Primera held out a hand to catch a drifting flake of snow. She silently watched it melt.
Winter was a season that, historically, gave the half-elf complicated feelings. On the one hand, it meant fascinating changes to the environment: snow blanketing the ground, streams becoming covered with veneers of glistening ice, most animals going into dormancy with a few hardy exceptions such as rabbits. On the other hand, it meant her loved ones facing a struggle every day to survive, between the unforgiving cold and the shortage of food.
The winter's no different from how It's Is been. But as for how people treat it…
"Missed me! Ahaha—eep!"
"Got you! Now I'm in the lead!"
A pack of squabbling children was having a snowfight in front of Primera. Some were humans, some were monsters. One of the monsters—an eight-year old white horn—was adapted to the cold, while the others were bundled up in thick coats, leggings, gloves and boots. All were running around with the boundless energy of children.
The cheerful atmosphere wasn't just limited to here. A few dozen paces away, Primera saw a man carefully chipping away at a block of ice, seemingly trying to sculpt an eagle taking flight. Near him were two children competing in trying to catch the most snowflakes on their tongues. Up in the air, there were several flying monsters riding the winter gusts to get around more quickly.
No more worrying about drafts in the house letting the cold in. No more worrying about having enough grain and cheese and smoked meat stored away. No more worrying about babies or grandparents going to sleep one night and never waking up…
Primera turned her gaze back to her wards and clapped her hands loudly. "Okay, kids, time's almost up! You can play for another minute, and then it's time to go back inside!"
That caused all the children, regardless of race, age or sex, to start grumbling.
"Alreadyyy?"
"Five more minutes—no, how about ten more minutes?"
"We can be good! Promise!"
"You've got slightly less than a minute left now," Primera said firmly. "Once that's over, you can go inside and enjoy some nice hot lunch! Doesn't that sound nice as well?"
Lisia jumped to get Primera's attention. "How about this instead? You can just leave us to play by ourselves, and we'll go inside when we feel like it?"
"And then you get to go and spend more time with Big Brother Elt!" Emiyu added.
The Primera of the past would have turned red and spluttered at those words. The current Primera just rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not letting you kids make a mess of your clothes again. I can stay with you as long as I have to—"
"Then why don't I relieve you of your duty?"
Primera turned to see Sasha land on the nearby snow. The heart priest had long since stopped wearing her Order priestess's habit. She was currently wearing a dress of red and pink—the latter colour being associated with Eros—along with a light grey scarf and fur hat.
"Oh… if that's alright with you, Sasha," Primera said.
"Also, the queue at the fitting venue is relatively short now," Sasha said, sounding just as firm as Primera had been with the children earlier. "Why don't you go there now? You're the last one left out of our group."
Primera was now conscious of the children smirking at her back. Doing her best to ignore them, she replied, "O-Okay, if you say so."
With Sasha now in charge of the children, Primera left them and began walking through the snowy streets to a certain venue.
This… is actually happening… It still doesn't feel real…
Primera looked at the people playing in the snow, enjoying their first winter where they had no need to feel restrained. It was hard to believe this was the same country that was under threat of a crusade.
Sure, there'll be no crusaders arriving in winter… but you'd think people would be more worried. But it's not just the citizens who're relaxed, even the higher-ups are taking this calmly…
During her walk, Primera had passed by bakeries, butchers, restaurants and other food preparation facilities. All of them were busier than they had ever been in their history.
Though I guess it's just not healthy to stay alert permanently… It makes sense to relax when you can, to just unwind…
Finally, Primera arrived at her destination. This was a large building formerly used as a barracks—as had happened to many former barracks in Lescatie, due to the sharp decline in its need for a military. Primera hesitated for a few seconds before entering.
Inside was an open room with several rows of chairs, some of them already occupied. On the opposite side from the entrance was a simple wooden door. Primera sat down in the empty chair furthest from the door.
Primera didn't even need to wait a full minute before the door opened. A human man and a dark slime came out, both of them with giddy expressions and carrying packages wrapped in white cloth.
That sight caused Primera to swallow. She became uncomfortably aware that almost everyone else in the room were couples.
This'd be easier if I wasn't alone… but everyone else is busy at the moment. That's the issue with being in a group relationship, it's hard to find times when everyone's available. And I'm not about to run back to get Sasha just to help me through this. I can handle it on my own. I'm not like how I used to be.
A new couple went through the door. Primera couldn't hear or otherwise sense what happened on the other side. However, it was less than two minutes before the couple emerged again, giddy and carrying their prized packages.
