shirou, her own graduation, and the move to Japan. But she always avoided talking directly about the man she had wed and explaining how much her life had changed with the marriage.

Therefore, even if it did not feel good to do, Arturia forced herself to utter, "I am really sorry to have to say this, Iri, but it's a matter between my husband and myself."

It was not that she was forbidden from telling her sister; it was simply something she decided could not be shared. It was something that had to remain between her and her husband, so private that not even the person who was closest to her could know about it. That was because it was not just about herself; it deeply involved Gilgamesh, and Arturia was not the kind of person to divulge 'secrets' that were not solely her own. Only she and Gilgamesh knew the cheating scandals' full story, and it was going to remain that way. Not even Enkidu knew everything about it.

Her eyes, fixated on her sister's face with well-hidden apprehension, were begging Iri to understand.

Iri laughed gently and, giving her an accepting nod, changed the subject, talking about other things until Gilgamesh ended his phone call and came back into the room. Soon after, he and Arturia left.

As soon as her sister was gone, the white-haired woman lost herself deep in thought once again.

Contrary to what Arturia had feared, Iri was not hurt by the fact that she did not tell her that much about any of the private matters with her husband. Instead, Iri was suspicious.

Arturia's behaviour made her recall her own with Kiritsugu. There had always been things that just had to remain between husband and wife, things that could not be shared with anyone else. Her younger sister had always shown to understand that, and had never asked Iri anything invasive about her marriage to Kiritsugu.

Iri, on the other hand, had asked, assuming that there was nothing wrong in it, and yet Arturia had chosen not to offer a reply.

She shook her head firmly. Her sister's marriage was only a contract, a monetary arrangement; that was what Arturia herself had always stated. She had said that they were each going to bring benefits to the other, but that that was it.

Then why, as more and more time went by, did it look like it was something different? Something… more?

Iri was confined to a bed the entire time and she had missed three months in the lives of the people who surrounded her; it was completely possible that she was just imagining things.

Nevertheless, there was the fact that Arturia kept matters between herself and Gilgamesh private, as if they were a real couple. There was the fact that he went out of his way to drive to the hospital to escort his wife back home when it was getting late and share meals with her even though there was no need to keep up appearances in those moments. There was the strange and inexplicable tension that seemed to subsist between them whenever they were in the same room… and much, much more.

Addressing her sister on the subject was not going to be produce the desired results, as had just been proven; it was therefore best to leave the matter be.

However…

There were two people in that marriage, and Ria was only one of the two. Iri did not know the other person very well – in fact, she did not know him at all – so it may be wiser if she focused on him to be able to understand things better.

She did not intend to be nosy in her sister's life, but she had made a promise to herself, the promise to be a better older sister for the person who had sacrificed so much for her.

Yes, she decided as she caressed her pregnant belly and felt her baby give some of their now regular kicks, she was going to learn more about her brother-in-law and perhaps… perhaps try to get along with him.

After all, whether they liked it or not, they were related now.

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Arriving home a few days later, Arturia found Sakura in the kitchen, as she was finishing with the cooking. The woman was becoming fond of the girl, and knew that Iri, whom she had met a few times now, liked her as well. Her personality was shy, but kind and dedicated; aside from her excellent cooking skills, she truly loved and was very apt at looking after children. Plus, as if that wasn't enough, she was also good at hairdressing.

Perhaps, the blonde woman mused, once Iri was a bit better and her baby was born, Sakura could be persuaded to babysit for her. Her job at the Uruk household was not going to last forever, after all; ever since Arturia had found out that Gilgamesh could cook, the two of them had been working in the kitchen – together – more often than they expected.

As she helped the girl set the table – her husband was going to be home within half an hour – they were silent, at least until Arturia, out of curiosity, brought up the subject that was making the press go absolutely crazy those days.

"I assume you have heard about the suing Gilgamesh and I were involved with, Sakura," she questioned, observing the purple-haired girl's face as it remained quite unchanged.

"I have, Mrs. Ria," she replied, with a slight hesitation in her tone.

Curving her lips in a semblance of a brief smile, Arturia said, "Once again, you don't seem surprised."

