Van slowly opened his eyes, finding himself snuggled together with his wife in a nice soft bed. A shimmer of morning light from a half-opened window bathed the room in a nice glow and gently woke him up while at the same time letting in the nice morning breeze in.

He blinked a few times, still a little dazed, slowly turning his sights around him to take stock of the room he was in. It was the cabin that Karmine gave them when they first arrived, the best one they could find on the campsite. Which meant it was still a bit of a dusty and run-down affair considering that said campsite had been abandoned for a while now…

Luna felt his movements and clung onto him harder, afraid that he would leave, snuggling herself ever closer to him and then relaxing, her breathing evening out once more.

Van let her, deciding to try and remember what happened last night, it all coming back to him in flashes.

After a while, he slowly woke Luna up, worried that she might sleep in. they should prepare afterall, about what they were going to do next before they were forced to march towards their doom…

“Come on, sleepy head… time to wake up,” Van said gently, trying to nudge his wife awake, shaking her a bit.

Luna gave a few mews of protest, holding him tightly, but finally, her eyes slowly opened…

“That’s my girl…” Van proudly said.

Luna yawned and stretched her body out like a cat while still trying to hold on to him, then she stretched upward and gave him a morning kiss before trying to snuggle back onto him. “Five more minutes…” her voice barely a whisper and filled with sleepiness.

Van wanted to chuckle, amused by how she seemed to have forgotten the situation they were in. but he kept on teasing her by giving her little kisses and pinches with his finger, slowly annoying her awake.

Finally, she gave a half-awake glare towards him after a while of this. “Those pinches better move themselves onto my nipples if you know what's best for you.” giving a low growl.

Van smirked and did just that, gently pinching the tip of her breasts, much to her enjoyment if her moans were anything to go by… he then freed one of her breasts and began to nibble it, freeing one of his hands to play with her lower mouth. His fingers dancing across her entrance then waltzed themselves right in and gave a little jig once they made themselves home.

Luna moaned, arched her back, then cummed… satisfied…

Now, this was a morning she could wake up to…

“Feeling better?” Van asked.

“Much…” she responded with a lazy smile. Then blinked as her brain finally seemed to kick into gear. “Wait.” quickly getting up. “We're still trapped by those bandits!” as if only now realizing it.

Van rolled his eyes. “Glad to see you're finally awake.” he then turned over, placing his feet on the ground. “Let's get our stuff ready,” he said with a sigh, then realized they didn’t have anything to get ready since they were… you know… kidnapped…

Luna groaned and just fell back onto the bed, looking clearly annoyed by the situation they found themselves in.

“Come on Luna…” Van chided.

“Don’t feel like it…” Luna muttered.

Van sighed. “Let's not have ourselves forcibly dragged from this room alright? I don’t want to set a precedent…”

Luna groaned, tossing and turning in the bed before sighing. “Fine…” then turned over once more. “But five more minutes!” she said childishly.

Van sighed once more. It was very difficult to change Luna’s mind when she was being obstinate. “Alright… fine… five more minutes…” laying himself next to Luna to join her. Not like he had much else to do… and he was still a little sore from yesterday, though if some of the bandages on him and Luna were anything to go by, they were taken care of when they passed out.

Luna snuggled him once more.

A few minutes passed, allowing time for Van to think. And out of sheer curiosity, he asked… “Hey… Luna… what were the other sisters like… you know… when you were living with Karmila?”

Luna remained quiet for a bit, before sighing and answering. “I didn’t meet all of them… I think… and the few I did I wished I didn’t… but… I do remember that each one had their own… quirk…” now looking like she was deeply realizing something right now…

“If Karmine was all about getting stronger… then Karmina was all about getting smarter… Karmina would sometimes force me to study several days in a row… smacking me with a ruler if I didn’t meet her expectations…”

“Kalia tortured me… it’s how I got some of my scars when we first met… And Karen just ordered me around…” she then went quiet for a long while, her expression a mystery, as if she was suddenly deeply thinking about something.

After a few minutes, Van couldn’t help but look down worriedly at her deathly silence.

A few more minutes passed and Van broke said silence. “Luna…? Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

Then as if she had come to some sort of shocking conclusion, she spoke, though it was more as if to think out loud than answer his question.

