Zelda accepted the salve from Dionisia gratefully, nodded at the instructions, and hoped that she would not find a new way to irritate Ari without the mediating presence of his wife. She was lucky to have Dionisia as a friend, again - they understood one another in a way that some of her other friends didn't, and Zelda regretted the way her stubbornness had dragged things out.

She returned her attention to her oldest brother. That made more sense, but at least Ari accepted that she was going to marry Alfred sooner or later. "I truly don't want to ruin things for anyone," Zelda admitted, with a rueful smile, "And I don't like fighting everyone all the time. But I love him. So - I don't have any better ideas."

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