“Papa, what do you think Orchid was going to tell me? She brought up that I should avoid getting sick because of something coming up, do you have any idea of what she’s talking about?” Duy asked as he poked at the noodles in his bowl with chopsticks, using just enough of his magic to properly hold his utensils.

The Trần family had returned home just an hour before, with fresh bowls of food set in front of them, courtesy of Netwing’s hard work of cooking breakfast as quickly and efficiently as possible. Duy wasn’t the biggest fan of trứng vịt lộn–which he had pushed to the side of the table–when it was from the from the marketplace, as whoever sold it probably cooked it improperly and it always made Duy feel sick after eating it; if only his father had the patience to cook it himself that day, it would’ve tasted delicious if he had.

Netwing seemed to avoid his question by pointing out the bowl his son clearly pushed aside, “do you want some coriander to add onto your duck egg? You shouldn’t let it go cold.”

Duy decided to entertain his father for a bit, “you know I don’t like the ones sold in the marketplace, I thought you were going to make it yourself.”

“You are the one who said either breakfast dish was perfectly fine with you,” Netwing shrugged, but it was clear he was relieved at the thought of his son not noticing the obvious subject change.

Then it was made apparent that Duy didn’t want to avoid his earlier question, “so what was Orchid going to say? You very obviously know something I don’t.”

His father stammered out, “it-it’s really nothing, sweetheart. I promise that it’s nothing you need to worry about–” his mouth was suddenly clamped shut, and his eyes went wide in shock.

Duy was confused as to what just happened until he glanced at his mother, who’s horn was illuminated as she glared at his father. It took him a moment to realize she had used her magic on Netwing, and before he could say anything about this act of reverence, she said, “there’s no point in lying about something so trivial, you absolute halfwit. Duy,” he locked eyes with her and made it clear he was listening with a nod, so she continued with, “your wedding day is in around three weeks and you’ll officially be married to the Nguyễn’s daughter. I don’t want to hear a single complaint out of you, Lễ Chạm Ngỏ happened two whole years ago; you’re sixteen years old and should’ve been out of the house by fifteen if it was my decision.”

She finally released her husband, who rubbed his sore jaw as he glared at her. Then he quietly grumbled to her, “you know exactly why I prolonged it.”

Duy looked back down at his bowl, feeling a pit form in his stomach. He… wasn’t sure how to feel or react, and he wasn’t stupid enough to try and argue against his mother’s word. All he could do at the moment was keep his mouth shut with a subservient nod of his head, forcing himself to take a sip of his nước mía in order to appear composed at this sudden news. Stonefly had made a good point, he was lucky to have had an extra year of time to himself and from what she was suggesting, that was thanks to his father being overprotective of him.

Stonefly gave him a look of approval, seeming to be happy with his lack of protest at the decision made without his knowledge. Then she used her magic to levitate a roll of newspaper from the counter towards her, saying to the scowling Netwing, “and to wipe that sour look off your face, I got your newspaper. I better hear a thanks from you; I swear prices have been rising since the Equestrians stepped foot in Vietrot, gods forbid we start getting charged whatever they’re charging the Changelings in the capital!”

Netwing rolled his eyes at her rants and simply skimmed over the main headline, reading the sentence below it out loud with widened eyes, “Empress Momo of Neighpon claims neutrality over the conflict sparking in Vietrot’s colony of Thay Đổi, and is leaving any military decisions up to Princess Hoa Dao; a decision that has shocked the capital.”

“In other words, we’re shit out of luck if we’re completely invaded,” his wife shrugged with a mirthless smile.

Duy, on the other hoof, didn’t quite understand or care much about what was being discussed. He just sighed softly and took a bite out of his food, chewing slowly as he watched his father look more and more bewildered by whatever he was reading in the paper.

Netwing was searching desperately for a somewhat positive headline in the papers he held, holding some sliver of hope that the current conflict hadn't erased all the good his country had to offer. Where was the talk of the Tết coming in just a few short months, the newest fashion trends and mane styles inspired by the celebrity mares of Equestria, heck, he'd even take a trashy gossip section over every single title he was skimming through! Eventually he gave up with a disappointed frown, setting the newspaper down and rubbing his eyes, being reminded that the dull ache behind them was due to him refusing to buy reading glasses... no need in making him more insecure and aware of his clearly debilitating body.

His wife quickly snatched it up with her magic, flipping through the pages with an almost satisfied hum; it was as if she were happy with her initial suspicions being confirmed through just a few words written on some piece of paper. "So it really is all about Neighpon and the conflict," she commented while glancing at her exhausted husband, "

"The Chenjinese have no control over what's written over here, it's whatever can grab the attention of the locals around here," Netwing weakly argued as he pulled his hooves away from his face to look back at his wife.

