364 Resolving the Matter
A few hours had passed after midnight, and my sister and I were in her dorm's bed, embracing one another's naked body under the warmth of a thick quilt. We just finished several rounds, and we were currently resting our bodies before deciding whether to continue or call it a night. "Raphael." "What is it, Sis?" "Have you been hearing the rumors lately?" "If it is all about the matters regarding the issues shrouding around the crown prince, then I have." "If so, you must have heard that there is someone whom the crown prince is secretly seeing even though he already has been betrothed. But the news about them has been spreading widely in the academy, so their relationship has been an open secret."
"Actually, I met her a few days back. Her name is Edith, and unfortunately, she was being bullied when I first encountered her." "Yeah. The reports of bullying in the academy have been continuously increasing in the past few days, and the majority of them involved Edith." "That's not good. Has the academy taken action on it?" "It seems they already did, apparently. A few of my classmates have been suspended." "I see."
Several days had passed since I encountered Edith getting bullied in the academy. Since then, the rumors about her have gotten even more and more questionable and complicated, and they have been updating occasionally as I speak. The latest news I had heard so far was that they had been seeing even on campus. Naturally, the level of aggression of her bullies toward her intensified, and it became nastier. Not only did they destroy her properties and academic properties and then put the blame on her, they also resorted to directly harassing her physically. "But their harassment did not seem to affect her at all. In contrast, she was reportedly seen by some eyewitnesses as having been together with other prince's friends, namely, Celeste Korper, Warren Clavel, and Francis Aethel." "That's bold of her to come after the other gentlemen, who also had their own fiancee. I don't know that there is that kind of person brave and courageous enough to hit on the crown prince and his entourage." "Yeah." "Speaking of fiancees, it is said that the one behind the harassment is Lady Christine, according to what the bullied admitted. What is your opinion on it, Sis? Do you think she can do the things she is accused of?" Hearing my question, Big Sis tightened her embrace around my body as she buried her face against my chest. It was quite uncommon to see her sulk like this, so there might be something going on. "Well, Christine and I have been in the same class for two years already. For me, she is a kind and thoughtful person. She is also a reasonable person, hardworking, and listens to the thoughts and opinions of other students. She is a perfect student. I don't think she can do anything they blamed on her." I did not think my sister was this descriptive when it came to a person. It was not strange, but it was somewhat unusual for her to be like that. "You seem to have a positive view of her, Sis. So what do you think of her?" "Huh? Didn't I say that just now?" "No, what I mean is, I want to know how you see her. Maybe you consider her more than someone in the same class?" "What are you trying to imply, Raphael?" She raised her volume as she removed her head from my chest. "Do you want me to see her more than a friend?" "I did not say that, Sis." I taunted. "You are the only one who wanted to see her more than a friend." "What...?" My sister was stunned once she realized what she just said. She seemed baffled by her own thoughts and could not think straight (although she was not straight in the first place). "Seriously, Sis. What do you really think of her? She is kind indeed, but she could not just share her bed with anyone. Do you think she would sleep with you despite knowing that you are into women?" "What if she was just concerned about me and wanted to help me...?"
"She might be concerned about the well-being of fellow students, but why did she stay with you in the same bed?" "...Why are you doing this? What are you trying to do?" "Well, you see, you have been in the academy for two years already, but you have yet to find your marriage partner."
"What are you..." "You are the heir to our country, Sis, the crown princess of the Queendom of Raevender. You must find your primary spouse so that you can produce your own heir for the future generation."
There were several reasons why I pushed this matter into her. One of those was to encourage my sister to find her main wife and continue our bloodline. Aside from that, I had seen through their plans, and I wanted to reduce the potential consequences as much as possible. "You are kidding, right? You want me to be with Christine?" As soon as she said those words, Big Sis raised her upper body and sat on the bed. I did the same so that we could face one another. "Please, hear me out, Sis. If Edith did not stop hanging out with Prince Edward, there was a high possibility that it would negatively affect the prince's relationship with Lady Christine. It seems that the others have a liking to Edith, so they might likely support His Imperial Highness's appeal to break his engagement with Lady Christine in case Prince Edward wanted annulment." "But wouldn't breaking the engagement only cause friction between the Grise and the royal family?" "It would definitely stir up a conflict between the two families. The Aethel Archduchy is close with the royal family, while the archduchy is not on good terms with the Grise family. If the friction escalated to a war, the Grise family would be in a disadvantageous position." "So what is your point?" "My point is, if Prince Edward and Lady Christine broke up, I wanted our family to get involved to cushion as much damage as possible." "But it would be a problem within the empire's internal affairs, so we could not just stick our noses into their internal matters. If we were to join, which side would we support?" "We wouldn't support any side, Sis. Instead, I want us to give shelter to the one who's left behind." "What do you mean by that?" Big Sis was clearly confused while tilting her head. A few seconds later, she seemed to get what I wanted to convey, and then she opened her eyes wide. "Wait. Raphael, don't tell me..." "Yes, Sister, I want you to make a woman out of Lady Christine." The day I met Edith, it was bothering me why she did not want to get help and how she could put on a smile after the horrible thing her bullies did to her. I thought she was just a tough and strong young woman until I took a peek at her memories. "What?! Me with Christine...? There's no way..." "Everything is possible, Sis. You two might have something for each other, but you two have not realized it." "Even so, would it solve the problem?" "Probably. Even though our queendom was just recently established, we are the fastest growing nation on the continent right now. In just a few years, we might be able to surpass some nations, economically and militarily." "..."
"In addition, our family had proven to everyone that we could change the tide of war just like what we did to the civil war of Astley. The Grise family would not let slide the opportunity to establish a close diplomatic relationship with the queendom. And I don't think even the empire would dare to challenge our family, so it would resolve the problem peacefully." We had proven to the world stage that we are capable of dealing with country-level matters, and the empire was not stupid enough to make an enemy out of us. By having the Grise family form a relationship with us, any aggression toward them would mean stepping on our tails, thus avoiding a pointless war.
"But still, I don't think I have such feelings towards Christine," she said as she lowered her head. "And she probably does the same." "It's okay to be selfish sometimes, Sis." I wrapped my arms around her body to comfort her. "But there is no need to rush either or force yourself. If you had decided to make Christine your wife, I would fully support you and even help you to win her heart." "Thank you, Raphael. I really, really love you." "I love you too, Sis." After a lovely kiss, we then rested ourselves in the bed and fell asleep with our arms around one another's bodies.
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