Chapter 26: Tea and Tension
After a few moments, they finally entered the mansion. The grand doors was swung open by the servants, and the familiar scent of polished wood and fresh flowers greeted them—a smell that had become comforting to Asteria over the past few months, a smell that meant safety, warmth, and family.
Keres walked slightly ahead, holding the gift and the bottle of wine as a present for her parents. Her posture was stiff, her jaw tight, already bracing for what she knew was coming.
When Faye and Alfonso saw Keres, their faces were not very pleased.
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?! YOU STUPID BRAT—"
Faye’s voice thundered through the foyer, echoing off the high ceilings and bouncing off the marble floors. Her eyes were blazing, her hands already reaching out as if she was ready to discipline her own daughter right there in the entrance hall, in front of the servants, in front of everyone.
She had been worried sick, angry beyond measure, and she had spent the entire night consoling Asteria while cursing Keres under her breath. She had imagined a hundred different ways to greet her daughter, and none of them were pleasant.
But before Faye could take another step, Asteria moved. She stepped between mother and daughter with a warm smile, her arms opening wide as she wrapped Faye in a tight hug.
The gift box and wine bottle were momentarily forgotten, held loosely in Keres’s hands as she watched her wife—her wife—intercept her mother’s fury.
"Mama! I miss you!" Asteria’s voice was soft, soothing, like cool water on a burn wound.
Faye hesitated. Her arms hovered in the air for a moment, caught between her fury and her love for this girl who had become her official daughter-in-law last night.
She wanted to be angry and yell. She wanted to make Keres understand how much she had hurt Asteria, but Asteria was hugging her, and her hugs were warm and genuinely hard to resist.
So Faye sighed and hugged Asteria back, her hand patting her head gently. "Eh? Yeah, darling, Mama misses you too." Faye’s voice softened, but her eyes were still fixed on Keres over Asteria’s shoulder, still burning with unspent fury. "But give me a second. I will discipline this brat!"
Keres flinched slightly. It was a small movement that was barely noticeable, but Asteria felt the shift in the air to how the way Keres’s shoulders tensed, and the way her grip on the gifts tightened.
She tightened her arms around Faye and hugged her again, refusing to let go and let Faye get past her.
"Mama, don’t be mad. Keres had her reason." Asteria’s voice was gentle, the voice of someone who was used to being a peacemaker or someone standing between angry people and hoping she didn’t get crushed in the middle.
Faye’s eyes narrowed. "WHAT KIND OF A HEARTLESS PERSON ARE YOU?! LEAVING ASTERIA IN YOUR WEDDING! WHAT THE FUCK!"
Faye rarely cursed. She was a woman of class and elegance, someone who believed that words should be chosen carefully and delivered with grace and had raised Keres to speak with precision, never let emotion get the better of her tongue. But if she did curse, it meant she was very, very angry. And right now, she was furious beyond words.
Asteria didn’t back down. She kept her arms around Faye, her voice calm and steady, her body a small but determined barrier. "Mama, don’t get mad at Keres, please?"
Faye stared at her, incredulous. "Why are you defending this brat?! She abandoned you on your wedding day! In front of everyone! Do you know how that looked? Do you know what people were saying?" Her voice cracked slightly, not with anger now but with something that sounded almost like hurt.
Asteria’s smile didn’t waver. If anything, it grew softer and more reassuring. "Mama, Keres and I had a wonderful night." She paused, her cheeks flushing slightly, a hint of pink spreading across her cheekbones.
"She did apologize and made it up to me."
Faye blinked and her mouth fell opened, then closed, then opened again. "Huh?"
Asteria leaned closer to Faye’s ear and whisper something. Then suddely, Faye’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open again with excitement. Her entire expression shifted from fury to something that looked almost like delight.
Her eyebrows rose, her lips twitched, and then she smiled—warm and genuine, the kind of smile that reached her eyes.
"What the hell is that?" Keres muttered under her breath, shifting the gifts from one hand to the other. She was a girl—well, a woman—but even she couldn’t understand girly things or the way women communicated.
There was an entire language happening right in front of her, complete with whispers and meaningful glances and secret smile that made her completely lost.
She felt like she was watching a conversation in a foreign language she had never learned.
