Chapter 1
"Stop this idiotic engagement!" a blonde appeared, completely insane, opening the gate to the Momobami hall.
"The bride-to-be is in a relationship with me," she shouted for all the guests to hear. "Ririka, I don't know what kind of foolishness this is, but I won't let you marry anyone other than me."
The people at the party were stunned, whispering to each other and laughing at the unusual situation.
"Who is this girl, my granddaughter?" the Momobami matriarch asked, looking at her eldest granddaughter with a frightening face.
"She is my love," the white-haired girl spoke softly, sounding more like a whisper than a statement.
Kirari looked at her sister, who was pale and looking down. The younger twin wondered how the situation had ended up like this.
"My dear grandmother, this scandalous girl is the one my sister likes," Kirari explained to her matriarch, as her sister seemed to be having a panic attack.
"What madness is this, Momobami-sama! Are all your granddaughters lesbians? Then why did you promise me that my son, Rin, would marry Ririka?" the Obami patriarch demanded an explanation from the twins' grandmother.
The older woman did not answer, only looked at the man and showed her typical indifferent smile. At that moment, Mary understood where Kirari learned her poker face from.
"I'm also surprised, Obami-sama, but I believe my beloved granddaughter, Ririka, has an excellent answer for everything?"
Everyone turned to the elder twin, who continued to look down.
Kirari had to go to her sister and snap her out of her trance. "Ririka, answer our grandmother's question," she whispered, gently pulling her twin's arm.
When Ririka came to, she immediately said, "My dear grandmother, this girl's name is Mary Saotome, we both study at Hyakkao Academy," the girl said in a slightly confused manner.
"Ririka, speak up, our grandmother probably didn't hear anything, and no one else here did either," Kirari asked, smiling gently at her sister. At this moment, Sayaka pulled her fiancée's arm, asking her not to stir up trouble.
"I'm sorry, grandmother, this girl... She's the girl I like, her name is Mary Saotome, she studies at Hyakkao Academy," the girl said, adjusting her voice and posture to show more confidence.
"I see," was the only word the matriarch Momobami said.
"I'm sorry, Obami-Sama, but this engagement has been canceled."
"Is that all you have to say, Momobami-Sama? I don't want any apologies. My family was humiliated today. What are you going to do with your granddaughter?!" the man demanded.
"I'm not going to do anything. This matter will be resolved within the Momobami family. Now, you can all leave, the engagement is over."
"You Momobamis have no respect for anyone!" said Obami-Sama as he left the Momobami mansion, dragging his son Rin with him.
"I don't understand all this fuss. Everyone knows that Rin likes boys, and has a certain preference for his cousin," said Momobami-Sama, looking bored.
At this point, Kirari started laughing. "My dear grandmother, you're always so honest and direct."
Sayaka and Ririka reprimanded the other girl with their eyes.
"As for you, Mary Saotome, we will talk alone. The rest of you, leave now." When Ririka was about to ask, "Leave now!"
...
"That's not good, what is grandmother going to do with Mary? I'm scared, Kirari," the other girl said, sitting in an armchair in the mansion gardens, accompanied by her sister and her fiancée, Sayaka Igarashi.
"Don't worry, sister, our grandmother won't have Mary eliminated. She'll probably offer her money to leave her life," said Kirari as if it were nothing.
"Is that good news?" the other twin asked.
“Well... Mary isn't going to die.”
...
“Sit there, Mary Saotome,” Momobami-sama pointed to a traditional Japanese table in front of her.
“What kind of relationship do you have with my granddaughter Ririka?”
After invading Ririka's family mansion and the adrenaline of the moment had passed, Mary could be honest and admit that she was intimidated by being in front of this woman, who exuded an air of impactful importance.
Furthermore, Mary had the impression that she was speaking to someone of royalty due to the aura emanating from the woman her girlfriend called grandmother. This woman was scary, in a way that was different from anything she had ever felt since entering Hyakkao Academy. She left the blonde terrified in a spine-chilling way.
Mary took a breath and said, “I apologize for the way I crashed your party.”
“The party wasn't mine; it was for Ririka and Rin, as part of the marriage agreement between the Momobami and Obami families, which you ruined.” Mary felt her body tremble with the woman's words.