Stonefly simply scoffed with disgusted look on her face, “I really can’t stand the Chenjinese, blech! Even just saying it makes me sick; thinking they have the authority to say they ‘own’ our country when our empress is still sitting on her throne in Thay Đổi.”

Now, here's the thing, Duy knew his feeling of pride towards his country of Vietrot came from his mother, which was a stark contrast to the almost… detached aura his father gave off whenever she started to go on about how their colony deserved independence from the ‘aristocratic cockroaches in Chenji’ but, if Duy was being completely honest, he didn’t understand the tension all too much. The Changelings in Neighpon couldn’t be that bad right? They were Changelings just like him and his parents, and probably had families to feed and protect so, what was her reason for being so hostile towards them? Heck, even the more patriotic Changelings around the village didn't seem to this much personal resentment towards the Chenjinese so, what's with her?

“You do realize her still being on that throne is purely symbolic right?” Netwing replied to her with an exasperated look, “and she's only considered a puppet princess after the Chenjinese overthrew our monarchy a few decades ago—combined with the most recent mess those elitist Unicorns from Prance nearly put us through just ten years ago. She's still sitting safe and sound in that palace out of necessity in case our country goes to war again–”

“We’re already in a war, Netwing, yet not a single drone has been born out of that Changeling,” Stonefly interjected with a wave of her hoof, her eye twitched as she saw Netwing open his mouth to retort, slamming her hoof on the table as she snapped, “and don’t even say it hasn’t been officially declared as a war, we both know that doesn’t matter! Chrysalis has already managed to influence the North and has made tensions with the Neighpon Empire even worse. It’s only a matter of time before she manages to take over the capital in the South, we’re all damned once she does.”

The silence in the room was incredibly loud, and Duy felt as though his nervous gulp was audible to not just his parents, but the entire village at this point. This was awkward and he really needed to change the subject onto something more lighthearted, he hated being reminded of the conflict currently ripping his country apart; so what better thing was there to talk about then–

“So about my marriage to Silkmoth! I think it’d be best if we started practicing for our wedding ceremony as soon as possible, preferably tomorrow night! Right after we have dinner with her family like Stickbug suggested earlier, right? Doesn’t that sound really fun? Ooh, and maybe I can even convince Dragonfly to help me put extensions on my mane to make me look like one of those supermodels from Chenji; you know, like Majushage Matsumoto or Asagao Yamaguchi?" he knew he was word vomiting at the moment but, he was trying his best to forget what his mother had said and this was the only way he knew how.

He was becoming more and more aware by the minute how much he despised hearing about politics from his parents and the current issues surrounding his beloved country, and all he could do as a male of his age was pray to the gods and his ancestors that it will all pass over soon. He should only be focusing on the trivial stuff coming up, like the Tết Nguyên Đán, yeah, that sounded nice. He'll be spending time with his future wife and maybe preparing for the idea of having a family, it was only a matter of time.

His parents shared a look, and after a few moments of silence Stonefly scoffed out, "fine, whatever. We need to discuss the finer details of the official ceremony coming up, and I don't need him embarrassing us in front of everybody if he doesn't practice tomorrow."

"I agree," Netwing sighed, not finding any reason to argue with his wife's decision for once.

He then got up, quietly murmuring about needing to change out of his sweaty clothes before putting his half-eaten plates away and leaving the room. Duy’s mother took this as a chance to also push her trứng vịt lộn aside, mumbling, “I think it’s high time you explain to him that you’re supposed to eat this within an hour and not leave it out overnight. It’s no wonder you keep getting sick from this.”

Stonefly then got up from the table and made her way out of the kitchen, likely following Netwing to their shared bedroom; leaving Duy alone to deal with her leftovers alongside his.

Unfortunately for him, he had completely lost his appetite.

“Can’t you do anything different for once,” Stonefly grumbled once she pulled away from her husband’s lips.

Her and her husband were currently curled up on their small bed, attempting for the nth time that week to be intimate for once. They both figured they had a little time to try it out again while their son was busy cleaning up the kitchen and hopefully his room if he listened to what his father ordered the night before. Now unfortunately for them, she had a severe lack of patience and he couldn't stand her snarky remarks that happened nearly every time they even try to do something.

Netwing gave her a dirty look as he attempted to push her off of his chest, “perverted old hag,” he retorted with less bite than usual.

She stifled a cackle as she laid beside him, “oh please, you’re one to talk. Whatever happened to you? Where’s the passionate boy I met in our youth, did he disappear alongside his estranged harlot of a brother?”