Alfonso watched the exchange with narrowed eyes, his head tilted slightly. Then he shrugged, his shoulders rising and falling in a gesture of surrender. "Well, that’s... That’s very odd," he said to himself, because he didn’t understand what had just happened either.
His wife had gone from ready to commit murder to looking like Christmas had come early, and he had no idea why. But he had learned long ago not to question Faye’s moods. He just enjoyed them.
Keres sighed and handed him the gift and the wine bottle, passing them over like she was passing a burden. "Hope you and Mom are happy about this wedding." She didn’t even smile as she looked at her father.
Her face was blank, betraying nothing as it was the same face she wore in boardrooms and negotiations, the face that had made her a fortune and earned her a reputation.
Alfonso took the gifts, but his expression didn’t soften. If anything, it hardened slightly. "We’re not happy."
Keres’s brow furrowed. "Huh?"
"BECAUSE I AM SO HAPPYYYYYY!"
Alfonso’s sudden scream made Keres take a step back, her eyes widening in shock. Her father, the former head of the Eisenthurn crime empire and the man who had made grown men tremble with a single look was standing in the middle of the foyer with his arms raised like a child and look liked someone who had just received the best present of his life.
He was grinning from ear to ear, his eyes bright with excitement and his whole body practically vibrating with joy.
Then he happily walked away, practically skipping toward the living room, the gift box tucked under one arm and the wine bottle swinging from his hand. His footsteps were completely at odds with his age and reputation.
Keres stood there with her mouth slightly open, watching her father disappear around the corner. She turned to look at her mother, but Faye was already walking away with Asteria, their heads bent together, whispering like schoolgirls and sharing secrets.
"What the fuck is wrong with this family?!" Keres didn’t even bother hiding her contempt, but there was no real bite to it. Just confusion and exasperation of a woman who had grown up surrounded by people who made no sense, and she had learned to accept that her parents were strange, her family was odd and nothing would ever change that.
~~~•••~~~
The four of them settled in the gazebo at the back of the mansion, surrounded by blooming roses and the soft sound of a nearby fountain. The sun was warm but not hot, filtered through the leaves of old oak trees and casting dappled shadows on the stone floor.
A gentle breeze carried the scent of flowers and freshly cut grass, somewhere in the distance was a bird singing a cheerful, repetitive song.
The maids moved quietly between them, pouring hot tea into delicate porcelain cups. Steam rose from the spout, curling into the air before disappearing.
It was carrying the scent of bergamot and honey. The cups were placed on saucers, arranged neatly.
After that, the maids stepped back after their work was done.
Faye took a sip of her tea, her earlier fury now completely replaced by something softer. She looked at Asteria with warm eyes, then glanced at Keres with something that was almost a smile—not quite forgiving yet, but moving in that direction.
"Haha, even though I am still pissed at Keres," Faye said, setting her cup down with a soft clink, "Asteria’s news did enlighten me."
Asteria sat elegantly beside Keres, her hands folded in her lap, her back straight. A deep shade of pink formed on her cheeks as she stared down at her tea, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.
She looked like a painting—completely unaware of her own beauty like a butterfly who cannot see its wings.
Alfonso leaned toward his wife, his curiosity getting the better of him. His voice was low, conspiratorial, like a child trying to overhear a secret. "What? What did she say?"
Faye immediately leaned in and whispered something into her husband’s ear. Her lips moved quickly, forming words that Keres couldn’t catch.
Then slowly, Alfonso’s face went through a transformation—confusion, then surprise, then a delighted grin showed up in his lips. His eyes crinkled at the corners and he let out a low chuckle.
Keres’s brow furrowed as she watched them. She didn’t understand their secret exchange, and not knowing made her feel strangely uncomfortable. She was used to being the one with all the information, the one who knew everything before anyone else and being left out of the loop irritated her more than she wanted to admit.
Alfonso’s face lit up with excitement. "Hahaha, that’s good news!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together like a seal at a circus.
Keres’s irritation grew. "What is it?" she asked, her voice lacking the fury she easily showed to her subordinates.
Instead, it was edged with something like frustration and impatience, the feeling of being the only person in a room who didn’t know the joke.
Alfonso waved a dismissive hand, his smile was still wide along his bright eyes. "Aiya, you already know what you both did last night."