Sakura smiled as well, much more widely, bringing the cutlery to the table shyly.

"Mrs. Ria, I can make no mystery of my fear of Mr. Uruk, and I have also heard of his ruthlessness in his field of work. But even though he intimidates me, I know for sure that he is not a man to break his word – especially not to the woman he cherishes above anyone else."

Arturia blinked, and Sakura continued, completely unaware of the effect of her words on the stunned woman, "You are far too precious to him for him to ever do what the newspapers suggested, Mrs. Ria, so of course I knew right away that those articles were full of lies."

She had a dreamy expression on her face, but she soon snapped out of it when Arturia cleared her throat discreetly. Mortified, the girl was about to apologize for her mental escapade, but Arturia tactfully changed the subject with another question before she could do so.

"If this isn't too invasive, I would like to ask you about your dreams for the future, Sakura."

The girl looked up at her, a bit preoccupied. She understood the need to talk about something else, but she was somewhat puzzled about that specific matter.

"Well… I want to make sure Rin has the possibility to study as she grows up, because she's young but already smart and positively ambitious, and she deserves to have the best I can offer her."

Arturia could not avoid noticing the parallels there were between the girl's life and her own, but she still asked more.

"What about yourself, Sakura? What would you like for your future?"

The girl shifted on her feet a little.

"Well… I'm not sure. I've always liked history, and if I had the money and time for it, I would probably take history classes. But not for a job or anything of the sort… I just like it. I don't have particular ambitions regarding work positions – I would just like to earn enough to give my sister a future. I like being with children, helping people, cooking and doing housework… I really enjoy working for you, Mrs. Ria, because there is so much warmth here in this household. I would like to keep working for your family, as it is now and as it will be in the future."

She gave a sincere smile to the blonde woman, before hurrying back to the kitchen as she heard Gilgamesh's footsteps approaching. She had told the truth when she had said she enjoyed her work there, but that did not mean that she wasn't still very much terrified of Arturia's husband.

As she sat down for dinner, the blonde woman felt guilt fill her, for deceiving sweet Sakura into believing that the Uruk family was a true one – even though, if seen in a logical light, it was actually positive, because it meant that the marriage was giving the desired impressions.

She was however feeling so guilty about it that she did not give much thought to the last words Sakura had pronounced.

When the girl had said that she wanted to work for the family 'as it was going to be in the future', Arturia had correctly guessed that she was referring to possible additions there were going to be, and therefore she assumed she had meant Iri's child.

In truth, Sakura's romantic mind had already made her imagine the kids her employers might have: probably blonde children, as striking as their parents, and most certainly among the cutest toddlers to have ever been seen.

It was probably for the best that Arturia had guessed wrong, at least this one time.

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As Iri started to pay more attention when both Gilgamesh and Arturia were at the hospital, trying to find an occasion to address him or just talk with him at length, she noticed a few other things.

When she and Ria spoke, her sister avoided mentioning her husband directly as much as possible. Aside from the explanation she had given the day Iri had woken up from the coma, she did not add many other details about the contract and the man she had married. However, it appeared that she did not notice that she actually did talk about him – just in passing, maybe, or briefly mentioning something that involved him – and quite often.

Arturia was not the type to complain much; it was only from brief comments during talks about other things that Iri learned more about the man her sister had married, and she would not have noticed if she had not been paying attention.

According to Arturia, he was extremely confident to the point of being arrogant; he was ruthless in his business dealings and at the workplace, but also fair, at least usually; and, for some reason that Iri decided not to ask more about, he also had great fashion sense. As Arturia had once fleetingly mentioned, he had made her go shopping with him more than once and had bought all her clothes.

All that information, difficult to gather and requiring a lot of patience since her sister hardly ever let anything slip, made Iri even more curious about the man.

Who, exactly, was Gilgamesh Uruk?

Another important question came to the white-haired woman's mind every time she talked with her sister: did he know her? Did Gilgamesh Uruk know Arturia? Did he know about her as a person and about her past?

Knowing Ria, it was very unlikely she had given away much about herself, if anything at all.

Well then. That meant that she had a good topic to bring up if she ever managed to speak with him alone.

