Rezzue er Yecine was unexpectedly comfortable inside the fairly empty dining room. This was despite being the only person over the ripe age of *two months* waiting at the already set table... in a home she’d never been in before today. Her infantile triplets were nested into a set of black cloth cushioned baskets and placed on a bench that had been arranged beside her - by smiling and chatty servants that weren’t afraid to meet her eyes and ask for her opinions.

’So very different here. It’s not like they are treating me as an equal, but neither are they forcefully pretending they do not exist. I know that some of them wouldn’t like it, because they aren’t used to it... however, a lot of the married women of the Yecine stuck in the estate would surely prefer this way?’

She was confident of that because most of them she talked to were clearly very lonely. Their husbands worked for the family or the Guild - exclusively The Ironclad Order. Daughters were raised in less early seclusion than sons, but even they were sent away at the age of seven to attend a private, Yecine-only Youth Guild if they were cultivators.

An environment that the red-haired woman had never seen herself, but could only imagine was quite subpar at best - or actively detrimental at worst. Especially considering that those young girls didn’t grow up to make any sort of name for themselves... outside of continuing to exist and serve to complete their tasks within the family holdings.

Or serve as marriage partners. To potentially produce more young men that might receive the boon of focused cultivation resources and training. Rezzue understood well enough now, after learning from Elua er Goltbred for nearly a year, that things were not *good* on the continent for all sorts of people - and particularly not good for the women coerced to be so passive within the Yecine.

Her hand reached out and grabbed for the warm water with honey that she’d been given, looking at her still unnamed babies as her thoughts circled back over her ideas. There had been a lot of time to think about many life things, even while learning so much chemistry and essence manipulation techniques. Especially while waiting to see if Navuill would make it into the Astral Exclave in time.

She’d known all that about his family on some level, when she decided she wanted to change to be more proactive and confident about bettering herself. The worst part about it was that it was still hard for her to actually call the choices of the patriarchal elders... *entirely* wrong, at least when it came to prioritizing the martial capability of their young boys.

Even if there were many extenuating factors within the process of cultivation that leveled the playing field between the sexes - on average, she couldn’t imagine from her own experience that the number of young girls that would actually want to learn how to fight so early in their lives as the Yecine started teaching... was high.

However, she knew that most boys loved that sort of thing... even in the place she grew up. A region which wasn’t so limiting on who could or who *needed* to do certain tasks. She’d hunted in the forest and fished in the river with the men when she was young. But she’d also repaired nets, gutted and cleaned the catches, and sat around talking and singing with the older ladies during other menial tasks.

And her memory still suggested that despite some people like her doing it ’all’ when needed, there was a bit of a seemingly natural division that existed. More boys would do things that required obvious physical prowess - even if accomplished alone. More girls would do things that could be conducted during socializations - even if it was tedious.

This divisiveness only increased in her marriage family’s culture, because the elders of the Yecine... no matter whether it could be argued that they possessed *some* kind of love for their monogamous partners... clearly valued protecting their wives mostly for the social tedium of producing offspring. Creating the next replacements, the next potentially dutiful heavy-blade wielding swordsmen.

"Your father isn’t like that. I know he’ll love you and do everything he can to see you have wonderful lives."

Her fingers brushed over the full fuzz of black hairs she was told would fall out on her firstborn’s head. Each child had been spiritually marked by the absolutely amazing brunette midwife that had coached her through everything. It would be too much to say the labor experience was *effortless* with Elua’s assistance, but she liked to think it was the best possible one.

"All of you keep your eyes closed so much still, but I wonder who you will take after there? I hope its him, but I bet he would hope it is me..."

For herself, she didn’t even want to accumulate power for such a reason as fame or combat on the frontlines the next Descent... though she would love to have it to defend her children in any scenario. Or just with the goal of supporting her husband. Which she was also sure the other cloistered wives would agree with on various levels!

But she also knew now that with power came the option to help more people - without depleting yourself. A little story from a certain Illusionist, about sharing with others only from your excess, had made that idea even firmer in her mind. While also coincidentally *complicating* her feelings about how and why the people in charge of her husband’s family pooled training and other good things towards a limited subset of active cultivators!

Whatever exhausting thoughts weighed on the new mother didn’t stop her from straightening with poise when she heard footsteps. Her red hair had been brushed out and braided back and her nails manicured by a lovely woman... who had complained at length about a literal fox of all things. Pear-colored eyes swept across a sight that made her brain stutter just a little, even though she thought she was used to strange things.

Because the woman walking through the door with two Goltbred daughters of different sizes on her arms was someone she hadn’t seen for nearly a year, back at the Warden Patrician’s territory. Wearing her suit with authority there... instead of wearing Elua and Onya with something clearly expressed right between ’forbearance’ and ’exuberance’.

"You look less terribly upset than I expected, Rezzue."

"It is hard to keep mad when I understood your motivation."

"Did you, though?"

Brushing against her sixth sense was that ’rascal’ Intent... that usually meant the heiress had done, or was going to do, something that *she* thought was amusing - even if the cousin-in-law didn’t entirely *get* it in the same way.

"Because I sort of immediately went from dropping you off earlier... to abruptly go and start a certain... we’ll call it a situation. Yes. That word works."

"...Situation?"

"Absolutely. One that may require you to stay here with my family for... just a little while. Depending on how various parties react. Which I’m sure played no part in my choice to perform those acts right away, rather than waiting for a later time. Not that I will apologize for any of that."

"El."

"I am very sorry for all that I have done, Rezzue. You must forgive my cheeky insolence... even if no one else but my dearest Qat ever will."

’Caving’ instantly at the firm tone of the blonde woman, the heiress changed her tune from obviously irreverent to blatantly conciliatory. An action which even had little Onya tilting her head with an open mouth at the sister she was so proud of. It also had Qatrand herself a bit taken aback, for reasons made clear when she spoke out again while kneeling down.

"I was just going to ask you to get off. So that I can go say hello to them properly."

"Oh. I see. Then I am no longer sorry? Is it okay to take my apology back?"

"No. Don’t say things you don’t mean, mint-drop."

"Urgh... okay. But what if I meant it at the time, but later find out that no longer-"

Unable to help herself, the swordswoman ’ruined’ the view of Rezzue toward her further. By immediately reaching up and clamping her hand around the brunette’s face before standing back to her full height. And *not letting go* while starting to walk over toward the wife of her cousin.

"It’s good to see you doing well. I’m sorry that-"

"...Qat... My face..."

"What about it?"

"...Nothing. Continue."

Mint eyes couldn’t even pretend to be startled or uncomfortable. They just remained half-lidded, ’content’ as could be. And that only deepened, seconds later, when two young Yecine boys walked in the room under the guidance of a certain personal servant to see their older sister doing something that made them question every bit of reality. Kaland in particular was really *very* affected, especially when Klaytei scoffed and turned back around to leave them there.

’I just do not understand girls...’