Katherin was going over a few letters alongside her mother, pausing on one and then giving it a closer look. Once she opened and read it, her eyes widened and she turned to show Tethra.

“Mom! We got another letter from Sheri!” bending over to hand the letter down.

Tethra stopped reading her own letters and set them aside, looking up she took the offered paper and began to read.

“Hmm… interesting…” Tethra said as she read the contents of the letter. “It seems that Van’s and Luna’s education is going well, and they will be able to graduate from her course with high marks… though Luna seems to be falling a little behind as of late…” Then her eyes alighted on something interesting.

“It also seems like she wants to go with her husband to the east branch… hmm…” she had to think about that. She could pull a few strings to make it happen, but that would put her into some debt… on the other hand…

Tethra took out a blank piece of paper and began writing. “Let’s agree to allow both of them to go… but in exchange, they have to agree to only spend half of their time there, and then transfer to the west branch to complete their training.” She paused as another thought took her. “Or… perhaps they complete their education there but still need a few years over here to… obtain higher learning for a few years? It would be nice to prepare them for the transfer to Istra…”

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that mom,” Katherin interjected. “You know how Seral has been wanting to explore a little? And that he wants to go to the east branch for their combat course? And how you know that bitch Karmila would try something to Van and his wife once there on their way?”

“Well… why don’t we use this excuse to send him to meet up with Van and act like a bodyguard of sorts. It would make him very happy, and would also provide us an excuse to send multiple bodyguards along the way. Karmila doesn’t have to know… though she may figure it out…” she admitted after some thought.

Tethra chuckled. “You really care for your brother, don’t you?” she said happily, only for her smile to slowly go away. “But you know how I feel about sending him so far away right? It’s not safe… that bitch will surely try something… not to mention Taldor…” a huge sigh overtaking her at the annoyance of it all.

“Come on, please! Seral has been begging to get out of the house, and I know it’s dangerous… but you trust me to go out right?” Katherin pointed out.

“That’s because you are a woman and Seral is a man… They treat males differently in the east than they do in the west, and no amount of bodyguards can ever make me feel okay sending my son out that way.” Tethra said.

“Yet you don’t mind sending Van?” Katherin retorted.

“He’s not my son…” Tethra pointed out, only to sigh again after staring into her daughter's puppy eyes. “Fine… I’ll think about it…” giving in a little. “But no guarantees, and he has to prove that he can take care of himself! Do you understand?” she said before her daughter had the chance to celebrate.

Katherin nodded.

“Good…” Tethra went back to the letter and began reading the rest of it, a small smile taking her face.

“Well… it seems another seed is growing…” as she read on.

“You mean about the marriage proposal by Rosalyn?” Katherin asked.

“Indeed,” Tethra said. “A happy coincidence that we found out that Rosalyn and house Vran were long-time allies. It’s even better the fact that she’s also long-time enemies with that bitch Karmila, and that she’s been trying to worm her good graces into the progressive faction for a while now. She’s a powerful duchess of the neutral faction with an iron grip on her vassals and surrounding houses and is looking to expand her power and influence… the only problem is…”

“She’s an ingrid…” Katherin said.

Tethra nodded. “Yes… which makes her legitimacy questionable, to say the least…”

“Then why marry Van? Doesn’t she know she has much to lose once she marries him and he has an heir?” Katherin asked.

“Not if she adopted her own daughter as an heir to her duchy…” Tethra said. “Or perhaps she has another plan…” She said thoughtfully.

Katherin’s eyes widened. “Are you saying Rosalyn wants to become a branch family of house Vran!? But… I’ve never heard of a small barony having an entire duchy as a branch house!”

“It's a bit more complicated than that,” Tethra said. “She doesn’t have to become a branch of house Vran, just get it in writing that her heir has all claims on her house and lands… no doubt she would be offering up the title of archduke should he agree… or if not that, a few other things I could think of that could prove… enticing… or it could very well be she has other plans and simply doesn’t care for the complete control of her duchy, maybe… ” thinking deeply about it.

