It had been several hours, and yet Eris still couldn’t understand. She’d hoped that with more contact, she’d finally find out the answer, and yet no matter what they talked about or did together, she still couldn’t figure it out.
Why was Siffia so selfless?
How could someone be so purely kind?
It was something that Eris’s always cool and aloof alpha mind would never be able to understand.
At first she wanted to believe that it was simply something that was common amongst betas like Siffia. It wasn’t unheard of for those with a secondary sex, seen as superior, to mostly ignore the goings on of the inferior, ordinary betas. However, when they returned from the war and Eris had finally paid attention to the many beta servants that worked in her father’s household, she soon realized that this was certainly not the case. No, just like the alphas and omegas that she had interacted with throughout her life, they too rarely did anything that wouldn’t benefit themselves in some way.
No matter where she looked, she couldn’t quite find someone like Siffia.
Eris had spent time with the odd woman going from place to place throughout the city until the sky had turned dark, witnessing selfless act after selfless act subtly woven into wherever they went, and still couldn’t make heads nor tails of it. Far from seeming to revel in or even care about the kind things she’d just done, Siffia would simply just continue on with whatever she’d been doing, not seeming to give whatever had just happened another thought. If she’d done anything to make herself known after, then the cynical Eris would easily be able to denounce Siffia’s actions as some sort of affectation, but no such thing had ever been done. Past helping resolve a situation, Siffia never once offered any additional help, simply letting others come to whomever’s aid afterwards. Truly, without even trying, she stayed an unnoticed hero, seemingly happy to keep out of the spotlight.
-And it was this selfless mentality that felt like it was driving Eris mad with confusion.
She’d spent the better part of a day now trying to understand the enigma that was Siffia’s quiet kindness, and yet all she’d come to learn was how sheltered and unwilling to be greedy the woman was. It was to be expected; Eris had spent quite a bit of her time during the war silently letting Siffia catch her eye whenever they had a quiet moment, and still hadn’t learned anything. However, it was still terribly disappointing that directly interacting with her hadn’t dredged up much more than what she’d already gleamed. The only new information that she’d managed to learn was that Siffia's family seemed to be neglecting her, a fact that Eris had already been thoroughly convinced of from the previous day’s interactions.
If she was being truthful, then today's attempts truly hadn’t dug up a single new thing.
It was something that greatly frustrated Eris as an alpha that was used to receiving immediate results for her efforts.
“Hmm… Lady Eris, thank you for all the time you’ve graciously spent with me, but it’s getting quite late. Sadly, I think it’s about time that I returned home.”
Siffia’s words abruptly snapped Eris out of her brooding. Just as she’d said, Siffia did in fact look quite saddened that it was time to go. The slightly dejected pout to her lips was something that especially caught onto Eris’s eyes. For some reason, it was hard to look away from.
Seeing how reluctant Siffia seemed about leaving, yet another plot for stalling popped into Eris’s mind. Though she knew what she was saying was silly, as so many other of the words that had obsessively poured out of her throughout the last two days had been, she once again couldn’t keep herself from saying them.
“...Surely though, you can’t be thinking of leaving right now, at dinner time, can you? I don’t recall the Heston residence being close to the capital; At best it will be another hour and a half until you’ll manage to make it back there.”
Siffia blinked confusedly at her words, even slightly tilting her head, before slowly responding.
“Um… Well yes, it is indeed becoming dinner time, but... I’m not all that hungry just yet? We stopped for lunch just three hours ago, so I don’t really think the ride back will be all that-”
“You also didn’t come in your family’s carriage, yes? With it being dinner time, and how busy the streets are becoming now, it would take quite a while for you to find another carriage to take you home, wouldn’t it?”
Though Eris’s words were spoken calmly and coolly, just as usual, there was a strange insistence behind them that Siffia could only scrunch her eyebrows in confusion at.
“Uh, yes? ...Yes, I suppose that’s true, but-”
“Then the solution is simple: All you’d have to do is come to my residence to have dinner. We can take my family carriage there, and then once we’ve finished eating you can ride the carriage home. No unnecessary waiting time needed.”
