“So, what did you think of him, mother?” I asked after taking a sip of my tea. Jack had arrived mid morning, and left just before our chefs prepared lunch. He had been such a delight to talk to, and I had wanted him to stay for lunch. He cited the need to stick to his training schedule in preparation for the ball, which all of us understood. We were, after all, anticipating a lot of silly boys challenging the poor man.
Mother, Father, and I were sitting in the parlor again for evening tea. We hadn’t had the chance to talk about his visit yet because matters concerning one of mother’s contessas had come up: something about one of her spies in house dalla Rosso. I wasn’t privy to the details, such things would be beyond me for another 100 or so years before she started grooming me to succeed her.
If I even still want that…
“He’s clever, passionate, and most likely a very talented mage. The court has no idea what they’re getting into with him,” my mother said. She was idly running her fingers through my father’s hair as he leaned into her.
“What do you mean, dear?” asked my father, looking up at her.
“I could barely sense it, but even then the only reason I was able to pick it out is because I attempted to probe him in the first place.”
“Mother!” Such an extreme breach of decorum from my mother was shocking. She knew better!
“Relax. Her majesty felt me do it, yet I am still standing here before you. I think she’ll be letting me off with a warning.”
My father furrowed his brows and reached to squeeze her unoccupied hand, both to seek comfort and to provide it. I, however, had a hard time keeping my mouth from gaping like a fish’s, but I managed somehow. No one knew exactly how strong the principesse were. We just knew they were strong, but that could mean anything. Almost all of the ruling family heads of the nobility had no concept of the scale of power that could be achieved in the Immortal Chords Realm.
Our family, however, had a vague one. One of my ancestors—I forget how many generations ago—visited my mother for her wedding to my father. She just “happened to be around”. She had allegedly mastered two major chords and one minor chord. In private, she showed my mother, as the current head of the family, the power that could be achieved if one broke through. In her words, it felt like being an ant, if an ant were to ever gain consciousness and be confronted with an average cultivator. The gulf of power between them was so vast, she couldn’t begin to comprehend how to even measure it, let alone comprehend the power itself. And while no one knows how many chords the principesse have each mastered, it is surely more than my ancestor. If mother caught her majesty’s attention just by attempting to probe Jack’s mana…
“I see you both are beginning to connect the same dots I did. The only reason her majesty would have noticed is if she were paying attention to everything around the boy. But it goes beyond that. She was shielding him. That was what my attempt to probe his mana felt.” She paused for a moment. “I felt her majesty,” she said quietly and shuddered.
There was a long beat of silence before my father spoke up.
“If she was shielding his mana,” he said slowly, “Then that means there’s something about him she doesn’t want anyone to find out.”
Not necessarily.
My mother shrugged. “Not necessarily. She could also just be protecting him. His value as a pureblood of the sky races cannot be overstated. He is the only one in many millenia that would have an equal chance of giving one of the principesse a boy as he would a girl. And while that number will decrease with anyone else, it’s still significantly better than what any other man alive on the surface today would have.”
I took another sip from my tea as I processed my mother’s words. She wasn’t considering something, which meant it might be time to mention my original purpose of bringing up Jack to begin with.
“It’s a shame you’re so young, Cristina. I still have another 200 or so years left to rule. He would have made a fine husband for you and a fine duca to support you.”
I couldn’t stop myself from smirking. It seemed I was right. My mother had missed the biggest reason for her majesty’s behavior.
“I know humans are the shortest lived of the sky races, but do their lifespans not increase with cultivation level like ours do?” asked my father.
“I’m sure they do, but we don’t know by how much. All that’s recorded about the sky races is that to varying degrees they can climb through the notes faster than the surface races. It has to do with them having adapted to thinner mana above the clouds,” said my mother.
“But that also means that he would be climbing even faster down here on the surface than he would in his home city. Perhaps it’s worth inviting him over again and asking about it. The slots we got from him are nice, but I agree with your assessment of him being a good husband for our Cristina. And he could even go with her when she takes her military tour. Based on his stories, he seems a capable enough fighter, and he’s certainly dedicated to getting stronger, bless him,” said my father who then opened his mouth as my mother fed him a macaroon. I was almost certain I got my sweet tooth from him. She picked a crumb off his lip and ate it.
