Micha
"We're not going to spar today."
I glanced up at Ronak in surprise. "We're not?" I thought that's why he was bringing me out to the training field…
"Nope. I've been learning to integrate all your spells into my fighting style, and yet you still can't use mine unless transformed. It's time you get used to the spells. You probably haven't even tried casting some of them." Ronak came to a stop at the edge of the training field, so I followed suit. He wasn't wrong. I had barely played around with any of the spells I got from him. I didn't even know where to start.
"But there are knights around…" I don't know if I should be traipsing around with my wings out. I might freak out some knights…
"Most of them have seen my transformation spell, and besides getting a set of wings and a halo, you don't even look different." He had a point… "I'll even give you advice on how to improve the spells."
What? I want to hear! I accessed my mana and let it flow through me as the transformation took effect. I stretched my wings out as far as I could and brought them in close against my back. It's still surprising how natural it feels to have a new set of appendages… Like I was meant to have wings.
The moment I transformed, whispers could be heard from the knights. Even the duo's sparring came to a stop so they could gawk. "See? It's drawing attention..." I mumbled as I stepped closer to Ronak. I wanted to hide behind him, but I doubt even he could hide my wings.
Ronak growled a whole lot less ever since we came to his dukedom, so I wasn't prepared as he let out a rather loud and annoyed growl. Talk about sending shivers down my spine. "Mind your damn business, or we'll see how good Micha's aim is as you become the training dummies." That… got most of the knights to scurry off or turn around. Gosh, he didn't need to be so mean. "Alright, let's start with an easy one. Thorn rupture. I'm sure you're familiar with it, but-"
"W-wait… I don't have a spell called thorn rupture…" I remember the names of the new spells, and thorn rupture definitely wasn't one of them.
"You don't?" Ronak gave me a rather curious look as we walked a bit further into the middle of the now-empty training field.
"The new spells have different names…" I double checked, but sure enough, there wasn't one called thorn rupture.
"There should be slight changes. Like, your light orb is called the orb of darkness for me. I think it's because we have different magic attributes. It would be slightly odd if they were identical in every way." Ronak folded his arms and got a bit of a distant look in his eyes.
"Oh… then I would assume that your thorn rupture is… maybe this sunbeam spell I have?" It seemed similar. Before we could discuss it further, I held out my hand and targeted an empty spot a few feet away. "Sunbeam!" Almost like a bolt of lightning, a bright ray of light shot down from the sky and smashed into the ground. Neither Ronak nor I were expecting such a thing, so we both flinched as dirt, rocks, and snow chunks sprayed in our direction. "S-sorry!" I nervously squealed as Ronak's arm shot out and pulled me behind him.
"Target an actual dummy next time. Don't just cast anywhere…" I thought for sure Ronak would give me a scathing glare as he glanced at me, but he didn't.
"I don't know what I was expecting… I-I'll make sure I aim further away next time!" I was a bit embarrassed that I didn't even consider that it would be dangerous to cast this close to us. Gosh, I'm such a dummy sometimes.
"I haven't had a chance to read too many spell theory books, but spells don't always have a similar one in different attributes. Maybe your sunbeam is as close as your light magic could get to my thorn rupture." Oh, that made sense. A golden thorn popping out of the ground for someone with light magic would be rather strange.
"I'm going to cast it a few more times, but this time over there." I pointed towards the row of training dummies, and Ronak nodded his head.
I held out my hands and reduced the amount of mana for the spell. This time it wasn't startling because I cast it a proper distance away. I flicked my finger downward, and the spell activated. Light rained down from the sky like a strike from the heavens. Despite reducing the mana, the spell still managed to take the training dummy's head off.
"So you can control it," Ronak mumbled under his breath. Was he talking about the spell? I tilted my head to the side and stared up at Ronak. "Oh, I was just noticing that you can control the amount of mana you put into a spell… Which means there's no reason you've been losing our sparring matches." Huh? How did he come to that conclusion?!
"How would that help me win?" I wasn't following his thought process at all…
"Because if your spells had more strength to them, you'd be able to actually hurt me-"
"I don't want to hurt you!" Why would he say such a thing?! I faced him and glared up at him as best as I could. I even puffed up my feathers to try to seem larger. "Why would you want me to hurt you?!"
"I don't. But you don't spar with enough conviction." Did he want me to spar as he does? He had been better because I requested it, but I thought he was legitimately trying to kill me before I complained.
"I don't like hurting people!"
Ronak reached over and patted the top of my head. "I'm aware. Guess I'll just keep catching my cute mouse." Gah! I-I'll show him! I'll win one day without having to use brute force!
I whipped towards the training dummies and angrily sent multiple sunbeams at them. As their heads fell to the ground, I glared back at Ronak, who was snickering.
"Oooh, so scary." I'll show him scary! Before I could get angry, Ronak patted the top of my hair again. Stoooop! You're going to mess up my hair! "I don't know if you'll ever be able to produce anything similar to the little spikes that I can shoot, but I guess you have your arrows… Hmmm, alright, try another spell."
