Micha
I was watching the hustle and bustle of packing up the carriages from the front steps of the inn. Ronak really is a natural at taking charge. He must have traveled a ton based on how seamlessly it was going.
My face had been warm ever since we left our room after breakfast. No one was acting strange in the slightest when they saw us, well… except for the esquires Ronak scared the snot out of. They were acting jumpier than I was. I just hope no one heard what we did last night…
"Good morning, Micha-" I flinched so hard that I almost fell off the steps and into the flowerbed the inn had running along the front. Thankfully, Terra grabbed my arm, preventing me from embarrassing myself. "What's up with you this morning?"
"Ha, ha. I-I was just thinking and you startled me!" I settled back down onto the step, and Terra joined me. "No Jade this morning?"
"Mmm, she and Amon were fighting over who got to change first in the hall, so it will probably be a while before they're ready. I knew her family was rambunctious, but having basically two Jades is a lot." I couldn't help but snicker. I hadn't been around Amon a ton, but he and Jade were surprisingly similar in some ways. Being twins wasn't very surprising after getting to know them.
"Heh, you're not wrong." Terra joined me in giggling, but her attention was drawn to the carriages.
"They're almost done, it seems… I'm a bit sad, but this is where our paths start to split. Over the next few days, we'll lose carriages from the caravan as roads head in different directions. I live north of Ebonhold, so my carriage and another one will depart today." What? No fair. I wanted to keep traveling with Terra and Jade, but I understood that they, too, wanted to go home.
"I hope your carriage has a safe journey home."
"Oh, I'm sure it will be fine. We've just got to drop four students off, but I should be home by tomorrow. My family only lives about two days away from Ebonhold. If the weather is decent, we'll have to get together for tea."
I let out a rather excited gasp. "Could I come visit you?"
"If the Archduke permits it." Oh yeah… I don't know if I could be that far away from him… Even now, I've had to remind myself to stay seated over here… Maybe I am getting a bit clingy… "You don't need to worry too much, I'll see you during the winter social."
"What's that?" I think I heard Ronak grumble about it under his breath once, and I think he mentioned it to the emperor, but I forgot to ever ask him about it.
"It's where the nobles of the western dukedom get together to socialize and get updated on plans for the dukedom." Oh, so essentially they were meetings. "There's a ball to set things off, and usually the women get together to have tea parties while the men attend meetings. Oh, and sometimes there's a grand feast." I didn't expect Ronak to host such a thing… "Our dukedom has one in the winter and the summer. The winter one includes far more business while the summer one feels more like a social event." Huh, that sounds interesting…
"I see." I'm sure I can get even more information from Ronak. Maybe I'll ask him about it today while we're in the carriage. "Does-"
"Micha!" Ack! I was about to ask Terra another question, but I was assaulted with a hug from behind. I didn't mind getting a hug too much if it was from Jade, but I was dangerously close to flirting with the flowerbed again. Had she had any more oomph to her hug, I would have face-planted directly into it.
"I was worried that my carriage was going to have to leave you behind, Jade." Terra teased as Jade released me from her hug.
"If someone wasn't so slow." Jade slowly looked back at her brother, who was standing next to the inn's entrance. She stuck out her tongue angrily but turned back to us with a smile. "What are you two talking about?"
"Trying to see if we'll have time for a tea party," I responded.
"I want to come!" Jade said as her eyes excitedly lit up.
"Oh, don't worry. You'll be having a lot of tea parties with me as we work on your manners." Terra got quite the mischievous grin on her face as she looked at Jade.
"Wh-what?" Jade squeaked.
"Micha will one day be an archduke, and you need to learn far better manners if you intend to remain his friend." The glint in Terra's eyes reminded me of the tea party boot camp she put me through. It wasn't that bad, but she was thorough and diligent with her teachings. If anything, I appreciated it in the long run.
"Help me, Amon!" Jade looked up at her brother, who quickly jumped the flowerbed and ran off to join the group of esquires. "M-Micha?" She turned to me with wide, dewy-looking eyes that looked like they could burst into tears at any moment.
"I'm not going to abandon you, Jade, but I think learning from Terra would be a good thing." I liked Jade, but sometimes she really didn't know where the line was. Maybe Terra's teachings would help her.
"You might not abandon her, Micha, but other nobles will look down upon you and her if something doesn't change." I get that… While there were a lot of girls at the academy who treated me like one of them, they were mostly all the daughters of barons and viscounts. The only high-ranking girl who hung around me was Terra. Most of the other ones avoided me like the plague…
"O-okay…" Jade mumbled.
"Don't worry too much, Jade. I have a lot to work on, too. We're in this together." I smiled and held out my pinky finger to her. I'm not one to abandon a friend, and especially a good, close friend like Jade.
"Right!" She shook my pinky enthusiastically, which was cute.
"Are you three done chatting? The carriages are loaded." I looked up to see Ronak approaching us. I glanced in either direction, and even the knights were all on their horses, ready to go. Gah, they really were waiting on us.
"Our apologies, Archduke Abraxos," Terra said as she stood and bowed.
Jade looked between me and Ronak for a second before bowing like Terra was. "Yeah, sorry." Eh, it was a step in the right direction.
"It's important for Micha to have friends," Ronak grunted as he extended his hand to me. His response was much better than it could have been. I guess he was trying to be a teensy bit nicer to my friends. "Come, we must continue traveling."
