Lumiere's POV
The last discussion I had with Janeya was meeting the Duke of Desire. Everything else should have followed accordingly.
"Where are we going again?" Johan blurted the question I would've asked in a second. "Even if the Duke of Desire so rudely left our invitation unanswered for a week, we can't just start taking trips around his region."
I'd rather not be reminded of that lackadaisical Duke, who fell into a food coma and hasn't seen his letters.
I could sense the nervousness from his messenger when he told us his Duke couldn't get back to us anytime soon. His Master was probably happy to get a letter from my mother again after years that he feasted all night.
"Why didn't we ask the new Duke of Fear? He'd be more than happy to assist, especially as it'd be his first inauguration." Johan continued talking, something he started to do since he's mostly ignored. "And moving around the Duke of Desire's region when we were insulted by him, I don't know how it'd look on our Alpha's reputation, Janeya. I really don't know. We should leave here."
The carriage went on for another ten minutes, before stopping in front of a butcher's store. It wasn't a place familiar to me. I sighted the discount placard on a table, and my forehead creased. Janeya loved meat.
"Janeya, you didn't get us out here to buy meat didn't you?" Johan once again voiced my worry. His sister jumped down the rider's seat, and flicked the doorbell. She had her charm on and Johan quickly wore his own around his neck. "Why are we here?" He got down the carriage.
I moved towards his position by the window, observing them. A cheerful lady rushed in front of them, with her eyes peering deeply at Johan. She saw him for the first time yet looked so happy to be before him. Janeya spoke in hushes to her for a while, but the lady replied audibly.
"Yes, yes, I know a red haired girl in our village. Why do you want her, if I may ask?"
I sat up, no longer leaning by the window. Janeya went straight to the next plan without delay? I loved that about her but I might appreciate a heads-up next time.
Johan frowned on realising, and strolled back to the carriage to inform me. "It's about the Cathy girl."
I knew.
"It seems this butcher's daughter knows her."
I heard her, Johan.
But I nodded at him, and sat carefully, keeping my frame from sight. I relaxed myself to feel it. The energy flowing through the young lady's mind, that determined what words she'd say, and how much they betray her true thoughts.
Janeya dropped coins in her hands before I could react. The lady's cheer died when she saw the gold coins.
"I just need to know her address—"
"She doesn't like that." I said in Janeya's mind link. I held my head, feeling an unknown ache inside. "I believe she's closer to Cathy than we assumed."
Janeya made to take back the coins but the lady closed her hands, and beamed brightly. A fake gesture of acceptance that ached me more. Did she have to force a smile when she was worried?
"She stays a little towards the east part of a bustling part of this village. Her parents own a store there. You said her name was what again?" She smiled more brightly.
Lies. Did every person who showed a lot of cheer feel they had to fake it even while it waned? Why did they settle on deceit instead of accepting their feelings?
But this didn't displease me much. She lied to protect her friend who she quickly gathered must be in some kind of trouble. Cathy had good friends.
"Cathy has no parents. That's clearly a lie." Johan muttered under his breath. "Does she think she can deceive a Duke of Deception?"
"This isn't about me." I said.
He looked up quickly, as if glad I finally said a word to him today. He went the other way to climb into the carriage.
Janeya smiled back and thanked her. "Cathy is her name. Do you know her as such?"
"Ah yes, sweet girl Cathy. Really pretty red hair and loved by many suitors." she quickly glanced at me when I unknowingly revealed myself. "If your lord has interest in her, he better hurry. She's an adult now." She chuckled.
Why did that seem like another lie? Why did I also feel relieved that it was? Janeya turned to me, then back at the lady. She cleared her throat and bowed to the lady.
The lady's smile dropped the moment Janeya turned and she threw the coins in a cupboard.
"How much of it was a lie?" Janeya came to the window.
"Almost all of it."
She sighed, fiddling with the charm on her wrist. "My hard work came to nothing. I should've claimed I searched for a lost friend. It'd have been more believable."
There's silence amongst us before I remembered. "She seemed to say the opposite of what she meant, so she can be consistent. Cathy might live in the West side, at a place not bustling with people. Her Uncle likely owns a store, I didn't feel a sting when she said that part."