To be honest, Iri felt quite uneasy about that prospect. He was an intimidating man, and something about him was extremely majestic. She briefly wondered how her sister managed to deal with him all the time, let alone share a room with him – but then she recalled that it was Arturia, and if anyone could make it, it was her.

Speaking by herself with the man everyone called 'Mr. Uruk' though… He was the person her sister had made a deal with, a very delicate and complicated deal, a deal she did not know much about, as Ria had not told her the details.

What if she ended up saying something that unwittingly endangered that entire deal? After everything that Ria had done for it, after everything that she had sacrificed for it… was Iri going to ruin all that?

She could not risk doing such a thing.

Furthermore, as much as she tried to overcome such a feeling, Gilgamesh Uruk did indeed frighten her a bit. He was imposing and scary, and the way he stared at people was constantly disdainful and haughty. Iri did not believe she was ready to face him on her own, or at least… not yet.

That did not mean, however, that she was going to leave the matter be. She wanted him to know a few more things about her sister, and the occasion to let him know that came sooner than she had expected.

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Gilgamesh and Arturia had agreed to participate in an event as soon as possible, together, to confirm the fact that any rumour of crisis in their marriage was completely unfounded. As for the event, they had chosen the inauguration of the first hotel in the world that was completely powered by renewable energy.

Since it was to take place in the evening and it was not in Tokyo, Gilgamesh came to the hospital in the middle of the afternoon with the limousine to pick Arturia up.

When he arrived, the blonde woman was however still taking a stroll in the gardens with Shirou; therefore, Iri saw that her sister's husband remained waiting outside her room, obviously quite annoyed because of it. Right in that moment, the nurses were with her, taking her vitals and doing the daily check-ups.

The head nurse, Sola-Ui, was a cold, haughty and disdainful woman; she wasn't exactly rude, but she did constantly snap at everyone and only calmed down and actually blushed once Doctor Diarmuid was around. The other nurse who tended to her especially, Kariya, was instead a much gentler person.

He was about nine years older than her, and he had taken to heart her delicate pregnant conditions and Shirou's welfare with genuine kindness. Iri could talk in quite a relaxed manner with him, even about personal subjects; in fact, he was one of the few people with whom she had voluntarily spoken with about her husband's death.

Sola-Ui – or Madam Sophia-Ri, as she preferred being called – left soon after the checking of her conditions, leaving the door open; Kariya instead remained with her, as usual making her more comfortable in her bed, putting away the syringes and readying the medications for later.

Ria usually did those things, but she was outside with Shirou at the moment and was expected to leave with Gilgamesh right afterwards; Kariya had not even needed to be asked, he had immediately offered to do her usual tasks in her stead.

As he distended the pillows and helped her lie down, he conversationally told her, "You know, Irisviel," – the white-haired woman had insisted on the use of first names from the beginning, not liking the formal 'Ms. von Einzbern' – "I was checking the forms to order your medicaments yesterday, and I happened upon your sister's signature from a few months ago. I had thought that her maiden name was 'von Einzbern', too."

Iri did not mind Kariya's implicit question, because he was a nice man and he was asking only in harmless curiosity. He had not noticed that the door had remained open after Madam Sophia-Ri's exit and that therefore Mr. Uruk – her sister's husband – could hear every word, but she had.

She decided it was actually a somewhat subtle yet very good opportunity to talk a bit about her sister in a way that Gilgamesh would be able to listen to.

Therefore, she smiled and closed her eyes briefly as she carefully sank into the pillows.

"Ria is my half-sister. Our mother is the same, but my biological father died before I was even born. My mother remarried, and her second husband is the man I grew up to consider my dad."

Seeing Kariya's concerned glance, she smiled again. "No need to be apprehensive, Kariya. I don't talk about our parents with ease only because the last time I was in Japan, they both died in a plane crash."

The man's eyes held sincere sympathy.

"I am very sorry about it, Irisviel."

She accepted his honest condolences with a slight nod.

"Thank you. But I was actually lucky… you see, I had just gotten engaged back then, and therefore I had my future husband to help me through the emotional distraught. My sister, instead… it happened only a couple of weeks before she turned eighteen. And barely a month later we moved to America, where she started college. Yet she still found the time to comfort me over her own sadness."