Have courage. You didn't come here to give up on the love of your life, she told herself. “I know I ruined their party, but Ririka loves me and I love her. I want you to allow me to marry your granddaughter?” the blonde said, summoning all the courage she had left.
Momobami-sama began to laugh at the girl's demand.
Mary wanted to scream at her girlfriend's grandmother, but she held back. Not only was it disrespectful to yell at the older woman, but she also didn't want the matriarch of the Momobami family to hate her even more than she already did for ruining the engagement party.
The woman stood up from her chair, which looked like a queen's throne due to its grandeur and luxury. “Who are you? I have never heard of the Saotome family. Girl... What are you the heir to?” she said, approaching Mary. “To have the courage to come to my house and ask for my granddaughter's hand in marriage?”
Mary felt her heart beat faster as the other woman approached. She put her hands under the table to hide her nervousness.
“My family has no wealth, Momobami-sama. I am not from a rich family or the heir to any fortune, but I love Ririka with all my heart and promise to make her happy. I swear it with my own life.” Mary replied, looking into the woman's eyes and conveying all her determination.
"Your life has no value to me, but I still liked you. However, love alone is not enough for a girl like you to marry my granddaughter. I raised Ririka like a princess, and I wouldn't marry her off to just anyone, especially not a girl from a poor family."
Mary stood up immediately with clenched fists. "I know my family is poor. We're middle-class, and I'm not an heiress to anything. In fact, I'm a scholarship student at the same school as your granddaughter. But I love her, and I don't care about your opinion!"
Momobami-sama stopped in front of the girl, showing the same contemptuous smile that Mary had seen on Kirari's face many times before.
"You are very impertinent. You know that I can destroy you and your family more easily than a person can step on a cockroach?"
"I know," the blonde girl replied, trying to stay strong.
"May I ask you a question?" Mary said.
The older woman agreed.
"Why can Kirari get engaged to Sayaka Igarashi, but Ririka can't choose her own partner?"
The woman asked Mary to sit back down, and she sat at the same table as the blonde. "For me, it's enough that Kirari is the gay one in the family. I can't allow my other granddaughter to have that preference too. And it's not about prejudice; when I was young, I had many affairs, including with women," Momobami-sama said with a small smile.
"It's about ensuring the future of the Momobami family. My granddaughters are the youngest members of the family, and their children will be our heirs, our future. Another gay marriage in our family could harm the birth of new children. That's all it's about, and it's not about you. It's about the Momobami lineage that's at stake," the woman added.
"I swear I'll have children with Ririka if that's what I need to do to be with her. I'll have two, three, however many children you want. My family is very fertile, and I don't think that will be a problem. So let Ririka marry me, and I'll give you the heirs you want and make her happy," Mary finished, being more harsh than she intended.
The woman began to smile, looking happy. "Igarashi told me the same thing. Did you talk to her?"
"I didn't talk to Sayaka, but nowadays, it's possible for two women to have children. Of course, they won't be genetically ours, because I'll be the woman who will bear Ririka's children. Still, they'll be my children too, because I'll raise them. They'll be the Momobami heirs that you want. What do you say?"
The woman looked deep into Mary's eyes. "Go get my granddaughters and Kirari's fiancée."
Mary stood up and went to find the twins. She found Ririka staring off into space in the mansion gardens. "Your grandmother wants me to take you, Kirari, and Sayaka to her. We'd better go. That woman seems impatient."
…..
The girls went to meet the older woman, the room was empty and silent, Mary noticed that Ririka was still nervous, she wanted to hold her girlfriend's hand. Kirari seemed to be enjoying the whole situation, and Igarashi stood by his fiancee, looking as steady as ever.
"Ririka, do you love this girl?"
The twin took some time to answer, "Yes."
"Do you want to marry her?" The girl was surprised by her grandmother's question. What should she answer, and what if her grandmother did something to Mary or her family? "Answer truthfully, sister, our grandmother doesn't like lies," Kirari said.
Ririka looked at Kirari and then back at her grandmother. "Yes, I love her."
When Ririka said this, Mary's face softened. She was worried that Ririka would answer that she didn't love her, as she was concerned about her life.
Mary wanted to tell Ririka that her life belonged to the twin. The blonde knew she could not be happy away from her beloved.
