"You look lovely Irene." Rose says sweetly with a gentle smile on her face while looking on at Irene dressed resplendently in a white wedding dress, "Isn't that right, Tensei?"

I nervously nod in reply, careful not to provoke Rose unnecessarily. Rose might look happy right now, but I have lived with her under the same roof for years and can tell when she is faking it. The smile on Rose's face does not reach her eyes and her hands occasionally fidget, playing restlessly with the buttons of her blazer. Rose had always exuded a standoffish air, but today she has taken it to another level. Clad in a stern black pantsuit which nevertheless accentuates her figure combined with the polite but plastic demeanor, I can almost feel the frost radiating of Rose's body. Uncle's butlers that are accompanying us discreetly look the other way, not willing to get involved. 

A look that is a combination between an uncomfortable grimace and a bitter smile flashes across Irene's face before she manages to smooth her expression out. The wedding planner, a bespectacled and otherwise unremarkable middle aged woman,  claps her hands silently as she marvels at how well Irene carries off the wedding dress. 

"Young master von Amsterg," the wedding planner congratulates, "You are a very lucky man."

Rose's brow clouds over with a black look and she asks the wedding planner, "What do you mean by that?" 

Crap, Rose's temper is up and she's probably spoiling for a fight. I hurriedly signal to the wedding planner to dodge the question to avoid riling Rose up any further, but the oblivious woman barrels on heedless of the catastrophe lying in wait.  

"Your brother is taking such a beautiful woman as his wife." the wedding planner gushes, "Talented too. Isn't that lucky?"

Rose's smile finally wavers and she looks as if she had swallowed an entire pitcher of lime juice without sugar. I quickly clasp Rose's hand in an effort to calm her down, but she shakes me off with surprising strength, her eyes locked venomously on Irene. 

"Yes, so talented that my brother's 'wife' had to take refuge with our family after being driven out of her job." Rose sneers with such concentrated derision that I can sense the figurative air quotes being thrown about. 

"And I am grateful for His Grace's support." Irene answers plainly, without any inflection in her voice, but I notice a clenched fist trembling with rage.

"And beautiful. Of course she is beautiful." Rose continues as if she had not heard Irene, "Its easy to be beautiful when someone else has paid an atelier to design a made to measure wedding dress just for you. By the way, is there a corset under all that lace?"

Irene flushes and looks imploringly at me for support. But before I can get a word out, Rose gives me a hard glare that sends a dagger stabbing straight into my heart. Rose is my family and Irene is going to be my wife. Why can't we all get along? Why must I be forced to pick sides?

Uncle summoned me the moment I was discharged from the hospital. The next thing I know, I'm going to marry Irene. Not that I don't want to, Celeste had persuaded me that its the right thing to do. But things are moving too fast. What am I supposed to do with Sera and Kira? Sera's being hunted by ORPO and her father's dead. Kira's career as an idol is over ever since the tabloids published what had happened between us. Both of them have no place to go. So am I supposed to just keep Sera and Kira in the mansion? I suppose I could do that, Uncle indicated that he didn't care one way or the other, but that doesn't answer the real question that has been nagging at me. 

What am I supposed to do about Rose? I feel that something has changed between us, that there is some kind of unfinished business in our relationship that I need to take care of. But the marriage, Irene, Uncle, everything in general is sweeping me away. Things are going out of control. I'm just going along with the flow, even though I know that its causing me to lose sight of what is important. 

And don't forget the duel against Nicholas. Whether or not I can provide for Irene, Sera and Kira all depends on me winning the duel. The stress, the responsibility, its too much. I was just enjoying the peaceful days at the Academy, then I got swept up in an adventure. How did the adventure turn into something like this? 

I can't take it anymore. I can barely keep my head above the proverbial water right now, much less support Irene. I close my eyes and hang my head low, and all I hear from Irene is a disappointed sigh. I wish Celeste was here. No one quarrels when Celeste hangs out with us. Everyone was happy. 