"For once can you not bring Odonata into this!"

"I was actually talking about the other one," she smirked.

Netwing attempted to think of a proper response, but couldn't think of a single one that could possibly hurt her in return. "Whatever," was all he could say to not further escalate that argument again.

A part of him was tempted to just roll out of bed and go help his son clean up, but another part was willing to ignore her comments and just go back to trying if she wasn't already turned off. "Do you want me to go back on top or something?" Stonefly questioned with a cocked eyebrow, not looking impressed at all with him just laying there in thought.

"Oh please," he retorted, "like you'd allow it to go any other way, that position is practically a given with us."

"Maybe I would allow it to go any other way if it weren't for your," she pointed downwards, "issues down there."

Netwing bit his cheek, face flushing at the implication his 'issue' was like an STD or something. "Well, I'm sorry but there's no changing my little 'issue'," he mumbled as he rolled onto his side to instead face the wall, not in the mood to keep looking at her.

Stonefly, in turn, scooted further away from him, purposely grumbling loud enough for her already embarrassed husband to hear, "it's not like I willingly married you while knowing about you were sterile, it's no wonder my parents think of me as a joke."

Netwing glared at his wife as he sat up, “oh really! Then if my fertility issues bother you so much, why don’t you go find some other form of entertainment?! I’m not stopping you because I can’t bring myself to care at this point.”

She rolled her eyes while responding with, “too much time and work to find someone else willing to do so, besides why bother when you’re right here and not unwilling to engage with me every other night. But I do think it’d be fun to damage your ego even more by taking in one of those Kỳ Lân as a lover; to think a wretched beast like that could possibly satisfy me more than you isn’t too far fetched, don’t you think?”

“Can we stop this conversation and just get ready to leave for the Nguyễn's place? It's already almost noon and we're clearly going nowhere with it,” Netwing groaned, wiping his hoof down his face in exasperation.

A loud guffaw escaped Stonefly, "Seriously, you're jealous!? My, my, my loveliest Binh," her sarcasm dripped off her lips like venom but... it still served to send a shiver up Netwing's spine.

He was almost completely sure the last time she uttered his birth name was during their wedding night, and it served to do nothing but make his breath hitch in a disgusting mixture of awful heartache and faint arousal. By the gods he was not in the mood to do this right now, especially after she had so blatantly called out his deepest insecurity about himself! He wouldn't... he couldn't let himself feel weak in the knees around her, not like he used to when things were much different.

"You would really be hurt if I slept with a Kỳ Lân, or is it just your pride that hurts at the thought?" She asked, sounding nearly genuine if it weren't for the shit-eating grin on her stupidly alluring face.

Netwing pushed away the dull ache in his chest by instead snapping back at her, "I. Don't. Care. In fact, I hope you leave me for one and torment them instead of me! Anything I've 'done to you' was never intentional or something I chose on my own accord, and you know this!" He started moving towards his dresser, using his magic to open his drawers as he used his hooves to start untying the tiny hooks on his áo dài's front flap as he continued his rant, "I still can't believe there was a time I was excited to spend the rest of my life with you, and I even dreamed of starting a family with you but clearly that can't happen because it's apparently my fault! You're not the only one who has a family that's ashamed of them, and I absolutely despise how you act like that."

As he carelessly tossed his now undone áo dài to the side, taking a moment to pause his rant to debate with himself if he should keep his yếm on or change it for a cleaner one. This ended up distracting him from the hoofsteps behind him; a gasp escaped his lips as he was suddenly roughly grabbed by his mane, being pulled harshly backwards to face his wife.

"U-uh?! Stonefly—"

She proceeded to yank him into a possessive kiss, ignoring his feeble attempts to push her away from him. Netwing whimpered in discomfort as she attempted to deepen the kiss, and once it was clear he wasn't going to let her go further, she pulled away from his lips with an audible 'smack'. Her husband looked as though he wanted to shrink in on himself, and at the moment she couldn't bring herself to care about his abashed state.

"No matter how much we both hate this arrangement," she hissed against his ear, "you're still mine until the day we die, and even though I can't stand your mere presence at times; you're still just pretty enough to keep me somewhat entertained, even if it's fading with age. Understand, my darling Binh?"

Netwing nodded, lips quivering as he tried his best to hold back his urge to cry at her words. However, he listened to that voice in the back of his head, giving him hope by telling him that she was finally done with her cruelty towards him and would let go any second now.

