Aya needed air desperately.
The estate was suffocating her with its elaborate corridors and hidden contempt. The stares from the servants, along with the whispers following her everywhere like a particularly annoying theme song.
Aya didn't know how, but she eventually found the way out of the building.
[Host. The task—]
"You gave me no time limit," Aya inwardly snapped, irritated.
She had been here less than a day and already felt like the walls were closing in her. And she was starving, but the paranoia about the food likely being poisoned was not helping her mood.
The ornate double doors were wide open and the fresh air hit Aya like a blessing as she stepped out onto a wide stone terrace that wrapped around the front of the main building. The view that greeted her made her stop in her tracks.
The gardens were... stunning.
But it wasn't just gardens sprawled out across the vast space.
Her estate turned out to actually be an estate. The main building she had just walked out of was large and sat at the centre like a palace.
A distance away sat a wide engraved stone fence that stretched on both sides of a beautifully closed large wooden gate. And even beyond that she had a faint view of the sprawling houses and forest in the distance.
Aya was stunned at how beautiful the whole place was.
She walked down onto the cobblestone path on the ground among several others that spread through a sparse garden. But when she walked further away from the building, she started to see other smaller but beautiful houses on both sides of the main house.
To her left, she could see what looked like a smaller manor house. Another similar building sat to her right, partially hidden by a grove of trees. And in the distance, she spotted at least more structures of similar size as she started to walk along one side of the house.
'What the hell?' she thought, staring. 'How big is this place?'
She kept walking, watching as one building was connected to the other through a shielded bridge. Servants walked around and along the paths between the buildings, some of them staring at her. Not a single wolf greeted her, and a lot of their expressions ranged from wariness to confusion, but Aya barely noticed, too transfixed by the beautiful environment.
She looked at the strange flowers in full bloom. There were hedges trimmed to perfection, forming intricate maze-like patterns that spread across the grounds. The low-cut paths led to the paved courtyard where the buildings curved around the back of the main house in a semicircle.
A fountain burbled at a beautiful spot near the main house and she stopped to admire it, unaware of the passing wolves confused by their Luna's reaction to her very estate.
Trees provided shade, and the morning sun caught on dewdrops still clinging to the grass, making everything sparkle.
As she walked, she passed one of the covered walkways that connected the main palace to the nearest building. It was beautiful. There were white stone pillars supporting a curved roof with flowering vines growing up the sides.
Ding!
[Quest Update: Location Discovered!]
[Alphas Lodgings]
[Each Alpha's private lodging on the Estate grounds]
[Progress: 5/5]
Aya went still, her mouth nearly falling open. "They don't live with me?"
[(·•᷄ࡇ•᷅ )]
[Luna Estate consists of main palace and five connected residences]
[Each Alpha husband has their own private lodging on the grounds]
[…]
[Quest Complete: Explore The Estate!]
[Reward: 50 points obtained]
[(BONUS) New Ability Unlocked: Enhanced Spatial Awareness]
[Host can now sense the layout of any building you've explored]
[Congratulations! Host is slightly less helpless!]
Aya eyed the reward, surprised. She frowned.
"How does this ability work and what exactly will I be using points for?!"
[Tsk]
[To make purchases, dummy!]
[( •̀ ᴖ •́ )]
Aya's lips stretched in a tight smile and she closed her eyes, a vein twitching against her forehead.
If the system had a physical body, she would have smacked it into oblivion.
'What an asshole.'
[This system heard that!]
[(•̀へ •́ ╮ )]
'You're supposed to hear it,' Aya shot back mentally. 'You can read my thoughts, remember?!'
"I have no privacy," Aya gritted out loud, not even caring if any passing wolves could listen to her.
[This system chooses to ignore Host's impudence]
Aya rolled her eyes and kept walking, this time giving herself a bit more distance from the lodgings. She was curious to see her other husbands, but wasn't sure a confrontation at this moment would be best. Maybe after she took in the full view of her whole estate.
"Still, cut me some slack. How am I supposed to know what the points would be for when you didn't explain anything to me?" Aya defended herself.
[༎ຶ‿༎ຶ]
[I understand]
Aya side eyed the system, wondering if it was immune to saying sorry when the sound of impact and low grunts echoed through the air.
Aya slowed her steps, following the sound until the manicured gardens gave way to something different.
An open training ground a distance away at the back of the main house.
Compared to the front side of the house, the back was larger and had a lot more space. A short distance away was a large clearing packed with dirt instead of grass. There were wooden training dummies already scarred and splintered from repeated abuse.
Several racks held weapons like swords, spears, and what looked like practice staffs.
A small crowd were seated on the wide verandah of the lodge directly facing the training ground. The third house.
And in the center of it all, a man was in a wrestling spar match with another wolf.
Aya stopped at the edge of the clearing, right at the end of the wall of the main house. She was half-hidden behind the hedge and a small tree.
She couldn't help it. Her feet just... stopped.
She was looking at two majestic men.