The queue moved swiftly. Some of the couples took less than a full minute to emerge with what they wanted. About a quarter of an hour after arriving, it was Primera's turn.
Sasha was right about the queue being short. I heard there were times it got so long, people were lining up for hours, even waiting out in the cold for hours… It's true that isn't as dangerous nowadays, but… it just shows how much people want these…
I've heard of some people not caring about all the ceremony and just getting married quietly. But then you've got so many people who do care, especially the commoners who couldn't have gotten something so fancy in the old Lescatie. And thanks to them… someone decided to make this a big event and have all the marriages happen together.
Anyway, I can't keep her waiting. Time for me to go in…
Primera stepped through the door. She immediately stopped in her tracks.
The room on the other side was absolutely filled with fabrics. There were rolls upon rolls of cotton, wool, silk and a dozen other kinds that Primera didn't recognise. Every colour of the rainbow was present, every shade from midnight black to snow white. The fabrics were piled up so high that they obscured the walls in places.
Before Primera could do anything else, she was face to face with a white-haired, white-winged succubus—a lilim.
"Oh, I've never seen a half-elf before!" the lilim said in a disconcertingly cheerful voice. "Do you prefer natural fabrics, like many of the elves I've met, or—sorry, I shouldn't be starting with that! Let's start over from the beginning!"
The lilim pulled back slightly. Primera now saw that she was dressed in a silvery gown that faintly changed in colour whenever its wearer moved, like the wings of certain butterflies. Said gown had sections cut out to permit her wings and tail, as well as to show off her body. The lilim had three silver rings hanging from her left ear. Green and blue tattoos, depicting snakes dancing amidst waves, adorned her right arm and right ankle, and the latter probably extended further up the leg as well.
"I'm Serana, seventh-born of the lilim," the lilim said. "What's your name?"
"Uh… well, my name is Primera Concerto," Primera said uncertainly. "And I came here for the… same reason as everyone else."
Several rolls of various fabrics floated into the air and gathered around Serana. The lilim hadn't even needed to make any gestures or incantations, proof of great skill.
"So, I've already heard about your situation from the others," Serana said, walking around Primera. "It's a shame you couldn't come here with them, but it wouldn't be the first time that's happened, though it is a shame. Now… I think it's safe to say that you like the colour green in your clothing?"
Primera looked down at herself. While she currently wore a winter coat that was mostly grey, even this included splashes of dark green around the hem.
Didn't really think about it, when I first picked this out in a shop, but… I guess I could never escape that colour. It's in my hero outfit as well…
One stereotype of elves was that they only wore clothing made from leaves and other plant materials. This was only a mild exaggeration since although elven clothing was more processed than that, it was still commonly green and shaped like leaves. As a child, Primera had always adored the few sets of elven clothing her mother owned, all of them in various shades of green.
"I know, it's not the right colour for a wedding dress…" Primera said.
"Actually, there's many different kinds of wedding dresses," Serana said. She snatched one roll of fabric out of the air, this one having the green of fresh spring foliage. "Haven't you seen the ones I gave your fellow wives-to-be already?"
"N-No," Primera said. "They offered to show them, but I… decided not to look."
"Hmm… well, I guess you'll have a pleasant surprise when the big day comes!" Serana said. "Only two weeks away now!"
The lilim twirled one finger. The green fabric began shifting, splitting up into multiple pieces and then recombining, all of it happening so fast that it was a blur even to a hero's eyes.
Seconds later, an extravagant dress was floating in front of Primera. The skirt was long enough that it formed a decent-sized pool on the floor. There were flowers and vines embroidered into the dress all over, and these weren't just simplified decorations—on close inspection, they were modelled after real types of plants to the point that Primera could identify them.
Hold on, the flowers aren't green, they're white and yellow and pink and a dozen other colours—when did she even bring in those other colours of thread!?
Before Primera could see any more details, the dress completely unravelled before her eyes.
"No, no, no!" Serana said, shaking her head fast enough to make her hair whip about. "I don't know what I was thinking!"
"It… It looked pretty decent to me…" Primera chimed in.
"For casual wear, maybe, but this is for the most important day of your life!" Serana insisted. "There'd be no point in anything less than the absolute best outfit, for everyone who's getting married!"
"O-Okay… if you're fine with putting in that much work…"
Primera recalled something she'd heard second-hand about Serana from her older sister Druella. The seventh-born lilim was "unrivalled in fashion, but also… a bit… unrivalled in her passion for it…"
Druella really wasn't kidding. Her sister's literally making wedding outfits for thousands of people, all by herself, putting this much effort into every single one!