I reached out and accepted Ronak's hand, but I let out a little grumble of my own. "I'm so tired of traveling."
"Don't worry, we'll be there soon."
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Ronak said we'd be there soon, but the last four days felt like they were dragging. The only bonus was that the inns in the dukedom were of far higher quality than those in the capital territory. Oh, and the roads were amazingly smooth. Not a bump in sight. Though I did have to pretend to be a little motion sick to 'keep up the act,' as Ronak said.
Terra was right when she said that the carriages would split off and start taking different paths. We were only left with four of the original thirteen carriages. One had the remaining attendants and a few students that lived in Ebonhold, the next carriage had students that lived farther west of Ebonhold, the third one had the luggage of the esquires on it, and of course, the last carriage was ours. It was starting to feel lonelier the farther we traveled.
I felt pretty bad about all the esquires riding horses the entire time. The farther west we went, the more into the mountains we climbed, and the temperature was dropping. Not long after leaving Swansburg, we entered a dense forest, and it was only getting denser the deeper in we went. You'd think we were traveling north, it was getting so cold. "It's starting to snow," I mumbled as I stared out the window beside Ronak. Despite the carriage being warm thanks to the enchantment, I still brought out a blanket and had it draped over Ronak and me.
He had put away all his work documents and was rubbing my foot under the blanket. It felt so nice. "We should arrive in Ebonhold a little after noon. We've made faster progress thanks to you." I didn't do that much…
"I only provided warm meals."
"But warm meals are important when it's cold and the journey is long. Usually spirits are much worse by the time the esquires make it to Ebonhold in the winter." Ronak stuck his finger between my toes, making me squirm. Gah! He knows I'm ticklish!
"What's Ebonhold like?" I asked, trying to distract him from teasing my toes any further.
Ronak released my foot and leaned across to his file box, which was opposite him. "Scoot closer." He said as he came back with a scroll. I did as he asked and scooted closer to him under the blanket. I was like a happy little mold clinging to his shoulder as I waited in curiosity. Ronak unrolled the large scroll, and to my surprise, it was what seemed to be a map of Ebonhold.
"Whoa. It's a big city." It might even rival that of the capital.
"Mmm, yeah, it is pretty big." He propped the map up with one hand so he could point so I leaned forward and snagged the other half of the map so it was being held up properly. "Obviously," Ronak nodded towards the window where the snow was really starting to fall. "It sits in the middle of a heavily forested area high in the mountains. There are actually two lakes there. One is pretty small and sits behind my estate. The other one is rather large and sits to the south-west of the city." Ronak pointed to the two clearly blue-painted areas on the map.
"That sounds fun."
"It can be. When the months are warm, you can swim in the lake, and in the cold months, the citizens are known to go ice skating."
"What's that?" My eyes lit up excitedly.
"Hmm, I'll have to show you. It's pretty interesting." What? That's the only information I'm getting?! No fair. "The main road cuts through the two distinct sections of Ebonhold. Basically, all commoners live south of the road, and all nobles live north of it. My estate sits here, sort of on a hill, while other nobles live over here in this area." The estate and the noble section seemed to be separated by a relatively large section of trees. Ronak probably preferred it that way so his estate could have better privacy. "There are training grounds and barracks west of the estate, and east of it are the greenhouses." Oh, I remember him telling me that I'd like the greenhouses here. I can't wait to explore them.
"What's this big empty space?" I asked as I pointed towards the center of the city.
"That's the town square. You know how the capital lets vendors set up stalls outside?"
"Of course, I loved visiting the stalls with you." Ronak even bought me most of my pretty hair accessories there.
"Well, only on the weekends, I let vendors set up shop in the town square. There's a fountain in the middle. You'd like it."
"We'll have to go!"
"It doesn't open as often in the winter because of snowfall, but yes, if I have some free time, we can go together." I happily rubbed my head on Ronak's shoulder. Hehe, it sounds like we have a date to go on! Ronak let out a pleased grumble and pointed to a different area on the map. "There's a rather large shopping district we can visit over here. Those shops are open all the time. There's one in particular I've been looking forward to taking you to. Over here is one of my favorite cafes, I like to visit, and over here sits Ebonhold's guild…" The more Ronak continued to point at the map, the more I realized how much Ronak actually liked Ebonhold. He never really expressly says he likes much of anything besides me a-and maybe fish, but listening to him talk really makes me happy. It was so cute seeing him point to things and tell me all about Ebonhold. Heh, I think underneath Ronak's stony exterior, there really is someone with an amazing heart.
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"Y-you forgot a very key detail in your explanation…" The sun was glistening on all the freshly fallen snow, and as we crested over a hill, I thought my jaw was going to become unhinged from my face. Sitting amongst the pines, looking incredibly majestic, was a large stone castle overlooking a large but quaint city.
"I did?" Ronak asked as he leaned towards me and my window.
"Wh-why do you keep referring to that thing as your estate?! I-it's a castle!" I thought it would look something similar to what was in the capital. Never in a thousand years did I think that Ronak was referring to something of this scale and magnitude! "It's even grander than the palace!" My eyes caught sight of its many spires far above the treetops, and I could even see its mighty fortified walls that looked like they could withstand a great battle.
"Maybe don't let my uncle hear that. He'd be highly offended." It's true, though… It's like someone plucked a fairy tale castle from the books.
