I NEED MORE GRANEVERE FAN ARTS
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Granger felt uneasy as he stepped inside the Baroque Castle. The size of the main halls still makes him feel like an ant. Guards and servants alike lined up in every side. He remembered playing Hide and Seek with Gwen while being chased by them. It was still funny to reminisce.
Granger was getting behind from the the group. He manages to catch up with Guinevere's calm and ladylike pace. She was having a conversation with Oddette.
"Your house is so huge and surprisingly vibrant." Said Oddette.
"Yes. My family wouldn't want to make it seem too obvious about our current situation." Guinevere replied stiffly.
Oddette continued and motioned to the vased flowers on the tables. "Mathiolla Incanas are everywhere too!" She sang.
"They're Guinevere's favorite flowers." Lancelot spoke, smiling. "Isn't that right, Gwen?"
"They really want me to feel as though I'm special to them." Guinevere muttered bluntly.
"Of course they do!" Lancelot exclaimed, siding again with not his sister. "Wouldn't it be a little less welcoming to have their daughter return to the castle for her twenty first birthday if they went the other way?"
A servant later showed up, requesting to follow him to the gardens where Lady Jane was waiting.
She was having her early cup of tea with a few invited friends of hers. Guinevere knew who they were. They were her aunts, but she hated them since childhood for they were merely duplicates of her mother, only they were less attractive.
They were filthy rich, yes, but they had cakefaces for makeup and the exposure of cleavage was overdone. To make it worse, they were the most judgemental beings she know despite being successful socialites.
"Brace yourself." Guinevere whispered to Granger as they make their way towards the table shaded under a white canopy.
One of them, tall and cheeky as ever- Lady Sofie was her name? - had stood up. She approached Guinevere and Guinevere gritted her teeth as she forced a counterfeit smile. They both hugged.
"My, you are as beautiful as ever, Miss Violet!" The woman beamed. She was from the Kelson family, Guinevere presumed, an extended branch of the Paxley family.
"Welcome back, dear." Jane was the next person to hug her. Guinevere pretended to have missed her mother, tightening her pull around the woman. Jane smiled, believing it was real.
Lancelot joined the hug as well but it was only brief.
"We better dally on and prepare for tonight then, Jane." A woman as identical as a adult bullfrog, Lady Martha of the Henrick family said. "Let us go, girls. Oh and happy birthday, Violet!"
"Thank you, Lady Martha." Guinevere managed to reply although she was trying to hold herself back from taunting her. Of all her mother's friends, she was the worst, and Guinevere couldn't stand staying in the same room with her for more than a second.
She remembered the times when the woman would throw criticisms about her when she was still a child. It was expected of her for her daughter was one of Guinevere's rivals in the Academy for class valedictorian. Nonetheless, Guinevere won.
The married ladies gave Granger an estranged look. Guinevere swore they were talking about him right when they thought they were out of her earshot.
Jane focused on the man as well after she was finished with Oddette. "I see you are wearing the Empire's colors." She acknowledged his clothes, making him turn to her. Somehow he couldn't look her in the eye. "We meet at last. Let me introduce myself. I am Lady Jane Baroque, your mother in law." She curtsied.
"U-Uh, we're not married." Granger corrected. Guinevere felt her stomach twisted into knots upon his denial. "Yet." She silently sighed in relief once he added.
"Take your seats, please. I fear we have a lot to talk about."
It was a round table. The seats were cushioned and Guinevere could still oddly feel Lady Martha's warmth in her former chair. Guinevere cringed at the thought. She tried to distract herself from puking as she gripped Granger's hand underneath the table. The morning sickness, it was visiting her yet again.
"You all right?" Granger asked her, worried. Guinevere assured him with a smile.
Lady Jane watched them discreetly as she calmly poured them tea.
"Excuse us." Lancelot suddenly stood up with Oddette. "Oddette would like to be accompanied to the bathroom. We'll be back in a minute."
"Go on then." Jane permitted. She waited for them to leave before she continued. "The two of you are the only ones who I need to talk to anyhow. So, please, listen carefully."
