Transmigrated Into A Women Dominated World

Athea’s admission removed the impatience from Calyra’s expression.

Athea kept her attention upon the distant residence.

"I can explain why I sent him away," Athea continued. "I can explain the laws that existed when he was born, the scrutiny surrounding this family and every danger he would have faced if anyone discovered him. All of those reasons remain true, but they do not change the fact that Ysmeine raised him while I remained absent."

"You protected him," Calyra said quietly.

"Yes, I did. However, telling him that would sound as though I expected protection to erase everything my absence cost him," Athea said.

Protection had required distance at first. It had not required every year of silence that followed. Athea had repeatedly convinced herself that approaching him later would be safer than approaching him now, until eighteen years had accumulated through a succession of reasonable delays. And now it felt more difficult.

Athea lowered her gaze to the table.

"If I apologise, the apology will be inadequate. If I explain my decisions, it may sound as though I am asking him to excuse them. If I behave as though we can simply begin a relationship now, I will be ignoring eighteen years in which he had no reason to think I wanted one," Athea said.

"You do not have to settle all of that during your first conversation," Calyra said. "You only have to enter the room and tell him that you are there for him."

"And then what?" Athea asked.

"Speak to him," Calyra replied.

"About what?" Athea asked.

Calyra considered the question.

"Ask him how the journey was," Calyra suggested. "Ask whether the residence is comfortable or whether the guards have caused him any problems. I do not know, Athea. Begin with something simple. He will already understand that neither of you is ready to discuss everything immediately."

Athea looked at her older sister.

"That would require both of us to pretend this was an ordinary visit," Athea said.

"No," Calyra replied. "It would give you somewhere ordinary to begin."

Athea considered the suggestion, although the uncertainty did not leave her expression.

Calyra leaned forward slightly.

"There will never be a sentence important enough to justify eighteen years, Athea," Calyra said. "If you continue waiting until you find one, you will remain here while he continues waiting for you somewhere else."

The observation struck closer than Calyra had probably intended. Athea’s fingers tightened faintly around the edge of the table.

"He must stand before the Council tomorrow morning," Athea said. "I will not arrive tonight, place the weight of our entire history upon him and then expect him to sleep peacefully before his evaluation."

"Then do not place the entire history upon him," Calyra replied. "Let him see that you came."

Athea looked towards the residence one final time.

For a moment, Calyra appeared to believe that she had persuaded her. Viora watched her mother with the same quiet expectation but still offered no opinion.

Athea eventually looked away.

"Not today," Athea said. "I will see him tomorrow."

Calyra’s expression tightened.

"Across the Council table," Calyra said.

"I know," Athea replied.

Neither Calyra nor Viora attempted to answer that.

Calyra’s disappointment was obvious. Viora’s remained concealed behind the reserve she had inherited from her mother.

The cold tea sat forgotten between them, while beyond the trees, the Crown Guest Residence remained close enough for Athea to reach within minutes and separated from her by far more than the garden between them.

★★★

Several minutes earlier, while Calyra and Viora remained with Athea inside the pavilion, Aphrodite and Erythea waited beneath the covered gallery bordering the eastern garden.

The sound of footsteps on the garden path drew their attention towards the archway.

Kayla emerged alone. She slowed when she saw the two princesses waiting beneath the gallery.

"Princess Aphrodite. Princess Erythea," Kayla said, inclining her head.

The gesture was exact enough to satisfy royal protocol without resembling the deeper courtesies most people offered members of the Lumina family.

"Warlady Noctis," Erythea replied.

Aphrodite inclined her head in return.

"Are you leaving already?" Aphrodite asked.

"For now," Kayla answered.

Her green eyes remained upon Aphrodite for another moment.

"I hope we have another opportunity to speak before I leave the Capital," Kayla said.

Aphrodite had not expected the suggestion, although she found herself pleased by it.

"I would like that," Aphrodite replied.

Kayla acknowledged the answer before continuing through the gallery.

Aphrodite watched her reach the end of the covered walkway and take the eastern path rather than turning towards the palace entrance or the transport platforms. That route led deeper into the protected grounds, where the Crown Guest Residence stood beyond the trees.

Erythea had already turned towards the palace, but Aphrodite continued watching until Kayla disappeared behind the hedges bordering the eastern path.