The closer we got, the more the trees began to block the view of Ronak's literal castle. My attention, however, was getting drawn to the buildings and houses starting to speckle the landscape. Huh, they were all designed in a similar way, with stone being used for the first story, while the above ones had a mixture of pale plaster and wooden beams set in a decorative manner. Each house was a little unique and incredibly cozy-looking. Even all their roofs were thatched! I was blown away when I went to the capital for the first time and saw the many four or five-story buildings, but it felt like we had entered a totally different country; the architecture was so different. Were other cities in our empire so different from one another?
"What do you think?" I guess I had fallen rather silent as I gawked out the carriage window. I looked over at Ronak and noticed him watching me closely.
"This place is beautiful! The buildings are all so charming looking!" I turned back towards the window so I could look even more. "Don't tell your uncle, but Ebonhold is far more charming than the capital." The capital was fine, but it felt so squished together, and the buildings weren't cohesive and pretty like these. Someone clearly put a lot of thought into designing this city many, many years ago.
Ronak chuckled and wrapped his arms around me as he gave me a slight hug. "I won't say a word. I'm glad that you like it."
We entered through the city gates, and I was surprised to see how many knights were patrolling around. "I-I know you have a lot of esquires, but you have a lot of knights as well…"
"Yeah, crime rates here are extremely low because of it. I told you this dukedom is larger than the others, didn't I? I'd say my army is a tad bit smaller than the emperor's personal one. There are five margrave officers, and each manages their own section of the dukedom with their knights. Of course, they all report to me. There are about five hundred knights and maybe sixty esquires in training. I haven't looked at the record books in a while, but all esquires train here in Ebonhold to get their basic training before getting assigned to a seasoned knight somewhere in the dukedom." But that's so many! Y-you're telling me that there were even more esquires than those traveling with us?!
I blinked a few times and turned to give Ronak a look of shock. "I-it's like you're running your own kingdom over here."
"Yeah, dukedoms are sort of like kingdoms. That's a good way to think about it. I don't fully do it by myself. Many nobles help make this dukedom function. I, however, get to deal with all the reports and paperwork to keep everything in line, or at least that's how it's supposed to function. The previous duke didn't keep an eye on things, so now there's some weeding that needs to be done."
My stomach slightly churned as I listened to him. I didn't like it when he talked about weeding or rat extermination in the capital, and I don't like it now. I understood that there were some disgusting nobles that needed to be dealt with, but did Ronak really need to involve himself so closely?
"You don't need to be so nervous. Everything is going to be fine. Look." Ronak pointed out the window, so I turned my attention there. We had started ascending the small hill that led to Ronak's castle, and as I looked out the window, the knights opened the gates for us.
Whoa… i-it really was a castle. There was no doubt in my mind. This thing was amazing! "It's so big," I mumbled under my breath, making Ronak laugh. It was big from afar but completely intimidating up close.
"It does seem rather imposing, but it's not that bad once you learn where stuff is." The carriage came to a stop in front of an impressive set of steps that had been cleared of snow. On either side of the walkway were staff. The right had butlers, while the left had maids, but behind them were two rows of knights all wearing dark plate armor with red and black tabards over top.
"Why are there so many people?" I asked as I slowly sank into my seat.
"Hmm?" Ronak leaned back against me and peeked out the window. "Oh, those are most of the staff and knights on duty around the estate. I told them not to bother with big greetings like this, but Gerard and Olivia think it's necessary because I have such a high social standing. Come on. Let's get this over with."
I gulped nervously and stuck my blanket back into my storage. I-I don't think I'm dressed properly for this many people to see me… Ronak didn't care, though, as he opened the door and exited the carriage. He gave me a bit of a scathing glare as he peeked back inside, but I nodded my head and followed after him.
"Welcome to my actual home, or as you keep cutely referring to it, my castle." I couldn't help but look up at the castle as I stepped out. Th-this thing is supposed to be my forever home? Crazy… My parents would die if they saw this…
As I brought my gaze back down, I noticed many of the staff giving me puzzled side eyes. I-I guess news hasn't traveled all that fast outside of the capital… D-did they not know of my existence? Gah! How awkward! As if practiced, the staff members all moved to bow while the knights positioned their fists over their hearts. There was an odd mix of "Greetings, my lord" and "Welcome back, sir!" M-maybe they weren't so practiced after all… They sure did move fluidly as they returned to their standing positions, though.
Ronak patted the top of my head, drawing my frazzled attention back to him. "Since most of you are here, this is my bond partner. His name is Micha. While we are not yet married, I expect you to treat him with the utmost respect." There was an odd mix of confused glances and people looking downright baffled.
Once again, they responded in a split way, with the knights saying, "Yes, sir!" and the staff saying, "Yes, my lord." It was an odd combination. Why wouldn't they just pick one?
"Let's get you out of the cold. I'll give you a small tour as luggage gets unpacked." Ronak extended his arm to me, and I accepted it. Yeah, I could use fewer people gawking at me.
The large set of doors were opened for us by staff, revealing a massive foyer with grand stairs on either side and quite a few hallways branching off in different directions. As if the exterior wasn't intimidating enough… I was completely flabbergasted. This place was just as fancy as the emperor's palace; the only difference was that this place was made primarily of gray stone, not white marble. It did seem slightly… cold. Like Ronak's mostly barren office before I added pillows, blankets, and a bit of personality.