Guinevere leaned against the table, challengingly, while Granger leaned back. "Likewise, mum, it's glad to be back."
"As the same to you, dear. Now let's get to the point and stop bluffing. What does Granger have in which Gusion does not?"
Jumping to conclusions. Typical, Guinevere thought. "It can't be answered by words. But the only thing I can say is this, mother. My heart simply yearned for Granger instead of Gus."
"Tell me, Granger." She wickedly glared to him. "How old were you when your parents died?"
"Mum!" Guinevere warned. She was asking as though she had no empathy.
"I was five and a half." Granger answered casually.
Taking a lazy sip on her tea, Jane continued. "And... Becoming a demon hunter, was it torture?"
"It was." Granger remained cool and attentive of her question, even if she was now crossing boundaries.
"That explains the bandages then." She said nonchalantly, throwing a glance at his body.
His eyes remained light as he requested. "If you're going to ask me more questions about my past, milady, then I beg you to be nice."
Jane scoffed. "How brave of you to say. But okay. For the sake of my daughter here who's looking so eager to throw me a slap. Isn't that right, Gwen?"
Guinevere crossed her arms and smiled devilishly. "Indeed, mother."
"Let's play a game shall we? We are getting too serious over something so little. Now, here are three cards. You'll be the first one to choose, Gwen and I'll get to ask you one question. Honesty is required in this game too, sadly." She reminded, faking a pout.
Guinevere smiled, picking the card in the middle. Turning it around, it contained an image of a newborn. Guinevere's blood began to run cold.
"Wise choice! Let us talk about children then. Now Guinevere, I need you to be honest with me, please. You are pregnant, are you?"
Guinevere felt her heart missing a beat. In her peripheral, she throw Granger a look. He wasn't looking her way and she swore she caught his Adam's apple rose.
"I-I..." Guinevere was losing her bold confidence, making Jane smile. "I am." Guinevere had choked out at last.
"Thank you for being honest with me, dear. Pick a card, Granger. Don't be shy."
Granger momentarily decided before slapping the card after turning it around.
"Marriage, as expected!" Jane clapped. "When should the two of you marry?"
Guinevere was about to answer when Jane dismissed her. "Anytime, whenever she's ready." Granger said.
"You think so?" Hope had been kindled in Guinevere's eyes.
Granger smiled. "Really."
"Okay then. I'll be picking the last card." The woman interrupted the young couple, breaking their intense gaze. "What a surprise. Sacrifice!"
Guinevere looked confused for a second until her mother flipped the card, revealing an image of a figure standing between a fight of two persons, a sword plunged through his body.
"Granger?" Jane was now giggling, and Guinevere felt an ominous feeling luring in her smile. "Would you sacrifice yourself for Guinevere?"
Don't answer it! Guinevere was about to tell him, but her body malfunctioned. She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of his seat before he could say a word.
"Whatever trap you have for us, Mother, is useless so just shut it!" Guinevere shouted in rage.
But her Mom snickered. "Like I said, it was only a game, dear. Nothing more, nothing less. I should go and proceed organizing for your celebration tonight. You can join me if you want. I'll be at the grand foyer with the maids."
Guinevere stared daggers at her mother's back as Jane calmly sauntered back inside, two guards at her tail.
Granger looked down at her hand which was still tightly locked around his wrist. "Gwen, calm down." He pleaded. "It's bad enough for the baby."
All of a sudden, she relaxed, but her heartbeats became rapid. "I-I'm sorry, Granger."
"Sorry for what?"
"I should've told you sooner. Please forgive me?"
It was wrong for her to keep such a secret. But not once had Granger become mad about her and he can never. He pulled the strands from her face away and lifted her chin up, placing a kiss full of love on her lips.
"You shouldn't be sorry about anything, Gwen. I love you too much to become mad at you."
She felt her heart melt for the hundredth time. It was rare for him to say such a thing. "Shall we get married before the baby comes out or after, though?"
"Whenever, like I said before. It really depends on you, Gwen."
"If you let me decide then let's get married right away. Tonight!"
He forced himself to scoff instead to scowl at her. "Don't be in such a rush now. You don't know how hard it is being married."