I grumbled under my breath as I sorted back through my spells. "There are lots of summoning ones…"
"Oh? What are they called?" Ronak asked. I could tell he was looking at me as I stared off into the distance.
"There's a summon sprite, an archangel, and a summon holy weapon." I blinked a few times and turned my attention back to Ronak. He really did have a lot of summoning spells.
"Hmmm, I assume your sprites are like my undead, and your archangels are like Olivia and Gerard. Obviously, your weapon is like mine. I don't recommend trying to summon an archangel right now, but we could start with your holy weapon." Ronak held out his hand and summoned one of his inky black twin blades.
"Will mine be a sword too?" I asked as I held out my hand.
"It could be, but there are records of my relatives using hammers or axes." Ronak's sword slowly disappeared from his hand. "Let's see what you're meant to wield. You don't need to think about any weapon in particular. The spell will generate what you're meant to wield, even if you think it's supposed to be something else." It was pretty cute how interested he was in my spells. I didn't mind the attention at all. The way he phrased it made it seem like he wasn't very happy with his twin blades. I'll have to ask him about it later.
I focused my attention on the spell and closed my eyes. "Holy weapon, come forth." I quietly mumbled to myself. My hand, which was empty only moments ago, became weighted down as a cylindrical object appeared within.
"Huh… I wasn't expecting that…, but I guess it makes sense…" Ronak seemed to be mumbling to himself, so I opened my eyes and was greeted by a long pole.
"A staff?"
"No, it's a polearm." Ronak pointed to the end where a rather sharp-looking blade sat. It was rather interestingly shaped. Like a crescent moon with a sword tip jutting out of the middle. "More specifically, a partizan polearm." Whatever it was, it was incredibly pretty. The shaft was white with beautiful golden engraving, and it even continued up along the blade. Where the shaft met the blade, there were what seemed to be decorative tassels that swayed as the weapon moved.
"It's really light." I wobbled it about just to watch the tassels, and Ronak nervously took a step back.
"Maybe you put that away until you learn how to properly use one. I don't particularly want to get stabbed." My eyes instantly darted over to Ronak as I gave him an annoyed look.
"I-I'm not going to stab you!" H-he was right, though, because of the uneven weight, I was sort of flinging it about awkwardly. I had no idea what I was doing with a weapon in my hands. I stopped channeling magic to it, and my new polearm disappeared.
"It's not a terrible weapon for you. If anything, because of your height and stature, it shouldn't be too hard to learn… We'll have to start training you with practice weapons, and then when you're feeling more confident in your abilities, you can practice with your holy weapon." Gosh, it felt like the list of stuff I had to learn was never-ending these days. I-I'm in way over my head, aren't I?
"O-okay…"
"Don't be nervous. You can learn at your own pace. You're not a knight after all, so there's no rush." Ronak always knew how to ease my concerns, well, most of the time. He's definitely gotten better at it. I really appreciated that he wasn't expecting me to learn everything in an unreasonable time span. He really was a good alpha… "Okay, next summoning spell." Ronak held out his hand, and his mana swirled around a bit. I had never gotten to see a whole one, but it was rather creepy watching an undead basically crawl out of the ground. I wanted to hold out my hand and zap it with my new sunbeam spell, but didn't. Huh… it did look like an undead monster, but its visible flesh was red like Ronak's when he transformed. "This summoning spell for me is rather basic, but I don't use it too often because it makes people uncomfortable." I could see why… The undead monster thingy was wearing armor, but it was giving off unnatural vibes. You definitely wouldn't accidentally confuse this for a normal knight. "Your turn."
I nodded my head and focused on the spell. Oh, this one had quite the chant. I might not ever be able to cast it silently… "Oh sacred Goddess, please grant me a sprite to aid me in my doings." As I held out my hands, a little orb of light started to appear and grow. It was a bit like a light orb, but when it popped, a golden fairy appeared. She was no bigger than my hand and clearly had wings like a butterfly. She did a little stretching and smiled at me. When she held relatively still, she almost looked like a statue because of her completely golden appearance, but she had so much more of a personality than Ronak's zombie. "Woooah! So pretty!"
"Do all your spell chants sound like prayers?" Ronak's question drew my attention away from the small fairy, and as I accidentally stopped supplying her with mana, she disappeared in a sparkle of gold. Nooo! I glared over to Ronak, and he scoffed.
"Why did you have to distract me like that?!"
"You can always summon another one." I guess he's right…
"Yeah, all my spell chants reference the Goddess in one way or another. Don't all spell chants reference a God or Goddess?"
"Mine don't." Huh… that's odd.
"Most of the people in our combat training and monster hunting classes reference Gods and Goddesses when they cast spells, so maybe it's you who's the odd one." I teased.