That little voice turned out to be completely wrong as something else seemed to cross her mind, and one of her hooves cupped his cheek as a sickly sweet smile spread across her lips, "oh, and another little thing I've been concerned about; and I'm sure you can quell those minor... fears of mine if you're just honest with me."

"Wha-what?" Netwing stammered, not liking her sudden shift of tone.

Was she about to yell at him about pushing the wedding of their son back until he was sixteen, about how much he babied and protected Duy from the outside world because he was too weak-willed and it was his 'fragile nature as a male' that was causing it? Or was it the original issue they've fought about for years, the idiotic decision he made sixteen whole years ago to take in his bastard of a nephew to save his brother's neck?

"Did you really think I didn't notice you eying Orchid this morning?"

Wait, what?

"I mean, are you seriously that shameless, especially when her own loyal husband is right there?" She sneered with an empty laugh, causing a look of complete confusion to slowly appear on Netwing's face as he processed her words.

He shook his head desperately, "no, no, no! I swear there's nothing like that going on, I promise!" He might've not cared if she were to become unfaithful to him but he was petrified of doing the same, and he would never stoop low enough to seduce someone else's wife... even if he couldn't stand Dragonfly.

Stonefly simply stared at him with a scowl, before leaning forward again to sniff sharply at his neck. Once she was completely sure she couldn't smell a hint of Orchid's scent—as well as not finding the sour scent of uncertainty or dishonesty emanating from him—she released him from her grasp with a harsh shove back towards his dresser. "Put on something pretty for once, won't you," was all she said before she left him alone to sulk.

Netwing sucked in a deep breath, trying his hardest to get rid of the lump in his throat. He could get through this, if he's as strong as he believes he can be, he'll be alright. A part of him was tempted to throw on one of his more ratty áo bà ba just to spite her but then again, was he really in the mood to deal with her dirty looks all day? He could also just put his áo dài back on if he was willing to ignore the fact he was sweating in it earlier, as he stupidly decided to wear that instead of one one his áo bà bas while picking up rice from the fields.

He couldn't bring himself to care at the moment, finally getting back up to switch out his white yếm for a vermillion one; he figured the special occasion called for the more festive color. The only thing he could convince himself to wear at the moment was the loose yếm and a black váy đụp that was just long enough to brush against the floor once he pulled it on. He then dug through his drawers to find a canary yellow silk sash to wrap around his waist, tying it just tight enough to make his waist look slimmer than usual. His mane was easier to figure out since his go-to style was a sleek bun, using snail slime to make it silky rather than stringy; and decorated with two hairpins, each having little apricot blossoms carved at the ends.

After one look in the dingy mirror, he smiled weakly at himself while brushing away loose strands of his mane; for once he felt... almost beautiful.

You know, maybe that's enough for him.

Whatever else happened right after that was a bit of a blur, as he was suddenly standing next to his wife by the front door. She had said something to him about Duy leaving to go hang out with a friend while they spoke to the Nguyễns; she had also ordered him to go straight to the Nguyễn's house at around 6:00 for dinner so they had no reason to worry about snatching him up later.

Netwing tried his best to ignore her stares towards him, instead choosing to stare straight down at the floor. "Not what I had in mind," Stonefly admitted while lifting his chin with her hoof, her lecherous gaze making him cringe in annoyance, "but, I'm definitely not complaining."

Author's Note

guess who's back 😀

leave thoughts and predictions down below!!

Translations:
Bò kho - Vietnamese pot-roast beef stew (yes Changelings do eat meat, I portray them as both omnivores and capable of consuming emotions).
Trứng vịt lộn - this is that one dish with the fertilized egg, where you can see the bird embryo in it (surprisingly pretty popular in southeast Asian countries).
Nước mía - sugarcane juice.
áo dài - Vietnam's national dress.
Yếm - it resembles a western halter top but was once widely used by Vietnamese women as an undergarment.
Kỳ lân - Mythical creature known in some countries in both east Asia and southeast Asia (in the show they're known as kirin, but I use the Vietnamese spelling since well this is set in a country based on Vietnam).
Lễ Chạm Ngỏ - easiest way to explain this is basically a pre-engagement ceremony, where the parents of the bride/groom to be will meet and discuss if their children should get married to one another.
Chenji - Change in Japanese, and I use this for Changeling "ethnicity" Chenjinese, from Neighpon (Japan).
Tết Nguyên Đán/Tết - one of the most important celebrations in Vietnam, the festival of the first day of the new year.
Váy đụp - a long black skirt thats often paired with the yếm.

Bonus
Majushage Matsumoto: minor reference to Japanese supermodel Hiroko Matsumoto
Asagao Yamaguchi: minor reference to Japanese supermodel Sayoko Yamaguchi