★ Olivia ★
Salima had given us a top-of-the-line tent, intended for army generals. It was the size of a smallish bedchamber, so though Diane and I were sharing it, we didn’t feel cooped up at all. The two of us had been chatting away on our separate beds, but she seemed tired, so we dropped a shade over the lamp and settled in to get some sleep.
Being alone in the dark gets one thinking. For example, was Lefay enjoying the gentle love of my dearest in this moment? I had never slept apart from him since the day we met, so despite my rock-solid confidence in his abiding love for me, I couldn’t help being restless about his absence.
Lefay may have been recognized as an adult in her homeland, but she was still maturing, both mentally and physically, so my dearest would know not to be rough with her. I could easily imagine him loving Lefay gently, tenderly… And I ended up imagining myself in that scene.
Countless fleeting kisses would slowly transform into deep, spit-swapping engagements. While I lost myself in the feel of his lips on mine, my dearest would tear off all my clothes until I was stark naked. His hands would glide to my breasts, my buttocks, and my privates. Before I knew it, my resistances would melt until I was ready to accept his huge, hard thing.
Or, instead of focusing on his own desires, my dearest would use his fingers and tongue to guide me to my climax, savoring my reactions all the while.
As these obscene thoughts swirled through my mind, my fingers began to move of their own accord down toward my privates. But I couldn’t touch myself while my best friend slept next to me! I did my best to shut my eyes and sleep, but the sensation of my beloved husband’s fingers and lips, the imagined warmth of his embrace, wouldn’t leave my mind.
I lay restless and aroused for some time, until Diane, who I thought to be asleep, spoke to me. Had I woken her with my fidgeting under the blanket?
“Olivia, what’s the matter? Are you uncomfortable?”
“Not at all. It’s just that we don’t often sleep in a tent. If you’re having trouble sleeping, too, would you like to talk a bit more?”
She pulled the cloth off of the lamp, lighting the tent once more. Diane, in her see-through negligee, was so beautiful that even a woman like me found her alluring. I couldn’t begin to imagine the thought process of the man
who broke off their engagement.
There were times when girls were married off early for political reasons, but normally, women of nobility were married around the age of eighteen to avoid any issues with fertility. If not for the aforementioned annulled engagement, this young woman would not be here, nor would she be married to my dearest.
As if she had guessed exactly why I couldn’t sleep, Diane climbed into my bed and held my hand. The warmth of my best friend’s hand was enough to clear some of the haze in my mind.
“Don’t worry. It’s plain to see that Lord Chris loves you most of all, Olivia. Sometimes, I find myself envious of you two.”
“Well, he truly loves you, too, Diane. And we all know you’re the one who’s the most helpful to him. Far more than me, at least.”
For example, my dearest’s marriage with Lefay would be seen by the public as payment from the king for the gift of the titan’s core. Even if the circumstances were somewhat different this time, their marriage would be dramatized by the public enough until it was little more than a heroic story for the people to enjoy.
A hero setting out to defeat a titan for a princess’s love seemed like a story the public would enjoy, no? If their engagement would benefit the country at large, it would be even more widely publicized. My dearest’s renown would grow, not just within our own country, but throughout the United Kingdom.
With the knowledge that royalty and nobility saw their daughters as bargaining tools, it stood to reason that a pretty face and good learning would increase one’s worth even further. Beyond that, since women married to the same man were treated as sisters, this served as a conduit to connect families in even more complex ways. That is why I was educated well during my upbringing.
Much like the Magne Kingdom, men were the most important members of society in the United Kingdom, so they likely followed the same line of thinking.
The United Kingdom of the Crater Isles surely had done their research into our land’s customs. Though the marriage decision may have seemed rash at first glance, it actually had much thought put into it. They had, of course, taken into account Lefay’s love for my dearest, but the most important reason
was to gain a direct connection to a pillar of the Magne Kingdom. Though I was a dead end, cut off by my own family, Diane was the daughter of Count Meitia. Becoming able to speak on even footing with him was an important step to make national relations much smoother.
Second, it was an action to check the empire, with whom their relationship was worsening. Marrying the princess to the hero, a man who could fell titans and level hordes of monsters single-handedly, was an ample show of force.
These were the two most important reasons I could imagine, but the marriage also provided the United Kingdom with access to the Rarogne Region and the Grand Temple of the Goddess of Law, along with ensuring wolf-hybrids would be born among the all-important hero’s children.
Any minor negatives to this plan paled in comparison to the mountain of benefits. Truly, it would have been stranger if they hadn’t set their sights on him. Though of course, they would not have done so without assuring his character; Lefay’s attendants had ample opportunity to observe my dear husband for some time before they put their plan into motion.
“Come to think of it… I forgot to ask before, but are you the one who taught Lefay to be so aggressively affectionate with our husband?”
“Ahh, did Leff make it too obvious? It was clear she’d fallen in love at first sight, so I simply gave her a little push. Lord Chris seems vulnerable to being fawned over, as well—or perhaps he just wants to dote on girls who take to him. I only acted to serve both Lord Chris and my family.”
Aha, of course. I was cut off from my own family, which meant that now the only families in the Magne Kingdom with close ties to the United Kingdom, excluding my dearest, were: Lord Charles, who had directly negotiated with them; and Diane’s family, the Meitias, as the family of the new bride’s elder sister. While my dearest worked to distinguish himself, the one who reaped the most benefit from all of this was probably Count Meitia.
“See, Diane? You’re the one who is most helpful to our husband. You’re the perfect person to help with the family that he’ll soon raise, and I… I’m just…”
My fear of men meant I had trouble being in front of others, and my disownment meant I provided no useful connections. I was no match for Diane in bed, either, nor was I as cute as Lefay. While these negative thoughts swirled through my brain, Diane pulled me into her chest for a hug.
Mmm… Her breasts, larger than mine, sandwiched my face between them, making it hard to breathe.
“Please, Olivia, you’re the first wife, and there’s not a woman on this planet more suited to it than you. Be more confident in yourself.”
“True, but Diane, you’re older than me, right?”
As she held me close and stroked my hair, it was clearer than ever that Diane was the reliable one here.
“You ought to know that when a man takes multiple wives, the main wife comes first, always. That means you’re my elder sister, Olivia.”
I felt uncomfortable with Diane, a year older than me, calling me her elder sister. The only thing that mattered to me was that I got to be with my husband; I didn’t mind if Diane was the main wife.
“Lord Chris is unconcerned with these matters, but it will become an issue if it’s not settled properly. There are sure to be many more wives to come, so we should make things clear now.”
Diane and I continued to speak for a while. How would we face Lord Chris’s next wives in the coming years? What arrangements would be made among the residents of the mansion? Eventually, my eyelids grew heavy.
“Are you tired yet? I’m glad that my relaxing incense seems to be working.”
I thought that what I was smelling was her perfume, but it seemed she was burning incense. Thank you, Diane. Just before falling asleep, I hugged my dear friend once more.
“O-Oh my. Come now, Olivia. If we fall asleep like this, we’ll be hanging off of this tiny bed.”
Thank you for being my friend despite my cowardice. I love you, Diane.
“H-Hey, let me go now. If one of us stirs in our sleep, we might fall off…
Oh. You’re already asleep.”
It was a different feeling from being in my husband’s strong, safe arms.
Diane’s skin was softer, her smell sweeter.