"Mmm, I never paid attention to those fuckers…" I puckered my lips slightly as I held out my hands and summoned another golden sprite. Oh, that's interesting. Her hair and features were different from the last sprite. "This is supposed to be an attack spell?" Ronak reached over and poked the sprite. To both of our surprise, she seemed rather annoyed by Ronak touching her.
"They are?" I glanced back over to Ronak's undead. Yeah… my little sprite didn't exactly seem up to par compared to his undead.
"They're supposed to be. Try telling her to attack the training dummy." Ronak pointed across the way to my decapitated training dummy.
"Alright. Umm, little sprite, could you try attacking that training dummy?" She nodded her head and zipped off, but her attack was… lackluster. She brought her heel back and kicked the shoulder of the training dummy, but nothing happened. "Y-you can stop that…" She nodded her head and zipped back over to me.
"That's… useless…" Ronak rudely grumbled.
"Hey! She's not useless!" I shielded her from Ronak's scathing glare and gave her a concerned look. "So combat isn't your strength… Is there something you're good at?" She nodded her head and held out her hands. They began to glow gold as mine did, and she pressed them against my arm. "Is that healing magic?" She nodded her head excitedly and flew over in front of Ronak. She held out her arms once again, and golden vines began to emerge from the ground and wrap around his legs. "Ooooh! You use support magic!" Ronak easily kicked the sprite's vines off his legs and glared at her.
"Her spells would probably be stronger if you supplied her with more mana." Oh, that made sense. I'll have to remember that in the future.
"Take back what you said about her being useless," I grumbled as she flew back over to me.
"She'll have to prove her worth a little better than that to impress me." My sprite made a rude gesture towards Ronak as she disappeared in a sparkle. Ronak gave me an annoyed look, but I held up my hands.
"I didn't tell her to do that." I noticed Ronak's zombie disappear in a swirl of red as he rolled his eyes.
"Ahuh. What other spells do you have?" That's an odd question. Shouldn't Ronak know what I have?
"Mmm, I have your mirror image spell, one called blessing of fortitude, heaven's fury, which sounds scary, and devoted devotee."
Ronak fell silent for a second as he stared at the ground. "Let's talk about your devoted devotee spell later when we're in private…" Huh? Granted, the spell sounded particularly strange, but I didn't understand why we needed to be in private to discuss it.
"Okay…"
"A blessing, huh? That's interesting. You want to cast it on me?" Ronak asked as he pointed to himself.
"I can. It seems simple enough." I stepped closer to him and pressed my hands against his arm. "Bless this grumpy alpha of mine!" I teasingly chanted.
Ronak started to scowl, but his eyes went wide. "Holy shit…"
"Wh-what? Are you okay?" I nervously grabbed hold of his sleeve and stared up at him. My spell didn't do something weird, did it?
"That spell is amazing. It almost feels like a protective bubble has been cast around me… Also, I think you increased my spell damage."
"What?" I pulled my hands away from him and looked down at them curiously. I focused my attention and had to pause. Whoa, that is an impressive spell. Very few things can increase spell damage besides learning to influence how much or how little mana you use when casting. It also seems to be deflecting any incoming attacks, which is amazing.
"Mmm, it doesn't seem to last an incredibly long time, but it would be useful in a pinch. Do you have to stick your hands on the person you cast it on?"
I tilted my head to the side as I thought about the spell. "Yeah. I think if I'm not touching someone, it gets cast on me."
"Then you better only ever use it on me." Ronak snatched up my hand and gently kissed my fingers. Pft, he's so jealous.
I decided to pull a bit of a prank on Ronak, as he did to me a few weeks ago. With a wave of my hand, another Micha appeared from a golden shimmer beside Ronak. "What about me? Can I lay my hands on you?"
"Yeah, me too?" A third Micha said as he appeared similarly. All three of us looked like angels, too. While the other two couldn't actually touch Ronak, the look on his face was priceless. His eyes went wide, and he gawked from one Micha to the next.
"You greedily want all of our blessings, huh?" I teased as I ran my hands along Ronak's abs. Hehe, so muscular and hot.
"What about mine? You want mine, right?"
"Me too! Me too! I want to give blessings!" The two fake versions of me crowded around Ronak, and it was absolutely hilarious to see how flustered he became.
"I think he wants something a bit more than a blessing." I used my wings as best as I could to block Ronak's massive erection that was forming. Was he trying to rip his pants or something?
"Naughty, naughty alpha."
"N-naughty indeed-!" Ronak's arms reached out, and in the blink of an eye, he tossed me up and over his shoulder. The other two Michas disappeared in golden sparkles as my attention was diverted. Gah! I-I didn't mean to! Have mercy on me! There was no mercy, though. Ronak snapped his fingers and teleported us directly to our bed. "W-wait!" I cried as Ronak started to pull my clothes off.
