Micha
"Oh? Is sleepyhead waking up?" Something tickled my nose, and I shook my head. Ugh, I didn't want to be awake! I was sore.
I blinked and instantly felt confused… This wasn't the bed… Ronak snickered, and I realized I was mostly lying on his chest, and we were up in the lookout room on the big, oversized pillow. He had a tray of food next to him that he must have been snacking on because some things looked to be half-eaten. I want food…
"I abducted you, and I'm not sorry about it." He rubbed his hand around in a circle on my bare back, and I realized that I was mostly wrapped in a blanket but still very naked.
"W-why am I still unclothed?!" I pulled the blanket closer to my chest and stared up at him with big eyes. "What time is it?!"
"You're much cuter when you're naked… I take that back. Just thinking about the lingerie you were wearing turns me on…" Ronak got quite a pleased look in his eyes, and I had to look away from him. "Mmm, it's about an hour or two past one. There's not a clock in this room, so who's to say?" He shrugged and reached over, snagging a piece of cheese from his tray. "Say aww." He basically forced the piece of cheese into my mouth with a smile. Not that I cared, I was extremely hungry. "I didn't feel like going to all the work to dress you, and I didn't think you would like knowing that Olivia did it."
He… wasn't wrong. I'd feel incredibly uncomfortable knowing that Olivia dressed my unconscious body. I-I guess I can tolerate the fact that he didn't want to. He didn't even sleep, and he looks exhausted.
I hungrily devoured the cheese and stared over at the tray of food, making Ronak chuckle. "I guess we didn't have dinner last night, nor breakfast this morning. Here." He continued feeding me, chuckling every once in a while. It reminded me of when Ronak was feeding me meat skewers in the dungeon. Gah! That feels like it happened forever ago… My face scrunched up when he fed me a grape I thought would be sweet, but it was instead incredibly sour.
"Meanie! Why didn't you warn me?" I glared at him through my scrunched-up eyes. Why would he eat something so tart? They weren't even good!
"I thought you would know that green grapes tend to be sour. How is that my fault?" He continued to laugh until I shut him up with a kiss. I had to squirm around to reach, but Ronak didn't seem to mind in the slightest. As he pulled away, he wrapped his arms around my waist. "Are you trying to distract me from my work again?"
"N-no. I just wanted you to stop making fun of me." A smirk formed on Ronak's lips, and I glared at him.
"What do you want to do today? Would you like to join me in my office, or rest here? Maybe you feel alright enough to wander the estate?" Ugh, definitely not that.
"My body is far too sore thanks to an awfully excitable alpha," I grumbled. Ugh, he and his cheeky grin were annoying. "I'm going to pass on wandering around… I'll get dressed and come to your office." The potion he force-fed me was helping, but I sure didn't want to push the limits of my body and end up causing damage.
"Mmm, but you're welcome to come as you are." His hands moved down past my waist and fondled my bottom. I was too tired to react, so I gave Ronak a dull look.
"Don't make me suffocate you with a pillow, you perv." I glared at him, but was too tired to bring a pillow out of storage.
"Is it that perverse that I want to touch you? Aren't you the one who pants and moans erotically?" Ack! T-that's not my fault! My body just reacts that way!
"S-stop talking!" I angrily leaned forward and got some well-deserved payback by sinking my teeth into his muscular shoulder. He had on his training outfit still, but the shirt was thin, which allowed me to easily chomp down. A funny little tingle ran through my brain as I angrily latched on. I could understand why Ronak became obsessed with biting me. It made me feel like Ronak was mine, mine, mine! Maybe it was the pheromones tickling my nose, but I sure didn't want to let go. If anything, I wanted to bite him again.
I flinched as Ronak's teeth dug into my shoulder, but that only made me more excited. I pulled the fabric of his shirt down and bit him properly this time. He tasted a bit salty as I ran my tongue along his skin. Holy cow! Why was this turning me on so much?!
I pulled away from Ronak and noticed that his eyes were super dilated. W-what was that about? Were mine like that? I wanted to lean down and continue, but I forced myself not to. "Holy shit." Ronak blinked repeatedly, and his eyes returned to looking normal. "Are you venomous or something? That made me feel strange."
I wanted to hide my pink face. "I-I don't know what that was… Sorry." I ran my finger across the red teeth marks that I left in a very visible location on Ronak's neck. Oops…
Both of our breathing was rather labored from the strange occurrence, and I could tell that we were both unfortunately turned on. Ronak had work to do, though... Maybe we could… B-bad, Micha! Stop having such dirty thoughts! Gah! What has Ronak done to me?! He's right, I'm the perv!
