Chapter 35

Livia had walked the royal gardens alone under the watchful eyes of her mother’s maids for an hour before Lynette had come to retrieve her.

Her mother had looked a little wild around the eyes after her meeting with the king, but she otherwise maintained her composure. She made a show of openly dotted on Livia, crooning her worries as she snatched up her daughter's wrist in a bruising grip and pulled her along like a toddler that would wander off.

Lynette frequently stopped to make small talk with the other nobles walking about in the garden. The duchess did not approach them. She did not have to.

Many eyes fell to Livia first before they even acknowledge her mother, deeply curious about the returned fiancé of the crown prince. Many rumors have spread rampant overnight. Livia was a popular topic of conversation. The only reason she hadn’t been approached while she had been alone was that her mother’s maids had kept Livia away from them.

Now that the twin women had fallen in step behind her mother, the nobles flocked forward with the excuse of thinly veiled concern over the whole ordeal.

“My goodness, Lady Lynette! What a horrible thing that has happened upon your family,” An old widowed duchess says as she fans her portly face. Her round body stops right in front of them, blocking their exit.

Many noblewomen soon gather behind her, their faces scrunched up in worry as they look Livia over openly before their intrusive gazes settle on her stomach.

They stare unblinkingly.

Waiting.

Surely, she is drowning in grave shame?

Surely, this girl is embarrassed by the scandal she has brought forth?

Surely, she knows her place.

Her place, that is not beside our prince.

Tainted.

Used.

She is worthless as a noble lady.

They say nothing, but she can predict their thoughts all the same. Livia had heard enough of such talk while wandering White Castle unseen. She knew exactly what they thought of her.

So, Livia continues to cradle her stomach peacefully, her stare bland and her expression distant as her mother and the other nobles speak of her as if she wasn’t standing right beside them.

She does not hide.

She does not try to cover up her supposed ‘shame’ in the face of open judgment.

Livia simply waits until her mother saw fit to move her again, sinking into her mind and slowly going numb.

The conversation lasts another thirty minutes, but Livia completely tunes it out. She only realizes it’s over when her mother tugs her forward like a puppet on a string.

They do not go home.

Livia is packed into a carriage with her mother, who orders the coachmen to a small estate (compared to her childhood home) in the capital that the Valentines owns.

The journey passes in a flash, and soon Livia is being escorted to a room by her mother.

“Rest up, dear,” Lynette says as she pushes her daughter through the door, “I’m sure you had a tiring morning. Food will be brought up soon. Once you eat, I suggest you take a nap. Your eyes are still bruised underneath.”

Then she leaves, closing the door firmly behind herself.

Liva hears a small latch fall into place a second later.

She tries the handle of the door anyway. It doesn’t budge.

It seems her mother wasn’t taking any chances.

Livia sighs, a bit annoyed, but turns to the bed and flops inelegantly atop it, minding her belly.

Before she knows it, she is pulled down into a dreamless slumber.

She does not notice a small window flying open from a gust of wind and a small, nimble black shadow falling through.

“Livia, dear. It’s time to get up.”

A small shake of her shoulder and the call of her name is all it takes for her eyes to snap open. Her mother startles a bit at the instant wakefulness but says nothing as Livia sits up and turns her head in the direction that food is wafting from. Like a hungry animal that had caught the scent of prey.

Before her mother can say anything else, Livia gets up and heads straight for the steaming plates of food. She sits down at the table that has been brought into her room and sniffs.

No strange smells.

She pulls a small piece of meat off with her fingers, rolls it over once, letting her magic touch it before she drops it straight into her mouth.

No strange flavor, grittiness, etc.

It was safe.

Livia digs in mindlessly.

She does not look up again until the plates are cleared of all food.

When she does, her mother still stands by the bed, her eyes wide and horrified.

Livia stares unblinkingly at her, before slowly reaching out for a napkin and daintily dabbing away at the mess around her mouth. As if to showcase that she still knew of proper manners.

Lynette stumbles back, clutching her pearls.

Livia is amused by this so, she grins.

When her mother's face drains of blood and she lets out a little terrified gasp in response, Livia realizes it anything but reassuring. She glances down at her clean plate, sees the feral and inhuman expression on her own face...