There was no waiting, though. I teased Ronak too much and completely unleashed a feral beast. I don't even think he was listening to me. He was completely obsessed with what he was doing. No matter how much I whined, there was no stopping him. I guess this is what I get for teasing him…
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I let out a grunt as I shifted to sit upright on Ronak's office sofa. Ugh, seeing him look so refreshed after torturing me all night was completely unfair. Why couldn't I feel that great the day after? The only relief I had was that Ronak canceled all my plans for the day. Not that I could meet with Giselle like this. She'd ask me why I was so sore, and then I'd have to come up with some uncomfortable lie. It's not like I was going to tell her that Ronak and I made love until the sun came up.
"What are you doing?" Ronak asked as he glanced over to me and the bag I had pulled out of my storage.
"Giselle is teaching me how to embroider. I just thought since I'll be sitting here, I could work on it." I pulled my hoop out of my bag and showed Ronak the half-completed rabbit I had embroidered.
"It's a rabbit, right? That's not half bad for your first time."
"Thanks! I think learning how to use needles for suturing has really helped me. Giselle even said that I was really talented." I prepped my needle and got to work adding details to my rabbit, but something was still on my mind from yesterday. "I have two questions."
"Yes?" I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Ronak looking up from the document he had in his hands.
"First, you mentioned yesterday that the weapon that appears from the summoning spell isn't always the one you expect. What did you mean?"
"Oh. Elyas pitched a big fit when he finally learned that spell. He spent his youth learning how to wield a sword and shield combo, but then had to completely relearn his combat style when the spell gave him a daito." I looked up from my embroidery to give Ronak a puzzled look. "A daito is a very long, thin sword. Sort of the opposite of Uncle Hemonnet's large, wide one. It's not something that you can use a shield with because you need to use both hands." Mmm, Ronak's ability to read my mind was so useful sometimes.
"I can totally see Elyas pitching a fit…" I snickered as I added a whisker to my rabbit.
"Yeah, he was fucking annoying. What's your other question?"
I paused and tied off the white thread I was using in the back. I'll need dark brown next. "Why did we have to talk about my devoted devotee spell in private?"
"Mmm…" Ronak looked up at the door, then over to me. "Your spell's name is much kinder than mine. My version of that spell is called enslaved follower." Just hearing his spell's name made me shiver. What sort of creepy name is that?!
"Wh-what does it do?" I'm not sure I want to hear the answer…
"It binds someone to you. I'd almost describe it as a curse. If the person who has it placed upon them doesn't follow orders, they die. I've only ever used the spell three times." Three times? It wouldn't make sense for him to place it on Gerard and Olivia; they were already loyal because he summoned them. Also, there were only two of them, not three… "I'm not sure what you're thinking, but they all agreed to the terms willingly. I didn't force that spell onto anyone. You know two of them. It's Blade and Thorn." Oh… I always did think they were awfully loyal. "Thorn was homeless and starving when he pledged his life to me, and Blade was the son of a noble family that was going to be eradicated by the emperor. I gave him a way out instead of being slaughtered for the sins of his father, though I mostly did it because his type of magic is rare and useful." I… guess that makes it better? Sort of… "There's one other guy you haven't met. He manages a lot of Elutra's production facilities and exportation since I can't physically be in multiple places at once. His name is Myles."
For some reason, that felt really odd to me. I immediately looked up and gave Ronak a weird look. "Myles?"
"Yes… Is there something wrong with his name?"
My eyebrow slowly raised as I gave Ronak a judgmental stare. "How do we go from a Blade and a Thorn to a normal name like Myles?"
"Oh, that? Well… Both Thorn and Blade wanted new names when they accepted the oath, so I granted them some. It makes sense if you think about it. Blade is the knife I keep at others' throats so they don't take me lightly, and Thorn is the annoying thorn in people's sides. Always two steps ahead and full of incredibly useful information, thanks to the guild. He's like a rosebush I planted." And roses have thorns… Gosh, I know Ronak is a bit cheesy when he tells me sweet things, but I didn't realize this stemmed from a natural dorkiness. Wh-why do I find it oddly charming?
"And Myles?"
"Is a cutthroat businessman I brought into the fold. You'll meet him eventually." I see… Well, I guess I see… It was still a bit confusing, but I didn't want to judge too harshly.
"My spell doesn't include anything about death…"
"I wouldn't imagine it would."
I paused working on my rabbit and stared off into the distance. "It just implies that they'll become an incredibly loyal and devoted servant."
"Huh… I wonder if it changes the person's personality? How would it deal with someone who's defiant?" Ronak mumbled as he sorted a few papers into stacks.
"I don't know…" I didn't have a clue, and I sure didn't see myself using the spell to find out.
"Oh well. It's not a big deal." Yeah, I didn't see it being a problem either. "That other girl arrived today. Shall we do interviews tomorrow?"
"Brynn and Harper are both finally here?" Ronak nodded his head and scowled at a letter he opened. "Yes, we can interview them tomorrow. Though… I don't know much about conducting interviews."
"It's not a big deal. I'll handle all the questions. You just need to think about one thing while you listen to their answers." Ronak didn't even respond to the letter he scowled at. He simply tossed it into the bin next to his desk.
