Chapter 52 (Patreon)

“I should’ve expected as much.” Annabelle sighed as she and Nox strolled through the streets of the Aristrocat’s Quarter. Unlike the market ring, it featured a lot more open space. Gardens and courtyards with sculptures of fountains lined the street. “It’s my fault. I should’ve been ready in time.”

“It wasn’t too bad. The man appears to respect honesty. It's probably his fear of losing you that kept him from insisting we break off our fake engagement, but I doubt he’ll let this play out for long.”

Lord Oakheart had arranged a carriage for them. However, it was a pleasant evening, and Annabelle felt merry after a few glasses of wine. She wanted to walk home and had the carriage stop after it had ambled sufficiently far from the restaurant. Annabelle looped her arm through Nox’s as they strolled through the city.

Even though several pedestrians walked the streets, and he expected the market ring to be busy with drunks and late-evening diners, Nox remained on guard. He wore the glove half of Ratra’s bow under his coat. The thick cuff pressed against his bicep, making the garment tight and uncomfortable. The weapon’s rod half hung close to his left hand. Nox didn’t know how three glasses of wine would affect his date’s spells, so he kept an eye on their surroundings.

“Be honest. If given the opportunity, would you still not abandon your mad quest to rule a noble house?”

“I wouldn’t,” Nox answered as the gate to the market ring got closer. “Revenge. Anger. Hatred. They’ve been festering inside of me for eighteen years. I sometimes worry they’ll eat me inside out. I can’t think of any way to douse these flames without destroying Sundarshahar. Any lives tangled with mine will be miserable if I don’t complete my quest.”

“Tortured hero.” Annabelle chuckled. “You’re willing to sacrifice yourself for this quest, aren’t you?”

Nox shrugged. “I don’t know how far I’d go. Perhaps killing myself for the Dungeon Lord’s death is going too far. But I doubt I can find contentment as long as Sundarshahar exists and continues taking lives.”

No humans lived for scores of miles around the dungeon. Its territory expanded by a mile every couple of years, and monsters patrolled its border. What made the area truly dangerous was the arcane essences tainting all the natural flora and fauna in the vicinity. They rendered all plant life inedible and toxic. Food that grew in the area threatened to kill ordinary people with nothing but mana burn. Most ordinary creatures around the dungeon had mutated and turned into magical beasts. Humans were easy prey for them.

The dungeon had ruined hundreds of thousands of lives. First, it killed Pallav Ratra, the original Lillin, and her parents. All nearby villages and towns were forced to evacuate within the months following it. Then as beasts spilled out of the dungeon, local city-states sent armies and several parties of delvers to cull them. Only a fraction of them returned intact, and not all survivors lived through the year. Several city-states fell before the greater powers assigned the dungeon the archon rank.

Now, only two cities remained within three-hundred miles of Sundarshahar. One was the Imperium’s southernmost settlement, Meerberg. Only one independent city-state had survived the dungeon’s beasts and corruption. Baruipur was the continent’s last major settlement before the ports lining the Sapphire Straits. They kept Sundarshahar’s influence from spreading and controlled who approached it. Careless individuals often brought back diseases, parasites, or worse. One too many villages had fallen to the reckless and malicious.

“I suppose that’s why I like you,” Annabelle said. “You’re perhaps the only man I know whose ambitions go beyond fame, riches, power, or an inheritance.”

“Enough to make your fake husband.” Nox laughed.

“I mean it, Nox. Thank you.” Annabelle stopped. She tightened her hold on Nox’s arm before facing him. “I’m not sure if Father fell for our charade, but this bought us time to—I don’t know to do what, but I still appreciate it.”

“I wouldn’t be still in university if not for you. It’s the least I could do.”

“Is that the only reason you came tonight?” Annabelle asked, her eyes darting between Nox’s eyes and lips.

“No,” Nox answered. He stiffened. The turn of events didn’t surprise him.

Annabelle’s body language stares, and tendency to find seating close to Nox had betrayed her feelings long ago. Even though he had brushed aside his romantic interest in the woman, Nox expected her to change her mind or distance herself from him. Annabelle had done the opposite, and he often wondered whether it was in pursuit of friendship or perhaps more.

The distance between their faces dropped slowly. Nox felt her breath on his skin and saw her eyes more clearly than ever. The blue-grey appeared steely from afar, but now it reminded him of the sky after rain. Annabelle rose to her tippy toes and closed her eyes as she leaned in. Before their lips could touch, Nox gently grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away.