"I'll take your cloak for you." Ah, I didn't even notice the maid approach. I flinched in surprise and nodded my head multiple times.
"O-okay." I started undoing it, and Ronak let out a little sigh and pulled my hands away.
"You don't need to be so stressed out." He pulled my cloak off in one swift movement and handed it to the maid, who scurried off with it.
"I-I'm never going to learn my way around here…" There were so many staircases and hallways leading in different directions! I easily got lost on my own, and this place seemed like a maze.
Ronak pulled my chin back towards him, and his calm gaze drew me in. "We've barely entered, and you're giving up? You started learning your way around the capital estate just fine. I have faith you'll figure this out, too." I nervously gulped and nodded my head. Y-yeah… I could do this… probably… "On the bottom floor, there are five main hallways that branch off from here. They don't really connect besides right here, so it's not too hard to keep track of." Ronak took my hand and guided me towards the first hall as the staff started bringing in the luggage we brought from the capital. "This one." Ronak paused to turn and glare at me. "Contains guest bedrooms that you'd better stay out of. These actually get used from time to time."
"I would never…" I stared up at Ronak and batted my eyelashes a few times. He let out a slight growl but rolled his eyes.
"Liar." He reached up and flicked my nose before turning his attention back to the halls. Hey! I meant it… a little bit. "If you keep going down this hall, you'll eventually end up outside. Keep following that path and you'll end up at the barracks and training grounds." Ronak directed me to the next hallway on the far side of the foyer, behind the first set of stairs. "This is where you'll find a library for office documents, meeting rooms, an office that's mostly used for meetings, and a few parlors."
"So this is the business hall?"
Ronak snickered and nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess you could look at it like that."
"So your office is down here?"
"Well… sort of. I have two offices here. Like I said, I usually only hold meetings in this office." Ronak said as he pointed down the hall. "Where I'll be doing most of my work is in the upstairs office. I rarely permit guests into that office, though, since it's on the second floor. The above floors are for residents only." I see… in other words, this hallway sounded relatively boring. "Now this hall should be the easiest to remember," Ronak said as he hauled me to by far the shortest hall of them all. It sat in the middle of the far end of the foyer and was only about thirty feet long. "The double doors at the end lead to the grand hall. Obviously, those are bathrooms, and the other few doors are just parlors for guests to visit. Mostly older guests will rest in them."
He was right when he said that this hall would be the easiest to learn, but something caught my attention while looking down it. "Ronak… M-maybe this is going to seem like a very strange thing to say… but I've noticed that down the halls the restrooms have small signs hanging above them…" It was a clever way for guests to be able to quickly locate the restrooms, but they left me feeling puzzled.
"Yes… they do…" Clearly, he was lost on why I was bringing this up.
"W-well you see…" I couldn't look at him while I asked my dumb question. "Do I use the alpha ones because I'm a guy or the omega ones because I'm an omega?" They just simply had the alpha and omega symbols on them, but I doubt girls would be comfortable with me barging in with them.
I gave Ronak a bit of a side eye and saw that he had a furrowed brow. "You should use the omega ones because I don't want you anywhere near alphas." I had a feeling he was going to say that…
"The omegas aren't going to like that…"
"Don't care. Tell them to shut up. Do you want another perverted jackass situation on our hands?" A shudder ran down my spine, and I stepped a little closer to Ronak.
"N-no." I nervously muttered. Ronak brought his arm up and gave me a slight squeeze.
"Neither do I. Honestly, since you can teleport, I'd even prefer it if you just teleport to the restroom in our quarters." Yeah. That sounded like the best idea. Gosh, why did I ask such a dumb question?! "Problem solved. Now, let's focus back on the hallways." I nodded my head and followed alongside Ronak as he approached the fourth hallway. "This leads to the grand dining room, a few tea rooms, a large lounge, and further down are the entrances to the staff area. It has the kitchens, staff accommodations, and such. If you keep going down this hall and head outside, it eventually leads to the greenhouses." Oooh, I couldn't wait to explore those with Ronak.
"I guess this isn't too bad," I said as we walked to the last hall.
"Right? I told you it looked scarier than it was." We approached the last hall, and I peeked down it curiously. "This hall has things like my alchemy lab, the library, a little art gallery, and some empty rooms. It also leads to the observatory."
"An observatory?" I think I knew what that was… "Is it like a greenhouse?"
"Sort of. Though I don't harvest any of the plants there. They're more for show than anything. I'll have to show it to you later. You'll really like it, I promise." A little smile was playing in the corner of Ronak's lips, and it only made me more curious to go see all the interesting things with Ronak.
"When do I start learning things?" That list of Ronak's was rather intimidating. I know I didn't need to learn everything right off the bat, but I'd like to do my best to ease Ronak's burdens. I want to be useful!
Ronak softly snickered and squeezed my hand. "Awfully eager, aren't you? You don't have to worry about that sort of stuff until you settle in. Besides, I've already arranged a teacher for you."
"You have?" I'm going to have a teacher?!
"Mhm, you'll study with Margravine Giselle when you're ready. Like I said, it's no rush. I probably won't even have you start on anything until after the winter social."
"Sh-shouldn't I start learning things before the social?"