"We should return to the palace until Athea has finished with Calyra and Viora," Erythea said.

She took two steps before realising that Aphrodite had not followed. Erythea stopped and glanced back, one eyebrow raised.

"Have you reconsidered the longer earrings?" Erythea asked.

"No," Aphrodite said slowly. "I have just realised that Sage Stellan’s boyfriend is probably Warlady Kayla’s nephew."

Erythea turned around fully.

"Dr. Stellan has a boyfriend?" Erythea asked.

"Yes," Aphrodite replied.

"Good for her," Erythea said. "Personally, I would never keep a male pet. I prefer companions on my level."

"Do not let Sage hear you say that," Aphrodite replied. "She insists that he is her boyfriend rather than her pet, although Valerie’s description made the distinction sound largely ceremonial. More importantly, I think he may be Warlady Kayla’s nephew."

Until then, Erythea had treated the conversation as nothing more than ordinary palace gossip. The moment Aphrodite connected the man to Kayla Noctis, however, her amusement faded and she turned towards her properly.

"How did you arrive at that conclusion?" Erythea asked.

"Kayla’s family name is Noctis," Aphrodite replied.

"I am aware," Erythea said. "That establishes a possible family connection. It does not establish that he is her nephew."

"When Sage and Valerie took me for drinks in the Upper Tier last week, Sage mentioned her boyfriend," Aphrodite explained. "She was being dreadfully discreet about him, but Valerie continued teasing her until Sage finally used his full name. Zaeryn Noctis."

"The shared name is suggestive," Erythea said. "It is hardly proof."

"There is more," Aphrodite continued. "Kayla has just taken the path towards the Crown Guest Residence, which is almost certainly where the Council placed him. Yesterday, while I was waiting in the antechamber outside Mother’s office, I overheard Valerie speaking to her. Valerie said that Sage’s boyfriend was being brought from Sector Seven for an Imperial evaluation because he was the male anomaly."

"The male anomaly?" Erythea repeated. "What precisely makes him that?"

"I do not know," Aphrodite admitted. "Valerie spoke as though Mother already understood the phrase, and I did not hear enough to learn what was anomalous about him."

The amusement left Erythea’s expression.

"Dr. Stellan’s boyfriend is not only related to the Kayla Noctis, but he is also weird?" Erythea asked.

"Yes," Aphrodite replied. "Moreover, the Council apparently considers his condition a matter of national security, which is why they summoned him to the Capital for an evaluation."

"Why?" Erythea asked, her expression tightening with distaste. "Does he carry some highly contagious illness dangerous enough to concern the entire Council?"

"Probably," Aphrodite replied.

The answer had barely left her before another fragment of the conversation returned to her.

"No, wait," Aphrodite said, turning towards Erythea. "I remember now. Valerie said the usual conditions affecting males did not seem to affect him in quite the same way."

Erythea’s distaste gave way to puzzled interest.

"Which conditions?" Erythea asked.

"I do not remember all of them," Aphrodite admitted. "Valerie was being terribly dramatic about the entire matter, and I was not especially interested at the time. When we went for drinks, she also asked whether Sage had actually modified him."

"Dr. Stellan modified her boyfriend?" Erythea asked.

"That has not been proven, and Sage denied it," Aphrodite replied. "She insisted that he was simply different. Women are always convinced that the males they favour are exceptional, particularly once affection has compromised their judgement."

"Now I am curious," Erythea said.

"About what?" Aphrodite asked.

"About the male the Council is treating like a state secret," Erythea replied. "Aren’t you?"

"No," Aphrodite replied. "I suspect he is nothing special. Perhaps he has some obscure variation of the Fade and everyone has decided to be dramatic about it."

"Perhaps," Erythea said. "Or perhaps there is something genuinely interesting about him. Athea undoubtedly knows."

Erythea’s gaze drifted towards the archway leading back into the garden.

"The pavilion is open on three sides," Erythea observed. "If we happened to walk past it, anything we heard could hardly be considered eavesdropping."

"Do not suggest that," Aphrodite said. "Mother has already caught me listening outside one sealed door this week."

"Then you should appreciate the distinction," Erythea replied. "This one has no door."

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