Winter could hear the sound of her footsteps as she entered the manor, it wasn't unusual for a maid or butler to ignore the doorbell if no one was expecting anyone to visit.
So she simply entered her family's home, it had been a while since she had come back and the place was just as big and empty as she remembered it.
the white stone walls made the blue-tinted windows stick out more especially since the decoration in the windows displayed her family's history.
The statues of great heroes and beasts were carefully placed so that they caught the sight of anyone that was passing by, and the floors were so clean that winter was glad that she was wearing pants because if she had been wearing a skirt anyone could see her undergarments.
"Welcome back" she heard her mother say to her
Winter turned to the direction that her mother's voice had come from and found her holding her scroll.
"What brings you back?" her mother asked asher as she looked at something.
"Mother" Winter said before pausing and gathering her courage.
Winter didn't have the best relationship with her parents or her entire family for that matter, but they were still her family, and angering or disappointing them was something she didn't want to do, but she nonetheless had to.
"Mother I'm married," Winter told her mother bluntly yet her mother didn't react
Winter was about to say something and yell at her mother to say something anything to her yet the woman just kept looking at her scroll.
"Oh you want me to punish you, is that it?" her mother said to her before walking towards winter and handing her the scroll
"Jaune Arc, grandson of one of the heroes of the great war"
'Glynda Goodwich, daughter of the great Goodwitch, tell me Winter why would I punish you when you single-handedly gave our family so many opportunities" her mother said to her as a maid walked into the room and handed Winter a glass filled with wine
The maid immediately handed her mother another glass.
"Your husband has named another man his brother, officially making this Ren a member of the Arc family, but he isn't the only one this Mark was immediately made one as well," Her mother said to her as Winter looked through the video her mother had been looking at
"You look like if you don't understand," her mother said to her as she began to walk around winter.
"Let me paint a picture for you"
"It's no mystery that the dust mines are running out, yet all of a sudden our family has suddenly gained access to several lands that contain high quantities of dust and it was all thanks to you"
"You are expected to be the one to have the first child and be the one to bear the Arc name, I will inform your father, you know how he gets when things don't go his way," her mother said to her.
Winter felt like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car her mind couldn't process the situation, her mother had just said she was perfectly okay with the marriage and was now demanding that Winter had to have the firstborn.
"What do the other two have to do with anything?" Winter asked her mother as she tried to understand the situation
"Mark is known to be an unofficial Huntsmen, meaning he has access to information even our military doesn't know about, our records show that
he has killed several high-level people"
"Ren and the woman Nora are the sole survivors of a small kingdom that failed before it could become a true kingdom, meaning that all of the dust reserves in those lands belong to them"
"yet they were just made members of the Arc family meaning that if we play our cards right, we won't just have access to your husbands' lands but the lands of the newly established branch families as well" Her mother explained to her
Winter watched her mother's lip slowly turn into a smirk until she finally had a toothy smile on her face.
'I have to admit I was irritated by your rebellious faze but to think that you were targeting the Arc family without my or your father knowledge"
'I've already contacted the senior Arc members and we will soon be meeting to discuss this connection we have" Her mother said to her as a group of maids walked in carrying several books.
Winter looked at her mother and the two locked eyes.
"Oh, I get it you expected me to be angry at this news"
"Well I was slightly irritated but this benefits us far more than the other proposals your father has gotten, so no Winter there won't be any punishment coming from me or your father," Her mother said to her before she signaled to the maids to take all of the magazines to the livingroom
Winter followed her mother and they both sat on the bright red sofas, the red color of the furniture seemed to make it stick out more as it was surrounded by white stone.
Winter took one of the magazines one of the maids handed her and she found that it was a lingerie magazine.
Winter was about to throw it out, but her mother began to speak
'It's your job to make sure your new husband doesn't tire of you, despite your father's way of being I gave birth to three lovely children" her mother said to her
"What if he chooses one of the others as his first?' Winter said to her mother but she immediately stopped talking when she saw the smirk on her mother's face
"Winter please, that redhead is too inexperienced to be any real threat, and let's be honest dear"
" Glynda despite her age is too uptight to have ever had any experience with the opposite sex that goes beyond a kiss and I'm being generous," her mother said to her
"I need some time alone," Winter said to her mother before she got up and left the room, she immediately headed to her old room and she couldn't help but smile, it was just like she had left it, it was the only place in the entire house that was hers, the only place that she could relax
In the living room, Winters mother smiled as she watched the maids leave the room
"A Red Bull Hunt, how long has it been since someone played that game," she said to herself as she let out a small breath
"Winter if you only knew the rest of that story, you would know that out of all the people out there I'm your only allie," she said to herself as she received a phone call
"Hellow, ah Mr. Arc Jaune's Grandfather, I was just about to call you"
"It seems my daughter and your grandson have thrown themselves at the bull's horns," she said to Jaunes grandfather, as she listened to the old man's words
"I agree, if the three of them were willing to play the game then it's up to us to test them and see how far they are willing to go"