"Are you nervous?" Why ask when you know the answer, Ronak?!
"Obviously," I grumbled.
A smirk formed on his face as he stared down at me. "You don't need to be nervous. Besides, you don't even know what I've asked her to teach you." I guess that's true… "Alright, that should mostly do it for the downstairs. Just like at the capital estate, I don't care what rooms you poke your nose into, but do be aware that the downstairs is open to guests when they're here. We don't get many, but we do get a few here and there when nobles come for meetings."
"Alright." I nodded my head and noticed Olivia approaching with a few butlers and maids in tow.
"Little lord, will you please give us the rest of the luggage you have in your storage?" Oh right… I did have luggage that I put in there. It was mostly my personal stuff that I wanted to bring with me. I didn't know what to expect, so I brought most of my stuff.
"Do you want them here?" I asked as I pointed to the open space next to Olivia. She nodded, so I held out my hands, allowing the luggage to appear from my storage spell in a golden sparkly light. The attendants who didn't know me seemed completely taken aback by the appearance of even more luggage from nowhere, but Olivia didn't even bat an eye.
That was until she furrowed her brow. "Where is the last one?" I could see her double-count the chests with a frown before she turned to me.
I flinched slightly and looked away. "I-I thought since it held more personal items, I could take care of it."
Olivia gave me a slightly perturbed look but nodded her head. "If you insist. I will not force you." She seemed totally annoyed, though. They didn't need to unpack everything! I could handle a little bit on my own.
"Is that the one with your stuffed animals in it?" I jumped as Ronak talked directly into my ear. Gah! "Is it?" His gaze was rather intense as he stared at me.
"M-maybe! It's not like I was leaving them in the capital!" I loved each and every one of them! I couldn't just abandon them!
Ronak reached up and rubbed his temple. "I should have gotten us a bigger bed." His red eyes returned to me, and a slight frown formed on his lips. "They're sure as hell not going to be able to live on our bed like they did at the capital estate. There won't be room."
I stared up at Ronak for a moment. "Then we'll have to make room." Oooh, that made his frown even bigger. "I-I'll figure it out! Don't worry about it!" Gosh! Why did he have to be so mean to my plushies? There weren't that many of them!
Ronak sighed and grabbed my hand. "Come on, I'll show you around upstairs while they finish up our room."
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The more Ronak showed me around, the more lost I felt. He made the downstairs sound so easy, but upstairs felt like a maze, which I found concerning because that was where we would primarily be living. Granted, it did branch off into two primary directions, but it felt a lot more intertwined than downstairs because multiple layers were involved. There were lots of hobby rooms that Ronak said I could do with as I pleased, but… I didn't really have hobbies besides medicine and alchemy…
Ronak showed me to his upstairs office and said that I was free to come and go like I did in the capital. It was set up in a similar manner to his office in the capital, despite being shaped a little differently, except for the gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows directly behind his desk. They had an amazing view of Ebonhold through the tall pine trees, and you could even see the lake in the distance. Just to poke his buttons, I christened his office with the plush red kitty stuffed animal I purchased back in the capital. I wedged it down into his office desk chair as if it was ready to look at some documents, and Ronak let out a rather loud sigh. "Can't that go into your future office?" Ronak grumbled under his breath.
"My future office?" I said, completely ignoring the fact that he wanted to remove my plushy from his office.
"Yeah, yours." Ronak pointed across the hall to an identical-looking set of doors. He led the way to the other office, and I was surprised to see how similarly it was set up to Ronak's. His office was shaped differently, but this one still had bookshelves, two sofas, and a desk in the back. I'd say there were more shelves in here lined with books, though. "When you're ready to take on record keeping and the management of staff, all the documents are located here." He said as he pointed to the many shelves along the right wall.
"Ya know, we could open the doors all the way and be able to see one another while we work." It wasn't a perfect straight shot from desk to desk, but we would be visible to one another.
Ronak scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess we could. Which is why your stuffed animal can live here-"
"Nope!" I declared, cutting him off. "I'll have a corresponding stuffed animal commissioned. Then we both can have one!" Ronak looked a little perturbed but didn't say anything else. I knew he didn't like them, but it was funny watching him struggle to outright reject me.
"You're a brat." He grumbled as he grabbed my hand and hauled my giggling butt down the hall.
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I was starting to notice that we never wandered into the east side of the castle as we made it back to the grand foyer's staircase. "Ronak, what's on the east side of the castle?" We did a loop, but never went over there.
"Oh, they're mostly undecorated rooms right now."
"Why?" I asked as I tilted my head to the side.
"Because we don't have any kids. Did you want to go see them? There are six bedrooms, a pretty big playroom, a few common areas for kids, and a children's library. My room used to be over there, but I have to imagine that it's empty now." Ronak just kept talking and talking, but I'm pretty sure my ears stopped working after his first sentence.
"Th-that's fine!" I squeaked. I-I didn't need to tour the rooms of… our f-future kids! Hearing Ronak talk about it so casually made me blush like crazy. H-how do kids keep getting brought up between us?! I know we're practically married a-and married couples have kids, but still! The idea of having kids with Ronak felt so bizarre to me, but it also felt weirdly right. I figured we'd probably have at least one kid… r-right? How were women so calm about this sort of thing? I know I'm an omega, but it just made me feel a bit panicked.