“Karmine… was all about if you're not stronger… you will die… Karmina was all about if you're not smarter, you will die… Kalia was all about if you can’t handle pain or give it to others, you will die… and Karen was all about if you don’t obey and can’t twist others to obey you, you will die…”

Luna then clung to Van, tears forming in her eyes, acting like he was some sort of raft boat in dangerous waters. “Van… I'm scared… I don’t want to go to Karmila’s… I don’t want to become twisted!” now looking terrified at the thought of her personality changing just to try and survive such a horrid household.

Van didn’t know what he could say that would calm her down. He held her tightly to him, doing his best just to be there, repeating the same words over and over again that it would be okay and that nothing bad was going to happen to her. Though now even he was beginning to worry… what kind of horrid place was Karmila’s home?

A few more minutes passed and a gentle knock came at the door. Making the two stiffen up. Slowly it opened and Karmine appeared with a tray of breakfast food for the both of them on hand, still warm and smelling good.

Karmine gave a little awkward cough. “Umm, sorry to intrude uh… I brought you two some food if you want it. Cooked it myself! I uh… maybe I’ll uh…” feeling a little lost and confused on whether she should leave or not, and take the food or not…

“Did… did you hear…?” Van asked, Luna, looking very afraid…

Karmine rubbed the back of her head with a free hand, looking for all the world like she dearly wished she knew what to do in this situation. “Uh… well… the window was a little open and I have pretty good hearing so…”

An awkward silence sprung up in the room.

Karmine gave a cough. “Right… I’ll just leave the food on the bed.” moving and placing the tray on at the end, far from Luna so as not to scare her.

She then tried to think of something to help calm Luna down.“Oh, and if you're worried about Kalia, you don’t have to! She died. Some say it was an ‘accident’, but I think otherwise… at least she went smiling! So… you know… there's… that…”

The awkward silence intensified.

Karmine kinda realized what she just said and felt actually really bad about it in hindsight… “I’m… just… going to go now…” turning around and heading towards the door.

“Wait!” Van suddenly said, making Karmine stop and Luna look up at him surprised.

“After… what happened to me… what happened to… Karen?” wondering not because he cared for Karen or anything, just curious if something also bad happened to her.

“Karen?” Karmine asked back, it taking a second for her to realize what Van was really asking her. “Oh! Yes… Karen lost her heirship after her failure. It was given to Karina, some sort of illegitimate child or another… I don't really know, I haven't been back home in a few years…” hoping that her answer was helpful.

Van thought about that for a sec, then nodded, thankful. “Thank you.”

“Glad to help!” Karmine said, looking glad she was of some use. Just when she was about to go, Luna, this time called her out.

“And Karmina… What about her? I… heard she stayed with my mother for a few years…” Luna asked, looking curious. Her mother never spoke of the time Karmina was living with her mother, now taking this chance to learn what happened.

“Oh? Karmina? Uh… she came back crazy after visiting your mother.” Karmine said after a while, wondering how best to say this and failing.

Van and Luna both looked surprised, their eyes silently asking for more details.

Karmine sensed that and felt pressured, but also a little awkward about speaking about her sister's problems behind their back. In the end, she found a nearby chair and took it, and sat down after moving a bit closer by, after figuring they may deserve to know all things considering.

“Okay… so… you knew Karmina for a few months, right? Before she was sent to your mother as part of the agreement for the exchange, right?” Karmine asked, making sure she and Luan were on the same page.

Luna nodded, now looking very interested, though clinging to Van when Karmine got closer.

“Okay, so, the way you put it was… kinda perfect… Karmina was all about being smart and emotionless. Of course, this was just to protect herself. But no matter how emotionless or smart and logical she tried to act. She was still a woman with needs and wants… which means even she can fall in love and have a huge crush on one of the palace male staff…”

Karmine looked like she was going to go into some more detail about that, but stopped herself and gave a polite cough instead. “Anyway… to make a long story short… she waited years, trying to build up the courage to officially make him hers… but… well… one little mistake by the poor male and… well… he became another example on a pike by orders of our ‘dear’ mother…”

Karmine sighed. “Of course, Karmina was just going to bottle everything up and pretend she never actually showed a single inch of interest in a simple servant. But that didn’t mean that his death didn’t hurt and eat her up inside…”

Looking a little sad herself she moved on. “Anyway… she was sent to your mother, as part of the exchange right? But it was really to spy on your mother… no surprise there right?” rolled her eyes.