She smiled more widely as Kariya returned her smile and finished putting her bed covers carefully in place over the IV. "Ria is a very strong person. She has always been the strong one." Some sadness crept in her voice at those last words.

Kariya put his hand on her wrist and gave her a gentle squeeze in comfort.

"I believe both of you are very strong, Irisviel."

He was always so kind, Iri thought, giving him a smile in thanks.

"If I truly was, I wouldn't have fallen into depression after… after… after Kiritsugu… I mean, if I had been less focused on my own grief, I wouldn't have forced Ria to take care of Shirou and me and would have noticed about the pregnancy and–"

"Irisviel, don't think like that," Kariya gently soothed, seeing how she was beginning to get worked up, especially after having mentioned her late husband. "You know that Ria doesn't see things that way. You shouldn't, either."

He offered another one of his sincere smiles before regulating the quantity of fluids in the IV. As he did this, Iri let her thoughts wander.

Kariya was a very nice man. The conversations with him were always pleasant, and even when they broached personal matters they never became uncomfortable.

When she had first heard his surname – Matou – Ria had for some reason been a bit wary of him, but when she had heard that he had been disinherited and disowned by his family, her suspicion had turned into sympathy and she had put her initial guardedness aside. Ria had privately explained to her that she knew about the Matou family because of their business field, and even though she was aware that it was unfair towards him, she was glad about the fact that Kariya was no longer associated with them in any way.

Kariya had told both Iri and Arturia about his life. He had loved a woman very deeply, a childhood friend of his, who unfortunately had not returned his feelings and had married someone else. Kariya knew that she loved her husband, and even though his heart broke because he was not able to be with her, he could find it in himself to be happy for her. He had only recently heard that she had died a few months before, having gone insane after her husband's suicide, and it had been a hard blow on him. He was still recovering from that.

Iri thought that his strength was not too different from Arturia's: he put other people's happiness before his own with complete abnegation, and he did not let his personal grief affect his normal behaviour towards other people. He also fought to keep himself together, doing a job he loved with unaffected care for the patients. His kindness towards her and Shirou was proof of it.

He was quite strong in dealing with his sorrow, Iri considered. She, instead, had many more difficulties in moving on from the hurtful past, as merely mentioning her husband's name had made her feel deeply miserable. However, she noticed that the strong pain in her chest that had been a constant companion ever since Kiritsugu had died was starting to reduce.

Slowly, very slowly – but it was beginning to become more similar to a dull ache whenever she thought about him. She knew that it was a step, a small step but a step nonetheless, towards her recovery.

She was so immersed in her thoughts that she was a little startled once Arturia entered the room, preceded by Shirou.

Iri had forgotten that she had been talking with Kariya about a specific part of her past mainly to make sure Gilgamesh Uruk overheard their conversation. She hoped her small subterfuge had worked, because talking with him was, as usual, so pleasant that it made her forget everything else.

Kariya helped Shirou climb onto her bed before taking his leave with another of his gentle smiles. Iri thought there was some warmth in it too, but could not concentrate on it because Arturia was giving him a few words of thanks and he was turning towards her to brush them aside with one of his usual 'it was nothing' remarks.

Kind Kariya. His presence was always a welcome one. Iri did not notice how Arturia's gaze briefly went from her to him with a hint of a raised eyebrow, but she did take note of her brother-in-law entering the room and staring pointedly at her sister.

Arturia briefly kissed Shirou's forehead and her cheek before leaving with Gilgamesh; Iri scrutinized him as he left, but she could not determine whether or not he had overheard the conversation between Kariya and herself.

Well, she had tried. There was only so much she could have done; she had to be careful not to overstep any boundaries, because as much as she wanted to help Ria, she had no right to interfere with her life unless she requested it. Perhaps she should have considered this before – but her sister would not have been pleased with her meddling, no matter how kindly meant it was. Unless Ria asked for her help, Irisviel could not be too forward.

Moreover, even though all she wanted was to support and look out for her sister, what truly mattered was Ria's happiness. Iri thought it was rather unlikely that she was happy at the moment, but she wasn't unhappy either.

