Chapter 9:
After the spontaneous meeting with Seto's brother, Mokuba, Olivia left the Kaiba Estate to venture home. Mokuba was a kind boy, with wide eyes and a broad smile. It made Olivia shake her head at the contrast between the two siblings. Mokuba was the light to Seto's dark; his sweet to Seto's sour.
The ring sparkled on the steering-wheel, distracting her from the road as she turned down her street.
Pulling up to her apartment, she drove round to the back and parked in the private garage. The F12berlinetta rumbled to a halt, its formidable engine shutting down. Olivia extracted her key and sat heavily in the driver's seat. Again, she pondered the ring. Again she thought of Seto's response to her. She felt a bit of shame in her overall behavior. She never meant to be so biting in her fights, but old habits die hard.
She stared at the ring. Taking it from her finger, Olivia turned it over to examine to setting; White gold with pave diamonds inlayed around the band. The prongs carefully gripped the large blue stone, holding it high as if on a pedestal. As she rubbed her thumb on the inside of the band, Olivia felt a series of shallow fissures. Startled that there might be damage to the ring, she wrapped it securely in her fist and hopped out of her car. Darting to her apartment, swiping her security key, and locking the door she went straight to her kitchen. Putting the ring on a folded hand towel, she rummaged through her drawers. Fining a magnifying glass, Olivia sat at the table and picked up the ring. Finding the area where she felt the blemishes, she zoomed in with the glass. Much to her surprise, they weren't cracks or crazes in the gold; they were engravings.
Little, delicate engravings in an eloquent cursive script ran along the length of one side of the band. Why would Seto desecrate such a piece with a message? She thought.
Then, holding the ring just so, Olivia made out what the text said:
"Succeed and Conquer."
Setting both items down, Olivia gazed into the distance as she processed what the message meant. It did not take long before she brought a hand to her chest and laughed.
"Oh Seto! How right you are!"
Olivia spent the rest of her evening in random fits of laughter. She laughed because for the first time in a long while, she had been outdone. Seto had ordered for that engraving as homage to her. He ordered it as a peace offering. Seto ordered it to announce only to them, that they were equal. They had both succeeded, and they had both conquered.
Seto mindlessly scanned the book he held in his hands.
Mokuba really liked Olivia. The young boy told him so many times after she left how much he hoped to see her again before the wedding. Mokuba did not mind that Seto was engaged, he was happy in fact.
"You need some distraction from work brother," he had said.
"You think so?"
Mokuba folded his arms and frowned at his sibling. "If you don't marry her, then that will be just stupid. She's pretty, smart, funny, and really nice. She's a nice break from those airheads who flounce all over the place."
Seto gave his brother a warm smile. "You like her that much? You just met her today, and not for very long either. How can you be so sure she's the one for your brother? The Dragon?"
Mokuba shrugged and folded his hands behind his head. "I just know she is brother. I can't explain it, but I just know it. She's perfect for you. And if you don't go through with it I'll never speak to you again."
Mokuba gave Seto a sneaky wink. Seto chuckled, but deeply considered what his brother said. If she was able to gain Mokuba's trust and admiration in such a short time, then he would be an idiot not to marry her. Seto put his heart in his brother's judge of character that, quite often, was spot on. Seto loved his brother dearly, and as he heard Mokuba talk about Olivia, he came to realize more and more how much he agreed with his younger sibling.