Shouldn't I be thinking about a bit more than one thing? "What do I need to think about?"
"If you can see yourself getting along with them." Oh, I guess that would be rather important. Especially since they'd be living with us and working in our castle. I'd probably run into them relatively often since Ronak said they'd be over document management for the estate, not just a librarian for our two libraries. She'd probably end up helping me one day as I take over household management, too.
"Alright, then I'll think about that." Besides, I think I had a pretty good idea who the two girls were anyway. I had been studying the nobles of the western dukedom a lot lately, and I recognized both Brynn and Harper's pictures. Harper was an earl's daughter and the same age as us. I had seen her around the academy, but she never associated with me because of the rank difference. She never treated me poorly, but I didn't know her well at all. Brynn was the daughter of a baron. I did know her a little. She traveled back with us from the academy, but she was two years older than we were. Whenever I saw her, she always had a book in hand and honestly seemed perfect for the job of librarian. We'll have to see what Ronak thinks, though.
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"Do remember to sit up tall. Yes, like that. Raise your chin a little." I did as Giselle asked, but the position felt so unnatural. I've never sat like this before… "Remember to make eye contact and try not to stutter." We were just finishing up our lesson for the day, and Giselle felt the need to make sure I was ready for the interviews. I shouldn't have mentioned them to her. She made me practice sitting correctly for the last twenty minutes.
"Pardon me," Olivia said as she stuck her head into the room. "It's time to change and head to the meetings." All hail Olivia's perfect timing. If I had to adjust my chin one more time, I was going to go nuts and run away.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Giselle." I rose from my chair and scurried over to Olivia. Get me out of here!
"You looked so regal just now," Olivia said as we headed towards the foyer. She thought I looked regal?
"Really?"
"Yeah. I almost felt like I popped my head into the wrong room. You looked so serious." Oh… M-maybe Giselle's efforts were paying off…
"Should I sit like that during the interviews?"
"Yes, I think it would make you look professional. You are employing someone after all." Right… Olivia probably knew what she was talking about. Okay. I'll do my best.
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Oh my gosh, I wasn't even the one being interviewed, and I was struggling not to be intimidated. Why did Ronak ask so many questions, a-and would it have killed him not to look so intimidating the entire time? We were in his public office downstairs. He had two chairs sitting at the head of the table for the two of us and one down at the other end for our interviewees. Did he intentionally set this up to be like this?
It started normally. "Tell me about yourself." "What are your strengths?" "Why do you want this job?" "Why should we hire you?" But the questions just kept going on and on. "What sort of goals do you have?" "What are your interests?" "How do you prefer to work?" "What motivates you?" "How do you handle stress?" "How do you plan to balance work and your personal life?" Gah! His questions were endless! I wanted to reach over and press my finger against Ronak's lips. Too many questions! Even worse, we had to do this two times in a row!
Both candidates took Ronak's last question, as well as I thought they would. "If you choose to accept this position, are you willing to get engaged or married within a year? If you or your family can't find any suitable alphas, one will be found for you, and you will be expected to make a bond with them after marriage." Both times, he was met with a very polite, "Pardon?" To which Ronak would furrow his brow and repeat what he said as if that was the problem. Neither of the girls seemed thrilled about Ronak's ultimatum, but they agreed nonetheless. Honestly, I was surprised that either of them would be willing to accept such a demand just for a job. They were both high-ranking nobles. They had no reason to take a job long term… Maybe they plan to quit after a year?
I couldn't help but stare at Ronak's chin after Brynn left the room. Huh, I guess he does hold it high when acting officially. "Is there something on my face?" Ronak asked as he glanced over to me.
"Heh, no. I was just looking at your posture." I giggled.
"I did notice you held yourself rather well during the interviews."
"Thanks!" I stuck my nose up in the air proudly. "All that annoying practice paid off if you noticed!"
Ronak snickered and reached over to pinch my nose. "Back to business, I think there's an obvious candidate out of the two, but what's your opinion?" There was? Mmm, I guess in my opinion there was a slight difference between the two…
"While I think Harper is very skilled, I don't know if she's right for a librarian job… She seems like quite the social butterfly, and librarian work doesn't seem to fit her personality."
"Mmm, I agree in a sense. She'd be a much better lady-in-waiting than a librarian." Ronak's gaze drifted from his notes and over to me. "Are you open to having a lady-in-waiting?"
I gave Ronak a bit of a blank stare. "Why would I need something like that?" Besides, I was a guy. I doubt ladies would want anything to do with waiting on me…
"Bridget has four ladies-in-waiting. While you're not a princess, it's not uncommon for a duke's daughters or duchesses to have them." I opened my mouth to refute Ronak, but he beat me to it. "I'm aware you're technically going to be an archduke in title, but you're going to be acting as an archduchess in your role. You were rather concerned about me getting people to help me with my work, so I'm doing the same for you. While you won't take over responsibilities for a while, it would be a shame to let a very good lady-in-waiting candidate slip through your fingers. There's no guarantee that you'll find someone as fitting as her in the future when you actually need someone to assist you with your work."