“But… something strange happened… Karmina… fell in love… not with another male… but with your mother…” Looking Luna in the eyes while she said that.

Luna’s eyes widened, and Van looked just as surprised.

“Of course, it was just platonically!” Karmine said with a smile, glad she got a rise out of them.

Luna and Van glared. And Karmine gave another polite cough.

“Err… right… anyway! Karmina fell in love with your mother… I honestly don’t know why… but that may be because I simply never met her. But your mother treated Karmina as if she was her own daughter… as if she was you…” now continuing her story in a more serious tone.

Luna and Van leaned in.

“Over the next few years. Your mother helped Karmina be more… open with herself… she brought joy to Karmina’s life and was there for her emotionally and so much more…”

“Of course… this was from what little I could decipher from a few of her mad ramblings when she came back to us, so take it with a grain of salt…”

“Anyway. Karmina finally learned a little about what it was like to be with a true and happy family… and when she was to be sent back… well… she broke… the fear of returning back to Karmila… after all the joys she’s experienced and finally being able to be her true self without fear. The fear of returning home killed something inside her… and her guilt at never being able to be truthful with her feelings about the guy she was in love with broke out…”

“Now whenever she sees a guy that even looks remotely similar to her lost love, she collars him… and whenever the mood takes her, dry humps him… never going all the way! No matter how far gone she is, she knows it’s not actually that person… but every few years she finds a new person that looks maybe even a little closer in appearance to him and collars them. To make doubly sure that people know they belong to her…”

“Oddly enough… The men she collars have it far better than any male in the castle. They are pampered and loved explicitly. They just have to make pretend, and hug her when she cries… and deal with the occasional dry humping…”

“And that’s the story of how your mother made Karmina insane…” Karmine said, finally finishing her story. “What do you think?”

Van and Luna looked horrified.

“Err… right… that's the natural reaction to a story like that… sorry…” Karmine said, rubbing the back of her head. “I’ll… just leave you two be for now…” getting up and heading towards the door.

“Wait!” Van said, making her stop. She turned to see what else they could want.

Van and Luna shared a look, Luna giving a nod, then turned back to Karmine.

“Before you go. Me and my wife promised that you could have… sex with me… and we keep our word… well… I'm ready…” Van said, looking determined.

Karmine was surprised to say the least by this turn of events. Her gaze fell on Luna, who hesitated but nodded.

“Karmine… you won fair and square… I’m ready…” Van said, back straight and his gaze steady.

Karmine had to let this sink in for a bit. Still a little surprised by this turn of events. But then… “pfft… PFFT! Behahahahahaha!” she began to laugh, a high clear beautiful note.

Now it was Van’s and Luna’s turn to look surprised, wondering where all this laughter was coming from and if she should feel offended by it.

After a while, she calmed down and nodded in Van’s direction. “Alright then, we’ll do it!” she said with a wide smile. “But first! Have a contract to fill out. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“A contract?” Van asked, looking confused, wondering who she would be making a contract with out here in the middle of nowhere.

“Well… someone did promise me double, plus a ticket out of here and a pardon for me and all my girls. And what can I say? That tenacity you two showed me yesterday was really inspiring!” she said with a grin.

“Not to mention…” once more rubbing the back of her head. “After telling you that story… I don’t think I can in good conscience bring you to Karmila… nor would I want to go back…” her grin returned. “Besides! Now that I think about it, it would make life really interesting and exciting if I backstabbed her like this!” a slightly feral glint in her eyes and smile now showing up. “Interesting times in my future! That’s for sure!”

She then laughed uproariously, her voice full of mirth.

Then turned to the door once more, a happy grin on her face.

“uh, About that two hundred million we’ll owe…” Van called out tentatively.

Karmine turned a smile still on her face and flatly said. “No!” and left the cabin.

“...well… At least things worked out?” Van said, now a little worried at the cost of things working out…

Luna on the other hand simply dragged him back down on the bed and snuggled him. Just glad and filled with relief that she didn’t have to go anywhere near Karmila and her home. Oddly happy that someone as strong as Karmine had their back. Even if she still didn't fully trust her…

“Luna?” Van asked, but she was already resting…