"Are… you making sure to get enough sleep…?" Primera asked concernedly.
Serana rolled her eyes. "Why does everybody keep saying that? Really, one hour a day is perfectly fine—more importantly, what do you think of this one!?"
At any one time, there were three, four, sometimes five dresses taking form, undergoing change after change, eventually getting discarded. There was so much fabric flying around chaotically, Primera felt as if a whirlwind had burst into the room. On occasion, the lilim would stop and ask Primera's opinion on one of the dresses, but she only listened to a few words before returning to her lightning-fast tailoring.
After what felt like an eternity but could not have been more than a minute, three dresses floated in front of Primera.
One was similar to the dress that Serana had first made—and similar to the traditional Lescatian wedding dress, Primera now realised. It was elaborate, elegant and exposed no skin other than the face and hands.
Another was a style popular among monsters. It had an extremely low cut that would expose much of the chest, and also high slits for exposing the legs. Overall, it wasn't the sort of dress she would wear… in public, at least.
As for the third dress…
"This one," Primera said immediately.
Serana smiled. "Thought you might choose that one. Now, I also prepared a pair of shoes for you, which should go along very nicely with the dress…"
-ooo-
Eva looked at her reflection in the mirror.
…Again, I wake up and it's not simply a dream…
The shoulder-length blue hair, blue eyes, narrow shoulders and slender limbs were the same as always. So too were the pointed chin, small nose and other facial features.
But the hips were much wider than they'd been just a few months ago. There was much more of a chest nowadays. And the pointed ears, horns, bat-like wings and spaded tail were entirely new. As, of course, was something else.
Eva explored her body with her hands. It was a ritual she'd done every day for the past two months.
Even now… it doesn't quite feel real. I keep feeling… that the one in the mirror must be a figment of my imagination… the sister I never had…
That thought reminded Eva of a minor bit of academic trivia. There was much speculation and superstition about why children turned out one sex or the other, yet the truth was surprisingly mundane. The sex of a child depended on the type of sperm cell that fertilised the egg. Having only sons—as had been the case for Eva's parents—or only daughters was often seen as an achievement or a failing. Yet in truth, it could happen due to simple chance.
Those sixteen years would have been easier if I'd been born a daughter… or a son, but without this mismatch. Still… at least I've found relief now.
Eva spread and then re-folded her wings. It had taken a few weeks to get used to this third pair of limbs—she'd never been all that good at moving her body, and this hadn't changed after becoming a succubus, an alp.
"Eva? Are you alright in there?" a man's voice called out.
"Yes!" Eva replied. "Terrence, you can always open the door if you want to check on me!"
"It wouldn't be polite!" Terrence said from the other side of the bathroom door.
That was technically true, and Eva did appreciate Terrence for it. Still, after everything the two of them had done together, seeing her in the bathroom would hardly be unusual…
…and that thought sent a hot flush through Eva's body. She quickly opened the tap and splashed cold water on her face.
We have things to do today. If we… do that now… we'll be delayed by at least a few hours!
Eva quickly dressed herself and walked out of the bathroom. She saw Terrence already fully dressed: not in the plate armour that he'd once worn as a knight, but in the comfortable garb of a shirt, woollen sweater and pants.
"We're not late, are we?" Eva asked.
"No, no, we should be right on time as long as we leave at once," Terrence replied.
The two of them moved to a window, opened it and then jumped out from their cosy apartment. Eva embraced Terrence from behind, spread her wings and began flapping. She also flicked her tail in a practiced motion to close the window.
"It would be nice to have wings of my own, to fly freely through the skies…" Terrence mused out loud.
"You could gain wings of your own," Eva said. "There are spells and potions for changing one's body in all sorts of ways, for both monsters and incubi."
"Or… perhaps I should refrain after all," Terrence said. "Then I could no longer enjoy being carried by you, Eva."
"Oh, you!"
After a few minutes, Eva and Terrence landed outside a café. The sign above the door read "Elphie's" in stylised pink letters.
When they stepped inside, the chilly air was immediately replaced by an inviting warmth, this coming from magical, smokeless fires burning on pedestals scattered around the cafe. There were over twenty tables of varying sizes, and Eva and Terrence headed for one of the larger ones.
"Heyyy!" Alameria said, waving a hand. "You're actually on time! And here we were thinking you'd be late!"
Eva and Terrence—doing their best to suppress their blushes—sat down at the table with their colleagues. A shoggoth waitress oozed over to take the couple's orders, then oozed away.