Ronak grabbed my face with both hands and stared up into my eyes with an odd grin. "I… want you to do that again when we have more time…" What?! He wanted me to bite him again?! Wh-why?! "Let's go get changed so I can get some work done." He wrapped his arms around me and my blanket and stood up from the large pillow. Gosh, I would have landed on my face had I tried anything similar. After experiencing the training that he did yesterday, I now understand why he was so strong.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ronak sat down with a sigh at his desk and stared at the massive pile of documents in disdain. I sat on the sofa sideways with my feet up while admiring the beautiful view of Ebonhold. Before making myself comfortable, I had brought out the blankets and pillows Ronak purchased for me and went about decorating his office. Mmm, he'll need a vase for flowers… I should have picked one up yesterday… Gah! I caught sight of the marks I left on Ronak's neck as I was looking around. "I-I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. There's just a lot of reports to go through this time of year, plus I told you the winter social is coming up, so a lot of this is to make sure we're ready for that." Ronak didn't look very enthused as he pulled the first paper off the stack.
"Oh, well, I'm sorry about that, too. You missed out on a day of work, but I'm also sorry about…" I wiggled my finger in his direction, and Ronak furrowed his brow. I moved my finger to my own neck, and Ronak chuckled. His hand moved up to cover the bite marks I had given him, and a smile formed on his face. It looked like a small piranha had attacked him. The bites were still a little red and looked sore. I was in the same boat, though. Ronak had bitten me twice while I had bitten him three times. "They're very visible," I mumbled as my face turned pink. I didn't think I'd be capable of leaving a mark like that behind…
Ronak snickered and turned his attention back to his document. "What's there to be embarrassed about? My omega marked me as theirs for others to see." I-I don't know if I would describe it like that… "Plus, while I'm not sure you get the same feeling I did, but I bite you all the time." He shrugged and scowled at the document before him. I'd better let him get some work done…
I pulled the new ultra-soft blanket up over my legs when there was a knock on the door. Gerard entered with an armful of documents, followed by another butler carrying a tray of tea. When he saw me, he seemed a bit surprised, but continued taking the tea to Ronak. "Oh, Gerard," I said, drawing his attention to me after he set the documents down.
"Yes, my little lord?" He asked as he approached the sofas. Gah! Th-they're never going to stop, are they?
"Ronak purchased this for me." I held out my arms and summoned the box of tea samples from my inventory and passed them over to him. "I don't know what the flavors are, but I'm curious to try them."
"Excellent. We also acquired plenty of chamomile and rooibos for your enjoyment." Gerard slightly smiled at me and bowed his head as he accepted the box, while the other butler only stared at me and the pillows. Maybe he didn't know I was living here? He was making me feel a bit uncomfortable, though.
I returned my attention to Gerard. "Thank you, Gerard!" I smiled broadly, and he bowed his head again.
When Gerard and the other butler left, Ronak cleared his throat. "They will get used to your presence. A lot of them have known me since I was young, so you being here must be startling for them." They probably thought you'd never get engaged… "Also, you don't behave like a typical noble, so they might be caught off guard."
"I-I do too!" What?! What did he think I acted like? My mother would be so offended if she heard that!
"You're far too nice compared to your average noble." Oh… maybe she won't be… "I doubt even Terra thanks her staff with a smile like you do, and I don't think I've ever heard of a noble giving their staff cookies." Ack! Ronak knew that I was sneaking the attendants' cookies on the way to the dukedom?! I was just trying to be nice and thank them for their hard work!
I fiddled nervously with the edge of the blanket. "They're people too… They don't deserve to be treated poorly just because we rank higher socially."
"I don't treat them poorly, but I don't see the point in being friendly with someone who works for you. They knew what job they were getting when they applied." I guess I was too used to treating the staff at my parents' home like part of the family. I knew Ronak wasn't bad to his staff, but he could be rather curt at times. I tried being curt to alphas at the academy, and I stink at it.
Ronak returned to his work, and I lay my head back on the pillow. Hmm… What should I do?
My mind drifted off and ended up becoming distracted by my storage. I had quite the mini library accumulating in my storage, and I didn't see the point of hauling it around anymore. Before meeting Ronak, I kept them with me because I had nowhere to put them, but now that this would be my home, I should find a proper place to put them.
"Ronak…"
"Yeah?" Ronak didn't look up from his work, which wasn't too surprising. He seemed swamped.
"Can I sort through the books in my storage?"
"I don't see why not."
"They're not going to be in the way?"
"No."
"O-okay…" I don't think he fully understood how many books I was carrying around with me, but whatever. He's the one who didn't ask any follow-up questions…
I went about making stacks of different books on the coffee table and on the side of the sofa. As I would bring a book out, I'd flip through it, and then place it into its corresponding stack. There were stacks for anatomy books, herbology books, alchemy books, medicine books, books on magic, books I enjoyed reading, books I had been gifted and hadn't read through yet. I couldn't help but smile at the books Ronak bought for me.
