There were two words in particular that Diana always feared in regard to her family.
Family dinner.
Having to spend any more time with her stuck-up cousins and equally stuck-up aunt was already torture enough, given the nigh-constant chit-chat regarding some of their exploits, which was downright oozing prejudice against the lower- or even most middle-class citizens, but after a few failed romances Diana had within the walls of Luna Nova, it seemed as if her cousins were now hell-bent on constantly making homophobic remark after homophobic remark.
And what of now?
Well, with all brutal honesty, Diana really didn't want to bring Constanze along for this particular meeting, if only because she felt that dragging anyone else into her troubles was the last thing she needed, especially her girlfriend. Alas, the little German girl insisted on tagging along with Diana, her reasoning being that at least Diana won't have to tough it out all by herself.
Not… That this made things any easier…
"Those gold diggers are just as overprominent as always, Maril. When will they learn that one has to work for their social status and riches, not try to worm their way into some rich, influential family?" – Merrill remarked as she took a light sip of wine.
"I can relate on that front, Merrill. I suppose that might be the main reason why a commoner would try to get into an influential family not unlike ours." – As the other blonde spoke, Diana couldn't help but notice both Merrill and Maril glaring at Constanze strangely. Sure, the German girl didn't notice a damn thing, but to Diana, the intent behind her cousins' words was obvious.
To top it all off, Daryl wouldn't do a damn thing about her daughters' behavior! There she was, just quietly enjoying her meal and not saying a damn word, while Merrill and Maril just continued on with their prejudiced chatter.
"You know what's worse than having a commoner spouse, by the way? Having a disabled spouse, of course!" – That one set Diana even further on edge.
Was she really talking about-
"Most certainly, Merrill. Even minor things, like speech impediments, must be a real pain in the behind to deal with. Especially if you're having to live the rest of your life with said speech-impeded person, trying your bloody best to understand just what they tried to tell you at that moment or another. "
Just keep calm… Don't say a word… Constanze keeps quiet, you should too…
"Merrill, Maril, I think this too heavy of a topic to discuss during a family dinner." – Finally, Daryl made some effort to calm her daughters down… Only to throw more fuel to the fire: "Perhaps you might want to keep your discussions a smidgen more grounded?"
"Well, we can always talk it out about what happened to the world of magic recently." – Diana suggested, trying to at least slightly break the tension. Of course, Maril just had to twist things her way: "More specifically, about how some people began twisting pure magic into such absurd forms as techmaturgy."
Honestly, if she had the strength, Diana thought, she'd probably have her fork snap in two in her hands after hearing this.
That shrew just had to hit right where it counts?!
"Ah, yes, the single most invalid subtype of magic, if you can even call it magic, that is." – Merrill remarked condescendingly. – "Such a waste of perfectly good magical energy and mundane resources, must I say. Infusing a mundane tin can wouldn't make it in any way better – at the end of the day, it's still going to be a tin can that drains your magic reserves into nothing as an added bonus. Not to mention, it's not like anyone is ever going to validate techmaturgy as a science."
"Miss Meridies attempted to, and we all know the end result – the whole damn England nearly got destroyed by a magical nuke. So I'd add to it the fact that techmaturgy is not just borderline pointless, but might only bring nothing more but trouble into the world as a whole. Hell, I can hardly call anyone pursuing techmaturgy as their specialty a proper witch or mage, so-"
"Enough!" – Diana slammed both her hands against the table as she stood up from her seat, startling everyone. – "Daryl, I've lost count of how many semiannual family dinners ended up with me walking away from the table extremely embarrassed due to your daughters' behavior, but this is a new low. Humiliating my girlfriend like this is already bad enough, but you not doing anything to stop such behavior is something else entirely."
Constanze stared wide-eyed at Diana, still not believing the blonde's words as she continued speaking:
"First and foremost, Constanze didn't attempt to "worm her way" into the family, so to speak. We have a genuine relationship, that, even in spite of it being fairly recent, has no ulterior motives behind it. Besides, the Amalie von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger family is far from a poor one, that I can say for certain, but I doubt they would force Constanze upon me just to have our families connect one way or another."
That one wasn't actually a lie – Constanze was by no means a first-generation witch, and her family, while it didn't own any large businesses in Germany or anything like that, was still a known and respected one, at least in the witch community.
"Second, Constanze is by no means "speech-impeded", as she merely had quite a bit of trouble learning to speak in English." – Diana crossed her arms and looked over at Maril, who was now staring at Diana in complete and utter bafflement as well, before remarking: "I'd like to see you try to speak in fluent German just a couple months after arriving into Berlin or anything like that, Maril. I'm fairly certain it would be an amusing sight."
"Diana, would you refrain from-"
"And last but not least, just up and telling a person that their life's passion is meaningless and brings nothing but harm to everyone is horribly, horribly insensitive. I see that, for all your etiquette you've been learning, cousins, you really failed to learn any sort of compassion towards others. Oh, wait, I know just the reason." – The blonde briefly turned to face Constanze and asked out loud: "What was the saying in your country again, Constanze? "Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm", was it?" – and then faced Daryl again. – "I can clearly say just whom they inherited this sheer insensitivity from, aunt Daryl. I guess there is little wonder why the Cavendish family's fall from grace was inevitable – with the likes of you in it, I wouldn't dare call our family anything other than a wretched hive! "
There were quite a few moments of stunned silence. No one really knew what to say, and Diana didn't feel like adding anything further to her speech, so she went over to Constanze, grabbed her by her hand, and grumbled off a "We shall take our leave now." before departing from the dining hall.
"You… Really stood up for me."
Not too long after the event, Diana and Constanze were already flying a broom back to the nearest leyline terminal, as they now intended to head back over to Luna Nova and forget that this family dinner ever happened.
"Of course I did, Constanze." – Diana replied, sounding far less tense than usual. – "You know full well I wouldn't let anyone bully any of my close acquaintances, let alone my girlfriend. Sorry that I had to drag you into this mess, though."
"It's okay. My parents had corporative dinners with worse families." – The navy-haired girl remarked, looking off to the side. – "By the way, when winter break comes around, maybe we can try to get permission to fly over to my Vaterland for the holidays? I assure you, my parents are far more pleasant than your aunt and cousins." – After a few moments of quiet, she added: "No offense."
"Mein kleines Kätzchen, I know full well my surviving folks are a bunch of stuck-up wretches, I stopped taking offense to these statements ages ago." - Stopping the broom mid-air for a couple moments, Diana turned her head just enough to give her girlfriend a kiss on the forehead, and added: "That being said, I do accept the offer, and I'm looking forward to it."
And there it was again, that one heart-melting smile from Constanze.