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“I think this is the first time you’ve been the one to request a tea party, Etie,” Céline said as she poured the tea. “I’m pleasantly surprised. What did you want to talk to me about?”
Etie clenched her hands in her lap. It was so darned awkward and so darned nerve-racking bringing this weird thing up with her childhood friend, but who else did she have to talk to about this? This subject counted as girl talk, right? Right?
She had no idea how Céline was going to respond to this.
“Uh, there’s been something on my mind lately,” said Etie, trying to build up to it. “It’s been really bugging me. I keep thinking about it even when I’m exercising. It’s the worst. And I dunno, you seemed like the best person to ask…”
“I’ll do all I can to help you,” said Céline, sitting down across from her. “What is it that’s on your mind?”
“It’s…” Etie swallowed. Here goes. “It’s…a girl.”
To Etie’s surprise, Céline smiled slightly. “Go on.”
“She’s really annoying!” said Etie, trying not to shout. Oh Divine Dragon, did that girl drive her up the wall. “But she’s also really pretty.” Darn it, now her face felt hot! “I was trying to figure out why I keep thinking about her, and then I started thinking about the other girls I know, especially her, and I…I THINK I LIKE GIRLS INSTEAD OF GUYS.”
There. She’d said it. She nervously looked across the tea table at Céline, fully expecting her friend to be totally shocked and think she was weird—
Céline took a sip of tea, then smiled. “Girls are wonderful, aren’t they?”
Etie blinked. “Huh?”
“Girls are wonderful, aren’t they?” Céline repeated. “I always had a feeling that you liked them. Thank you for telling me.”
Etie couldn’t believe her ears. “Huh?!”
“It’s actually perfectly natural for girls to like other girls, regardless of what all our old-fashioned Firenese nobles might say,” said Céline, drinking some more tea. “Alfred and I have hopes of educating our people as soon as we can about all the different forms of love.”
“Wait, what?” said Etie. “Prince Alfred knows about this stuff, too?”
“Oh, I think it’s clear he has eyes only for men,” Céline replied wryly. “I myself have never found gender to be a factor in who I’m drawn to, but I have a particular fondness for girls.”
“Wait, so I’m not the only one who’s…like this?” Etie gasped. Céline was blowing her mind. “You and Prince Alfred, too?!”
“Oh, I think most of the people in the Divine Dragon’s army are,” Céline said casually. “Including Alear themself. They’ve told me they like ‘they’ pronouns sometimes.”
This was the most shocked Etie had ever been in her life. But despite her shock, she somehow blurted, “Do you think…uh…Goldmary…likes girls…too?”
Céline’s eyes lit up. “It’s worth finding out. Don’t worry, Etie. I’ll be cheering you on.”
“Really?” Etie found herself smiling. “...Thanks, Céline.”