Not long after, the talks concluded before things could escalate between the Metamorphs and the soldiers of Blood Certa.
So once all Metamorphs passed the bridge on Blood Aron's Domain, the soldiers took their leave, returning to Kanat.
"Lady Faye, let me present to you my two wives, Celine and Miyanna of Blood Denegis, as well as my two younger siblings, Lune and Kael of Blood Denegis," Blanc spoke, taking Faye towards his family waiting not far from the tent.
"Lady Celine of Blood Maroux is your wife?" Faye asked, surprised to see Celine and her beauty.
"In the flesh, Lady Faye, how many years has it been?" Celine grinned, hugging her as she approached.
"Too many," Faye replied, hugging her back, "You have changed a lot."
"So did you," Celine giggled, "Look at you, a proper soldier now."
Faye took a step back, breaking the hug, "I told you I would make it happen."
"And so you did," Celine nodded before turning sideways, "This is Miyanna, second wife of Blanc's, as well as my Capesso."
"A pleasure, Lady Miyanna," Faye bowed lightly, shaking hands with her.
"T-the pleasure is all mine, Lady Faye," Miyanna stuttered, saying the words she practiced with Celine.
With a nod from Faye, she then moved towards the twins, who were devouring her with their eyes.
"Lune and Kael Denegis, the twins blessed by the High Monarch, greetings," Faye nodded.
"Lady Faye," they both said in unison, followed by a bow from Kael and a curtsy from Lune.
"I have invited Lord Blanc already, but let me have the honor to invite you all to my Blood's mansion for dinner," Faye said, bowing once more, "Of course, since the distance to the Domain's capital is great, I also invite you all to join me on my carriage so we can get there by the evening, as I'm sure you are all tired of walking."
"It will be an honor, Lady Faye," Celine nodded, a warm, polite smile on her face, "My unborn child would also be grateful for your invitation for me not to have to walk anymore."
"Celine…" Faye muttered, surprised, before hugging her again, "Congratulations."
"Both of us are pregnant," Celine said, pointing towards Miyanna.
Faye remained silent as she turned sideways to look at Blanc, "My lord, congratulations are in order, but I would recommend not letting the Order know of this."
"Too late for that one," Miyanna sighed.
"Oh," Faye muttered, but changed the subject just as quickly, "In any case, say your goodbyes to the… beast folk and let's be on our way."
With a nod from Blanc and his family, Faye turned to talk to the soldiers who would be escorting the Metamorphs out of the Domain, while Blanc and his group walked towards Allegra and Georn.
Unfortunately, the two stood in the middle of the gathering of Metamorphs, which meant that they had to walk through as hundreds stared at them.
As they walked, however, Blanc was focused, a hand always on his blade as every sound, whisper, or click of the tongue reached his ears.
That was how stable their alliance really was.
But it did not take long for him to reach the Chiefs as they were talking.
"It will take a few days, but we should be there by the middle of the month," Georn spoke, most likely planning their travels, which Blanc took notice of, trying to guess their location.
But they noticed Blanc's approach, falling silent for a moment.
"Don't mind us," Blanc said, raising his hands to show peace, "Just came to wish you safe travels, as we are off as well."
"How nice of you, human," Leilani hissed, poison spewing from her words.
"Don't mind her, Blanc." Georn nodded, heading towards him and offering his hand, "Safe travels, and until we meet again."
Blanc shook Georn's hand tightly as he nodded.
Then, as Georn took a step to the side, Allegra came forward, with the same cold look in her crystal white eyes.
"Blanc," she said, lowering her head.
"Allegra," he replied, doing the same.
"Once again, thank you for all you and your Blood have done for me and my kin, despite our… differences," Allegra voiced, her white eyes traveling from Blanc to Celine and Miyanna in quick succession.
"Though the situations in which we met lack the essence one would wish for, it is all the same a pleasure to have met you, Allegra," Blanc nodded, "I do wish to meet you again, in better circumstances, in the future."
