Greta Arwin’s estate was stately and picturesque. It was massive and beautiful, and Daisy was very nervous. She had never been to a tea party before, and while she had her etiquette classes under her belt, she didn’t want to look like a country bumpkin. She had selected her dress very carefully for this occasion, and she wanted to be at her best. It was meant to be a small tea party, but she was still all bundled up in her guts about it.

Well. If she could face down goblins, she could handle a few ladies, she thought to herself as she  took the footman’s hand as she stepped down from the carriage. Her dress swished around her ankles, and she walked forward towards the building. She had no idea who was going to be here, but she was hoping it wouldn’t be anyone too intimidating. She walked up the stairs, and another footman pulled open the door for her.

“Ah, Lady Aldova,” said the butler waiting for her. “Right this way, please.”

“Hello,” Daisy said and scurried along behind him before she reminded herself that was not how a lady walked. She hit a more sedate pace, and the butler turned back to her.

“The little lady has been looking forward to meeting you,” he said, and Daisy slowly nodded.

“Well, I’ve been excited to meet her, too,” she said, mostly because Greta was the only one that wanted to meet her, but whatever.

“There will be three other ladies besides yourself here, so it won’t be uncomfortably crowded,” the butler said, and Daisy swallowed. “I do believe you’re the last to arrive. Everyone else was early.”

Oh… Great, everyone was waiting on her. That was fantastic. She shouldn’t have hunted that last goblin.

Her boot knife pressed into her ankle, because nowadays she didn’t feel safe without carrying one, and didn’t know why the other ladies didn’t carry one, but it was fine. She was fine. Hopefully, no one would notice it and question why she needed a boot knife.

They stepped out into an expansive, carefully tended garden, and she walked along the path towards the set up tables on the grass, where the ladies were all enjoying champagne. Oh, this was a royal tea, okay. That had not been included in the invitation. She would just drink very little.

“Oh, hello, Daisy,” Greta said smoothly as Daisy joined them all. “Ladies, this is Daisy Aldova. Daisy,  this is Alice Charmaine, the Saint, Artesia Verdun, and Hilda Nerevar.”

Daisy nodded and then did a double take. Sure enough, the Saint was standing right there, dressed in a resplendent pink gown with big golden eyes and golden hair cascading down her back. She was beautiful and stunning, and Daisy opened her mouth and shut it. She was like a goddess, come alive from a religious text, and Daisy didn’t know what to do at the sight of her.

“Oh…” Daisy said slowly, and then dropped into a curtsy. “It’s nice to meet you ladies. I’m surprised to see the Saint here.”

“Ah… I was encouraged to leave the temple on occasion,” Artesia said, and Daisy smiled at her.

“Your gown is beautiful. Which salon did you buy from?” Daisy asked as she picked up a champagne glass, reminding herself over and over in her head to act fucking normal.

“Oh, I’m not sure, the attendant assigned to me procured it for me,” Artesia replied, and Daisy nodded a few times and took a sip of champagne. It was pleasant, bubbly, and cold, and she resisted the urge to sigh in pleasure.

“Well, your attendant has very good taste. It suits your complexion well,” Daisy said, and she had to be normal, even though the after-fight adrenaline jitters were still coursing through her.

“The Saint has had a very exciting week,” Greta said, and Alice gasped.

“Oh, yes, that’s right. Didn’t some mad woman try to kill you?” she asked, and Daisy kept her mouth shut, because that was all the talk at the guildhall, and she probably knew more than anyone else here, sans Artesia.

“Ah… Yes,” Artesia replied. “Thankfully, the adventurer I commissioned to come with me, Mally Mack, saved my life. We were able to escape due to his mushroom golems.”

“Oh, how exciting!” Alice gasped, and Artesia smiled tightly. “Is he a very handsome adventurer?”

“He’s a little short, actually,” Artesia said, and took a sip of her champagne. “But very cute.”

“How old is he?” Alice demanded, and Daisy pursed her lips and took a sip of champagne. Couldn’t Alice see that Artesia was uncomfortable with the discussion?