“U-um, that’s… that’s an awfully kind offer, but I couldn’t possibly have you do any more for me than you already have today-”
“I believe you should have learned by now that I will not accept your modesty in this way.”
Eris’s eyes narrowed, unwilling to be rejected when she still hadn’t yet found the answer that she’d been looking for.
“I was the one who invited you out, and now it is my responsibility to see you well taken care of and sent back safely. What will people say of me if they found out that I sent you away so uncaringly? Would you have me, a Margrave’s daughter, treat the guest she invited so poorly? Would you do me the discourtesy of having me send you away without a parting meal?”
She knew that every word that was coming out of her mouth was nonsense, and yet for some reason Eris couldn’t bring herself to stop, spouting any silly thing that she could think of to get Siffia to agree.
“Besides, with that weak body of yours, weaker than the average mage, so weak that you couldn’t even handle changing clothes for two hours, I can’t possibly imagine that you’re eating correctly. As your former platoon commander, I would be remiss if I were to let you go without ensuring that you’ve eaten a proper meal. Even a local restaurant will do, so long as it means that you’ll agree.”
Eris puffed herself up, looking down her nose at Siffia, looking as commanding and undefiable as her natural alpha-ness would allow her. Thankfully it seemed to work, as Siffia quickly stilled in place and peered up at her with troubled eyes and pursed lips, eventually quietly nodding her acquiescence. Eris huffed, letting herself relax a bit now that she’d finally convinced her to come along. Unwilling to even bat an eye at forcing her way, she swiftly headed towards her carriage, not letting any more disadvantageous conversations take place.
***
“...Thank you for the meal, Lady Eris.”
Though she’d obviously been reluctant to come, Siffia had quickly tucked into the amazing looking spread of food that had been brought to Eris’s room. She was so engrossed in the food that she managed to accidentally knock a fork off of the table, unused to the long ruffled wrists of her dress in combination with the height of the coffee table they were eating from. Siffia embarrassedly moved to try and retrieve the fork, but Eris, ever the excellent swordswoman, was much quicker and picked it up first, calmly offering it to the maid that had been waiting nearby the door to assist them.
“Replace this.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
The maid swiftly disappeared, leaving the two of them alone in the room. Siffia, who’d been trying to keep her face schooled so as not to show how embarrassed she was, soon sighed and gave up, unable to keep it in any longer.
“Aaah, I’m so sorry for doing such a foolish thing, Lady Eris… It’s as if I’m a child again. I may not have much practice eating in polite company, but I swear I’m not normally such a clumsy person…”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Perhaps you’ve not had many chances to eat in polite company, but I have... and I can assure you that this is not such a rare occurrence. Seeing as you didn’t have such a problem with your sleeves at the other locations we ate at throughout the day, it would seem that this is simply the fault of the table’s height. It’s already an amazing feat that you haven’t managed to get any food or crumbs on yourself.”
Siffia blinked for a moment, staring at Eris’s cool, neutral face. Having heard several of her casual snide comments over the past two days, she’d gained enough experience to know for sure that Eris's current kindness was true.
It was something that made Siffia, so used to being the brunt of her family’s blame and anger from such little everyday failings, feel terribly moved.
“Lady Eris… Thank you. You’ve been nothing but kind to me since yesterday... Truly, I can’t explain to you how much it all means to me.”
Eris’s face scrunched up in confusion, unsure of what had suddenly brought on this swell of emotion. However, eventually she slowly nodded along with Siffia, even if her confused look never managed to go away.
“...Yes. I’m... pleased if you think so.”
Still overwhelmed with thankfulness, Siffia didn’t quite register Eris’s baffled expression. Tears threatened to well in her eyes as she let the thoughts inside of her pour out.
“I’ve always looked up to you, Lady Eris. The two of us come from similar backgrounds, and yet you’re so amazingly beautiful, and capable in all things… It’s something I could never even dream to be. I suppose it’s only obvious that I’d end up revering you as I have.”
“...Excuse me???”
Eris, who was already confused, could only scrunch her face all the more, bewildered by what Siffia was saying.
_____
AN: The true misunderstanding is revealed~ lol
For those who may be confused, Siffia believes Eris to be an omega just like she is, while Eris (actually an alpha) believes Siffia to be a beta.