I leaned forward to add another medical book to its stack, and I saw Ronak staring at me curiously. I guess the stacks were getting rather tall… "How much shit do you have? Do you have an entire library shoved in there?" Oh, so he's finally noticed…
"N-no!" I gasped and gave Ronak a stunned look. "These are just books I have been given through the years… I didn't have anywhere to put them… So they ended up in my storage… I was hoping I could sort them out on a shelf… s-since I'll be living here with you now…"
"How many more do you have in there?" Ronak gazed at all the stacks with a furrowed brow as I stared off into the distance.
"Ummm…. Maybe double… or triple this amount… A lot of them are medical related." I said as I pointed to the two rather tall stacks next to the sofa. "My parents invested a lot of money into me becoming a healer, and the doctors I worked under would give me books. Those two piles are medical books, and then these all relate to medicine." I said, waving at my different piles.
"We should get you a space dedicated just to your medical books, then. There's plenty of empty rooms around here." Ronak said as he scratched his chin.
I clapped my hands together excitedly. "Could I turn a room into a medical office? Then I could heal any knights that get hurt during training or any staff that needs it!" It would be great! Then I wouldn't feel like all the years I spent learning had gone to waste. N-not that I wasn't using that knowledge all the time because of Ronak… but still…
Ronak's brow furrowed even more. "I'm not against the office, but I refuse to let you treat any alphas unless I'm in the room. Actually, you're not allowed to treat anyone unless I'm in the room." Ugh, he was so jealous, but after the incident at the academy, I can't blame him. I even got chills thinking about what happened.
"Can I pick out the room I want tomorrow?" It should have bookshelves in it and a space for a small bed and some chairs.
"Of course. Even if it's an occupied room, we can move things around." Oh, I don't think we need to do that. I'm sure with all the rooms in this giant castle of an estate, I'll find something that I like.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"My lord…" The butler from earlier that I didn't recognize knocked on the door of Ronak's office, and as he entered froze, probably in surprise at the sheer amount of books I had stacked everywhere. The stacks I had been creating had doubled in size and were now spilling out into the walkway because I might have accidentally tipped over a stack. Oopsie.
Ronak looked up from his paperwork with a stern look. "What is it, Linn?" Oooh, so his name was Linn, huh? He seemed rather young for a butler, maybe a bit older than Ronak or me, with dusty blue hair cut short. His orange eyes lingered on the books, then returned to me with a hint of what seemed to be confusion in them.
"Ah, apologies, my lord, but Margrave Tian wanted to meet with you. Should I take him to your office downstairs?" Linn bowed politely towards Ronak, but I noticed his gaze return to the books.
"We're both busy, so I'll allow him to be brought here," Ronak said, barely looking up from the letter he was writing.
"Apologies again, but where do you want him seated?" Linn stared at the books, then back at Ronak, who looked up from his letter with an annoyed gaze.
"He can sit in that chair there. Is it not available and easy to get to?" Ronak snapped and pointed to the chair at the head of the sofas that I hadn't stacked books around.
Linn stared at the chair and the narrow gap to get to it, but simply nodded. "Then I will bring him up." With a click of the door, he left, and I let out a sigh. His looks of annoyance were a bit concerning to me. Ronak didn't seem bothered by them and only glanced my way when I accidentally knocked over a stack, yet Linn seemed annoyed by my presence. I hope it will simply blow over as Ronak said…
I started moving my books away from the chair Ronak said the margrave could sit in. "You don't need to do that," Ronak said, eyeing me.
"I don't want to be rude, and to be fair, I have made quite the mess." I'll have to sort through the medical books properly and organize them by topic once I pick out a room for them.
There was a light knock at the door, and Linn opened it for Margrave Tian to enter. His green eyes stared at me with curiosity as Linn showed him to his seat. "Greetings, Archduke Abraxos. I have been trying to meet with you, but you were unavailable yesterday."
"I had more important matters to take care of. What brings you here?" Gosh, Ronak. You could at least look up from your paperwork while he's here to talk to you, so he's not just watching me the entire time. I continued to sort my books, though, if Ronak wasn't stopping, then I didn't need to either. I sorted the book in my hands into a pile and brought another out of storage, all while Tian's eyes curiously watched my every movement.
"I would like to know what the plans are moving forward now that your father is out of the picture. When is-"
"I'll stop you there." Ronak snapped, cutting him off. "We're not discussing that topic any further. I will let you know when a decision has been made, but until then, you are not to breathe a word of the situation." Ronak glanced at me, then glared over at the margrave.
"I see… I'll be taking the esquires out on a winter hunting trip this weekend. Will you be joining us?" Margraves Tian glanced over at Ronak, but his gaze slowly drifted back over to me. C-can you stop? It's making me nervous.
"Probably not. There is a lot to take care of." Ronak gestured towards the stack of unfinished paperwork, but it also felt like he pointed towards me. I-I didn't want to be the reason Ronak no longer went on expeditions with his knights…
"I received your request about finding an estate librarian and record keeper, so I had my wife send out letters to families that have eligible daughters, since you expressly said no men. May I ask why such a request was made? My third-born son, who's a bit bookish, was disappointed he couldn't apply." The margrave folded his arms and stared at Ronak, who glanced up from his desk.