"I suppose you two would have to learn to settle down eventually," Parshe said snidely, though not harshly.
"O-Of course," Eva said. "And I'm happy to note that we've always been able to drink from separate vessels."
That caused Parshe and the young man beside her to blush. Unlike everyone else at the table, this young couple had a single mug in front of them, with two straws lying within. This was quite a popular option at cafes like this for couples.
"I… simply do as m'lady commands," said Joshua, the young man. He scratched his sandy brown hair. "That is my duty as a servant of the Lufarshe family."
"How many times have I told you, stop calling me 'm'lady'!" Parshe snapped.
"That's right, I'm sure she wants you to call you something else," Alameria said teasingly. "Like 'dear' or 'my beloved lady'…"
Parshe glared at the dhampir with a mix of anger and embarrassment. Before any drinks—or possibly even punches—could be thrown, Terrence intervened.
"I'm surprised you came back here, Lucas," Terrence said. "I thought you were going to stay in Royal Makai and never come back to Lescatie again."
"I didn't plan to never come back here again," Lucas corrected. He took a sip of his iced tea. "It's only that Mirri doesn't want to ever see Lescatie again."
Indeed, Eva and most of her circle hadn't seen Lucas' wife ever since their marriage a month and a half ago. She'd only heard of the marriage via letters.
Considering their feelings about this country, it's only natural, Eva thought. It's a shame to see so little of them, but I suppose that's just a fact of life, people moving apart…
"What about you?" Lucas asked. "It's immediately obvious you're happy with each other. But what of your broader situations?"
That quickly altered the mood at the table. Even the normally cheerful Alameria looked down at her mug and bit her lip uncertainly.
Eva and Terrence exchanged glances as they considered their next words.
"Well… my family is still having… difficulty… coming to terms with my decision," Eva said.
"Difficulty" being quite the understatement. The last time she'd interacted with her parents and brother had been three weeks ago, and there'd still been shouting then. She'd kept up a brave face during the argument, but afterwards had broken down in tears.
I was never good with physical pain… fighting was never my specialty… but I'd sooner be pierced by a hundred swords than hear those words again.
"Do you need us to come over again?" Paula asked. Her hands were balled into fists. "We can do it as many times we have to! We'll tell them that you're still the same Eva as before, no matter what parts you have or don't have anymore!"
"Not quite how I would have worded it, but I concur," Olivie said. "You are not alone in this. Either of you."
"Th-Thank you…" Eva said.
"Thank you, although my situation isn't nearly as bad," Terrence said. "My family never knew Eva as well as her own family, of course… they only heard occasional stories of her from my lips. For them, learning to accept monsters was a much bigger hurdle."
Eva sighed. "It won't be easy for my family to accept who I am. Changing lifelong beliefs is never easy… even now, there are people reluctant to accept monsters." Just the other day, Eva had seen 'Do not fall for their lies. Remember the Chief God!' graffitied on a wall. "But… I'm hopeful that they'll change their minds, given time."
They all fell silent for a while. Only when the waitress brought Eva's and Terrence's drinks did they resume their conversation.
"Weeell, as long as we're having uncomfortable discussions about family…" Alameria said. "Olivie, how are you faring with your new stepchildren?"
"They're not my stepchildren just yet," Olivie corrected with a faint giggle. "That would only be true once I marry their father. But to answer your question: they're not nearly as cold towards as me as when we first met. They realise now that I won't be replacing their mother."
"Just becoming a new mother, while their old mother stays nearby," Paula said. "And not because the old mother and the father hate each other, but just because they—"
"Married out of necessity," Olivie said sadly.
Shortly after the signing of the treaty, Olivie had finally found her long-lost love, Gael… only to find him already married to another woman. It had been eight whole years since they'd parted, after all.
Yet it wasn't a satisfying marriage. Gael had never forgotten about Olivie, even after being sent away by her father. From what Eva had heard, the man had been unwilling to simply replace her with another woman. At the same time, it was considered unbecoming for a young man to remain unmarried in the old Lescatie.
"It's hard for me to understand, since I know of no one similar," Vermut said, raising a hand. "Helen, the child's mother… she simply does not feel sexual desire?"
"That's right," Olivie replied. "She described it to me as feeling disgusted just at the thought of touching another person in that way. As you might expect, her family did not consider that justification for not marrying, and insisted that she find a husband to contribute to the next contribution. So… she did her best to minimise the disgust she'd feel."