I was happy. 

'The gown fits." Irene dourly tells the wedding planner, "Help me remove it so that we can move on to the next item."

The wedding planner gathers her wits and responds, "Of course. The next on the list is the fitting for the young master's suit."

"The butlers will handle that." Rose declares, "You help Irene with the wedding dress." 

I feel the butlers nudge me by the side and I silently allow myself to be marched to the fitting room, like a prisoner being led to the lockup. 

.....

I examine my reflection in the full length mirror. The suit looks good. Like Irene's gown, it has been made to order, just for the occasion. I feel the texture of the fine, expensive silk and marvel at how the clothes effortlessly hug my figure without feeling stifling. As I prepare to put on the cuff links bearing the von Amsterg crest, a knocking on the fitting room door breaks my concentration. 

"Come in." I say noncommittally, my attention fully on the task of wrangling the cuff links on. Who knew that these little things could be so fiddly?

The door opens and to my surprise, its Rose who steps into the fitting room. She gazes at me critically before finally making a noise of approval. 

"The suit looks fine at least." Rose murmurs, a complicated expression on her face.

"Its all thanks to you." I quickly praise to avoid getting into another fight, "You've done great at arranging for the whole wedding."

Rose folds her hands across her chest and scowls at me, "Not like I had much of a choice right? Father told me to do it, so I'm doing it."

Its not working, Rose clearly has a bone to pick with me. I'll need to bite the bullet otherwise we will never get to the real issue at hand. 

"Is something wrong?" I nervously ask. 

"No, how could anything be wrong?" Rose responds with a transparently fake smile plastered on her face, "After all, Tensei is about to get married. What a happy day."

Before I can say anything, Rose continues in a sing song voice dripping with sarcasm, "And Tensei's also getting two mistresses in the bargain. Is there anything wrong with that? Does Tensei think that anything is wrong?"

"Uncle said -" I blubber before Rose delivers a hard slap across my face. 

"Don't blame this on father." she snaps, "This is all on you." I merely lower my head at Rose's denunciation. 

"But that's fine." Rose says, "I've made my decision. I am going to do what needed to be done a long time ago." 

In a single burst of action, Rose forcefully shoves me to the ground and straddles me as I fall flat on my back. 

"What are you doing?" I cry out, "Irene, the butlers, they're just outside!"

"I sent them to select the cake and decorations." Rose scoffs, "And even if they are, so what? People are always getting in the way when I want some private time with you. I'm through with caring about appearances."

"Celeste!" I blurt out in a rush, "Celeste might come back at anytime, she said that she would before she rushed off, remember?"

"That lousy busybody." Rose grumbles as her slim fingers fumble with my belt, "Anyway, she's not here now, and that's all that matters."

"Rose, please, don't do this." I plead, "We're family, remember?"

Rose delivers another sharp slap across my face and whispers in my ear, "Your lips are so dishonest Tensei. How am I supposed to believe a word that comes out from them?"

A tingle of warmth spreads as Rose's tongue probes my earlobe. I groan with suppressed ecstasy. This is obviously wrong, but then why does it feel so right?

A low, throaty laugh comes from Rose, "Your body is honest at least. That's something I can believe in."

"But, but, Irene and Sera and Kira!" I blubber, blinking the tears from my eyes. A final attempt at seizing back some form of control from Rose.  

"I'll deal with them in due course." Rose snarls, "So don't worry about it. For now, just like back and take it like a man."

My body trills with Rose's words and literally begins to tremble in anticipation. No stop it! Nothing that is happening now is right. How is it possible for my body betray me?

How could my own family betray me?

"No, stop, I don't want this." I murmur, turning my head away as my voice trails off.

 Rose grunts in satisfaction as she finally manages to pull down my pants, "Well, who cares what you want, Tensei? You never cared when the shoe was on the other foot."

"Now lets get started."