A rumor had spread around Hyakkao that Mary had tamed the strange and masked vice-president, but in reality, it was the opposite. She was the one who was dominated by Ririka, the older twin had the blonde in her hands, whether Ririka knew it or not.
"Saotome asked me to let you marry her," Ririka seemed confused by her grandmother's statement.
"She assured me that she would give me the heirs I long for, bear your children, and take care of them as if they were her own." Ririka turned to see Mary's face, which was all red at the moment.
"I believe her," said Momobami-sama.
"Let's make a deal, my dear granddaughter. I agree to your marriage. However, after you two get married, you must have your first child within three years of marriage. If that child is not born during that period, you will divorce this girl and marry whoever I order to have heirs. Do you accept?"
Ririka was quiet, but after a few seconds, she nodded in confirmation.
"Answer with your mouth." Momobami-sama demanded. "Yes, I accept, my beloved grandmother."
"This agreement extends to you too, Kirari."
The matriarch looked at her granddaughters firmly. "Kirari and Ririka, you two are the youngest heirs of the Momobami family. I will allow you to marry whoever you want, regardless of whether they are male or female, as long as you bear heirs for our family. The deadline is three years for the first children to be born after marrying these girls."
The woman continued, "Either you two accept the agreement, or both of you will marry whoever I order. Do you understand?"
Kirari wanted to question her grandmother. She was already engaged to Sayaka, why was her relationship in this stupid agreement?
"I have a question," Mary said.
"You may speak," Momobami-sama said to the blonde girl.
"When would the wedding be?"
"It wouldn't be now, you are all too young. It will be after you graduate from college for all four of you. Are you two younger than my granddaughters?"
The two girls nodded in confirmation. "I'm in the second year of high school," the girls replied.
"After you graduate from university, you will marry my granddaughters within six months, and after the marriage, I'll give you three more years for new heirs of my Momobami family to be born. Do you both agree?"
When Momobami-sama finished the question, the twins moved to interrupt the conversation, but their girlfriends didn't let them. "I accept," Sayaka replied. "I accept too," Mary replied.
The two girls bowed, sealing the agreement with Matriarch Momobami.
"You four may leave," the twins looked at their brides and then at their grandmother, bowing to the matriarch and leaving the room.
........
When the girls returned to the mansion gardens, Ririka said, "Are you both sure of what you just accepted?"
Sayaka and Mary nodded. "Your grandmother scared me to death," Mary said as if it were a casual comment. "I can imagine," the older twin said.
"Mary... Are you really sure about what you've done? You know that marriage is forever, and what if you regret it?" the other girl asked.
"I would never regret being with you," the girl replied. "You're everything to me." When Ririka heard this, tears formed in her eyes.
"What are you thinking, Kirari?" Sayaka asked.
"I'm wondering how our relationship got caught up in the mess caused by Mary. We were already engaged, and there was no deadline to get married and have children," the younger twin exclaimed, looking at her sister-in-law.
"Why didn't you object to the agreement Sayaka accepted?" Ririka asked.
"My beloved sister, if our girlfriends didn't accept it, we wouldn't be with them. Our grandmother is a smart woman; she inserted a senseless deadline to force us to have her great-grandchildren as soon as possible and ensure the next generation of the Momobami family. However, when I demanded to marry Sayaka, she didn't ask for any of that. She took advantage of the situation caused by Mary to force us to have children in the time she wants, and I don't like it."
Sayaka went to Kirari. "Mary and I had no choice. I don't like the idea of being separated from you if we don't have our children within three years of our marriage."
Kirari approached Sayaka to caress her cheek. "Even without children, Sayaka, not even the devil himself would separate me from you. Don't worry about what my grandmother wants. I don't care about children; I only care about you." Sayaka smiled lovingly at her beloved.
Ririka distanced herself from her sister and Sayaka. She went to Mary, who was standing apart from the trio at that moment. "Thank you for your words. You're everything to me too. I love you so much. I don't know what my life would be like without you," the twin said, leaning in close to her fiancée's ear and hugging her from behind.
Mary hugged the twin back while watching the moon. "You are my life, Ririka. My life only makes sense with you in it. If your grandmother wants three, four, five great-grandchildren, she'll have them." The older twin laughed at the girl's statement.
"I believe two will be enough," she finished, kissing the blonde girl's cheek. "I'll make you happy, Mary. I promise."