I understood what Ronak was getting at, but… "What would she do while I'm learning?" It could be quite a while until I'm seen as fit to take over any responsibilities from Ronak. It wouldn't be good if she had to wait for me.
"She, too, will be learning. Her job would entail a bit more than simply helping with managing the households and administration duties. She'd need to get to know you, so she could assist you in any way you see fit. You could ask Bridget what all her ladies-in-waiting do. I know they follow her around like a flock of geese." Ronak paused and fiddled with his quill. "I'd prefer Terra taking the position, but where her father is relying on her to marry to continue the family business, she's not an option." Oh, I guess if I had to have a lady-in-waiting, I would prefer Terra to take the position, too. Gah, why couldn't Terra have any siblings?! No fair, Earl Renraut, no fair!
"What about Jade-"
Ronak gave me an annoyed look. "No. She's not fit to take such a role." H-he didn't need to be so mean… "The worst thing that happens is you don't end up getting along with her, and we fire her." That seems harsh…
"O-okay, if you think it's best, then I'll give it a try." Ronak must have seen a lot of potential in her for him to be so adamant. I just hope that everything works out… Nerves were swirling around my stomach, though… I know Terra is an earl's daughter, and I get along with her just fine, but… I was pretty nervous about Harper…
Ronak gave me a gentle smile and reached over to grab my fidgety hand. "What are you stressing about?"
"I-I just worry that she's going to look down upon me… Where she's an earl's daughter, and I'm the son of a lord…"
"She'd better not even dare. I won't tolerate you feeling uncomfortable in our home." I liked hearing Ronak call this place our home. It made me happy. "It was never my intention to make you feel so burdened." Ah, of course I couldn't hide anything from Ronak…
My fingers fiddled with his for a second before I responded. "I… just want to stand proudly by your side… and I know others' opinions shouldn't matter, but I'd like it if people respected me as much as they do you. It's going to take time, but I'm going to work really hard."
Ronak snickered and clamped his hand down over mine. "You know… you could have lain around the entire time, and I wouldn't have cared. You don't need to feel pressured to do anything-"
"I couldn't live with myself if I did that!" I grabbed Ronak's hand with both of mine and looked away as my cheeks turned pink. "I told myself that I'd put in the effort to have a happy life with you… Burdening you with the work of two people is not my definition of happiness…"
"Mmm, and this is why I think we should give her a chance. I don't want you to feel burdened in the future." Ronak leaned over and kissed the side of my head. "Shall we call them in and give them the news?"
"Yeah."
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I was rather surprised that Ronak had them brought in at the same time, but I guess they'd be aware of the outcome no matter what. "We have come to a decision." Ronak shifted his papers slightly. Was he trying to be dramatic? "We decided that the librarian position would be best given to Brynn." A small smile formed on Brynn's lips. "However, we found potential in both of you and would like to offer Harper the position of lady-in-waiting."
"Lady-in-waiting?" Harper repeated back questioningly. Her eyes slowly drifted towards me. "I apologize if this sounds rude, but isn't your omega a guy?"
"Why yes, he is. However, he will be taking on the duties of an archduchess one day. He will need people who stand beside him and support him. We thought you would be a good fit for the role. Does your opinion differ?" Ronak's gaze was rather sharp as he stared down the long meeting table.
"I see… may I think about the offer and give you a response by morning?" Sh-she totally doesn't like me, does she?
"No." Ronak snapped. "I want an answer now and want to know why you're hesitating." Ronak, she doesn't have to take the job…
"I… don't know if I would feel comfortable helping your omega change clothes in the morning and night-"
Ronak let out an annoyed scoff. "Not only are you not permitted into our personal chambers, but we have a head maid who takes care of such a task."
"Oh…" Harper blinked a few times as she stared at the ceiling. "Then I would be honored to have the opportunity to serve you." She nodded her head towards Ronak despite me sitting right there.
"Then that settles things for now. Harper, you will stay in your guest bedroom until other accommodations are made, but Brynn." Ronak looked over to Brynn, who flinched slightly. "You will move your things into the librarian's quarters tonight."
"I will see to it that the arrangements are made, my lord." Both the girls flinched as Gerard appeared behind them. "Please follow me, Lady Brynn. I will show you to your new quarters."
Both of the girls followed Gerard out, but Harper paused in the doorway. "When would you like me to start my duties?" She was still clearly addressing Ronak and not me…
"You will be informed when a decision has been made by Micha." Ronak must have sensed it, too, because he directed her attention to me.
"Yes, of course." Harper nodded her head and left the office. Oh goodie…
The moment the door closed, Ronak sighed. "Mmm, where should her permanent quarters be? If she got married sooner rather than later, then this wouldn't be as big of a problem…"
"Can't she just stay in a guest bedroom for now?"