“But… back to the archduchy thing…” Katherin said, looking concerned by the idea. “they still wouldn’t be big enough for that… right? You need a lot of land and influence to proclaim yourself an archduke… and so far, the big three, one of which is us, have been making sure for centuries that wouldn’t happen…” Sounding a little confused and worried that there might be a new rival to the house.

“It doesn’t matter…” Tethra replied, sounding as if already bored by the idea and had moved on several steps ago... “Empty promises can still fool people, not to mention we are due for a new archduchy anyway, there is only so long we can put it off and… it doesn't have to be… empty…” now looking more thoughtful. “Having another archduchy as an ally… would be very… beneficial to us… and all it would take… is Karmila’s head… and the joining of two great duchies into one…” a more evil smile took her face as a few ideas began to form in her head. She then began to write more and at a faster rate, taking more pieces of paper to write more letters.

Katherin watched, always a little unnerved when she saw her mother taken in the throes of passion of the makings of another scheme. Just when she was about to say something to calm her mother down, Tethra froze, looking down on a letter that had just been revealed under all the other paperwork.

Slowly she took it in her hand, seeing the secret signs that told it was from one of her best informants in Karmila’s household. Opening it, she read it silently, another dark smile slowly gracing her lips. “Karina Voltami…” she whispered, then slowly began to laugh. “Who would have thought that mistress fate has such humor!” chuckling evilly, only to pause once more as another idea took her and she turned to her daughter.

“Sweetie… have you put any thoughts on marriage? And remember when you showed interest in Van and Luna? Well… let's talk about that now…”

Katherin paled. She knew that look on her mother. It couldn’t be good…

---

Karmila tapped her throne excessively, the tap, tap, tap echoing across the large open room. Her face was rigid in a look of deep thought, her eyes half glazed and staring into nothing as she pondered what her messenger just reported.

From the outside, it looked like she was just bored, fist to chin as she lazed back with her arm helping prop her up. But most knew to never, ever… disturb her while she was like this unless it was immensely important… because otherwise… a fate worse than death could await them… even if it meant waiting for several hours for a response…

Not that Karmila cared for what her servants thought… and at the moment, she was too busy going over everything she heard in her head.

The first bit of news, though not really a secret… was the fact that house Vran just lost their forest. One of which had helped provide almost a quarter of the barony’s wealth due to the careful harvesting of its resources…

The second bit, from what her informants have been able to overhear from one of the workers in Vran’s castle, was that Luna might be traveling with her husband… putting the both of them together…

Of course, their parents were wise, and it seemed like they would be taking another route towards Bright city… one of her informants still weren't sure of yet… but they will figure it out… eventually… or heads will roll…

The third and most important bit of information… was the rumor going around within Bright city… that Rosalyn Belladonna Lanira herself… was looking for a husband…

That last one was the most concerning bit of news for Karmila… after all, she and Rosalyn have been at it for decades now… almost thirty years… at the time, she thought Rosalyn as a young upstart, barely fifteen years old when her father died and left everything to her. Karmila thought it would be easy to simply wrap such a young, weak, and most importantly, a semi-illegitimate new ruler who had to deal with civil war with one of her father's sister in law the second she was crowned, around her finger with honeyed words, promises, and assurances of a powerful backing…

Unfortunately… that was not what happened… Instead, Rosalyn proved to everyone why it was her that her father chose… despite being an ingrid, she proved herself a genius when it came to winning others to her faction, promising the moon… and actually delivering on it…

She became well known as a neutral mediator, who helped two sides that at first were at odds, reconcile… and even join together in mutual economic partnerships that proved well sound and delivered great wealth to both parties. Her fairness, business sense, and policies in governing her duchy, made her well-liked by the people, her allies, trade partners, and neighbors alike.

She was quick to forgive, though not forget… and if pushed, would deal with anyone that crossed her thoroughly and painfully… growing her power and influence by leaps and bounds.