"My lord." I looked up long enough to see Gerard bowing, but quickly looked away. "Your room has been organized. Sorry for the delay."
"Right. I'll let you know when we're ready for dinner." Ronak didn't even hesitate to pick me up and haul me off. I squirmed uncomfortably in his arms, but that didn't stop him. "Oh, stop it. You're the one having a mild panic attack over nothing." I was not!
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I-I'm never going to be able to find our room again… I wasn't paying attention in the slightest as Ronak abducted me, and I don't remember him pointing it out on our original upstairs tour. Gosh, this place was massive. It seemed way bigger than the capital estate to me, and I haven't really even seen the entire place.
We came to a grand set of doors, and Ronak sat me down. "Welcome to our new bedroom," Ronak said as he opened the door for me.
The room was spacious and large, but what almost instantly caught my attention was the walls… "Ronak, is this room round?"
"Rounded. This is the massive spire on the west side that overlooks the knights' training grounds and back gardens. This wall and that one are flat, but I guess it gets rounder on the upper floors." He pointed to the two obviously flat walls, and I gave him a bit of a dull look. No duh, I can see that. I was obviously referring to the massive curved wall that connected the two flat ones.
The other flat wall adjacent to us had a massive fireplace that had a cozy fire crackling away inside its hearth. Oh, this is all the furniture we picked out, wasn't it? There were two sofas with a coffee table in between. The dark-gray rug we picked out really paired everything together. Along the curved wall were many beautiful windows and a staircase that led up to another room. Underneath the staircase were built-in shelves that mostly sat empty, and next to the staircase was a small table set perfectly for Ronak and me to have breakfast at.
The room was absolutely beautiful, but something was obviously missing. "Where's the bed?"
Ronak teasingly pinched my bottom and whispered into my ear. "Are you that excited to break it in?"
"Th-that's not what I-!" Ronak's childish laughter cut me off. Why was he always like this?! You'd think making love was the only thing he thought about!
Ronak managed to stop laughing, but my face was all pink, and the smirk on his face annoyed me. "The capital estate is a bit odd. It's the only master bedroom that doesn't have multiple chambers. Let's finish exploring down here before we go upstairs." He pointed to the three doors along the flat walls, and I nodded my head.
The first door we went to was beside the fireplace. When he opened the door, I was expecting more. It was decent-sized with a big, beautiful window, but besides that, it was barren. "What's this room supposed to be?"
"It can be converted into different things. Like if you wanted to make it into a mini library or a hobby room, you could." Oh, I see. "It usually acts as a nursery. I believe its last use was when I was a newborn." I let out a little gasp and scooted further away from Ronak. I-I don't see at all! Gah! Ronak grabbed my arm and pulled me back over to him, which made me flinch. "Why are you acting all shy and embarrassed about there being rooms for child rearing here? There were rooms like this in the capital estate, too."
"I-I… it's just… ahem…" I floundered to express myself as my face became steadily warmer. "W-we just… aren't married yet… a-and kids keep getting brought up…" I thought I was going to pass out from the sheer heat my face was radiating. The reality of our relationship going forward and my role in it was becoming a bit too obvious. I-I didn't hate the idea, but it did cause butterflies in my stomach.
Ronak wasn't helping the situation in the slightest as he put one hand on the small of my back and the other on my chin to prevent me from looking away as he pulled me in close. "Mmm, you being all embarrassed is cute." His red eyes were practically boring holes into me as he slyly grinned. "Do remember we're going at your pace. Last I checked, you wanted to finish at the academy and then get married. Just because our estate has rooms for kids doesn't mean we have to instantly fill them all. We're still barely adults; we have our entire lives ahead of us." R-right- Ronak didn't even give me a second to think before his lips pressed against mine. Tasting like cherries all the time was completely cheating! It only left me wanting more and more kisses. "Let's finish looking around." He said as he released me.
"Okay." Ronak pulled me along with him as I tried to calm down. Yeah… we didn't need to rush things. I-I was just overreacting… "I noticed it before, but everything matches extremely well." The furniture we picked out was just as comfortable as I had hoped. Ronak insisted that it was all made with a durable yet soft fabric since it was going to be in our room. I loved the dark wood tones with the red fabric. It felt perfect for the two of us. A little greenery here and there, and maybe a blanket or two, and I could see myself living here.
Before we wandered over to the stairs, we stopped at the two doors next to them. The first led to a massive walk-in closet. I was shocked to see that it was even bigger than our last one, and it was fully furnished with all sorts of clothes I had never seen before. The odd part was that Ronak's clothes totally smelled like him, while mine smelled like nothing. Granted, I haven't worn any of them yet, but it was still an odd experience. I guess I never noticed that our closet in the capital smelled like both of us. The second door led to the bathroom. I-I thought the capital estate had a fancy bathroom. This one was just as luxurious, if not even more. It was set up similarly with a skylight and tropical plants all about, but the tub itself was round on one side with way more waterfall features pouring into the bath. Ronak found it pretty funny as I stared at it with an open mouth.
"Shall we go upstairs before your brain implodes?" Ronak snickered as he hauled me out of the bathroom. I couldn't even respond. All I was capable of doing was nodding my head.