"She'll have to, but it doesn't look very good to have employees staying long term in them."
"What about whoever you hire? They'll need somewhere to stay, too."
"Well, they'll temporarily stay in a guest room, but I'll be granting them the use of an empty noble house down the hill. I can't do such a thing with an unmarried omega. That would be considered incredibly rude since we're employing her." Oh… I guess we were technically taking responsibility for an unmarried omega… Is that why Ronak came up with his weird marriage requirement? I thought it was because he didn't want unmarked alphas in the estate… "I'll think about it later. Let's have lunch before midday arrives." Right, I guess there wasn't a reason to worry about stuff right now.
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I was trying my best to be confident as I waited, but I was really struggling. Ronak said that I should get to know Harper, so I invited her to afternoon tea. Giselle even said that it was a smart idea, but she nagged me forever on how to act while talking to her.
The door to the room opened, and Harper entered. "Greetings, sir." She said with a polite bow. I noticed it yesterday during her interview, but her hair is incredibly pretty. It was a pale teal that almost perfectly matched her eyes. Obviously, it was well taken care of and had a nice shimmer to it. Mmm, I liked uniquely colored hair…
"Hello. Please, take a seat." I waved her over to the chair opposite me and took a sip of my tea. "Thank you for meeting with me." I made sure to keep good posture as I leaned forward and picked a cookie out for myself. I wanted to steal them all, but I could practically hear Giselle and Ronak in the back of my mind, nagging me. Gosh, they acted like I was an uncontrollable monster. I-I had a little self-control when it came to sweets.
"Of course. I wouldn't be upholding my duties if I didn't come." Gah! I was so terrible at this sort of stuff! What do I even say to her? I went to open my mouth, but she beat me to it. "I'm surprised that you would select me for the role… I would have thought you'd pick someone closer to you." It really wasn't my decision. Ronak recommended it, and I agreed to give it a shot… The whole idea of a lady waiting on me all the time made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I didn't need that.
"Terra is an only child, and Jade… is well… Jade. Ronak said she wasn't an option to be considered." Such a meanie. Jade would be… O-okay, maybe Jade wouldn't be the best option, but I'm sure there are worse options out there.
"Don't you hang around many other omegas? I thought I saw you with plenty of girls from our dukedom while at the academy." Was she referring to the end of the semester?
"I… don't really know any of them… I was around them because of Terra, but I wouldn't describe them as friends... You don't have to take the position if you don't want to… You don't need to feel pressured by Ronak." Why was she recommending other people for her job? Did she rethink her decision last night? Sh-she probably finds serving the likes of me uncomfortable…
"It seems you misunderstood. I have no problem serving you, I'm simply surprised that you'd pick me. I'm not terribly social." That's odd. She struck me as incredibly social… I always saw her at the academy with other extremely high-standing girls. "That's why I applied for a quiet librarian job. My father wasn't exactly pleased with my decision, but I'm sure he'll take full advantage of the marriage requirement." Harper got a bit of a sullen look as she stirred her tea.
"You have an older brother and sister, don't you?"
"Yes, I do. My brother is set to be the next Earl of Cloudbrook." Ah right. Her family did manage Cloudbrook, and according to Ronak, they did a good job. "And my sister is engaged to Earl Cateral's son. He lives down south."
"South," I said at the same time as her. "Yes, I'm aware." Gah! Why did I do that?! She totally gave me a weird look! I-I hope she doesn't think I'm rude… "I've been learning about the noble families of the dukedom. While I don't have much below Earl memorized, I am familiar with the higher-standing ones. Your family manages incoming and outgoing trade while the Cateral family does the same thing, but with overseas shipping. I-I could see why your family and theirs would want to make a bond." I-I thought I had been doing well, but now I feel like I messed up! She looks annoyed with me.
"You don't need to be so tense." The corners of Harper's lips curled up into a smile as she let out a soft snicker. "I'm rather impressed that you've learned so much in a short span of time… I met the Archduke when I was younger… He was incredibly… Mmm, how do I put it? Tempestuous. Yeah, that seems like the best way to describe it. I'm glad to see that he now has an anchor." What was she talking about? Ronak was still incredibly tempestuous, but I did like how she thought of me as an anchor. Yeah, I try my best to anchor Ronak. Hehe. "Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, I'm glad that the Archduke has found someone he cares about. Sorry, that probably felt pretty out of the blue… I simply have a lot of respect for him. While my father pushed heavily for me to become his omega, I'm simply happy to be able to support him by supporting you." Wait, is this her way of telling me she had a crush on Ronak at some point? I-I'm not sure how to feel about that…
"Y-your father tried to get Ronak to pick you?" Gah! Wh-why did I say that?! Of course, an earl tried to get his daughter a higher standing position. There's nothing to be surprised about… b-but I can't help but feel uncomfortable…
Harper giggled. "That he did, but not only was the Archduke incredibly upset about the blindside date and stormed out in a rage, but there wasn't an ounce of attraction on either side. I prefer guys who are a bit more studious, a-and I think it's attractive when men wear glasses." Oh… Ooooh… based on how Harper was blushing, it was clear that she had someone in mind.