“Around fifteen,” Artesia replied, and Alice sighed dreamily.

“I’ve always dreamed of being saved by a strong, tall adventurer,” she said wistfully.

“I actually prefer it when men are a little short,” Artesia said, and Alice tilted her head. “I like to be taller than them.”

Silence greeted that, and Daisy could practically see Artesia internally cringe.

“Though, that doesn’t matter so much, since I’m the Saint and shouldn’t be worrying about men,” Artesia said and took a sip of champagne.

“You can still get married, though!” Hilda protested, and Daisy realized this was going to be an incredibly awkward tea.

“I can, yes, but I’d prefer not to,” Artesia said, and Daisy studied her in silence. She really was a beautiful girl. Daisy was more than a little envious. She could have any man she wanted. She was the Saint. Daisy would probably struggle to get married, but wasn’t that always the way of things?

“Why not?” Hilda asked, and Artesia sighed.

“I would not be doing my duties as a wife. Were I to get married, it would be purely for love and heirs,” she explained and finished off her champagne. “I wouldn’t manage a household, wouldn’t take care of the finances, and my husband would be very overworked to pick up the slack. That would create a dangerous dynamic, and I would prefer not to do that to someone I love.”

“Oh… You’ve really thought about this,” Hilda said faintly, and Artesia smiled.

“I have to think about it,” she said. “Furthermore, I don’t want to be committed to one person for the rest of my life.”

“No?” Hilda asked, and Artesia shook her head no.

“No,” she confirmed.

“Hm, I see,” Hilda said, and Greta was studying Artesia in silence.

“You take your duties as the Saint so seriously,” Greta said, and Artesia sighed.

“I do, my apologies,” she said, and Greta’s eyes were full of some weird emotion.

“No, I think it perfect to your position,” Greta said, and Artesia was quiet. “You’re so exemplary. I feared the Saint would be a silly girl, but you are very serious about your duties. Are you going to go on a tour?”

“I actually thought I would, yes,” Artesia confirmed. “The contamination has gotten completely out of control in the Empire, and something needs to be done about it.”

“It may take years to get it cleaned up,” Greta pointed out, and Artesia smiled.

“I plan to complete it in six months,” she said, and Greta blinked.

“Six months?”

“At least in the meat of the Empire. The outlying territories may have to wait longer,” Artesia said, and Greta looked at Artesia in awe.

“That’s so good of you. You would be sacrificing your own health for it, though, and isn’t someone trying to kill you?”

“I can handle it,” Artesia said smoothly, and Greta nodded multiple times.

“That’s good!” she said encouragingly. “I hope your tour goes well.”

“Are you planning on going to the outlying territories?” Daisy asked, and Artesia hesitated.

“Maybe? It depends on what is allowed,” she replied, and Daisy blinked.

“Why wouldn’t you be allowed to go?”

“Well, there’s security concerns, first of all,” Artesia said, and then visibly hesitated. “I was actually planning on going to Aldova territory first.”

“Oh!” Daisy exclaimed. Of course, it made sense. The Aldova county was closest to the capital, and it was well known as being plagued by contamination. It used to be a prosperous territory, but it had dwindled as of late. Too much contamination was ravaging the land, and it had been like that as long as Daisy was alive. Priests tried to deal with it on occasion, but the church wasn’t concerned with fixing the problem. Had that changed? Her father had told her nothing in his letters. “Well, thank you.”

“Ah! You’re Daisy Aldova of that territory!” Hilda said and snapped her fingers. “I thought I recognized the name!”

“Ah… Yes, my land has been hit hardest of the inner territories with contamination,” Daisy replied, and Hilda nodded several times.

“That makes sense!” she said cheerfully, as if it was a regular conversation and not the discussion of the complete and total decimation of Daisy’s home. “It must be hard. I heard your family was struggling financially.”

That was… a jab, and Daisy blinked and swallowed. Right. Hilda’s territory hadn’t been hit in the slightest with contamination.

“Hilda, that was rude,” Greta said calmly and took a sip of champagne. “You should apologize.”

