Chapter 350: A woman proposing!
The morning sun shimmered across the trading market at the pier, but it gave no warmth, as it was still winter. Sienna, Mija, Lina and the queen met up for breakfast at at newest restaurant in the area, a high-end place that catered to the wealthy nobles Jess was allowing to move to the sea side estate. The floors gleamed with polished marble, the pink and blue crystal chandeliers sparkled like frozen gems. The scent of freshly baked pastries mingled with the salt of the sea.
Sienna slid into her seat, still glowing from last night’s make out session with her husband. Lina was already there, bouncing with excitement, her eyes gushed about Elias’s birthday. You would think it was her birthday!
"I am already having my wedding dress altered for the occasion. I will be the most well dressed guest at the party!" she declared, waving her fork like a conductor’s baton. "I like your idea of fox-shaped lanterns Sienna. Musicians, dancers, a concert--you have outdone yourself."
Sienna smirked, pouring herself tea. "Don’t thank me yet. I still have to convince him that extravagance once in a while is better than simplicity."
The queen, seated on Sienna’s right side, stifled a yawn. "Convince me first. I am dreading this party. I barely slept because my mother-in-law, the queen mother grilled me for details until 3 a.m. Your schemes exhaust me."
Sienna chuckled. "You’ll survive. Besides, you look regal even half-asleep."
Just then, Mija cleared her throat and slid a small velvet box onto the table. The gesture was so deliberate, so startling, that all three women froze. The questions waited until a server put down some of their breakfast orders and walked away.
Sienna exploded first. "Please tell me you are not going to propose to Wayo." She crossed her fingers, making sure the others could all see that she was doing it.
Mija’s eyes glittered with defiance. "Why not?" she asked, her voice sharp but trembling with hope.
Sienna slapped her forehead. "Because being with you led to his death in your dream, Mija. You remember that dream, right? The one in which his eyes were blinded and you two lived in poverty and finally, you married another man and took your life on your wedding night."
Mija’s lips curved stubbornly. "Dreams can change. Destiny can be rewritten. In my dream, I didn’t work for you, but I do now. I have a steady job. Even if my family cuts me off, I can survive. I am friends with a fox matriarch, a princess and a queen, with your support, we will be happy. If fate showed me one path, I’ll carve another."
Sienna’s eyes narrowed. "Wayo doesn’t even like you right now. A marriage would be a mistake."
"Love can grow in marriage," Mija countered. her voice rising with desperation. "He doesn’t have to love me now. He will learn. I have enough love for the both of us right now. I am sure he will soften with time. And besides--he needs me. He just doesn’t know it yet."
Sienna snorted. "Girl, you are delusional."
Mija pressed on, her excuses tumbling out like a woman drowning in blind affection. "He’s lonely. He’s misunderstood. He’s too proud to admit that he wants my companionship. If I marry him, I will show him what devotion looks like. I will be patient. I will be kind. Unlike the dream, I will not leave no matter what troubles we face."
Sienna grabbed the ring box, snapped it shut and tossed it to one of her guards standing nearby. "Get rid of it," she ordered flatly.
Mija gasped. "Sienna!"
Sienna’s eyes blazed. "If you do something crazy like propose to that man, I swear I will cut off your tail and throw you off a cliff myself."
Lina giggled nervously, trying to diffuse the tension. "Well, at least you would have a dramatic story to tell. ’White snake princess proposes, ordinary black panther beast man rejects, fox matriarch cuts her tail and kills her, queen faints, Sienna arrested, Lady Cadelaria wins.’ It would be the talk of the empire."
The queen shook her head, sipping her tea. "You are all ridiculous. Mija, listen to Sienna. If you truly love this man, then take it slow and make sure you have a happy, stable, ending. Proposing to a man who doesn’t want you is humiliation waiting to happen."
Sienna leaned back, crossing her arms. "Exactly. Women proposing--it’s a gamble. Sometimes bold, sometimes foolish."
Lina perked up, her cheeks flushing. "I once proposed," she confessed, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I was eighteen and madly in love with the eighth son of the Phoenix lord." She rolled her eyes, "His name is Phoenix, by the way. It was.....humiliating."
The queen gasped. "I have never heard about this."
"Because my brother made sure nobody heard about it." Lina winced. "Memories were wiped, to hide my shame. I thought I was being romantic and bold. I knelt, offered him a ring, and he laughed. Laughed! In front of his friends. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole."
The queen sighed. "That’s why tradition exists. Men propose. Women accept. It saves us from embarrassment."
Sienna smirked. "Or it saves men from realizing women can be braver than them."
The table erupted into laughter. The tension dissolved as they leaned into conversation, their voices rising with gossip and playful debate.
"Pros of a woman proposing," Sienna began, ticking off her fingers. "Boldness. Control. And you avoid wasting years on a relationship with the wrong person."
"Cons," the queen added dryly. "Rejection. Humiliation. Eternal gossip."
Lina giggled. "And the risk of him saying yes out of pity."
Mija, still sulking, muttered, "Or the risk of him saying yes because he secretly wanted it all along."
Sienna rolled her eyes. "Mija, stop romanticizing it. It’s not noble. It’s pathetic. Whenever you fight because he is not doing something right, he will say, ’you are the one that wanted to marry me, what more do you want?"
"And yet I still dream of that jerk Phoenix to the point that I would ensure a year in a bad marriage, just for a chance to be with him." Lina sighed. "I am as pathetic as Mija in my own way."
"You are a simp." The queen pushed Lina’s head.
They laughed, teased and shared stories--like four wealthy women with all the time in the world. Sienna was the sharp-tongued strategist, Mija the hopeless romantic. Serenya the cynical realist, and Lina, the bubbly dreamer.
"Did you hear?" Lina whispered softly, "Madam Venita proposed to her steward last week? He fainted. Literally fainted. They had to revive him with smelling salts."
The queen snorted. "Serves her right. Daughters of nobles proposing to servants, it’s scandalous."
Sienna raised her cup. "Ladies, love cannot be forced. You have to let it find you. Until then, you have us, your friends. We are better than any husband."
The queen raised her cup too. "To friendship. The only proposal worth accepting."
They clinked their cups, laughter spilling across the table. Just as Sienna leaned back, savoring the moment, the doors opened. Lady Cadelaria walked in and instantly, the air shifted.The laughter died into silence.