The victory banquet was exquisite, glittering with greater opulence than any ever held before. The lights shining off the dresses of the many nobles who mingled and danced in the banquet hall were almost blinding, showing off an otherworldly grandeur that had to be seen to be believed. From the music to the hors d'oeuvres, everything and everyone showed an impeccable display, as if nothing lesser could ever possibly be allowed to exist in such a perfect space.
Amongst all this finery, Siffia felt sick to her stomach from how much she didn’t belong.
Her blood may have been just as noble as the average attendee of the banquet, and she might have even contributed to the war effort more than most of the other people in attendance, but Siffia still couldn’t help but feel forced into the shadows by the overwhelming splendor in front of her from how poor of a fit that she was with all of it. She felt like her skin was crawling inside of the glittering dress she was wearing, knowing how mismatched she must have looked in it. Like pearls before swine, she was like an ugly duckling cast into a party of swans.
Siffia instinctively began to flee from the alienating brightness of the ballroom, slinking her way through the familiar shadows and into a much less well lit hallway. There, in the dim light, she felt safer, like she could finally relax and breathe. There she wouldn’t have to worry about someone’s dismissive or disappointed eyes straying her way, or the mocking smiles and words that might ensue afterwards.
As she skulked gloomily through the corridor, wondering what she could do to pass the time so that her father wouldn’t become infuriated with her later, a small spark of light caught Siffia’s eye. She quickly turned towards it, curious as to what had caused the invading light that had interrupted the safety of her darkness. There, just one room down, the door had slightly opened for a moment, letting out the light that it had been sheltering, before abruptly yet quietly being re-shut. It was an odd situation, the kind where one might suspect that a simple breeze had come by unexpectedly and moved something, causing a ghostly phenomenon nearby. But when the slightly muffled sounds of shouting suddenly began from behind the door, Siffia swiftly realized what kind of situation she’d managed to stumble into.
“Why are you pretending to be so untouchable?! Stop acting so prissy like you don’t want it; We all know what omegas like you are goodfor!”
“Ugh… What baseless nonsense are you attempting to spew towards me right now…?”
Although the second voice wasn’t yelling like the first was, Siffia could still make out the woman’s words well enough to understand what was happening. She quietly scurried over to the door, her heart beating in shock and worry from how bad the scene behind it might have already become. Opening the door as quietly as she could, she peaked in with one eye, checking the situation.
“Hold your tongue, omega! I’m graciously giving you the chance to be mine! If you keep acting so insolently like this then even I might lose interest in you!”
The man who’d been yelling strode forward roughly, reaching out his hand to the woman in front of him. Siffia felt her breath catch for a moment at the violent gesture. Before her fear became too great however, the woman, whom she could barely see past the man, seemed to have deftly slapped the man’s hand away, causing him to groan in pain as he flinched back.
“...I'm astonished. The words you've somehow manage to spout are stupendously idiotic. In fact, they're almost as idiotic as you thinking that you could speak to a Margrave’s daughter in this way, no matter their secondary sex.”
“Wh-who cares whose daughter you are?! It won’t matter even a bit once you’re sold away! In the end you’ll just become someone’s breeding cattle! That’s all an omega like you amounts to!”
A deep and disappointed sounding sigh resounded throughout the room, and Siffia could just barely make out the woman crossing her arms as if she were fed up with the situation.
“I feel as though I’m losing intelligence simply from listening to you right now. It’s... quaint how you thought that I’d be charmed even a miniscule amount by this silly little conversation of yours, but I think it's far past time for me to leave now.”
True to her word, the woman began to walk forward as if she would just walk right past the man, like she didn’t care at all about his presence. Unsurprisingly, the man didn’t take kindly to this unconcerned action of hers.
“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!”
His words were practically roared out, and the way he reeled back was unmistakably intended to strike the woman across the face with all his might. Siffia gasped in fear, her eyes almost losing focus with how much they'd widened in shock. Before she could even think about what she was doing, she flicked her hand and cast a spell, causing the man to suddenly fling against the wall to the side, foaming at the mouth and passing out almost immediately from the force.
Siffia had inadvertently opened the door wider in her fear and haste, and it took her a moment after staring at the man in worry before she realized that the woman, who was still there, could now clearly see her.
Being caught having used magic in the palace without express allowance was of course against the law, as was assaulting someone who hadn’t even done anything to you. On top of that, the fact that she’d been discovered eavesdropping on a private conversation was seen as quite deplorable in polite company, especially amongst nobles. The fact that she’d just been seen could lead to her getting expelled from society, if not jailed.
In a panic, Siffia let out a squeak and rose up from her hunched position, dashing away, praying that the woman would be grateful and wouldn’t sell her out to the guards.
***
Hoping to avoid prying eyes, Siffia made her way to the palace’s garden, doing her best to not attract any attention. It wasn’t seen as odd for one to lose track of their time wandering through the winding and impressive garden filled with high, flower covered walls; Even if her father later questioned her where she’d gone, she was sure that she would be at least somewhat excused if he learned that it was here that she’d been staying.