“You’re drunk, Annabelle,” he said. “I came tonight because you’re a dear friend, and I care about you. That doesn’t mean it comes with stipulations—”

“You call this drunk?” Annabelle laughed. “It’s a shame you never got to enjoy the joys of drinking. I might be tipsy, Nox, but I’m not drunk. If anything, the wine steeled my nerves and helped me stop overthinking everything. You—” She paused. Her brow crinkled, and her eyes narrowed. “I’m done talking for the evening. Can we just kiss?”

“I’m done protesting.” Nox closed the distance between them and finally kissed. Annabelle’s arms wrapped around his neck, and Nox’s hands slipped down to her waist. Despite the dress and summer coat, he found dimples in the small of her back. Their embrace intensified, and the kissing grew aggressive. The weeks of resisting their attraction for one another had turned their interest into hunger.

The kiss lasted for several minutes, but when the couple pulled away from one another, it felt like only seconds had passed. Nox had never experienced time speeding up outside of combat.

Annabelle continued her hold on Nox even after he let his hands fall free of her. She stared into his eyes intensely. Her expression appeared more angry than pleased.

"Twenty-two is far too late an age for this experience."

"What experience?" Nox asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A first kiss," Annabelle said before kissing him again. The embrace lasted for longer, and one of her hands worked its way into Nox's unusually neat hair. She grabbed a handful of it and pulled him into her harder.

"You and Roque never kissed?" Nox asked after the kiss ended, and they continued their walk.

"We did, but it wasn't the same. I didn't pick Roque. I never liked him or found him attractive. We mostly pecked. Anything less was strange. Anything more unacceptable. The few real kisses were more uncomfortable than pleasant. So you might as well call this my first." She grinned. "No wonder my aunts and their friends are all so crabby and cruel. They all ended up marrying their Roques." The tipsy noblewoman's eyes narrowed. "This is far from your first time, isn't it."

"The girls and later young women of Golden Isles stayed far from me. However, the Gedges had little influence over the people of all the villages, towns, and rare cities we passed. Before Pudge came along, I served the challenging role of Lillin's pubbing partner."

"Did the two of you ever—"

"By Yggdrasil, no! That'd be like sleeping with a sister." Nox didn't talk about how he'd never crawl into bed with a monster. "I've never been in a relationship or had an affair, as you ladies would say," Nox said. "I've mostly had one-night stands and a handful of flings."

"So if this turned into more, I'd be your first relationship?" Annabelle smiled.

"I suppose it would."

Something burned inside Nox. Even though he felt happier than he had in a long time, guilt raised its ugly head. He kept his volume at little more than a whisper when he continued. "I know I'm about to ruin this wonderful moment, but doesn't it bother you that I'm responsible for Victor’s death?"

Annabelle didn't react. Instead, she kept walking while tightly holding Nox's arm. "I suspected that you and Lillin had a hand in his death for quite a while," she whispered, lips moving close to his right ear. "I don't care if you stood back and let a beast consume him. Victor was little more than a monster himself, and I'm happy to be free of him. House Oakheart might be in turmoil as a result, but I don't care. It feels nice to think about myself for once, even if it will be just for a short while."

"I—"

"Let's not discuss the matter further. I'd rather let sleeping dogs lie. It's a nice night. Let's discuss something more pleasant. Why don't you tell me about your longest flings?"

Nox complied. He told her about his first longest romantic entanglement. It lasted for a little over a week and involved a village head’s daughter. Golden Isles had paused its journey along the local leyline to help with Nurgle’s Pox. Mou wasn’t aware, but instead of just brewing Pox Purger and escorting it to the docks, Nox would fly down with the crates. While Queen Mercer’s relief teams administered the medicine, Nox helped the local hunters deal with critters left behind by a roving dungeon.

Ellie accompanied Nox and Lillin on their hunts. He, of course, skipped the part about his dear mimic-friend devouring one of the settlement’s murderous guardsmen and skimmed over tender moments under starry skies.

Since she kept pushing, Nox told Annabelle about other notable experiences before turning the question on her. While the young noblewoman hadn’t indulged in any physical relationships, she had let her mind and heart wander. She told him about handsome princes and lordlings that had approached her during cotillions and balls. Annabelle danced with most and flirted with even more. Unfortunately, the Oakheart chaperone’s strict eye kept the interaction to get past delicate hand-holding. Then she came to university, hoping to enjoy her freedom and explore her sexuality. Unfortunately, Victor got in the way. He ensured his sister was betrothed and watched before she could stray from the ‘chaste noblewoman’s path.’