And laughs.

Her pupils were slitted instead of round. Her normal purple eyes were now glowing an eerie, but familiar yellow. She raised her hands to eye level and could see the black claws on them. She flexed them, and they lengthen with the movement.

Something falls across the room.

Livia glances over to see her mother had passed out.

She clicks her tongue.

“Weak,” She mutters under her breath and gets up.

Livia steps over her mother’s fallen form to push back the curtain of the bed.

“Noctis, my sweet little babe, how did you get here?” She coos sweetly to the ball of black fluff curled up on her bed. Two ears perk up at her voice, flickering in her direction, but the mass of fur remains stubbornly curled up.

Livia's face breaks into a rare, genuine smile, “Pouting, are we?” She asks as she crawls onto the bed and pokes at the small animal.

A long-tail swat at her fingers and the small feline animal stirs only to point its bum in her direction.

Livia snickers, and retreats her clawed finger, “I see. Then It’s best I don’t disturb you.”

She glances down at her mother’s unconscious form, her face flatlining.

“I suppose it’s in my best interest if you don’t remember any of this,” She mutters to herself. She twitches her fingers, and her mother rises from the floor, her limbs limp. Livia places her hand over her mother’s head and closes her eyes.

She dashes through the memories of her mother’s meeting with King Grail and nods in approval when she sees the king makes no mention of her name in regards to reinstating the Crown Princess Candidates. He does, however, point out that Livia had not been happy with his choice to re-engage her to his son, and that she spoke up on her own behalf. Her parents had not been pleased about that. But seeming to realize that this might bring trouble for him later on, King Grail smooths things over with them.

Livia shakes her head and finds the memories of the past few minutes. She promptly edits them before levitating her mother’s body to one of the many couches.

When she is done, Livia's vision swims for a split second, and she sways, clutching her head with a grimace.

It seems she has met her magical quota for the day.

If Beth was here, she would have not been pleased.

A soft warmth brushes up against Livia’s arm, and the dizziness falls away. She smiles faintly and looks down to see large feline doe eyes gazing up at her.

“Hello, sweety. Finally willing to forgive me?” She asks Noctis softly, raising her hand up in offering.

The adolescent feline butts its heads against her palm, “Merw.” He responds back in acceptance.

The familiar bond between them flares up, warming Livia up to her core. She doesn’t smile, but she carefully picks up Noctis and settles him close to her chest, snuggling him.

A small movement at the window has her head snapping up, her eyes dilating, but it was only Sen.

Yellow meets yellow.

Sen's eyes flares and Livia can feel her own respond in kind.

It was strange. She still wasn’t used to this...greeting.

Sen's lips quirk up as if he was aware, but he says nothing as he closes the distance between them on silent feet. He sits next to her and settles his gaze on her unconscious mother. His eyebrow ticks up in a silent question.

“She had seen,” Livia says in explanation.

“Hm. I’m guessing you made sure that wasn’t permanent.”

Livia smirks, “Of course.”

She pets softly at Noctis as he settles against her, purring, “I’m guessing this little one got impatient,” She says, glancing down at her familiar.

“Yeah, he darted off the moment he picked up your scent,” Sen says, looking unapologetic.

“You could have easily caught up to him,” Livia states, staring.

“I could have...” Sen agrees, meeting her eyes.

Livia looks away first, “Sorry. Plans changed. My parents caught me before I could meet up with you,” She says.

Sen sighs, “I figured it was something like that.”

“And you still felt the need to check up on me?” Livia asks, frowning.

“Hm.”

Livia bristles, “I can handle myself just fine, Sen. You should have continued onward when I didn’t show up on time. Did you at least get those two settled?”

“I did,” He says, then his hand comes up, press into her cheek, cradling it.

Livia doesn’t even blink, “What?”

“Are you going to the ball tonight?” He asks her blandly as his thumb softly strokes under her eye. Where she no doubt still had dark bags, as her mother had pointed out. Livia knows she doesn’t have the best sleeping habits. Only in the past few days had she managed to sleep for more than four hours.