Keres turned to look at Asteria, her eyes slightly narrowed and her jaw suddenly tightened. "Did you tell them we had sex?"
Asteria’s head snapped up and her eyes widened with mortification. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She shook her head frantically, her hair flying around her face slightly, while her cheeks burnt an even deeper shade of red.
"N-No! I-I... I didn’t!" Her voice was quivering, barely above a squeak, like a mouse caught in a trap.
"Then why are they like this—" Keres started, but Faye cut her off before she could finish.
"Hey!" Faye’s voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a blade. "She didn’t say that! Your wife didn’t tell us you both had sex. What the hell is wrong with you? Why is that the first place your mind goes?" She shook her head, her expression a mixture of disgust and disbelief.
Alfonso added, his voice too cheerful for the topic, "And besides, me and your mother knew you both already did it before the wedding. The scandal, remember? The photograph? We’re not stupid." He shrugged, as if stating an obvious fact.
Asteria’s head snapped toward him, her eyes widening even further. Now her entire face was wrapped in a deeper shade of red that made her look like a tomato.
She looked like she wanted to sink into the ground and disappear forever, to be swallowed by the earth and never seen again.
"T-That’s embarrassing, Mama and Papa!" She shyly covered her face with both hands, peeking through her fingers like a child caught doing something naughty. Her ears were red too, the tips turning pink, and even her neck was flushed.
Keres watched her. The way her ears were flushed, the way she looked so small yet so beautiful in this moment—vulnerable and real in a way she never was when she was being timid and scared.
When Asteria was afraid, she made herself smaller, and she is trying hard enough to disappear. But when she was embarrassed, she bloomed—her cheeks getting bright, her were eyes bright, and her whole face will be alive with color.
Something stirred inside Keres again—something warm and unwelcome, something she didn’t want to name. It sat in her chest like a coal that’s burning slowly, refusing to be ignored.
She cleared her throat and looked away, leaning against the backrest of the sofa. She sighed and stared at the garden, at anything that wasn’t Asteria’s flushed face. Because whenever she looked at her with that deeper shade of red in her face, she remembered the night where the same color had painted Asteria’s face when Keres touched and dominated her.
"I don’t want tea," she said flatly. "I want wine."
A maid stepped forward, bowing slightly, her hands clasped in front of her. "Yes, young Master—"
"No!" Faye’s voice cut through the air like a whip. "Don’t give her wine!"
The maid immediately bowed again and stepped away from the gazebo, her face turned pale and her footsteps quickly bring her sway from the presence of the Eisenthurs. She disappeared into the mansion without looking back.
Keres’s head turned toward her mother, her expression incredulous while her mouth hang open. "What?! Mom!"
Faye pointed a finger at her daughter, her eyes blazing, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Eh! Shut up! All you do is drink vodka, whiskey, strong alcohol, and wine! You even chain-smoke cigarettes! Do you want to die young and leave your wife a widow?" Her voice rose with each word, climbing higher and higher until it was almost a shout.
Keres’s jaw tightened. Her nostrils flared. Everything was written on her face—the irritation, the frustration, and the barely contained urge to argue back. But she knew better than to fight with her mother.
Faye Eisenthurn was the only person in the world who could make Keres back down, the only person whose disapproval she actually feared.
"Aren’t you worried for Asteria’s health?" Faye continued, her voice rising still higher. "Secondhand smoke is dangerous! Do you want her to get sick because of your bad habits? Do you want her to develop lung problems because you can’t put down your cigarettes?"
Keres threw her hands up in surrender, her palms facing the sky. "Uh, I’m not doing anything, Mama. I’m not smoking right now. I’m not drinking right now. I’m just sitting here." Her voice was defensive, but there was no heat in it.
"Yes." Faye’s voice dropped, cold and threatening, like the calm before a storm. "For now."
Keres’s gaze snapped to her mother and saw the warning in her eyes. She knew that look. She had seen it her whole life and it meant I’m watching you.
"Mom, I’m not stupid." Keres’s voice was controlled, the voice she used when she was trying to de-escalate a situation. "I wouldn’t give you a reason to kill me."
"Good!" Faye was immediately satisfied, she picked up her tea again and took a delicate sip.