"On that, husband, we all agree," Celine added, taking a step forward and offering her hand to Allegra, who accepted it without hesitation.
Miyanna wanted to deny Celine's words, but held her tongue as she shook hands with Allegra as well, not wishing to break the moment.
"The feelings are mutual, then," Allegra said, looking at the three, "Until next time."
And with that, all five turned on their heel and left the Metamorphs behind as they all looked at their backs, some out of hatred, some hopeful that, someday, they might get along with each other.
Although one, deep down in her frozen heart, perhaps wished for more, unbeknownst even to her, as she looked at the broad back of a gray-haired man.
"All done?" Faye asked as the five approached her, her back glued to the side of the carriage.
"Yes," Celine replied, "Hopefully they will not cause issues in the future, especially for you."
"Do not worry," Faye said, opening the door of the carriage, "We are not so merciful as to let them live if they dare do something."
Blanc chuckled softly at her words as, one by one, they stepped into the carriage.
It was spacious, crafted from polished hardwood, with two long rumble seats lavished in rich red velvet silk, giving the interior an air of splendor Blanc had forgotten as of late.
Lune, Kael, and Blanc took their places on the left, while Faye, Celine, and Miyanna settled into the rumble seat opposite them.
Once seated, between exhales of comfort from everyone around her, Faye knocked on the wood, signaling to the coachman to start their journey towards the Domain's capital, the city of Ginher.
The carriage rode smoothly on the ground, with minimal movement felt inside, despite increasing in speed more and more.
The comfort was so deeply felt that as the three women talked about their recent past, Blanc and his two younger siblings fell asleep.
For his two wives, it was a sight worth putting on an enormous painting, watching as Kael and Lune, sitting on both of Blanc's sides, used their older brother's biceps as a pillow as they drifted further and further into deep sleep.
They looked at them for a while, muttering about the cuteness of it all, until Faye began asking questions.
"Celine, I was wondering, how did you get married to Lord Blanc? For I've heard you got engaged, but did not know that it was with Blood Denegis," she wondered.
"You sound insulted," Celine giggled.
"By the Vita, no," Faye shook her head vigorously, "Call it curiosity, as Father is bickering with me to get married as well."
"It was arranged," Celine began, "Arranged for an alliance between our Bloods, but it was a blessing. I feel that I may have the luckiest arranged marriage of the last century, even more, maybe."
Faye looked surprised, hearing Celine's response, "That's wonderful to hear, it makes me jealous, even. Despite all the recent events you might have been part of."
"I know many would take all that happened as a curse, but I felt more alive in less than two months than I felt in two decades," Celine offered her a smile. "With that in mind, I hope you will share in the same luck as I did, Faye."
"And you, Lady Miyanna? How did you come to be part of this marriage?" Faye wondered, turning towards her.
"Well," Miyanna muttered, thinking on how best to phrase it, "I attacked their domain, got shunned by his Father, hid in the woods where they found me, and almost killed me before we fell in love… more or less."
"I-I see…" Faye stuttered, taken aback by Miyanna's raw way of explaining what happened.
Which in turn made Celine burst out laughing, "That's one way to say it."
And so, their conversation continued for hours, until the evening rolled by.
Blanc and his younger siblings slept like logs throughout the whole ride, not woken up by laughter or being the main topic of half the conversation that took place on that carriage.
But as soon as words and movement could be heard outside the carriage, he woke up, focused, attempting to understand their surroundings.
"Calm down, my love," Celine said, placing a hand on his knee, "It's only the city."
"Already?" Blanc muttered, looking through the cracks in the wood, "I felt like I slept for five minutes."
"It's been close to five hours, actually," Faye corrected, "We're almost at the mansion."
And following her words, the noise of the city slowly vanished as the carriage began rolling on a paved road for an entire minute before coming to a slow stop.
"Lady Faye has returned with guests," the coachman said to someone outside, followed by the screech of iron as a pair of gates opened to welcome them in.
"We've arrived," Faye said, grinning as the carriage came to a stop.