"We're both dominant, and while I don't have a problem preventing females from approaching me, this one is like a rabbit roast that hungry predators will try going after even though it's on my plate." I-I don't particularly like being compared to a hunk of meat, you meanie. "I'm not risking anything, nor am I going to force Micha to use the library under supervision. This is his home now; he should feel comfortable in it."
"Then is it wise to continue allowing him to come to the training grounds?" Margrave Tian turned from Ronak to give me quite the perturbed look.
Ronak narrowed his eyes and glared at the margrave. "Micha isn't on a leash. He will take the title of Archduke once we are married. He can do as he pleases. The knights know what will befall them if they try anything. Yesterday and today should have scared them enough not try anything. Besides, I'll be with him at all times, so there isn't any cause for concern." Wh-what happened today? A-actually… maybe I don't want to know.
Margrave Tian clicked his tongue and stared at me. I flinched slightly from the negative attention, but I was used to this sort of behavior from nobles. I plastered a pleasant smile on my face and tried not to falter. "What's your family's name? Are they from our dukedom?"
I flinched as he began asking me questions, but I sat up tall and fiddled with the book in my hands. "Um, no, sir, they're not from here. My family name is Verchiel, and my father is a l-lord up in Duke Bernagar's territory." Dang it, I really didn't want to stutter, but he was making me so nervous. It didn't help that his face soured as I told him that my father was a lord.
"What makes you qualified to help rule a dukedom?" Ronak growled at the margrave's question, but Margrave Tian didn't back down. He just continued to stare at me.
I gulped nervously. He probably wouldn't like the answer I was about to give him… "I-I'm not qualified. Nor am I arrogant enough to pretend I am. I'll need a lot of time and training before I live up to anyone's expectations." I scratched behind my ear and awkwardly smiled at Margrave Tian. I don't know what he expected from such a question. According to Ronak, I barely behaved like a noble; there was no way I was going to be magically competent enough to run a dukedom.
"You're overstepping your bounds, Tian. I'm the one who picked Micha as my fiancé. It's not your business." Ronak had stood from his desk chair and was looking rather upset.
"Calm yourself. I was just curious about this one's character after the fool he made of himself on the training field." I inhaled sharply as my face started turning pink. Gah! I knew they thought I looked stupid! I shouldn't have gone! "Although he has enough guts to stand up to you when you're fucking pissed, so maybe he isn't as weak as he seems." W-weak?
I wanted nothing more than to melt into the sofa and never be seen again. Ronak, however, wasn't handling it well. His anger was starting to flood my senses. Don't attack the margrave. "I don't believe you have the right to question my actions so blatantly." Ronak looked like he could spit venom as the margrave held up his hands in surrender.
"I was just interested in the well-being of the dukedom, but your decisions have never led us astray, so I trust that he will be a good decision as well." Maybe none of them should find out that Ronak didn't make the decision based on any logic when he selected me…
It was like the bar to be Ronak's omega kept getting raised higher and higher. There was no way I was going to manage making everyone happy… I didn't realize the weight Ronak constantly had on his shoulders. Was I even capable of helping him bear that weight?
"Leave." Ronak snapped as he dug his fingers into the desk's wood. Margrave Tian stood and bowed before quickly leaving. It was probably the best decision because I was seriously worried that Ronak was going to attack him. When the door closed with a click, Ronak stopped growling. "What gives them the right?!" He mumbled as he stared down at his desk. I stood from the sofa and carefully walked over to Ronak, who pulled me along with him as he sat down. "Why do they think they have any say in who I get married to?!" He wouldn't even look at me as he grumbled to himself, so I grabbed his face and pulled it towards mine.
"Last I checked, I didn't have a say either, so why are you so bothered by him? Isn't it always you who tells me to ignore people? This isn't like you to become so upset. Is something else bothering you? You've been tense ever since I woke up." He had seemed fidgety ever since we had finished our late lunch in the lookout room. I asked about it earlier, but he just shrugged.
He let out a long sigh and looked at me with tired eyes. "I'll have to be gone for two days next week, and you can't come. I'm just dreading the idea of being away from you." Yikes, that's a long time. We had only ever been away from each other during classes, and even then, I got antsy if he wasn't here.
I put on my best brave face and smiled at him. "But you'll be coming back, and two days isn't that long." I knew he could tell I was tense because he patted me on the head.
Ronak scoffed as he patted me. "Always hiding your emotions. Let's not worry about it until it gets closer. For now, let's focus on getting things done, like these books a home besides everywhere in my office."
"If you're okay with it, some of them could be added to the library downstairs, most will end up in my medical office, and the others… hmmm..." I stared at the stack of books that I didn't particularly want out for others.
"What kind of books are they?" Ronak's eyes darted around the piles, as if he could figure out which ones I was talking about.
"I have some on light magic that are very old and precious to me… I don't want just anyone to touch them…" The idea of them getting damaged made me sick. I was as protective of them as Ronak was over his alchemy notebooks.
