Lord Arclight was a nice man, yes, but also a desperate one. Who wouldn't be afraid of the Rochefort house's influence? He had to tread carefully around them, and he couldn't afford to make enemies.
'Celine seems to be hiding her capabilities for some reason, so maybe I should hide mine as well,' Lucian thought. He didn't want to put a crosshair on his back for no reason. 'My reputation will need to wait. Right now, my safety is more important. I can't be a dead hero.'
'Pathetic,' the voice in his head told him, 'How will you make others respect you? You will never be able to climb to the top of the food chain if you don't show some fangs!'
Celine winced when Lucian squeezed her hand a bit too tightly and she threw him a look. Lucian didn't relax his grip, sending her a gentle smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Is there something wrong, My Lady?"
"...hehe...no." Celine smiled back at him, a smile that looked like it belonged to a predator rather than a human. It was saying: 'I will devour you, and I will enjoy it.'
While Lucian returned the same smile, his was more of a: 'Cry me a river and I will drink it dry.'
The staff shuddered and took a step back. You couldn't force love. It had to come from within, and these two were clearly not in love, at all, they thought.
Just a forced marriage for political reasons that would benefit the Rochefort house, and a man that was a bit insane in the head for thinking he had a chance to make it work with their Lady, of all women.
"Do you plan to stay indoors for the rest of the day, My Lady?" Lucian asked.
"I'm not sure. Father might want to talk to me," she said, "Why?"
'What now?' Lucian asked himself, feeling Celine try to squeeze his fingers back. He didn't want to let her go to her father's study, where the latter was waiting. Who knew for how long he would keep her for this time?
The last thing Lucian wanted was to be alone with his thoughts, "I would like to accompany you. I need to apologise to your father for exposing you to danger."
The Duke probably didn't know what had happened, which was why he wanted to arrive faster than the news, and have Celine's testimony to turn the situation in his favor.
Celine paused, "Then go ahead," she said, "I still have to take a bath and get changed."
"You'll join us after, won't you?" Lucian asked.
She paused again when his hand didn't let hers go, "Why wouldn't I?"
Lucian forced himself to release her hand, his peripheral vision catching sight of knights patrolling the estate's hallways.
Not the usual guards, but knights. When they spotted her, they would bow their heads. "My Lady."
Celine hid behind Lucian, peeking at them from behind him as if they were about to kidnap her. No, this woman would even follow her kidnappers if they had a good deal, so she was probably just avoiding her duties again.
The knights were flustered by her reaction and she enjoyed their discomfort, hiding her grin behind her hand.
"Did you come to gang up on a Lady and force her to do paperwork?" she asked, "You do know she has a fiance, who can't wait to take care of all that paperwork in her place?"
"..." Lucian's lips parted slightly as he held back from knocking her head off her shoulders, "What do you mean?"
"What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine," she said, raising her chin, "That includes my job. As my future husband, you are supposed to take care of all the boring stuff. It's your duty."
"And what about your duty?" he asked.
"To look pretty, be elegant, and be a good wife, of course," she said, "Tell father to assign you some of my duties for practice, or to see if you can do them. And if you can't, he has to send someone to tutor you."
The Knight's patience was wearing thin. Lucian could see it on their faces. They continued to show their respect, however, and didn't speak out of turn, waiting until she was done with her nonsense.
Lucian didn't have much choice but part ways with her as she headed to her room, and he headed to the Duke's study.
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Celine didn't show any sign of showing up, and all the small talk with the Duke made Lucian think that the Duke was delaying him from meeting his daughter for some reason.
Lucian had to find a way to end this meeting before it dragged on forever. He used a bathroom break as an excuse to slip out of the room.
Something didn't add up, so he decided to investigate the matter. He went to grab his binoculars from his room, then used an excuse of forgetting something inside the carriage to get out, then made his way around the stables.
A few of his people still loitered about the property, ready to be of service. Their living quarters were close enough to the Rochefort estate that it took them no time to get here once summoned.
"Boss!" the man called out to Lucian. "Are you going out?"
"Where's your Vice?" Lucian asked.
There were twenty-one Vices (inducing the newest member AL), each responsible for their old crew and any additional members (not all were ex pirates).
The men scratched their heads and looked at each other. "Umm...Kitchen duty?"
Lucian raised an eyebrow, "Since when?"
"Since...the chef started to cook more food for us," the man answered, "He said he needed help and the Vice volunteered to help. He didn't want to be a burden and eat without earning his keep."
"Ah, yes," Lucian nodded, "That does sound like Vice Sand." A man of principles, who liked to work for what he ate.
The Vices had a few percentages of Lucian's profit as their salary, and could easily be regarded as upper class in terms of wealth. Some lived lavishly, and some were like Vice Jax and Vice Sand, who loved to pretend to be dirt poor, and live off their Boss as much as they could. Free food and lodgings were their favorites.