Elena had been amused with Andrei’s proposal. She did find him pretty to look at and liked that he was strong but she wasn’t quite sure if that was enough. The same characteristics could be found in Anya or her own mother. She wasn’t going to take back her word and she definitely wasn’t going to tell her father that she felt very little actual attachment to Andrei, she was having too much fun.

 

She expected to maybe see him again once in a blue moon or maybe not at all since his father was so against it. She found his coat button to be quite pretty and strung it on a chain and carried it along with her.

 

They had met in January and the next time they met it was already July. 

 

Elena’s clothes were similar to the black tortoise temple winter wear. The black and gold cape was the same but she only wore sheer tights now and not the full suit that was meant for the winter. She wore heels and a simple black dress, adjusted to be short so she could move easily. The dress was covered in gold embroidery as well.

 

Elena had been hunting with Anya. They were just about to head back when they suddenly saw two figures in the distance trudging forward on horses.

 

“Who could that be?” Anya murmured.

 

Elena shrugged in response but kept staring as the two approached.

 

“Elena Alexandrovna Volkov.” The figure riding in front stated.

 

“Yes?” Elena asked, staring at the other figure instead with a growing smile.

 

“Why do you want to marry my son?” The figure removed her hood and revealed her platinum blonde hair and blue eyes that matched Andrei’s.

 

Elena laughed as she watched Andrei’s embarrassed expression. He had been shameless when he proposed but now that his mother was out here trying to judge what kind of person Elena was, he felt embarrassed.

 

“Clearly he’s the one that wants to marry me, though?” Elena said and smiled.

 

Andrei’s mother was silent for a while, “and yet you accepted. Why?”

 

“Because it seemed fun,” Elena said nonchalantly.

 

Andrei’s mother did not seem happy with this answer, “so you would’ve done the same for anyone else?”

 

“Of course not, I get proposals all the time from men young and old in Norilsk and I’ve denied them all.” Elena chuckled and Anya nodded quickly in response.

 

“Then why is my son the exception.” Andrei’s mother was looking at her son, with her eyes she was clearly saying, ‘this girl is just playing with you.’

 

“Because he’s strong. And only someone strong is suitable for someone like me.” Elena grinned.

 

Andrei’s mother was confused, this girl was so bold that she expected her to just straight up confess that she wanted her son for his money but instead, she said for his ‘strength’.

 

“If you want to take advantage of our family’s power then–”

 

“I don’t care about your family.” Elena interrupted, “I care that this guy will be one of the strongest mages in the world someday.” 

 

Elena’s devilish grin made Anya curious about Andrei. Anya herself was strong, she was the only person Elena had ever met who was close enough to almost touch her but Elena’s attitude toward her strength was a bit different. Elena wasn’t one to really care about any differences between men and women, she liked strength either way but Andrei, who Anya saw as being just below herself and really not that extraordinary, caught her attention more than anyone.

 

‘Perhaps entertainment isn’t the only factor here…Perhaps our dear saintess is growing up.’ Something pulled Anya’s lips up a little at the thought.

 

Andrei’s mother looked confused and Andrei himself looked a little confused, he was in fact a prodigy but for the standards of the Ivanov family, he actually wasn’t very remarkable at all. Cores hadn’t been studied and only a select few had ever gotten a glimpse at them so it was generally impossible to know just how strong someone could become. Elena wasn’t saying that she thought Andrei would be strong because she saw his core though. 

 

Elena’s skin was not just impenetrable armor. Within her domain of the north, it was also a bit more than that. She couldn’t see the strength of someone’s core but instead, she could ‘feel it’ in a way. The second Andrei grabbed her hand when proposing to her, she immediately knew what her answer should be because of this feeling.

 

“It is almost time for dinner, your holiness.” Anya suddenly spoke.

 

“I see, I guess we should invite our guests?” Elena chuckled, Andrei’s mother had yet to reach a true conclusion on her but she accepted the invitation to dinner. She had to meet Elena’s parents.

 

—

 

Whispers carried themselves through the temple and then through the city as well. They seemed to reach Alexander and Irina last though.

 

“I’ll tell them to leave,” Alexander murmured.

 

“Don’t do that! I want to meet them!” Irina exclaimed and held him back.

 

“If she marries that boy then she will go back there! She will see the reason we left!” Alexander argued.

 

“Elena isn’t like us. She is far stronger, both in terms of power and politics. She won’t be controlled by others. And also…do you really think they will recognize her?” Irina said and pointed at the two of them and then at a family portrait of the three of them. Elena barely resembled even Irina. If you looked closely you could probably tell but her eyes and hair were too striking for anyone to actually believe they were related.

 

“...That doesn’t mean she should be involved with nobility though!” Alexander argued.

 

“Mother, Father! I’ve brought guests!”

 

Alexander readied his most unapproachable expression while Irina sighed and did the opposite as they walked over to the entrance hall of their home.

 

“I expected something more modest.” Andrei’s mother murmured as she looked around their home.

 

“My family all but runs this town. We are not as ‘common’ as you might expect.” Elena chuckled.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you…” Irina murmured, stepping on Alexander’s foot to stop him from making any unnecessary comments.

 

“...Alexander Igorevich Medvedev and Irina Yurievna Garin, I certainly didn’t think you’d still be in Russia after making such a big show about deserting nobility.” 

 

Elena and Anya seemed confused.

 

“What are you saying?” Elena asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“I hope you are not trying to scold us for starting our own family separate from those people.” Alexander spoke, “Because if so, you will look very hypocritical,  Ivanov.” 