Sadly, however, Siffia wasn’t able to make it into the safety of the garden’s flowery walls before someone called out to her.
“Oh my, is that Siffia over there? Oh wow, it’s been so long since I last saw her!”
Siffia stiffened up, immediately recognizing the voice that had called out to her. A quick glance showed that the other two ladies resting with her on the rim of the fountain were also the usual suspects. It was an almost impossible feat for Siffia to hold in the sigh that bubbled up in her throat as the all too familiar hyena-like laughter began, once again directed at her. She’d gotten peace from their antics over the past two years during the war, but now that she was back it was all starting up once more, as if it had never ended.
“Ah, it’s astonishing that you were able to pick her out like that with how dark it is! Even with the garden’s light on, her features are so dark and dull that she almost blends in perfectly!”
The ladies all cackled as if it were the funniest thing they’d ever heard, just as they always did. Siffia looked off to the side, exhausted. She’d long run out of anything to say to the rude young ladies, having already admitted the truth of their words to herself. Even she knew of how dark and unappealing her coloration was. An omega was meant to be pretty, lovely, charming, and to stand out in any room that they entered. It was especially expected of a noble omega, one from the upper echelons of society.
And yet here she was, with her dull black hair and her murky black eyes, looking boring and unappealing.
Seeing Siffia quietly standing there, averting her gaze, one of the ladies playfully got up from the fountain’s edge where the group had been relaxing and tugged at the sleeve of Siffia’s dress, forcefully pulling her back towards the others. Siffia, used to their bullying ways, let herself be pulled, not willing to start a commotion on palace grounds after what she’d just escaped from. If it meant avoiding a much worse punishment later, she could let them play their nasty little tricks on her for now; She’d lived through the war, and her potent magic wouldn’t let her down if things truly got out of hand.
“Come over into the light so we can see you, Siffia! It’s almost impossible to over there!”
“Oooh~! You know, now that the light’s on her, do you all see the dress that she’s wearing?”
“I do, I do! Look at it, so pink and vibrant~!”
“Wow, it looks absolutely horrible on her~!”
“Haha, it’s like they threw a pink dress into a dirty puddle of water!”
“It’s hilarious!”
The ladies all surrounded Siffia, pulling and tugging on the frilly sleeves of her dress, making her stumble around back and forth between them. She grit her teeth, unable to think of anything to say back. After all, they were right; Siffia had felt the exact same way when she had seen the dress that her father had picked out for her to wear. She’d tried to protest the overly bright colored dress, saying that everyone would laugh at her, but her father hadn’t been willing to listen. Pink was supposed to be the most popular, most eye-catching color of the current season. He wasn’t going to allow his ugly duckling of a daughter to wear her usual muted attire and fly under the radar at this victory banquet, not when this might finally be his chance to find someone to marry her.
With all their constant pushing and tugging, it didn’t take long for Siffia to eventually trip and fall to the ground, or for her dress to become disheveled and torn. The ladies all giggled at her like she was some kind of fool, as if she’d somehow clumsily made her dress like that herself without any of their interference.
“Oh nooo~, look! Her dress is all dirty now!”
“Oh that’s just awful! And today, at the commemorative banquet, of all days!”
“We have to help her, ladies! Quickly, let’s wash her dress for her! It’s the least we can do!”
“You’re right, you’re right! Come on, we have to help!”
“Come on, Siffia, let’s get it nice and clean~!”
The three women’s hands reached down violently for Siffia, dragging her up, pushing her towards the edge of the fountain. Siffia resisted, knowing that there was no way she would be able to save face if she were to get drenched during such an important day. Even if her dress was a bit dirty and torn, so long as she stayed in the shadows, nobody would really notice. But if she were dripping wet, leaving puddles behind her as she tried to leave? It would be almost impossible not to somehow catch someone’s eye.
However, if she used her magic here, and for such a minor thing, then there’s no way that these bullies wouldn’t report her afterwards.
“W-wait-!”
“Excuse me ladies, but what exactly is going on here…?”
Suddenly Siffia found herself whisked away, gently retrieved from the tormenting hands of the ladies, and pressed protectively against the side of a taller woman. Although the material of the woman’s dress wasn’t all that different from her own, Siffia could immediately feel the toned and strong arms that were wrapped around her, keeping her safe. Even through the bones of the corset, she could feel the firm strength of the muscles in the abdomen that she was pressed against.
“Oh, goodness! W-what are you doing here, My Lady…?”
“We were… We were just trying to-”
“W-we promise it’s not what it looks like, Lady Eris!”
At the mention of the woman’s name, Siffia’s head whipped up, coming out of her daze and looking into the face of her savior. It was true, it was Lady Eris! The Lady Eris! Siffia’s heart began to beat, both amazed and ashamed at the situation that she’d found herself in.
“L-lady…”
She tried to speak up, but her words just wouldn’t come out, she was so tongue tied in front of the woman. Someone as shy as Siffia typically didn’t know what to say to someone in such a situation; The fact that she’d found herself pressed up against the person she’d spent almost the entirety of the war admiring only made things exponentially more difficult for her.