“Was it rude?” Hilda asked innocently, and Greta frowned at her.

“Yes. It was,” she said firmly. “Honestly, I expected you to be better behaved than this in front of the Saint.”

“Why should I act any differently because she’s the Saint?” Hilda asked, and Greta colored slightly.

“She is the emissary of the Goddess, chosen by her to grace this earth with her divine power. Doing petty childish jabs in front of her is uncouth and unladylike.”

She said it so fervently, and Daisy watched as Artesia swallowed slightly, a faint tinge of green.

“Excuse me,” Artesia said and set down her empty champagne glass. “I believe I need to use the restroom.”

“I do, too,” Daisy said, desperately latching onto an out, and Greta blinked.

“Oh, of course. Lettie will lead you to the restroom,” she said and gestured to the maid waiting on the edges of the tables. “We’ll sit down to eat when you come back.”

“Thank you,” Artesia said and curtsied slightly before she stole after Lettie. Daisy followed behind them, and eventually fell into step next to Artesia.

“I’m sorry,” Daisy apologized. “That must have been uncomfortable.”

“I… It was fine,” Artesia replied even as color dusted her pretty, golden cheeks. Daisy pursed her lips and looked down, and then she looked back up.

“I guess we all find discomfort in the roles we have to play,” she said, and Artesia startled.

“What?” she asked, and Daisy blinked.

“I mean… I find it discomforting to be a lady on the hunt for a husband, and I assume you find discomfort in being the Saint when there’s such obvious worship for you,” she said, and Artesia stared at her with something Daisy couldn’t place in her eyes.

“Do you not like the idea of romance?” Artesia asked, out of literally nowhere, and Daisy blinked.

“Well, I can’t say I hate it, but my future comfort comes before love,” she replied, and Artesia stared at her. Was that a strange thing to say? “I just hope I can be happy with my future husband. Maybe not in love, but happy.”

“You…” Artesia trailed off, and Daisy tilted her head.

“Was that the wrong thing to say?” she asked, and Artesia pursed her lips.

“No. No, it wasn’t. It was just… unexpected,” she replied, and Daisy wondered how that was unexpected. Most young ladies felt the same way. It wasn’t a novel thought process.

“Of course, I would like to be in love, but being in love isn’t everything,” Daisy added. “There’s also the matter of mutual respect. That lasts far longer than feelings like love, which can fade over time as you get comfortable with each other.”

“I thought you would be more romantic than that…” Artesia said faintly, and Daisy blinked.

“Why would I be?”

“I apologize,” Artesia said and turned a deeper shade of pink. “I just… I… Uhm… Haven’t been around many noble young ladies.”

“Ah,” Daisy said, and wondered if Artesia was a commoner. She had never heard of the family name Verdun before. That might be it. “Well, most of us feel the same way. Some of us are more fanciful than others, just like every other girl, but I… I guess I’ve put a lot of thought into my future role.”

And the more she thought about it, the more she didn’t want it, but she didn’t say as much. That would be too personal. She had met many men, and she didn’t hold out hope that many of them would engage in mutual respect. Sure, they might fall in love with her, but that didn’t last forever. Love faded. Even her own parents were honest about that. They still loved each other, but they weren’t in love in the same way. They just respected each other, and Daisy thought that was harder to find.

She wasn’t sure she could find a husband that fit her criteria, honestly. She really didn’t think she could find a husband that fit her criteria.

Maybe it would be better to just be an adventurer.

She didn’t say as much, though. Her parents would be furious with her. She was the eldest daughter, and there were certain rules she had to adhere to as the eldest child. Not that she was going to say as much.

“Do you like being the Saint?” Daisy asked, and Artesia looked away.

“I can’t answer that,” she said quietly, and Daisy blinked.

“Why not?”

“Because it wouldn’t be a yes,” Artesia said softly, and then she outstripped Daisy as Lettie showed her to the powder room. The door clicked shut behind her, and Daisy was left in the middle of the hallway, blinking in shock.

Huh.

It seemed everyone was unhappy with their lot in life.

Amazing.