ScipioPB: She will be trying to help without interfering too much, since divine beings shouldn't interfere with humans' affair too deeply except for special circumstances (for this case, since Vivi, another magical being, is directly messing with a human, Sephia had a reason to interfere directly as well; it's like a balance between order and chaos kind of thing)

Chris Shino: Sephia could only step in because Vivi had directly interfered by putting Reine into danger... so it's a trade-off. Besides, just like she told Neil in the previous chapter, she comes at the most desperate of times (now we can tell how desperate Neil is to save Reine, eh?)

"Gwen, you should take a break."

"Mamma should, too." Gwen rejoined. "You just recovered."

Mme Rousseau smiled and finally put down the dish she was washing previously. Only then Gwen put down her own chore and both women sat down around the small dining table. Mme Rousseau took a good look at her younger daughter and smiled, "Now both of you are sixteen…" she pondered aloud. "I don't go out much, but I want to know whether you already have someone… you know…"

Only then Gwen realized that Mme Rousseau was looking intently at the sapphire ring on her finger. Reflexively, Gwen covered the ring with her other hand. "This is nothing, Mamma."

"Oh, really?" Mme Rousseau's eyes were twinkling with amusement. "Tell me about him."

"Umm…" Gwen tried to find the words to describe the giver of this ring to her mother, but she couldn't think of anything else but 'a magical coat hanger' and of course she couldn't give her poor mother a bout of heart attack or a tangled thread of confusion. "I… don't know his name."

"But you wore the ring?"

"He left the ring in the coat he lent me." Gwen explained, "I don't want to lose it, so I wear it… I'll return it the next time we meet."

Mme Rousseau smiled, "I sense a smart gentleman there, young lady." Her remark was met with Gwen's slight, hesitant smile. "So, when are you going to meet this monsieur again?"

"Oh, I don't know yet, Mamma." She replied, trying not to sound too disappointed. "But…"

"You do want to meet him."

Colour rose to her cheeks as her mother laid out the bare truth she dared not to speak aloud. Mme Rousseau smiled understandingly—sometimes she wondered what had happened inside of her womb that her two daughters emerged to be so different from one another. Oftentimes she thought the reason being that while Reine was born when the dying sun blazed the last of its rays to the edges of the skies, Gwen's cry was only heard when the shy moon made her appearance on the sky, softly floating among the stars. She loved both of her daughters dearly; but she often found herself to be overwhelmed with Reine's fieriness—something that her late husband found to be treasurable—while Gwen's shyness emanated some sort of frequency that was congruent to her own.

The sentiment was enhanced after she was widowed. While Reine seemed to be the more outspoken between the two, Mme Rousseau had always sensed that beneath that frankness, there was a heavy secret that her daughter kept from everyone, including her. Hiding a leaf in the forest—something that Mme Rousseau knew her late husband had taught the girl while teaching her the art of hunting.

It was the reverse for Gwen. Beneath her silence, she was an open book. One only needed to be attentive enough to see the subtle changes on the contour of her face to guess what was inside of her heart. Gwen's silence laid her heart bare open to anyone who could see through its thin veil. While Reine was rooted to the earth—too rooted, if one might ask her—Gwen's head seemed to always float in the land of fantasy and dream and magic.

"Gwen, listen to me," Mme Rousseau stared into her daughter's eyes. "It's never about the riches—the gold, the diamonds, the carriage… they are beautiful, yes, but they shan't last." She put her hand above Gwen's and smiled, "It's always about the way you make each other feel: Can you make each other feel happy? Do you keep each other feel safe?"

Sensing that her daughter took her words seriously, Mme Rousseau smiled in satisfaction and rose from her seat. "I shall go back to my room to rest for a spell."

Gwen was still waist deep in thoughts moments after her mother retired to her room. She gazed at the sapphire ring—she was serious about returning the ring to him. Yes, it led her to meet a Goddess—but this ring was still not hers; it belonged to his family, the Goddess said so herself. Besides, she remembered that the Goddess told her that the 'magic' he had meant was something else, but there was no something else. Nothing changed in her life ever since she kept the ring close.

She began to think that he was bluffing her.