Therefore, rather than trying to meddle – with mixed results anyway – it was probably better if she took a step back and simply observed her sister instead, because the white-haired woman trusted Ria's judgement and wanted to let her know as much.

Right now, her son needed her attention, since he was leaning against her belly and watching the baby's kicks with fascination.

Things were slowly but surely getting better, Iri decided, as she held Shirou close.

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They made a quick detour by the house to change into the proper attire and pick up some luggage for the event before taking off in the limousine again. As it happened, since it was the inauguration of a hotel, they had been asked – or, more appropriately, offered – to spend the night in one of the rooms of the renewable energy's brand new place. Arturia was doing her best to avoid giving too much thought to the matter, but the long car ride was making it inevitable.

That was however the case only until Gilgamesh broke the silence by unexpectedly addressing her.

"Are you approving of the relationship between the nurse and your sister?" he asked.

She stared at him, half-confused, half-guarded. They had to go to a public event and appear together in front of the cameras while giving the impression of being in love; it was going to be hard to manage if they had a discussion right before that. And most of their conversations, unfortunately, tended to end up in such a way.

Warily, she slowly replied, "It depends on what you mean, Gilgamesh. And I don't think this is a subject we should discuss in the first place."

His blood red eyes studied her green ones for a few seconds before seemingly deciding, to her inner relief, to leave the matter be.

Arturia was not sure what exactly he had meant to find out with that question, and she did not want to give an answer to it. She did not know what kind of relationship Iri and Kariya had, beyond the patient-nurse one, therefore she didn't think it was prudent to speculate or talk about it, least of all with her husband.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence and before long, they reached the hotel. As she was stepping out of the vehicle, Arturia mentally prepared herself to plaster a smile on her face and not blink too much once the flashes were going to start. She also made sure not to take more than one step away from Gilgamesh, so that the press would see that they were literally close to each other.

Perhaps it would have been for the best if she started a conversation with him, a possibly harmless conversation, at least while the flashes surrounded them. It would actually force her to keep close to him to make sure they heard each other, at the very least.

Keeping her face relaxed – or as relaxed as it was possible while focusing on having a smile she didn't mean – she remained very close to her husband, feeling his arm going to surround her waist possessively and seeing the flashes starting to blind them both. She felt some irritation at his silence; they had an agreement to always have a subject for conversation, but he did not seem inclined to be helpful right now.

She had to find something to say, anything at all.

Therefore, she leaned towards his ear, and murmured sardonically, "This is just in order to have something to talk about for the evening… but tell me, Gilgamesh, what are your hobbies?"

His eyelids had the minimal twitch, which indicated that he was very aware of the fact that she was provoking him. His tone remained light and his arm tightened almost imperceptibly around her waist, as they both remained still long enough to have pictures taken of them.

He seemed, surprisingly, to decide to humour her question.

"My job is the kind that leaves very little time for hobbies, Arturia, but you have been around me long enough to already know that my work is what matters the most to me. Things that other people consider entertainment just bore me; however," and he leaned a little forward, closer to her, making sure that both of them were in the best position to be caught on camera, "I do believe I have recently found a hobby I enjoy very, very much."

She continued to smile for the press, their bodies pressed against each other a bit too intimately for comfort, and her arms went up to be on his chest, no longer staying limp at her sides.

"Oh? Do surprise me, Gilgamesh. What would that be?"

With a sudden movement, he turned his face towards her, pressing his lips against hers without warning.

Arturia's eyes widened, but he had manoeuvred them so that her face was hidden from view as the flashes went off, and he only freed her mouth once they heard people start clapping. He kept her still covered from the media's watchful cameras by tracing her ear with his lips, and his voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke – but she could hear him loud and clear.

"Teasing you, Arturia."

He pulled away then, smirking at her thunderstruck yet quickly enraging expression and, his arm still around her waist, guided her inside the building where they were being expected.

As she took in the tasteful décor of the hotel that was going to be inaugurated, Arturia inwardly cursed him and questioned herself.

Once again, she had let her guard down, and he had taken advantage of it as he always did.

Then why did this time not make her feel as incensed, as she would have normally felt?

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