The moment we stepped foot onto the stairs, I noticed that there was another set right above us. This place had three levels?! It's never-ending… We made it to the second landing, which was clearly our bedroom. This time, only the far wall with the fireplace was flat. Our bed was tucked into the curve between the fireplace and the stairs, and there seemed to be another two doors next to the fireplace. It turned out even more grand and luxurious than I thought it would, with its four posts and intricate carvings. The bedding almost beckoned you to lie in it; it looked so soft. Of course, just like the furniture downstairs, I had selected red and a dark gray to be our room colors. That, with a few pops of white here and there, really tied everything together. Forget dinner, I just wanted to snuggle up right now after that long never never-ending journey.
"This turned out nice. I knew you'd pick out the best colors." Ronak leaned over and kissed the side of my head and pulled me further into the room. He was being far too nice; he was the one who paired my idea with the wood tones, flooring, and other decorations.
"Whoa." The view from our room was breathtaking. I noticed it slightly downstairs, but I just couldn't get enough. Yeah, looking down, you could see the barracks, training grounds, and back gardens, but when you looked up across the valley, you could see over the trees to the snow-capped mountains. It was breathtaking. Gosh, I get to wake up to that every morning?
"This must be another bathroom." Ah, I was so taken with the view that I didn't even notice Ronak wandering away from me. I turned around to see him sticking his head into the door next to the fireplace. "Yeah, it's a small bathroom with a shower." I wandered over to peek, and sure enough, it was a very simple, small bathroom with a shower at the end, a toilet, and a sink. I'd probably lose my mind if our room had another giant bathroom.
"This is convenient." I was rather concerned about having to do stairs in the middle of the night, but I see that whoever built this place thought of everything.
"This here is a corridor that leads to the other half of the estate. I think there's also an outdoor area, but I doubt we want to go out there right now."
I peeked my head through the door, and sure enough, it was a long, empty corridor with a set of double doors that led outside and another door at the far end. This place really was maze-like. I'm totally going to get lost… "That's interesting." Ronak pulled me out from the doorway, and it clicked closed and made a locking sound.
"There's another floor," Ronak said as he pointed to the second set of stairs that sat above the first. "If you think that this view is good, you're going to love upstairs." Ronak cutely took my hand and hauled me with him to the stairs. "I don't remember a ton about the master bedroom because I was kicked out permanently when my mother died, but I sure do remember this room."
It left a lasting impression on Ronak, huh? I can see why! "Whoa." The room was completely round with windows almost in every direction, giving you a perfect view of everything in the valley. The city, the lakes, and the mountains. You could see everything. It was amazing!
"Neat, right?" I turned around to see Ronak flopping down into what seemed to be a massive oversized pillow. The room had very little to no real furniture. It was mostly pillows and poufs to sit on. Oh, was that a telescope? Too bad the ceiling wasn't made of glass. You'd be able to see the stars. I wandered over to Ronak, and he pulled me down to lie with him. "How do you like everything so far?"
"It's amazing… actually, it completely blew me away." I snuggled up against Ronak and enjoyed the gentle smell of his pheromones on his clothes.
"I've been rather stressed about bringing you here."
I gently closed my eyes as Ronak began to play with my hair. "Why?" I mumbled.
"What if you arrived, hated everything, and wanted to be returned to your parents? I'd have been devastated." What a silly thing to be concerned about.
"Mmmm, I don't think you need to worry about such things. I'm afraid you're stuck with me. We can barely be apart for a few days because of our imprint. Did you forget about that?" At this point, just attending classes without Ronak made me anxious. While I would like to go visit my parents, the idea of being without Ronak made me stressed out. He'd definitely have to come with me.
"You're right… Even if you had cried, I would have abducted you and brought you here."
I peeled my eyes open to glare at Ronak as I jabbed my finger into his chest. "No abducting me places against my will. I'll get mad at you."
Ronak softly scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm afraid I'll take you anywhere I go, regardless. Did you not just hear yourself? We struggle to be apart."
I stuck out my bottom lip and furrowed my brow as I deepened my scowl. "You're supposed to fear me and my legion of pillows."
A slight laugh escaped Ronak, shaking me, as he closed his eyes. "Ah, yes. How could I forget about the mighty legion of pillows? I'm shaking in fear at the thought."
"You're a meanie," I grumbled as I too closed my eyes and resumed resting my head against Ronak's shoulder. Gosh, I was so tired from traveling. Just getting to be on solid ground felt like a blessing.
I wiggled my legs onto Ronak's lap as I curled up on top of him. I might have been lying on Ronak a bit more than the pillow, but this was nice. We should do this all the time. Even Ronak playing with my hair was a pleasant feeling. As the warmth of the setting sun started to bathe us, a funny feeling started to build inside my chest. I was feeling so calm and cozy. I don't think I've felt this stress-free in my entire life; everything just felt perfect. I can't believe Ronak thought I'd want to leave. How silly. He's such a dummy. Even a pleasant sound was playing in the room as I started to doze off.
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Ronak
Just like I thought he would, the moment Micha got comfortable, he started to doze off. I didn't mind. Traveling had been long, and he wasn't used to it at all. Besides, him lying basically on top of me was extremely pleasant. I liked him being so close; it made me feel calm.
The sun was starting to set, and the room was warm enough that I didn't feel the need to toss a blanket over Micha. He was overwhelming me with happiness, so I guess he's fine. He didn't even seem to mind me playing with his hair. I don't think he knows how often I do it, but it's become a regular habit of mine as I wait for him to wake up in the mornings.