Just as Gwen resolved herself to really return the ring when the opportunity came, she heard knocking on the door. Gwen promptly stood up and went to open the door, only to find Zacharie LaRue standing in an ostentatious red and golden vest, with grey shirt and white cravat. Gwen quickly pushed the door close, but Zack managed to hold the door open with one arm, "Good day, my sister,"

Oh, no… Gwen groaned internally, although she managed to muster up a smile. "Hi, Zack."

"I haven't seen my dear lover for days. I presume she is too shy after our last meeting." Zack asserted as he excused himself to the Rousseaus' farmhouse. "That's why I decided to see her myself. To tell her that everything will be fine."

It's either his skin is made of stone, or his sense is… uncommon. Gwen told herself although she maintained her outward calmness and closed the door, not noticing the party that Zack had gathered outside. "Sadly to say, Reine is currently not here."

"Oh, no worries! I shall wait for her!" he said immediately, "Anything for my dearest Reine."

My goodness, Reine will throw a fit if she ever heard this. The brunette tried to maintain her smile, "That is very kind of you, but I'm afraid she might not come back home for days. Hunting trip."

Zack sat down on the chair Mme Rousseau sat on earlier and brought his legs on the table. Gwen winced at his muddy boots. "You see, when she becomes my wife—like I told her—there's no need for hunting anymore! I'm a better hunter than she is! She can just wait at our little home for me to bring the hunt… and she can just simply wash my feet…" his eyes twinkled dreamily, "We'll have seven strapping boys like me, and I'll teach them how to hunt and soon she will be overflowed with food—more than she can ever cook them!"

The more Zack dwelled into his fantasy of his married life with Reine, the more Gwen felt like throwing up. She couldn't imagine her elder twin to settle in such a life.

"Her lifelong dreams will all become true!"

"Oh, Zack," Gwen interjected, finally having enough of his ramble. "What do you know about my sister and her dreams?"

Even I don't know her dreams… or whether she has any dream at all. Gwen admitted inwardly. Reine's been too focused on hunting and providing.

At last Zack pulled his feet from the table and stood up. "A wild beauty she is! That's why only I can tame her!"

"Tame, you say?" Gwen repeated, irritation began swelling in her heart.

Zack moved towards where Gwen stood, near the front door, slightly insulted by the tone her last sentence had adopted. "Women ought to be obedient, listening, agreeable,"

The muscular man leaned over to the door, trapping the slender lady beneath him. "Yes, just like you, Guinevere…" he said, looking down at her.

Gwen saw an opportunity, and she seized it. She quickly ducked aside while opening the door at the same time. Zack, who had been leaning his weight against it, was thrown outside and suddenly she heard a loud Wedding March being played with the speed three times faster than it should be. She closed the door and bolted it, but not before enjoying a brief sight of Zack faced buried in the snow, his body slumped as if he was prostrating—and only then Gwen saw the hasty wedding party set up on the farmland. She let out a heavy sigh afterwards, making a mental note to tidy up the mess on the farmland later, and saw her mother emerged from her bedroom, her eyes still looked sleepy. "Who plays loud and horrible Wedding March at day like this?"

"I'd say Won—you know, the lanky man that is following Zack?"

Mme Rousseau titled her head, "And why is that so?"

"Zack set up a wedding party just outside." Gwen said, "For Reine."

"Isn't he the handsomest man in the town?"

"Oh, he may be handsome—but he certainly is boorish and stupid!" Gwen went over to her mother with a horrified look on her face, "Mamma, certainly you don't think Reine should settle down with him! I know she'd rather be dead than thinking of marrying him, Mamma!"

"I do not know the man well myself," Mme Rousseau asserted calmly, "but if he manages to irritate even you, I guess Reine will not stand him for a second."

After Zack and his party left the farm, Gwen went out to the stable since Thor hadn't been brushed yet. Thor seemed to be pleased when he saw Gwen and she stroke his mane gently. "Zack is such an annoying guy." Gwen muttered. "How could he think Reine's into him, anyway?"

Just like that, Aaron popped out from nowhere, "Gwen! Gwen!"

Gwen looked down and saw Aaron was jumping up and down, trying to catch her attention. "Yes?"

"You have to quickly leave to the forest and gather these things and carry it to the Beast's castle!"

He flashed out a piece of paper and Gwen took it. "Quick! Your sister is in danger!"

That was all the reason she needed. She ran back to the house and sprawled a quick note.

Urgent

I'm not having dinner

will be back ASAP

Love, Gwen

Gwen rushing off to save her sister!

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

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