"Who is it?" I asked as I took a sip of tea. I just had to know now.
"A-am I that easy to read?" Harper held up a hand to her pink cheek. "He's older than us by quite a few years, but my father won't consider him because he's not their family's oldest son." That's all I get? That's no fun. I couldn't help but giggle in return. This wasn't too bad after all.
"Maybe now you have an opportunity to pursue him now that you're working for us." If she continues to be a lady-in-waiting, it wouldn't matter a ton who she marries. As long as she likes him and he likes her, I'm sure it would be fine.
"I doubt my father would permit such a thing; he's rather strict. Besides, marrying down isn't something that happens very often. Ah, I didn't mean anything by it-"
"It's not a problem. I'm fully aware of how strange Ronak is. Besides, he's already teased me plenty about how he's marrying down… way down…" I couldn't help but scowl. I think he likes bringing it up just because it annoys me. H-he's the one that picked me! It's not my fault, I'm a lord's son, and he's an archduke. Trust me, if it were up to me, I would have run away from the big dummy if I got the chance… Pft, that all feels like it happened forever ago…
"So it's true that he initiated everything?" My mind wandered off to Ivette and all the rude things she would say. Huh… now that I think about it, I haven't seen her in a while… Sh-she wasn't part of Ronak's rat removal… was she? I-I better not think about such things… Especially right now, this isn't the time.
"Yes, he did. I'm not sure what unsavory rumors you've heard, but Ronak picked me. I didn't coerce him into anything." I picked up another cookie and glared at it. Knowing that rumors like that were still getting spread about made me rather annoyed.
"Oh… I don't think you need to worry about that rumor. Anyone who knows the Archduke will know that one does not coerce him into doing anything he doesn't want to do. It's rather obvious from his shift in behavior around you that he likes you." Gah! Now I'm the one blushing!
"Yeah… he's pretty cute…" I took a bite of my cookie and smiled. Yeah, Ronak was a big, cute dork.
"C-cute?" I heard Harper mumble under her breath. I glanced up at Harper, who looked a bit shocked. "I apologize… I just wouldn't use that adjective to describe the Archduke."
We shared a quiet glance for a moment before I ate the other half of my cookie. "Maybe dorky would have been better." My comment seemed to only confuse Harper more as her face scrunched up. Huh… I-I can't possibly be the only one who sees Ronak's terribly dorky and cute side, right?
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We talked for quite a while after that. I couldn't have felt more relieved, though. Harper and I were going to get along just fine. If anything, I was pretty excited to get to know her more. I could easily see her joining my little group of friends. I'll have to tell Terra when she responds to the last letter I sent.
"You're in an awfully good mood," Ronak commented as I entered his office.
"Yeah, it was nice getting to talk to Harper." Mmm, I really shouldn't say it… but… I just had to know his opinion on the situation. "I didn't know you two had a past," I said as I leaned against the front of Ronak's desk.
His eyes drifted up to mine, and I didn't even need to feel his emotions to know he was confused. "We have a past?"
"Mhmm, her father tried to set you two up."
Ronak's brow furrowed, and his crimson eyes drifted away from me. "He tried to set me up? Was she referring to the time I meant to meet with her father, and as I waited, she was the only one present in the room? I wouldn't call that history. I left pretty pissed off after having to wait, and I don't think I said one word to her." Pft, was Ronak trying to assure me that nothing went on? I wasn't all that worried. Ronak seemed genuinely annoyed when around other omegas.
"I'm not worried about it. Harper told me she has quite the crush on someone, but her father won't approve of him because he's a second son. How mean!" I dramatically sighed and rolled my eyes. How could she dangle a delicious piece of information in front of my face and not give me a nibble?
Ronak reached over and pinched my nose. "You're the exception. Very few nobles marry because they like each other, so don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong."
Ronak released my nose with a scowl, and I turned away to rub it. "I am minding my own business! She wouldn't even tell me his name." I grumbled under my breath. I slowly peeked back over to Ronak. "W-would you let our kids marry for love or would you make them accept arranged marriages?" My poor face was steadily turning warmer, and I couldn't handle Ronak's gaze, so I dipped down in front of his desk.
As he cleared his throat, I peeked back over the top. "It would depend on who they selected. I wouldn't let our kids be with just any bastard." An odd little growl escaped Ronak, and I dipped back down so he couldn't see me.
"I-I see…" A shudder ran down my spine, and I looked up to see Ronak looking down at me from over his desk.
"Why ask questions when you're embarrassed to hear the answer? Also, you might as well go sit down. I need to finish these five responses before I'm done for the day." I nodded my head, and Ronak disappeared back over his desk. I-I only asked because I was curious…