“I think both of you are missing something,” I said after setting my teacup and saucer down on the table. I crossed my legs, rested my elbow on the armrest to my right and propped my head up on my fist.
“Her majesty wasn’t protecting him. She was staking her claim,” I said. Looks of realization passed over their faces.
“Her majesty is due for a husband soon. It would certainly make a lot of sense,” said my mother.
“That also makes the deal we brokered with Jack all the more valuable. And it means the nobles trying to embarrass him will look even more foolish,” said my father, shaking his head.
I cleared my throat and prepared myself for potential pushback for what I was about to say. “With that in mind, I would like to send a letter to her majesty of my intentions to court Jack and join her house as a member of his harem.”
My mother’s hand that had been petting my father stopped. She stared me down, her mana wrapping around me and applying pressure.
“Her Majesty’s rules on this are clear. You would leave our name behind you. Even if Jack rejected you, you could never rejoin this household. Your best future if that happened would be to join her guards and live the rest of your life in her service.” Her voice was ice and steel.
“I know, mother.” I said, not backing down.
“Even though she has final approval and has never in a single one of her marriages allowed her husband to take a second wife?”
“Yes, mother, and in most of those cases her husband never wanted to.” I said, still firm in my resolve.
“Officially. It is officially recorded that only two of her husbands sought to take a second wife.”
“Even so, mother. This is what I want. Jack is worth the risk.”
“You’ve met him once!” The pressure of her mana intensified, squeezing the breath out of me.
My father reached up and cupped my mother’s cheek. He applied a little pressure to get her to face him, since she was determined to continue our staredown. Her eyes stayed on me until his lips met hers. Her mana’s pressure left me almost immediately at the contact. Her eyes softened as she looked at my father, then closed as she melted into his kiss. Moments later when they broke from the kiss, my father spoke up.
“My beautiful powerful wife, our daughter wants to chase after love. Were you so different when you brought me home and forced your own mother to accept me?”
“Cucciolo, this is different. You wanted me, too. And my mother was honestly a pushover.”
My father gave her a mischievous smirk. “That’s because of what your father did for her that night.”
My mother pulled back a bit and furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”
My father leaned up so his mouth was almost touching one of her silver ears. I couldn’t hear what he said, but it was the deepest blush I’ve ever seen on my mother. Once he finished talking, he licked along the edge of her ear then nipped it playfully. My mother shuddered at first then jumped slightly when she felt his teeth. She scowled and bared her own teeth at him.
“It seems mommy’s good little boy wants to be a brat tonight.”
For his part, my father giggled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am the epitome of a well behaved man, and even if I weren’t, it’s not like you could do anything about it.” Mischief flashed in his eyes again. I smiled softly. This kind of back and forth was common for them, and I was happy that my parents were still able to keep their love alive like this. My mother stared at him while he gave her his best smug smirk; her eyes ignited with lust and the pressure of her mana gathered around him but didn’t collapse on him yet. It was a coiled snake, ready to strike. She didn’t take her eyes off of him as she asked me a question.
“I’ll ask one last time, daughter. No, Cristina. Are you sure you want to surrender your name, your position in the household, your blood ties to our line, and the chance of becoming a full vampire to serve in Ippolita’s household with the hope of courting Jack Wright? An unknown human from the sky that you will most likely outlive by at least 100 years?”
“Yes, mother.” My voice was firm. This was what I wanted. Not just for myself, but for our bloodline. She may have said that I was renouncing our ties, but the blood of dall’Amita ran through my veins. I may not have a claim to its heritage after this, but we were an old line, a proud line, a loyal line. And Jack was… magnetic. That was the best way to describe it. Seeing him in person was beyond any of the words Pia had told me about him. There was an intensity to him, even when he was joking or reminiscing fondly over his stories about his friends. There was also a certain drive to him, likely stemming from everything he’s lost. It triggered my instincts in ways I’d never felt before, though not the same way as my father triggered my mother’s.