"We have those mostly empty shelves under the stairs in our room. You could put them there." Ronak looked back at me with caring eyes, and I smiled. I'm glad he's calmed down. I much prefer him like this.
"Oh, that would be nice. Thanks." I snuggled close to him, and Ronak let out a bit of a sigh.
"You little dork, it's our room. You could put whatever you want on the shelves. You don't have to ask permission." He leaned down, and I eagerly leaned up to meet his lips. I knew everything would be okay in the long run. Neither he nor I seemed like the type to just give up.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It took almost the entire evening, and I even had to swap sofas because I ran out of room, but I had finished putting my books into stacks. Ronak looked up, and he set down his quill. He had managed to complete the giant stack of work on the corner of his desk, but I just knew there was more lurking elsewhere. "Is that all of your books?"
"Yep! I didn't realize I had that many kicking around in my storage. Though I didn't bring your alchemy notebooks out. They're still in there."
"We'll have to put them in their proper shelves sometime… So do you just know what's in your storage?" Oh, I was surprised he asked. He rarely asked questions about how my spells worked.
"Mmm, yeah. It's like…" I touched my fingertips together and made a hollow dome with my hands. "A little room and I know what's in it. The books had been getting stacked in a corner for so long that I forgot which ones were which; I just knew that they were books. The camping supplies you gave me are organized in a different corner, with alchemy and herbology supplies next to it. Food is all organized by type in another area. I don't think I've ever completely forgotten about anything in there…" I stared off into the distance, trying to think if there's anything I can't remember.
"You forgot your egregious mountain of pillows," Ronak grumbled, and I turned to him with a big grin.
"Hehehe, I didn't forget. They're waiting for their chance to strike vengeance for me." I laughed evilly, and Ronak rolled his eyes at me.
"Let's go get dinner, my vengeance-seeking pillow monger." Ronak stood and stretched, but I turned back towards my books.
"Let me put these back now that they're organized." I put my stacks and piles of books back into my storage so I knew where to put them tomorrow. Once they were all gone, Ronak grabbed my hand and hauled me off to dinner with him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ronak moved away from me as I peacefully snoozed, which made me stir. "Are you going to go train with the knights?" I asked as I rubbed the sleep from my eye.
"You don't need to wake up this early every morning, and yes, I am headed out to whip the knights into shape before their weekend hunting trip tomorrow. You don't want to join, do you?"
"Absolutely not…" I mumbled into my pillow. His training every morning wasn't fair; I wasn't able to enjoy my morning snuggles. I thought we would be able to watch the sunrise together, but that hasn't happened once.
"Then go back to sleep, and I'll see you in a few hours for breakfast." Fiiinnneeee. I sadly released my grip on Ronak, who got out of bed, and I rolled over to his side to curl up in the sheets that now smelled a bit like him. No, fair, completely unfair.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Did you go looking for a room yet?" Ronak asked as we sipped our morning tea.
"No, I sort of lazed around." Once Ronak left, it was hard to want to leave his side of the bed. He should intentionally put out pheromones so I can roll around in them before he leaves in the morning. The smell ended up getting replaced by mine, which was rather disappointing.
He snickered into his tea as he took another sip. "A few brave knights asked if you would ever be returning to training. I told them I wasn't sure. We might have scared you off."
"I'm not opposed to some cardio and some light exercises, but I'll leave being muscular to you." I sipped the delightfully fruity tea that Gerard told me was from my tea sampler pack while Ronak grinned. I didn't feel the need to add that much sugar to it. It was so delicious. "Maybe I'll join you once a week, but I'm not killing myself like I tried to. I would also like to be able to spar every once in a while."
"Would you like to spar later today? I shouldn't be that long with my work today." We hadn't sparred since our combat class ended, so it sounded like fun. Ronak had been a lot less aggressive ever since I complained about it, so sparring with him had turned into something I looked forward to instead of dreaded.
"Sure. I'll come with you to your office then. I was hoping you had information on the nobles in this area so I could start learning names."
"You don't have to force yourself, but yes, I have a book of all the nobles in my dukedom." He looked a little concerned, but I was confident that I could manage to learn them. I could name all the different muscles and bones of the human body; what's a few nobles?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"W-why are there so many?! Do you have all of them memorized?!" I flipped through the incredibly thick book that Ronak had given me and was shocked at how many noble families there were in the dukedom.
"I know all the prominent families; it would look bad if I didn't." Ronak had a point. Since he's the archduke, he did need to know all the people he was in charge of. It would be embarrassing at the winter social if he didn't know who someone was.
"Do you even have all their children memorized?" The book he gave me was highly detailed, even recording the families' children, cousins, who they were married to, and even distant relations. It was impressive that someone went to so much work to gather all this information.