Livia squints at the motion, “I am unsure. Knowing my father, he would wish for me to remain out of sight, especially after today, but my mother...I don’t know.”

Her son rolls under Noctis, awake from his nap. Livia absently presses her hand to where a small foot thumped at her insides. She amused to see Noctis startles at the movement, looking at her in surprise before staring down at her belly as if the feline just noticed it. A small growl rocketed out; fur stood up. It seems her familiar was in no mood to share.

“What would you prefer?” Sen asks her, dropping his hand to pet Noctis, soothing him.

“I would prefer to not be bothered with the theatrics. So soon after the trial, the ball will be ground zero. Many nobles and aristocrats will flock to it. They will want to lay eyes on the king, and princes after everything. To see for themselves and talk, and talk. Alliances will be broken, if not already, and new ones will be formed under the guise of idle chat. After King Grail makes his announcement, things will be skewered for a split second, then all attention will turn to the candidates. On top of the princes' factions, the future crown princess factions will form instantaneously.”

Livia rolls her eyes and sighs, already tired just thinking about it all, “It sounds dreadful and I would rather be anywhere else. I fear most of my patience for the day has run out. I will be tempted to do something dramatic.”

Sen plucks Noctis away from her when the feline continues to growl and his sharp black nails extend out on top of her belly possessively. Livia lets him, but instantly misses the warmth and comfort her familiar being so close brings.

“But...?” Sen lets question fall in the open air between them.

Livia lets out a childish whine and butts her head into Sen’s hard shoulder.

“But, If I remain absent and away, I fear I might create some mysterious martyr out of myself as one of the candidates.”

Livia knew the moment she returned home; her parents will be kept under heavy watch. She would not get the chance again to show her face at such an extravagant event again.

It was customary. When a lady falls pregnant, she makes an announcement and promptly retreats from high society to focus all her efforts on birthing a legitimate healthy offspring. It was a lady's most important goal in life, and failure would not be taken lightly. If the lady were to get herself pregnant with a bastard (As if she was solely the one to blame) then if she was smart, she would keep it completely under wraps. She would not breathe a word of it to anyone and handle the matter herself. Rather than resulted in birth or not was up to the said lady.

That’s why she was treated like some rare spectacle. Ladies of the right birth did not parade around the fact they were pregnant like some common noble. They were unseen, and only acknowledge after the birth had been done.

In this period of time, where pregnancy was still considered a death sentence even with magic, it was seen as wise to not waste time in energy on something that might not survive the process. Congratulations only happened after everything was said and done.

Livia would be tucked away in some corner of her home until she gives birth. Or so, that is what her parents had no doubt planned.

Sen squints down at her head, petting it like he was petting Noctis, all with the same bland and distant expression that rivaled Livia’s own.

“Why is that a bad thing? Wouldn’t that benefit you more?”

“Maybe if I had any interest in becoming the future Queen of Wisteria, but I have no such ambitions.”

Sen's cheek rests against her head, eyeing the sleeping Duchess Valentine mildly, “Ah. I see. So, it would be a nuisance.”

“Indeed,” Livia says into his shoulder, her voice muffled. She looks up with a deep-set frown, “I had no intentions of getting tangled up in the mess of the factions. As I had told you, this is only the beginning, however, by not going, I create this strange allure around my person.”

Sen snorts, “Allure? ...you?”

Livia flushes a bit, but then smirks knowingly, “Well, why did you follow me when I left you all those months ago? I was just a strange girl who knew a little too much. You could have left it at that...but you didn’t, did you?”

Sen stops petting her, his hand paused in the air.

“I was just curious,” He mutters, looking away.

Livia snaps her fingers, “Exactly. That is the problem.”

Sen scowls down at her, “How? What does that have to do with this?”

Livia sighs and makes to pull away, but the arm around her waist (when did that get there?) tightens, keeping her glued to Sen’s side. She shrugs and leans her head back against his shoulder, fighting down a yawn.

A small part inside her, tiny and insignificant, wonder when this became normal. It wonders why, but Livia pushes that down and promptly doesn’t think about it. It was only for the magic.