My mother pulled away from my father. He looked like he was about to pout, but he reined it in when he saw my mother’s face as she walked towards me. I stood up so that I could be closer to eye level with her for whatever she was about to say. She looked me up and down once, and then her face softened as she reached out and patted my head like I was a kid again before pulling me into a hug.
“Officially, you’ll no longer be a member of this house. Unofficially, you will always be my daughter. If things don’t work out, we have connections in other cities for you to try your luck in.”
I returned her hug and patted her on the back. She was acting like I was leaving tonight. There was a process to this, at least from what I had researched already.
“Go ahead and send your letter to the principessa tonight. Use the royal communication line in my office,” she said after releasing me and holding me at arms length by shoulders.
“Are you sure her majesty won’t mind? Isn’t that only for official documents from the duchessas?” I furrowed my brows at her suggestion.
“It is, but this way she will see the same sincerity that you’ve shown me tonight. And you want her to see that you are sincere and earnest in your interest in Jack. She may ask you to leave our house immediately and begin working under hers. That would mean you couldn’t go to the ball.”
My eyes widened at that revelation. I had been looking forward to dancing with him. My mother saw my expression and steel entered her gaze again.
“Was my daughter’s resolve on such shaky foundations that the loss of noble frivolities would cause her to hesitate?”
I straightened at her question and met her gaze.
“No, mother. It is not.”
“Good. Now, off with you. Send the letter. I’ll see you in the morning.” Her voice dropped to a lower register as she turned to look at her husband, “Your father has earned punishment for the rest of the evening.” She walked to my father and picked him up, and threw him over her shoulder like she was carrying a sack of grain. My father winked at me as they left the parlor. I supposed I did owe him for helping convince my mother. I sighed and released all the tension I’d been gathering in my shoulders, and I headed for mother’s study.
*****
Tonight, I burned. The burning fire between my legs and in my mana core burned and raged with need after my session with Jack. It had taken far more concentration than normal tonight to keep my hands off of him. He still needed time. I knew that. I needed to respect that if I wanted him. I pushed too hard, I would push him away.
I groaned as I leaned against the desk in my study. I set my glass of blood down, far enough away to not tip it over if I got… excited. My other hand roamed towards the slit in my dress. I couldn’t remember the last time I masturbated, but I so desperately needed release. The craving for him, to have him, to feel him inside me, to feel his surrender and taste his blood fresh from his neck—it all burned far too brightly that I was quickly losing control. This was abnormal. It must have been because Veronica tried to sense his mana and his being earlier today. I had restrained myself then, but the possessive urges that have been building in me during the nearly three weeks that Jack has stayed with me exploded in intensity.
However, before I could even slip my hand into my dress, the royal communication box pinged an alert, or rather, a delivery. I sighed letting out some of the tension in me. The fires raged, but this was probably for the best. Hopefully, whatever just arrived would be enough of a distraction that I could fully contain the rampant hunger and need. Otherwise, I would be taking a very, very long bath.
I sent a threat of mana over to the box to open it and then another to pull out whatever was in there.
A letter…? From Cristina dall’Amita? What are you up to little kit?
I broke the wax seal of House dall’Amita on the letter and opened it. My eyes took in the contents and I couldn’t stop one of the corners of my lips from lifting into a smirk. I had known Jack would catch the eyes of, well, everyone, but especially the houses I was sending him to for political alliances. Typically, however, they would attempt to court Jack directly and over an extended period of time, likely starting after leaving the shelter of my estate. What I did not expect was someone realizing that I planned to claim him as my husband. To the majority of the current heads of house, fools that they are, it would be absolutely unthinkable for me to take a commoner as a husband, even if he were human.
I turned my head to look at the gardens outside the window behind my desk, letting my mind wander.
She’s a clever one, I’ll give her that.
Her letter expressed her intention to court Jack, but not as a bachelor. Rather, she wished to court Jack and myself to join our future harem. It was… absurd. Gutsy. Idiotic. And mostly, it was impressive. There has never been a royal harem in my city. A few of my cousins and sisters allowed their husbands to take extra wives, but that was something I was completely disinterested in. I was enough for my husbands, and if they ever craved the body of another woman, then my guards would suffice. Jack already had the eye of all of them, though 5 specifically came to mind.