"No, not their children, unless they're the firstborn and are going to inherit the title. I mostly only know how many kids they have." Ronak flipped over the paper he was looking at with a scowl on his face. "Bring the book and that scroll off the shelf." He set his paper aside and pointed towards a large scroll leaning up in one of his shelves.
I set the book down on his desk and wandered over to carefully remove the scroll. It was heavier than it looked and had a fancy covering over it. I placed it on his desk and stood next to him, unsure of what he wanted to show me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him, causing me to stumble and fall into his lap.
Ronak chuckled as I softly yelped. "Oh, calm down, you didn't want to stand the entire time, did you?" He helped me right myself, and I positioned myself on his left thigh. I snuggled with him all the time, but sitting at his desk like this felt a little childish and silly. "Okay," He unrolled the scroll and revealed a large map of his territory. "It's easiest to learn the nobles if you focus on one area at a time and associate it with where they live. The dukedom is broken up into five sections, which is why I have five margraves that manage my knights in each region."
"Are there five earls as well?" I understood that the margraves managed the knights, but were there earls who managed the people and politics?
"Technically, no. I didn't want earls and margraves getting into disputes over things, so I made sure to have a clear distinction between the two rolls. Each major city has an earl who rules over it and the surrounding area. They keep track of the people there and manage the land. There are also earls like Terra's father, Earl Renaut, who manages an industry. So there are sixteen earls total, and each of those earls has viscounts, barons, and lords that work under them. They report not only me but also the margrave in the area. But if it makes you feel better, most of the earls who manage industries only have viscounts and barons underneath them. Like I said, though, just take it one section at a time, not everyone all at once." He continued to explain things to me in a simplified way, which greatly helped me understand his dukedom better.
He even went on to tell me interesting facts about each area and what the terrain is like. Ronak got a bit off topic as he told me a few stories about times he had traveled to different locations, but I found it terribly charming to listen to him. I leaned back, wrapped an arm around his neck, and tossed my legs over his other thigh as I enjoyed his stories. He really did love this dukedom a lot.
"My lord, there is a… pardon my intrusion." I snickered loudly as Linn entered, then quickly exited the room.
"This feels a bit too familiar, now doesn't it…" Ronak grunted. He was right, though. Something similar happened with Olivia, but we were in a far more compromising position then.
"Is he the head butler when Gerard isn't around?"
"Ye. Gerard is doing something for me, so Linn usually takes his place when he's gone. Linn, get back here." Ronak loudly snapped. The door cracked open, and Linn poked his head back inside. It took so much effort not to giggle at his red face. "What did you want?"
"A letter arrived from an unfamiliar family. The Ver-kiel residence? I wasn't sure what you wanted me to do with it." I stuck out my bottom lip a bit. It's Ver-chE-el… Was he butchering my last name on purpose?
I excitedly scrambled off of Ronak's lap and scurried over to the door. "That's a letter from my mother! I'll take it!" Linn almost glared at me as he handed me the letter, but I didn't mind; I was far too excited. "Thanks, Linn!" I smiled broadly at him and turned back around to scurry back to Ronak. I hadn't heard from her in a few weeks because I told her to wait until I settled into the dukedom for the winter, so the letter didn't get lost. I let her know a few days ago that she could start sending me letters again, and I was pretty excited to receive this.
I settled back into Ronak's lap, and he dismissed Linn. I excitedly opened the letter and read through it. She asked if I was enjoying my time there, what it was like, and how things were going. Your typical letter contents, but it made me happy all the same. She even asked me how Ronak was doing and how our relationship was progressing. Ronak poked that part of the letter, and I turned to see him grinning mischievously. "Make sure you remind her how much I love you and that while you haven't admitted it to me yet, I see how your eyes linger on me. How you don't resist when I want to cuddle with you." He leaned forward and rubbed his cheek against my shoulder. "And how your heart flutters delicately inside your chest whenever I stare into your eyes." His eyes gazed up into mine, and he was right, my heart was fluttering indeed.
"Ronak! I-I would never write such a thing to my mother!" That would be embarrassing!
"So you don't deny it." His grin widened, and he leaned over to kiss me. H-how could I deny it when it was true. He had caught me hook, line, and sinker. There was no denying it anyway; the moment he bonded with me, I was destined to spend my life with him. I made a vow to myself that instead of being upset and miserable, I would rather spend it falling in love with an alpha who picked me. Besides, Ronak could be pretty cute at times; he wasn't a bad alpha at all. You just… had to look past his fists…
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I leaned to the side and stretched, then leaned to the other side. Ronak and I were standing out in the training field that had been shoveled to remove the snow that had fallen all morning. We were wearing our training gear, and I was super grateful that it had been enchanted to keep me warm because you could see our breath in the frigid air. I had been trying to pretend that we didn't have an audience, but apparently, not many of the knights and esquires had duties right now. They weren't on the training field but instead peeking over the walls of the training field like stalkers. We… can see you, ya know?
"Are you sure you can keep up? You haven't sparred with me since our class." Ronak smiled as he pulled his arm across his chest to stretch his shoulder.