 

“Of course not. I’m merely showing you that the only thing I don’t know about you and your family is your intentions.” Andrei’s mother responded.

 

“That's not true, Ma’am. If you’re not from Norilsk… there are plenty of things you don’t know about us.” Elena said and smiled.

 

“...We can talk things through over dinner…there’s no need to be callous.” Irina sighed and led everyone to the dining room.

 

–

 

‘So if you two come from different families with different last names…why are we now Volkov?’ Elena asked her father through telepathy.

 

‘Elder Raisa’s last name is Volkov.’ Alexander explained.

 

Elena hummed aloud in response.

 

“You say that my son is going to be one of the greatest mages of our time…how do you know?”

 

“Because I’m strong.”  Elena chuckled.

 

“Don’t try to dig deeper. Elena doesn’t lie.” Alexander said and looked over Andrei.

 

“Why do you not want me to marry him?” Elena asked.

 

Andrei’s mother was silent and so was Alexander.

 

‘Because you don’t know him and could regret it deeply in the future,’ Alexander said through telepathy after a while.

 

Elena raised an eyebrow, ‘what is there to regret? If he bores me I’ll throw him out, simple as that.’

 

Irina and Alexander looked at their daughter and then at each other.

 

“Ah that’s right, I forgot our daughter was like this…’

 

“Because my son is the future head of the Ivanov family.” Andrei’s mother finally answered.

 

“And you think I wouldn’t be a good fit to stand beside him?” Elena seemed to have expected such an answer.

 

“I don’t think anyone in the world is fit to stand beside the head of the Ivanov family. The only person capable of that died 200 years ago.” Andrei’s mother sighed and cut her food finely. Andrei beside her seemed to immediately know what she was talking about.

 

“I say this out of concern for you, young lady. The secrets of this family go beyond what is right and wrong. And once you marry into this family you have no choice but to accept those secrets and continue living as the Mistress of the family.” Andrei’s mother murmured.

 

“It doesn’t matter who you are, I would tell any woman who tries to be with my son the same thing.”

 

There was silence in the room for a while,

 

“I am definitely going to marry your son.” Elena broke the silence with her words. She seemed even more interested than before. Her smile was softer than before though. Not her usual carefree smile or a smile like she was unintentionally trying to scare you, a smile like she had actually listened to your worries.

 

“Would you like to hear a secret relating to right and wrong? From a ‘saintess’ like me?”

 

Andrei’s mother looked at her for a while before making the decision to hear her out.

 

“Yes,”

 

“This might sound like the words of a heretic to you but… the gods are real,” Elena said and Alexander immediately stood.

 

“Elena, what in the world are you going on about.”

 

“As a Saintess, I’ve been asked if the gods are real many times. Usually by people who have lost their way and choose to blame God for their misfortune. I’ve naturally always answered that they were real. And at one point someone told me something unexpected. Instead of asking me if the gods were real, he looked at me and told me they were. He said they were real but that they did not care at all.”

 

“And as I think about it I realize that he is kind of right.”

 

Alexander didn’t even speak anymore, he just looked at her.

 

Elena was not talking about a real conversation she had… Not one she contributed to at least.

 

— many years prior

 

Irina and Alexander had very different looks upon finding out that Irina was pregnant. Irina was immediately filled with terror while Alexander was the happiest man in the world.

Before they even married Irina had warned him not to marry her. Because she would never be able to give him a child and that her father was practically scamming him by proposing the idea of marriage to him. Alexander did not care at all, he didn’t want kids but he saw how Irina watched her sister-in-law and her children. 

 

“T-That’s great! Ira that’s fantastic!” Alexander lifted Irina into his arms and spun her around a few times.

 

“But…Sasha…” Irina murmured but her words died in her throat, she couldn’t bring herself to spoil Alexander’s happiness and this news felt like a sign to her, a sign that things would be alright.

 

“Maybe God is real...” Alexander murmured with a smile as he held his ear to Irina’s stomach. Irina was a little shocked, never in her life did she think she’d hear Alexander say that.

 

Irina felt at peace with the world for a while. Until she had to tell her father, Alexander’s father, and the ‘master’ who she and Alexander worked for. She got exactly the result she expected…

 

“Ira?” Alexander asked as he looked at Irina’s back. She was standing perfectly still at the door, facing away from him.

 

“Are you okay?” He asked.

 

“They told me to get rid of it.”

 

“Get rid of what?” Alexander asked and slowly stood, wondering if it was something she had in her hands.

 

“Our baby,” Alexander froze as he watched Irina turn around, her face stained with tears and a smile that sent a chill through his bones, “Not just master. Father too…yours and mine.”

 

Alexander was going to tell her that they should quit. That they didn’t have to stay with a master that wanted them to give up their child but hearing that their parents also wanted their baby gone… That was different. So So So different.

 

“We don’t really have a choice do we, Sasha…” Irina sobbed.

 

Alexander hugged her and they both slowly sunk to the ground, “No…we will find a way…we’ll find a way, Ira.”

 

They cried together for a while until Irina eventually fell asleep in Alexander’s arms. 

 

He carried her up to the bed and laid her down there, lying beside her for a while and later pressing his ear to her stomach.

 

“God is real.” He whispered to Irina’s stomach, quietly trying to listen for a baby the size of a strawberry.

 

“God is real but he doesn’t care…” He murmured, sitting up and placing a kiss on Irina’s forehead.

 

“You can’t expect him to help you.”

 

That was when he started planning how they would leave everything behind and go start anew. At just 10 weeks old…There’s no way Elena could know about that right?