Lake found Hermione just as she had returned from Peggy Carter's little seaside house.
Hermione kissed Lake, then took off her coat and shook her head. "I only realized today that my aunt is also a woman."
Lake asked suspiciously, "So before this, Peggy Carter wasn't a woman in your eyes?"
Hermione shrugged. "At the very least, she shouldn't have been like this."
"Like what?"
"What do you think?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at Lake, who might genuinely have been confused or might have been pretending. "The backyard over there opens straight onto the sea!"
Lake raised an eyebrow.
Ever since Steve Rogers had moved to a coastal town near London under the pretext of retiring to recover from his injuries and illnesses, Ms. Peggy Carter had moved in with him directly. After all, Peggy Carter was Steve Rogers's goddess in his dreams.
But the current Empress Dowager of Atlantis, Dorma, Daughter of the Sea Giant, was no less impressive.
Lake's mother-in-law had her own advantages.
After all, Dorma had arrived first. Moreover, she possessed one advantage Peggy Carter did not: Tethys.
Although Dorma had not moved into that seaside villa, every now and then she would run over there, using the excuse that Tethys missed her father.
Peggy Carter knew perfectly well that Dorma's real intention had nothing to do with Tethys. However, faced with such an excuse, she could only burn with anger without being able to vent it.
Tethys was Steve Rogers's daughter. There was no doubt about that.
Because of this, Peggy Carter was the sort who ground her teeth in hatred.
As time passed, Ms. Peggy Carter had originally intended to defeat Dorma through the idea that not competing was itself a form of competition, making Dorma understand when to retreat. But now, she had