Their blood pact made it so they could freely exchange magic energy with each other. Similar to how Fin did when she had been nearly depleted. Just as it did then, it required both parties to be compatible. Sen and Livia didn’t discover it was even possible until recently, but that was beside the point. Sen was simply recharging her.

“Well, for starters, you’re a target, babe. Hate to break it to you, but your type has certain reactions ingrained into you.”

Sen scowls darkly at babe, but lets it go to snap, “What the hell are you talking about?”

Livia flaps her hand, “Listen here, dear-heart (Sen’s scowl get scowlier) you are a target. And as a target, that makes you the possible love-interest of our very dry heroine, Amelia. All love-interests are made in a way that they all eventually fall in love with Amelia, and become her willing love-slave. And in order to make this possible, a certain thing must act as a trigger for all targets.”

Sen isn’t impressed with her explanation but prompts her to continue, “Such as?”

“Such as...Well, there are many scenarios, but they all boil down to two things,” Livia deepens her voice, and put on a charismatic expression, "One: This girl did a strange thing that I never could have predicted. My interest is piqued. Two: This girl has said something that resonates within me. My interest is piqued.”

She points a normal finger (Noctis has fallen asleep in Sen's lap) right in front of his face, “You fall into the first category.”

Sen grabs her finger and playfully twists it, “I do not.”

Livia winces lightly through her shit-eating grin, sticking her tongue out at him, “Yes, dear. You do. Funny enough, such things also apply to other genres, but we won’t get into that.”

“I was an oddity that you just had to figure out.”

Sen rolls his eyes, “And you think this reaction was ingrained? Really?”

Livia shrugs, “It’s the only thing that explains your odd movements outside of the OG plot. Even after I left, both Orin, Rodale, Kolton, and even Amelia and Grail follow their normal schedules. You don’t. At least, not anymore.”

Sen's hand spread out on the side of her belly, pressing in slightly, silent. Her son kicks at it happily.

“...And you think the other target would react the same?” He says after a while.

“One already is,” Livia confirms, her teasing expression dropping.

“Kolton.”

“Ding. Ding,” Livia snaps her fingers again, “Kolton made an effort to talk to me today. After discovering us yesterday, he should be more inclined to stay away, but if anything, he is pushing closer. He knows too little and therefore sees me as a means to get more answers. He is a smart kid. He knows there is more at play.”

“But what are the chances of the others reacting the same way? As you mentioned, they are attuned to respond favorably to Amelia, not you. Seems they would all fall to her side first and foremost, right?”

“You didn’t though,” Livia points out calmly, “Even after you met her.”

Sen shrugs his shoulder, jostling Livia’s head a bit, “She seemed just like any other girl.”

Livia snickers, “Yeah, I think that’s the whole point. Maybe when you actually interact with her you will see what I mean. Either way, my point still stands. As much as I would wish to keep away from as many targets as possible, it seems the best way to tackle that is to erase the illusion of mystery. To ruin any expectations, they had of me in their little mine so they can lose any minor curiosities.”

“So, you intend to attend the ball tonight.”

Livia sighs, “Yes.”

“And if that is not what your mother wishes?” Sen asks.

Livia smirks, “Then I will make it so she thinks it was her own brilliant idea from the beginning.”

Sen glances over the duchess slumbering form, “With magic?”

Livia scoffs, “If I use magic to solve all my problems, that would make me overly dependent on it. Only a fool would use a single tool for every task. Especially when knowing that tool could be taken away at any moment.”

Sen's hand encircles her wrist, lifts it up so the faint burn marks around them, the ones that formed an almost unbroken band around them, were visible in the candlelight.

His eyes darken.

“I suppose your right. Only a dumbass wouldn’t learn a lesson that has been so clearly taught.”

Livia sneers and pulls her wrist back, “Obviously.”

Not to mention the fact that even as Sen was giving her his power, almost all of it went directly to her son.

The little bastard is a greedy one, Livia thinks fondly, covering Sen’s hand with her own.

“...Are you settled yet?” Sen asks, almost softly.

Livia presses her cheek into his shoulder, “Almost. Just give it a few minutes longer. Then you have to go.”

Sen rests his head atop hers, his eyes closing.

“Alright.”