"I'll have you know that your chef is keeping me in tip-top shape with all the disgusting whole wheat he keeps feeding me. I haven't had chocolate cake in days, and I need to blow off some frustration!" I angrily ground my teeth. His chef's cooking was far too healthy. It was killing me. I needed sugar, and I felt like I was sadly rationing out the taffy and hard candies in my storage because I never got served sweets here. I was about to sneak down to that restaurant and order all the cakes they had on their menu. I was so desperate.
"I'll make a deal with you then. If you manage to hold out for ten minutes, I'll have something extra special prepared for you after dinner. If I capture you before the time is up, you don't get any sweets until you memorize all the nobles in one region." The smirk on Ronak's face grew. "That includes me confiscating all the sweets in your storage."
Ngh! I-I'll do it! I'll do everything in my power to win! "You're on!" There was an obnoxious murmur from the knights. What they didn't know was that while Ronak was clearly stronger than me and had far more combat skills than I did, it wasn't completely impossible. I stood a chance. A small one, but a chance.
"Okay, little mouse, are you ready? Here I come." Ronak stomped his foot into the ground, sending a wave of spikes shooting up around me. I didn't waste any time, though. I snapped my fingers and appeared in the sky, upside down. As I appeared, I created a platform above me that I used to launch off, sending me rocketing downward. I used the momentum to send multiple light arrows rocketing off towards Ronak. Before I hit the ground, I snapped my fingers again.
I kept using the same tactic of appearing to launch arrows and sometimes exploding orbs of light, but Ronak kept dodging. I knew I had to stay on the move; otherwise, Ronak would catch me in seconds. He wasn't having an easy time either. I was giving it everything I got, sending an absolute beast amount of spells flying at him each time I launched an attack. It was frustrating seeing him easily dodge or slice through my spells with his swords. Come on, can't something land?!
I appeared crouched down behind Ronak and sent two golden hoops ricocheting off the ground, which smashed into him. Unfortunately, they just didn't pack enough punch because Ronak glared down at me with a creepy smile. "Someone's getting a bit clever." Ronak held out his hands, and his dark twinblades reappeared. Crap, he was taking this seriously now. He charged at me, and I held up my arms, creating an 'x'. My strongest shield appeared around me, enveloping me in wings, but I knew Ronak could make his way through it if he used his creepy flames.
Ronak's blades crashed into my shield, causing a spray of golden sparks as he hacked and slashed at it. I was planning on him doing that, though; he was becoming too predictable. I knew too well that he treated my shields like a walnut he wanted to open. I lowered one of my arms, weakening the spell but allowing me to cast another spell. Golden bands shot out from my palm and wrapped his legs together, giving me a split second to cast another spell.
I thrust my hand forward, and a golden wave of light crashed into Ronak, sending him stumbling backwards. I didn't waste any time and sent multiple spells to ambush him in the wake of the wave.
As the wave disappeared, my spells crashed into the ground, leaving me confused, but a shiver ran down my spine as spikes flew at me from a completely different direction. Dang it, his stupid travel spell?! He rarely uses it while sparring!
"You've gotten rather clever, little mouse, but I'm afraid it's going to take more than that." Ronak appeared behind me, and I quickly ducked as he swung his sword at my head. I yelped in fear and snapped my fingers, appearing on the opposite side of the training field.
"Are you trying to decapitate me?!" I yelled at him, and he laughed, but it didn't come from across the field but directly behind me.
Strong arms wrapped around me, and I froze in horror. "Of course not. I'd much rather your head stay on your shoulders. Seems you have fallen for my new spell, demonic mirage. What a shame, one minute left on the clock and you would have earned yourself a chocolatey dessert."
"Nooooo!" I angrily screeched as I thrashed about in his arms, "Not fair! I demand a rematch! You can't use a new spell like that!"
"All's fair when it comes to warfare." Ronak chuckled and hoisted me up into his arms even though I was angrily kicking and thrashing about.
"We were sparring! Not going to war! Unhand me, beast! Release me from your iron grip! I demand a rematch! I would have made it ten minutes had you not thrown in a new spell like that! Absolutely unfair!" I angrily screamed and brought out a pillow that I bashed into Ronak's face.
Ronak grunted and tossed me over his shoulder, preventing me from hitting him with the pillow. "You became too confident, and I had to put you back in your place. Had you won, you would have never let me hear the end of it."
"Y-you never were going to let me win?! It was all a plot to take my sugar away?! Evil! Complete evil! Why do I even like you! You're nothing but a meanie!" I pounded my fists against his back, causing a major scene as Ronak hauled me back into the castle. The knights were staring at me in complete shock, and I knew I would be the topic of gossip for a while, but I didn't care. I was so upset!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Tsk, tsk. Now you're making me want to take your sugar away for real." Once inside, Ronak smacked my bottom, causing me to yelp. "Are you done complaining?" He asked as he started to massage my butt. D-don't do that!!