Not long after the founding of my city, I had established the rule that for another woman to join my marriage with my husband, they would have to abandon everything: their property, their family names, their family itself, any inheritance or claims they may have. Everything. And it didn’t guarantee mine or my husband’s approval to the match. It deterred almost all who would seek to join us, and the handful that persisted anyways, I refused. I had always planned to refuse.
However, something in my gut told me not to dismiss her out of hand. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was part of the same feelings of fate that I would occasionally get during my private meditations. Those feelings were centered around Jack, and I could feel time element mana gently vibrate from everyone Jack interacted with. He would be facing trouble soon. I couldn’t see what yet, and I likely won’t until it’s too late for me to do something. That was the annoyance with becoming sensitive to time mana when you finished mastering all of the immortal chords. You could feel it, especially when a momentous event was on the rise, but you rarely ever felt it strongly enough to get a proper warning about it. The most I could do for him is make him stronger. If I tried to lock him away, he’d rebel. He’d hate me for it, and I couldn’t bear that, not when I so desperately craved his love.
I pulled my focus back to the letter in my hand. House dall’Amita had a history of powerful heads of house that all achieved B note. They even had a couple of immortal realm mages in their family, but they were all wandering abroad. One had visited recently, some 50 or 70 years ago. So she came from a line of moderately talented mages, but a little more investigation was in order.
I closed my eyes and focused my attention on the bodies moving around the dall’Amita estate until I found the mana signature matching the traces on the letter in my hands.
There you are, little fox.
She was pacing. I arched an eyebrow reflexively. Anxiety stained her mana as she paced in her mother’s study. Slowly and gently, my mana mixed and blended in with hers. Her emotions unspooled into me through my mana. I confirmed her anxiety, but there was more to it. She wanted this. Badly. She wasn’t in love with my Jack, but she did feel an extreme draw to him. One that reeked of those same feelings of fate from before. I clicked my tongue as I distangled my mana from hers, leaving her none the wiser.
If she left her house to join mine now, it would arouse suspicion, and there were already far too many eyes stinking of greed and envy that looked at my Jack. I knew it would be best if she waited, but the question was for how long. Each passing day the time mana thrummed a little louder, and my gut feelings became more pronounced. I would have her enter my service as one of my Royal Guard, so I could assign her to him like I have the others. That also meant she would have to go through the training and selections that all aspirants for my guard would go through, something that would only get more competitive after I married Jack. My husbands fucking the occasional royal guard wasn’t something I kept secret. It just wasn’t something I advertised.
So sooner rather than later.
My lips quirked up in a smile as I thought about how to deliver the good news to our cunning little kit. I refocused on my mana that was near Cristina, who hadn’t stopped pacing. With a thread I picked up a piece of parchment off her mother’s desk from the stack Cristina herself likely pulled out and grabbed the same quill she used. Cristina froze in her steps as she saw the floating quill in parchment. My smile widened as I saw the look of panic on her face as she realized I was manipulating the mana in her mother’s estate: a place she should feel safe.
Continuing to move the items with my mana, I dipped the quill in ink, then wrote on the parchment as it floated in front of her.
You will join my house as an aspirant to the Royal Guards the day after the ball, and not a day later. Fail to do so, and you can consider your request denied, and you’ll still be stripped of everything.
I look forward to seeing you in a few weeks, little kit.
After I finished writing my response, I lowered the quill back to the desk, but not where Cristina had left it. Instead, I placed it where Veronica always kept it. Then with a small surge of mana, I marked the letter with my crest. Cristina’s throat visibly moved as she swallowed, staring wide-eyed and pale faced at the floating letter.
“Y-yes, y-your majesty. I will be there.” She said, tripping over her words, and then bowed at the waist at the floating letter.
Satisfied with my message being sent, I set the letter on fire, burning it down and even crushing the ashes with my mana. There would be no trace I was there for Veronica, or anyone else to find. Cristina could give her the news whenever she was ready. The more I thought about my decision to let her attempt to court my Jack, the better I felt about it. There was a certain peace that came with the decision. She’d be good for him. For us. And if she was diligent, she could join Jack and me in immortality.