Janeya raised a brow when I stopped. She smirked. "So Cathy also has no suitors?"
I said nothing.
Johan spoke for me, and I couldn't appreciate it. "Very likely. She's wolf-less. Even if a human wants to be with her, she's also not a 'sweet girl' if the butcher's daughter lies."
Janeya and I sighed in unison. She returned to the rider's seat. "We should return for today. I'd send some warriors to check the west for a likely troublesome red-haired girl. Or perhaps, an uncle with horrendous tattoos."
My memory couldn't serve me perfectly to remember what Mark looked like, but those tattoos must've been truly horrendous that my childhood rider said it'd scare a brave man who saw him fight bare bodied. "Leave the search for Cathy till after my inauguration. If you do see her, Mark might realize who sent you and hide her away."
My mother hadn't been the only one who agreed on her disappearance. To what end, I knew not. Only that her mother's dying wish was to be separated from the wiles of the royal family.
I was no longer a part of the royal family either. After all, I had a bigger purpose to be part of.
~~~~
A cool night. However, candle lights flickered in my room.
A dressed bed. But the bed was warm.
A closed curtain. Yet the windows, with spells drawn on them, were open.
There was a presence here, and whether it was a friend or foe depended on its actions when I walked in.
I rested on the door's frame. "Mother told me about the likes of you. Sins of Ancient times that stalked new Duchesses and Dukes. I haven't even been inaugurated yet."
I silently appreciated that he warmed my bed before my sleep. It had been a hectic day of doing nothing. Could he also wait till I was officially inaugurated and pride myself in my new power? Wrestling with him a few hours to bed would put me in a sour mood, and not worth anything.
"Are those corals?"
I heard him. Familiar for some reason. Like a voice I've heard many times in the wind. Like my old butler who doesn't speak to me anymore. I smiled. So he always sounded like someone familiar? What a way to pull on one's heartstrings.
"You like it?" I played along with the sudden absurdity of his question.
"I do."
Were we bonding? "It was custom made so I can't give it to you. I could tell you the craftsman who did it."
I looked into the room and my face straightened. Long red hair that rested on the bed frame. Light brown eyes that stared back at me curiously. Till the scar on his left cheek.
I closed my eyes, breathing in. "Are you here to punish me?" Those words left me before I made sense of them.
"Do you feel punished?" He dropped his leg to the ground and I frowned. Had he kept his feet on my dressed bed all this while? I breathed out.
"I usually visit the Disciples to check how much of a threat they'd be to my younger siblings who'd be venturing out."
Mother mentioned that often. One of them, the Sin of Lust, could be found in big towns and the merchants enjoyed travelling with her because she helped business. It was an odd hobby for an ancient being.
"Concerning this Sin of Lust? She is the Fourth sin, is she not?"
"Their position doesn't matter. They are my younger siblings."
Very well said. Even if the positions clearly mattered as their sanity strengthened the higher in hierarchy they were. If the Fourth travelled with merchants, it'd be safer than if it were the Fifth.
"What's your conclusion about me then?"
"As always. You are. All of you are. I came specially to reveal myself to you not because you are, but because you visited a favourite place of mine today."
I tilted my head. The only place I visited today was the Duke of Desire's Region. That man had crossed parts with three brothers during his hundred years of existence, but I never assumed they'd plant an abode within his region.
Was Cathy safe? I shook my head. She would be. They never meant harm. If he never told me, I wouldn't have known anyway.
"It's a place with businesses. Thriving. You seem alive. I can see why you like it."
He said nothing, when I wanted him to confirm or deny his reason for staying there. I realized I couldn't feel a sting even if he lied. Not that I'd expect my gift from the Moon Grace to work on a son of the Sun Grace.
He stood from my bed, making the ruby bracelet in his hands visible. He showed them to me when he noticed me staring. "I make these myself, in my spare time."
"Such intricate designs. Impressive."
He hummed and stepped towards the curtains. Having no other words to say, I let him whiff past my curtains out the window.
The candlelights stopped flickering. The room felt cooler. I didn't know what sin he embodied or what position he was. We had just bonded over bracelets.