Chapter 322: The weight of gratitude.
All preparations were made on the porch, and Sienna set up the divorce hearing there. First, Gene-haven and Teddy were given hot cups of tea and some milk and honey cakes. Then, everyone settled. The court clerk read out the transfer order: the case had been in court but before a conclusion could be drawn to, it was sent to Sienna’s jurisdiction.
Elias made sure to settle in next to Sienna, secretly holding her hand under the table. They both ignored Lenard who was hiding in a tree not far away and Princess Lina who was poking her head out of the window, eating snacks, treating the process like her private entertainment.
Sienna looked at the couple. "State your case. Who wants to go first?"
Teddy, raised his hand. He was a tall man, with skin as a fair as a luminous pearl in the morning light. His features were fine and eye catching--high cheekbones, a straight nose, and eyes that carried the weight of contemplation. He reminded Sienna of those scholars from ancient days in some dramas she had seen back on earth.
She had noticed it right from the on set. Teddy Banks had neatly kept thick black hair that fell to his back. The kind of hair someone that valued discipline and order had. He walked with measured steps, as if each movement had been considered before execution. Even the way he held his hands back or in resting position suggested a lifetime of study and restraint.
"Are you a teacher?" Sienna blurted.
The question surprised those at the table as it held no relevance to the proceedings.
"A professor," he replied.
When he spoke, his voice was calm and deliberate, he did not rush, nor did he linger unnecessarily.
Sienna nodded. "I can see that. Then, you can go first."
He did not dally, and went straight to his grievances. "Gene is impossible. She breaks doors when she’s angry, shutters furniture without meaning to. My family fears her strength. I cannot live in constant dread."
Gene-haven’s towering frame stiffened, her red eyed blazing like a red ruby in the sunlight. She leaned forward, across from her husband, her voice deep and resonant. "You have used many fancy words to mean fear since you asked me for a divorce. All along, I have not brought up history but here before the matriarch I will do so."
She turned her head to Sienna, gazing into her eyes from a distance. "My husband is from a noble family; the Banks family. Six years ago, they were exiled to the border town of Uproot because his father was found guilty of financial betrayal against the clan. He siphoned money meant for rebuilding after the fires in the South, investing them in his business. When the fraud was uncovered, the family was cast out with nothing. His father died soon after, in disgrace. His siblings were young, his mother ill. They slept in the Titan god temple as they had no home. They had nothing to eat. Teddy had no job, no prospects."
Sienna could almost see where things were going, but she listened patiently.
"It was I," Gene-haven continued, her voice trembling with both pride and sorrow, "who protected them. I took them into my home, I hunted for their food, paid their medical bills and gave them a chance to survive. I fed them when they starved. I married him when he had nothing, because I believed in his worth. For years, we lived as equals in Uproot. Among my people, we were a normal couple. Nobody in that town gave us second glances or asked why we were together. We lived happily. He did not have problems with my size or strength. He was proud of me then."
Her lawyer nodded, adding. "I have all the financial documents proving that my client carried the Banks family through exile."
Gene-haven’s massive hands clenched. "Last year, the exile was overturned. The can forgave the crime, and his family returned to the heart of the city. They reclaimed their old home, their noble status. Teddy finished his studies and became a professor. Everything seemed to have fallen into place perfectly.
But not for me. Here, in the bustling city, I became an oddity. His friends were not comfortable around me. His servants whispered about my appetite. They mocked the size of my clothes. And then came the daughters of noble families--delicate, refined, beautiful and slender, the kind of companions nobles prefer. They circled around him like flies. Little by little, Teddy grew ashamed of me. Ashamed of the very strength that once saved him. If you were in my shoes, wouldn’t you be banging doors?"
Sienna’s gaze softened. She was the truth in Gene-haven’s words--the bitterness of sacrifice met with rejection.
Princess Lina threw a strawberry at Teddy’s head. "You are scum!" she declared.
Sienna hissed at her. "Stay out of this."
"He is still scum." Lina said with a yawn.
Somehow, Teddy kept his composure and countered Gene’s words. "It’s not shame. It is...discomfort. The nature of relationships is not static, it changes due to circumstances. In Uproot, I was Teddy, an accountant at a candy shop. She was Gene-haven, a warrior of the fox guard. We were an ordinary couple whose considerations were ordinary.
Now, in the city, I am Teddy Banks, a noble and a professor. She is Gene-haven, an ordinary Titan fox beast woman who scares my nieces and nephews. We can’t go anywhere without chaos rising. People stare at her. They whisper. My friends laugh behind my back. I have come to resent myself and her. I have tried to remain lost in our old life but it is a challenge. I cannot endure this anymore."
Elias spoke quietly, "Gene is a member of my vanguard so I have been aware of your affairs for a while. Everything she did for you, I know. She personally came to me to plead for your father’s case to be re-opened. For this favor, she practically sold herself to the Veythar’s. To me.
You cannot endure the weight of gratitude. That is what this is. My wife used to look one way once upon a time, and now she looks another. People have whispered. People have laughed. Comedians have made jokes about her. People have mocked us on BeastNet.
My own mother wanted me to divorce because she is human and chubby while I am the glorious fox lord, more noble than you, Teddy. And yet, we are still here. We are still together. We are stronger than ever. Loving someone is not a matter of a place, it is a matter of the heart. You have never loved your wife, that is what this is."