The limitations and constraints on her freedom had left Annabelle frustrated for years. She didn’t want to go wild as a lot of her female colleagues did after joining the university, but she would’ve appreciated more freedom.

“Should we get a room?” Annabelle asked as they passed taverns. Lights and music leaked through the open doors and stained windows. Couples and small groups of drinkers still hung around the exteriors while most fled indoors to escape the chilling evening breeze.

The question caught Nox off-guard. “Are you sure—”

“For Yggdrasil’s sake, Nox, I’m not drunk!” Annabelle tightened her hold on Nox’s arm. Her fingernails dug into his sleeve. “Our conversation and the cold got rid of any tipsiness I felt. Now, I just want you to hold me.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we returned to your apartment?” Nox asked.

“No, unless we want to broadcast our—whatever this is to the entire university. Gossipmongers surround me.”

“If your father and the house staff think we’re engaged. The news will spread anyway. Servants talk.”

Annabelle ignored Nox’s interruption. “And we’re not going back to yours. I refused to have sex in a hammock.”

The pair were debating where to go when Annabelle stiffened. Her hand disappeared inside her coat, and her eyes darted between alleys and rooftops. “We’re not alone!” She hissed.

Nox grabbed Ratra’s Bow and cast his newest cantrip. Whenever a star ascended to a new stage, it didn’t just gain enough gravity to support a new planet. Printing another cantrip’s spellform into one’s mind eye also became easier. Nox had spent a month pondering what to add to his arsenal.

After getting jumped, Nox’s first instincts drove him toward a quick defense or strong offense. However, all options felt redundant between his soon-to-be-completed planet and the power of destabilized essence glass. Instead, Nox took a path that let him take advantage of his increased mana zone.

Annabelle’s magic and Victor’s use of Repel and Attract taught Nox the value of utility spells. It would take several planets before he got something as potent as Danger Sense. His love for alchemical brews and preference to stay far from the vanguard rendered physical-enhancement cantrips pointless. Instead, Nox spent weeks studying tracking spells. Unfortunately, they all required large mana zones, demanded significant energy investments, or required a dedicated star before growing useful. So, Nox opted for a well-known but overlooked cantrip: Summon Familiar.

Powerful familiars demanded bonding with a divine or primordial entity or befriending a powerful magical beast. Besides, Nox didn’t want the pain of commanding a creature in combat. It demanded far too much attention. Instead, Pudge helped him Charm and then bond with a simple nature spirit.

Otis manifested as a ball of charcoal fur. At first glance, he looked no different from a curled-up rat with enormous, puppy-like eyes. The gremlin had no limbs and only a single toothy mouth. They lived in mana-rich environments near civilization, eating moss, fungus, and insects. Though weak, stupid, and lacking combat potential, fur gremlins had two unique abilities. They could glide over surfaces as fast as a sprinting rat and had keen empathic skills. It let them detect hostile entities, and, as a social creature, it warned other nearby gremlins of the threat.

Only thieves and treasure hunters with no plans to ascend their star past apprentice were bothered with such a summon. Nox would need to replace Otis as he approached archmage, but for the time being, the creature was enough.

Otis zipped around the street, making squeaking sounds before returning to Nox. The gremlin glided up his back and rested on his shoulder. Images flashed through his mind. Nox saw a woman approaching them along the rooftops. Otis failed to give him exact numbers, but more awaited in an alley ahead.

“Behind you!” Annabelle hissed. She pulled Nox into a crouch. A dart shot through where he’d stood a moment ago and shattered a couple of feet away. He recognized the smell straight away.

“It’s a sleeping draught,” Nox said. He pulled Annabelle away from the open towards the nearest tavern. They were in a quiet patch of road between two lively establishments. The pair stayed close to the ground, and another projectile shattered behind them.

“They’re closing in.” Annabelle drew her weapon from the inside of her coat.

“Otis wants to flee to a tavern.” Nox manifested Ratra’s bow as they reached a wall. His eyes scanned the rooftops as he looked for the person shooting at them.

“Bad idea. There’s too many, and we’re surrounded.” She paused, frowning. “There’s seven of them, but they’re all novices with a couple of apprentices. We can take them.”

“Fine. But let's find somewhere less open. I’d rather not be attacked from all sides.”

“Let’s be as loud as possible, though. We need to attract as much attention as possible.”