"I don't talk to big meanies." Ronak sighed as he hauled me up the stairs. I felt like I could cry; I was so upset at him.
"Fine, I admit, it was a bit harsh of me to use that spell, but I was curious to try it out. I won't take away any of your sweets, and to make it up to you, I'll let you have the dessert I promised." I didn't respond to him, and he squeezed my bottom again, causing me to squeal. "Am I still a big meanie?"
"No, you're only a medium-sized meanie." I yelped as Ronak continued to squeeze my bottom.
"That's not the answer I was looking for," Ronak growled at me.
"S-stop!" I begged him to stop, but he didn't until we made it to our room doors. Gosh, I hope no one was around to witness that.
Ronak managed to haul me into our chambers and toss me down on the sofa. "I have a meeting I need to attend about public works. You can go find a room to put all your medical books in. I'll come find you when I'm done." I lay there trying to catch my breath as Ronak went to change. Just to spite him, I brought out a piece of taffy and shoved it into my mouth.
I angrily chewed on piece after piece while waiting for him to exit the closet. "Ooh, so angry." Ronak snickered as he exited, wearing much more formal clothes. "Don't get lost." He winked before leaving me to sulk on the sofa. That meanie! I lied, you are a big meanie! I won't get lost! I sat up from the sofa, determined to find the perfect room for my future medical office.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why was this happening?! I swear karma must hate me or something! It was like something was trying to break my spirit by always proving me wrong! I found a room that I liked, but after retracing my steps, I ended up… well, I don't know where I am, and that's the problem! I've probably gone around in circles for at least an hour. I-If Ronak finds me like this, he's going to make fun of me forever. I-I can't have that!
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a black skirt with the classic white ruffle whip around a corner. Was it a maid? I quickly raced to catch up, and sure enough, it was a maid carrying laundry. "E-excuse me! Could you help me?"
She paused for a second and turned, but when she saw me, her brow furrowed. "I am sorry, but I am busy right now." She curtly responded to me, then whipped around to continue walking away.
Yikes, what was her problem? Not even a sir or a my lord either? Not that I wanted people to refer to me like that, but her tone was so sharp. "M-maybe you're unaware of who I am, but-"
"I'm well aware of who you are." She snapped before I could finish talking.
"H-have I done something to upset all the staff that works here? I-it seems like everyone is annoyed by my presence…" It wasn't just her either. Linn seemed annoyed to see me in Ronak's office every time he entered, and the attendants at meals gave me strange looks when Ronak wasn't paying attention. I thought it was all in my head for a while there, but… I guess not…
She came to a halt and whipped towards me with eyes full of anger. She shifted her laundry to one side and pointed her finger in my face. "You are not the archduchess we needed! All you will do is force Archduke Abraxos to continue shouldering the work of two people because you are childish and low in standing. How dare you stand proudly by his side!" In her anger, she lashed out and slapped me across the face. I froze, completely shocked and taken aback, my face stinging from the impact.
N-no! N-not now! A large wet tear fell from my eye and rolled down my still stinging cheek. I wasn't sure what hurt more. To find out what the people of Ebonhold actually thought of me or her slap.
I didn't notice her appear, but Olivia grabbed the maid by her hair and dragged her away from me. Olivia brought her hand back and slapped the maid far harder than she slapped me. I stood there completely shocked for a second.
"D-don't!" I yelped, grabbing Olivia's wrist as she brought her hand back again to slap the maid again.
"How dare this bitch speak to you that way! Release me, she needs to be taught a lesson!" Olivia didn't do much to pull away from my weak hold on her hand, even though she complained.
"H-hitting her isn't going to fix the problem… Sh-she's right, you know… I don't know why Ronak picked me. I'm not fit to become an archduke." More tears stung my eyes and dripped down my face as I started to cry.
"She's not right! Not in the slightest, and if you can't see how happy the archduke is with you in his life, then you need to open your eyes. Running the dukedom can be taught. No child wakes up one day and takes over their parents' mantle. My lord went through many struggles before reaching where he is today-"
"J-just please d-don't tell Ronak what h-happened." Olivia's words didn't soften the blow of the maids in the slightest. Just because Ronak was happy didn't magically fix anything. The maid's words managed to jab into my insecurities about being a lord's son engaged to someone far above my social stature. I didn't want to listen to Olivia try to cheer me up, so instead I released her wrist and snapped my fingers.
I fell face-first into the pillows of our bed right as the tears began to overwhelm me. W-why did I come here?! All I've managed to do is make a fool of myself, get all the staff to hate me, and waste Ronak's time. I should have stayed at the academy, or better yet, Ronak shouldn't have marked me. That's the problem here, isn't it? Ronak is in the process of rebuilding his dukedom, and he could have used someone strong and confident by his side who could help him. Instead, he has me. I don't know how to run a household, much less an entire dukedom. Just looking at a book with nobles' information stressed me out today.