I was about to settle down for a short nap of my own when an odd sound reached my ears. The fuck is that? I mean… I really like it… but… was it coming from Micha? The longer it went on, the more Micha's upper torso began to slightly reverberate. I jolted in shock as Micha began to heavily produce pheromones. They were nothing like he had produced before. There were slight shifts in his pheromones based on how he was feeling, but not like this. This was like being engulfed in a thick miasma of spiced vanilla tea.
Micha shifted to look at me, and it was clear to me that he wasn't fully awake. "What's wrong?" He asked as he sleepily rubbed his eyes. Why did he look so damn alluring right now? Shit. It's way too much for me. It wasn't often that I had a flushed face, but my face definitely felt warm right now.
"Were you purring?!" Micha stared at me for a moment with a dazed look. Fuck, he looks too fucking hot right now. Even the wide collar on his shirt shifted, exposing all the temporary marks I gave him on his shoulder a few days ago.
"Huh?" Micha tilted his head to the side and sleepily blinked. He had no idea what sort of internal torture he was inflicting upon me. This damn brat!
"You made a sound just now. It was… terribly cute…" Based on the look Micha was giving me, it was clear that his sleepy brain wasn't understanding. "So it's true that omegas purr…"
"Your face is really cute when you blush." Micha leaned down closer to me, and while his miasma of pheromone had dissipated since he woke up, he still smelled strongly of pheromones. "Why are you so flustered?"
"Because there's a naughty little omega sitting atop me making cute sounds." Micha looked away from me as if thinking. Did he even register what I said?
"I… don't think I can do it on command…" Was that what he was trying to do while looking zoned out? Apparently, the little brat was done holding a conversation because he let out a big yawn and settled back down to lie against my chest.
I couldn't help but scoff. Complete torture. I started rubbing circles on Micha's back while I stared at the ceiling and rambled on, probably more to myself than anything. "From what I understand, omegas can only purr when happy. It's not something you can force."
"Yeah, it's not happening," Micha mumbled in response. A little bit of embarrassment passed by Micha, which I didn't understand. Why would he have a reason to feel embarrassed?
"Alphas growl and omegas purr. Though many omegas can't. It's almost considered to be a myth at this point."
"What can I say?" Micha mumbled. "I just… really like… this giant pillow… and I guess I like you too…" The fuck did he just say?
I sat up, causing Micha to stir from his snoozing. "You guess?!?" I grabbed hold of his ear and pinched it. "What kind of response is that?! I'll leave you to the damn pillow if you like it more than me!"
Micha let out quite the whine and swatted my hand away from his ear. He glared up at me, but I didn't give to fucks. "Owie! Wh-why did you have to do that? We were having a good time, you big meanie!" I felt a little sorry about pinching his ear, but I was still rather pissed about what he said.
"You only guess?" I snapped.
Micha's face scrunched up as embarrassment engulfed him. "You should already know that I like you a lot, but maybe I like you less now." He snapped as he rubbed his ear. "You can tease me, but I can't tease you?"
I rotated, letting Micha fall primarily onto the big pillow pouf as I moved to hover above him. He tried to squirm, but I just pulled him back over to me. "That's not something you should tease me about." I softly growled and lowered my head to Micha's shoulder.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Stooooop! I don't wanna tonight! I'm tired!" His begging didn't stop me from picking an all too visible spot on his neck and chomping down. He let out a bit of a squeal but happily squirmed underneath me.
I let out another growl as I released him and sat up a bit. "I'm in a bartering mood because of your purr." It was taking everything in my power not to grin. I loved making deals with Micha. He was far too naive to know that the answer he was going to provide me with was something I was already going to do. He was just playing into my desires.
Micha gasped and looked up at me with wide eyes. "Huh?"
"I'll let you have a restful evening if you do what I ask." His beautiful golden eyes were the size of dinner plates as he looked up at me. I swear I could see the cogs working inside his head.
"Wh-what is it you want?" He squeaked.
Oh, you adorable little sunshine of mine. Just agree. I know you will. "It's nothing much… I just want you to wear something…"
Micha's face was visibly turning pinker the longer the silence grew between us. "Is it the sweater dress?!" He eventually yelped.
A pleased grumble rose from my chest, and my grin widened. "While that is delectable on you, I might have gotten something… different…" Fear was coursing through Micha like crazy. Heh. I know he tried to confiscate that magazine from me, but little did he know, I had already collected a list of numbers from it that I thought would look good on him. I currently only have one outfit, but I wasn't afraid to order more. Micha was hesitating too much. Nope, I'm not risking you saying no. I leaned down close to his ear and lowered my voice so it would tickle his ear. "If you say no, I'll make sure you won't be getting any rest tonight. It will be you and me until dawn. You might be tired, but I'm sure not."
Micha started to shiver as if the room were cold. The look in his eyes was incredibly delightful as he stared at me in horror. "F-fine!"
"You'll wear the outfit for me?" The grin on my face was embarrassingly massive. I couldn't fucking wait to see Micha wearing such slinky clothes. The last time he did, I thought my cock would burst through my pants. Fuck, I'm going to get rock hard if I don't control myself.
"Yeah, j-just calm down!" He didn't seem terribly enthused, but he agreed as I knew he would. Heh. He fell for it just like I thought he would. So cute and gullible.