Asteria watched the exchange from behind her fingers, her embarrassment slowly fading into something else—something warm and fond. She couldn’t help but smile—secretly to herself.
The way Keres and her mother bickered was so different from anything she had ever experienced. There was love underneath the yelling, affection underneath the threats and understanding underneath the anger.
It was strange and foreign for her, but it was also warm. It was what a family was supposed to look like.
"Look at that smile," Faye said suddenly, her voice became gentler now, and all the sharpness was gone. "So beautiful."
Asteria’s smile widened, though she still looked shy. She ducked her head a little, her hair falling forward to hide her face from Keres gaze, but the tips of her ears were still pink, and the curve of her lips was still visible.
Keres continued to look at her—not directly, but from the corner of her eye, stealing glances like a thief. Every time Asteria glanced up, Keres looked away, pretending to be interested in the garden or the fountain, in anything else.
It was a dance, awkward and uncoordinated that neither one of them was sure of the steps, neither one of them is willing to admit they were dancing.
Then a voice cut through the comfortable silence.
"Ms. Asteria!"
Asteria’s head shot up. Her whole body seemed to jolt with recognition, like a bell had been struck. Her eyes widened, then lit up like a flower opening to the morning light.
"TESSA!"
Keres was taken aback when Asteria suddenly stood and rushed toward the figure who had appeared at the edge of the gazebo. Her tea cup wobbled but didn’t spill, and she left Keres on the sofa.
Tessa—the maid in the Auclair mansion, the one who was friends with Asteria and the only one who treated her with respect, stood tall with sharp features and kind eyes, wearing a black suit, black slacks, and black shoes.
She carried herself with confidence of someone who had seen violence and chosen peace instead, someone who had survived and was no longer afraid.
Her fashion style emphasized her tall figure—she was nearly as tall as Keres, with broad shoulders and long limbs, and she moved with the easy grace of an athlete or a dancer. And when Keres landed her eyes on Tessa, something shifted inside her.
She suddenly felt a surge of jealousy toward the woman.
It was irrational and stupid. It made no sense. Tessa was a servant, an employee, someone who worked for the Eisenthurn family. There was no reason for Keres to feel threatened by her.
But the jealousy was there, burning in her chest like a coal, hot and uncomfortable and impossible to ignore.
"TESSA! I MISS YOU!" Asteria lunged forward and threw her arms around Tessa, hugging her tight. Her whole face was transformed—bright, happy, carefree, like a different person entirely.
There was no fear in her eyes, only joy, the kind of joy that came from being reunited with someone you loved.
Tessa smiled widely and returned the hug, her arms wrapping around Asteria’s smaller frame then pull her close to her frame. "I’m glad to see you again, Ms. Asteria." Her voice was warm and was filled with affection.
Asteria pulled back, her hands still on Tessa’s arms, her fingers gripping the fabric of Tessa’s suit. "Hehe! What are you doing here?" She was bouncing slightly, like a child who had just been reunited with a best friend and she couldn’t contain her excitement.
Keres watched from the gazebo, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. She saw how excited and happy Asteria was and how she seemed carefree with the presence of Tessa.
Asteria laughed and smiled and touched without fear or hesitation, without that constant flinching that she did around with everyone else.
Her knuckles turned white as she unconsciously balled her fists tightly in her lap, her nails digging into her palms and her jaw clenched so hard that her teeth ached.
She felt like she was suffocating, the air was too thick and hot, full of something she couldn’t name. Her chest was tight, her heart was racing, and she couldn’t look away from the scene in front of her.
She immediately loosened her necktie and grabbed her cup of tea. She drank it all in one long gulp, not tasting it, not caring, just needing to do something with her hands.
"Fuck," she muttered under her breath, so quietly that only she could hear.
Faye glanced at her daughter, then at Tessa, then back at Keres. A slow smile spread across her face—the smile of a mother who saw something her daughter hadn’t noticed yet,
Keres ignored her. She kept her eyes fixed on her empty cup while her jaw was still tight and her heart raced for reasons she refused to examine.
She didn’t understand what she was feeling, and she didn’t want to. All she knew was that watching Asteria hug another woman made her want to break something.
And that terrified her.