Helen had thus searched around desperately until she'd found Gael, a man who would feel no attraction towards her or any other non-Olivie woman. They had married, putting an end to the social pressures that had afflicted them both. They had lain together just enough to have three children—albeit only two had survived past infancy, due to the limited medical care for commoners at the time.
"It must have still been far from ideal," Vermut said grimly. "With her feeling disgust each time they coupled, while he felt as if he was betraying you…"
"Yes… I heard them describe it as a 'functional' relationship," Olivie said, "but never a happy one. They had their fair share of arguments… still, they strived to avoid letting that affect their children." She gripped her mug tightly. "Still far better than certain other parents I could name…"
Olivie's parents were among those who'd been arrested by the king, then later accepted amnesty in exchange for helping to dismantle Lescatie's network of corruption. But Olivie had no intentions of ever reconciling with them. That was one bond that would remain broken.
Eva glanced at Terrence beside her. I might have ended up the same way, if I'd been pushed by my family into marrying a woman, possibly in an effort to make me more "manly". Even the thought of it makes me shudder…
"Many of us have suffered," Lucas said gravely. "This is an overused proverb, but we cannot change the past. All we can do is make the best of the present."
"And it's a pretty good present!" Alameria said, raising her mug. "While we're all gathered here, we might as well celebrate!"
"Not quite all of us," Marion said from next to Alameria. "Wilmarina and Luciana weren't able to join us, being too occupied with their own affairs." That drew a round of laughter from the others. "And… well… neither could Kirsche…"
That caused the mood to darken once again. Their former comrade had confessed all of her crimes committed as the assassin of Warran Noscrim. She'd been given some leniency due to being trained since childhood as an assassin, allowing her to choose her punishment. And she'd chosen to move to a small rural town to learn how to live her life from now on. The local guard of the town, who'd been tasked with keeping an eye on her, reported that she seemed to be at peace.
We've been parted from her as well… Eva thought sadly. Even if it wasn't her fault, she could never stay anywhere near the capital… not only do Wilmarina and her fellows hate Kirsch for almost killing their beloved, but there are fifteen other heroes who hate her for successfully killing theirs…
"You know, sometimes… I wonder what life would've been like if Kirsch hadn't been like that," Alameria said. "I mean, if she'd had a normal childhood and was a normal member of our order."
"She might have been a much more cheerful person," Vermut said. "There were times… not very frequent, but there were times I saw a faint smile on her face, such as after a successful mission. If she could still feel some happiness, even after being raised as a living weapon…"
"We should pay her a visit before the weddings," Paula suggested. "I know she said she's definitely not attending, but we should at least see how she's doing."
That was met by a chorus of positive responses. They also decided to ask Luciana if she wished to join in the visit. There was, of course, no need to ask Wilmarina.
"Now that we've returned to the topic of weddings…" Olivie said, now with a mischievous glint in her eye. "It's reminded me that a certain one of our number is neither married, nor set to get married…"
Many pairs of eyes turned towards Vermut, who blushed and shrank back from all the attention.
"Yes, Vermut, don't tell me you're hiding something from us…" Alameria said with a grin. "Or should that be 'someone'?"
"Th-There's no one!" Vermut replied. She looked down at the table awkwardly. "It's… increasingly difficult… to find unattached men in Lescatie nowadays…"
"It hasn't helped that many unmarried monsters moved in," Lucas said. "Unless you're willing to try the same arrangement as our former leader, your best option would be to look outside this country's borders."
"Hmm… I have sometimes dreamt of walking the earth, seeing what it has to offer… Duty was what kept me here, but…"
Alameria gave Vermut a pat on the back. "Why not start today? I'm sure someone as gorgeous as you could snag a man in no time! You might even make it back in time to get married along with the rest of us!"
For the better part of an hour, the former members of the Holy Ice Flower chatted and drank in contented peace. It was the sort of activity previously denied to them, and Eva hoped that such days would continue without end.
There may be more conflict beyond the horizon… even so, we have the entire winter to rest, to enjoy ourselves.
Eva grasped Terrence's hand tightly beneath the table.
And in just two weeks' time… we can reaffirm our bond at the altar, with the blessings of many gods…
AN: After finishing my first draft of this chapter, I realised I hadn't even mentioned some members of the Order of the Holy Ice Flower. That wouldn't do, so I spent another couple of nights on making this complete.
My original plan was to have another segment at the end where the Holy Ice Flower go back to the same meeting room used in Chapter 6, where they'd reflect on how it's no longer needed. Then this chapter reached a decent length without that segment and I decided to omit it.