And because of that, she was a serious pain in Karmilla's ass… What was at first a great opportunity, now was a threat to her position of power in the region. If she were to somehow marry a powerful house and tie it to her, without losing her position, it could spell doom for the true house of Moonshadow… as they could slowly be chipped away through the decades until nothing was left of them…

Which meant securing her own position and power was more important than ever… At first, she thought she could just wait it out a bit and slowly draw the two brats from house Vran into her web… but now it might be that she would have to act sooner rather than later since there was no telling when Rosalyn would marry…

But… then again… who would want to marry Rosalyn? Powerful, well-liked, or not… an Ingrid was still an Ingrid… and the people of Alcray were naturally more prone to all fashioned ways of thinking… mostly due to the fact that most old people never actually aged, but continued to rule for decades if not centuries, carrying their prejudices with them throughout the years.

The tapping began to pick up speed as she thought about it. The number of people willing to lower themselves to taking an Ingrid as a wife instead of a concubine are small… not to mention it would have to be a house that would provide a lot of land and influence upon marriage… if it were that easy, Karmila would have done so herself a long time ago… but unfortunately, she developed a bad reputation, so most houses were wary of sending their males to her, much to her annoyance. Though the nickname of black widow was amusing…

More importantly… Over the years, house Umbra has been getting close to duchess Rosalyn… could it be that Tethra was planning to marry her own son off? If that was the case… then it would be very bad for her, and a great boon to her enemies. As Rosalyn’s power and influence would grow into even greater heights, allowing her to dominate all those around her while giving a more trustworthy ally to house Umbra that they could use to spread their own influence from.

“But that still doesn’t feel right…” Karmila thought to herself. “I’m missing a few pieces…” her eyes narrowed, turning more into a glare at the nothing around her.

After a while she had enough of trying to think things through and ordered a few servants to her at once.

“You,” she said, pointing at one of them once they presented themselves. “I want more agents to be sent to Bright city, to find out everything they can about any possible marriage candidates.”

“You,” pointing at another. “I want to know where the two Vran brats are going before they leave. Have someone tail them wherever they go, then report back to me.”

“You,” looking at the third one. “Increase the amount of informants to house Umbra, spread them around their city, I want to know everything, even the small stuff.”

“And you…” her gazing finally falling on the fourth and only male servant of the group. “Get to work…”

“Everyone dismissed!” then watched as everyone scattered except for the one male who worked up the courage to approach her.

She spread her legs and he got to work, stuffing his face between them as Karmila went back into her deep trance of thought. Though this time her free hand was on the back of her servant's head, making sure he did his ‘work’ properly.

After a while, she sighed. “It’s so hard to find good help sometimes. What do those informants think I pay them for? They should know better than to give me crumbs… now… what else can I do?” she thought, wondering how she could turn all the news she heard into her favor.

---

Karina was making preparations… In case Karmila’s agents failed to apprehend the Vran’s on their way to Bright city, she was to follow the original script and act like a new student on her way to the academy. Coincidentally meeting them in the city and following them all the way to school.

Right now she was in front of the mirror in the room provided to her, wondering what name or look she should go with before the fateful encounter with her supposed husband to be… her innocent baby blue eyes staring back… many people have fallen for such eyes… or at least that was what she was told… and of course… regretted it… her thoughts going back to her mother and her plans…

Even now she still couldn’t believe that she was made the acting heir of house moonshadow… even if it was in name only… since she still kept her last name of Voltami…

Just thinking about it made her heart race with fear at what new… expectations… her mother would put on her…

It scared her…

Though her face and body language would never show it… she had mastered her expression too well for that…

Truth be told… she was both excited and nervous for the meeting with her husband-to-be… even if he himself didn’t realize that was what he was just yet… hopefully, he would learn quickly… just like she did… otherwise… it could be bad…

She shivered at the mere thought of things going bad… one of the few involuntary jerks of her body that she rarely made, even when she knew she was completely alone…

She tried to play off the shiver, going for her makeup and started to apply it.

Hopefully he was handsome, she thought. She heard he was… maybe… they could fall in love? Have kids? Maybe even be friends with Luna as well? They could make their own happy little family… they could…

She paused… stopping herself from going down that line of thinking any further… if she did… she was afraid she would cry… the lipstick she held, frozen in mid-air, slowly being put down before it even had a chance to be used.

Now was not a time for weakness… she needed to be strong… she killed those feelings… just like her mother said she should…

The eyes in the mirror… slowly turned… cold…