It made his heart speed up.
Ok, yeah, the red and gold one it is.
Reaching into his pocket to disguise the inventory swap, Rene pulled out a bottle of perfume that he’d taken from Junk. He’d planned on reselling it through his Mask persona.
“I…” Aurora said as Rene held it out to her. Taking the bottle into her hands she didn’t look at it for long before turning her eyes to him. “I can’t take this.”
“Of course, you can,” Rene said with a wave of his hand.
In for a penny, in for a pound. Aurora’s fun. Let’s keep her rolling.
Slowly, he reached up and took Aurora’s face in his hands, then eased her down to his own height. He did it in such a way that she could pull away, deny what was coming, or say something.
Except she didn’t do any of that.
Holding her face, he kissed her cheeks, right at the corners of her mouth this time, not even trying to disguise his intentions.
Aurora didn’t pull away. In fact, she slightly turned her face toward him as he kissed each side however, her lips pressing to the corner’s of his own mouth.
“Congratulations, Lieutenant-Captain Dean,” Rene said, pulling away from her. “You deserve the praise.”
Smiling at the sentiment, Aurora slowly let her eyes fall to the bottle in her hands, Rene could see the vein in her neck throbbing hard beneath the surface.
Her heart was hammering away much as his was.
“Oh,” Margo murmured from behind. “I… oh. I ah… I’m just going to go set up a third place setting.”
Aurora stared down at the bottle and slowly rotated the red and gold present over. Then she looked at the bottom with her eyebrows furrowing.
“Rene! I can’t take this!” she said suddenly, staring wide-eyed at the bottom. “I can’t take this, Rene. This is… this is from The Garden, isn’t it?”
I have no fucking clue.
Glancing at the bottle, Rene did a quick Analyze on it.
Item Name: The Garden- The Rose (Extremely Rare: Unopened)
Description: Crafted by a master perfumer, this fragrance was perfected, made in a batch of five, and sold for five thousand gold each.
No one without the bottle will ever experience “The Rose” by The Garden. As part of the purchase price, this fragrance will be limited to bottle owners.
The aroma is unique and can be described as “sublime” by anyone fortunate enough to own a bottle. It’s a distinctly Rose-like aroma that also has an unidentified sweetness to it.
If you hadn’t already gained the lieutenant-captain’s attention before this point, you can guarantee you’ve got it in spades now.
Damage: N/A
Effective Range: ten yards
Functions-
Romantic Endeavor: This perfume was made specifically to win over the hearts of women. From the gold inlaid bottle of hand-blown glass made by a master craftsman, to the cut, shaped, and polished ruby that acts as the stopper.
A show piece that any woman would feel almost ashamed to admit they owned, while still wanting to brag about its possession to anyone and everyone.
Attributes-
Refillable: If one brings the bottle to The Garden, they are entitled to purchase more of this unique fragrance for a fee.
Well… fuck.
“It is,” Rene said, deciding to go with it. “It’s from The Garden, and it’s The Rose.”
Aurora’s eyes went as wide as possible, rounding out completely. Her fingers tightened up on the bottle as if she was afraid to drop it.
“Rene!” said Aurora in almost a whimper. “You can’t… I can’t… this is… no. No.”
She didn’t hand him back the perfume bottle, despite her words. Instead, she was holding it tightly in her hands.
“I can and did,” Rene said then took a step to the side, toward the door. He felt like maybe, despite how short the trip was, it would be a good time to leave. He was having a mild panic attack, felt like he couldn’t think, and really didn’t want to be here. “Though I think I’ll return at another time. You’re celebrating with your mother.”
Glancing at Margo, Rene saw that Aurora’s mother was busying herself. Clearly trying to blend into the background and not disturb her daughter and Rene.
“No. You can’t just leave. Not after giving me this,” Aurora said, following him toward the door.
“It’s alright,” Rene said again. “I’ll come back another day. In fact, could I take you to dinner in two days? Sixth bell? Pick you up in the carriage?”
“Rene, I… I don’t… I’m not,” Aurora said, looking extremely pained. Standing there near the door, she was clearly a woman torn. “I’m not as perfect as you seem to think I am.”
Ah… she’s feeling shame for her deal with the Mask.
I’ll avoid her as the Mask for a while longer yet then.
“Sixth bell?” Rene asked, pushing the issue.
“I… yes. Sixth bell,” Aurora murmured, a small smile curling her lips despite still looking shocked. “Dinner in two days, you’ll pick me up in the carriage.”
“Fantastic,” Rene said, opening the front door. Before anything else could happen, he closed it behind him and hurried off to his carriage.
It felt like his heart was going to pound its way out of his chest.
And when his mind went to what he’d just done, and what Odelia was likely expecting of him, he felt sick to his stomach.
Fuck it. We might as well go give a courting gift to Odelia and fuck my life up.
Then we’ll go home and see if Alana or Irini want a throw in the bedroom.
Because, why the fuck not?
I approve of this plan with great cheer. It should prove to be exactly what we need.
To run our hands down Odelia’s rear. Or to ride the Elf until we hear her plead.
Marching straight up to the carriage, Rene found he honestly didn’t care. Maybe Aurora and Odelia would find out about one another and that would thankfully be the end of both.
Then he could get on with his life.
“The Delacroix house, please,” Rene said to the driver.
There’s no reason to pout.
Perhaps it’ll work in our favor.
Given our luck, I think it’ll work out.
Maybe with a harem and a group marriage waiver.
You’re an idiot.
You’re the one going to deliver a courting gift.
Shut up.
“We’re here,” said the driver. Rene had completely lost track of everything around him. To be fair, he might have been keeping his mind busy so he wouldn’t think about what he was about to do.
Get the gold one. With the sapphires.
That’d suit her very well, wouldn’t it?
Very pretty and not overly ornate looking.
Just a little bigger than normal.
Rene couldn’t argue that point. When he imagined it on her in his head, he found the Monster was exactly right.
Selecting that specific necklace, Rene decided to take the advice given and pull it out for Odelia.
In addition, he pulled out all the lines of credit to run by Geoffrey and see what he thought. He at least knew one person who was the man’s friend.
Stepping up the walkway toward the Delacroix house, he was surprised when the door opened and a man in Delacroix livery walked out to gestured inside.
“Please, do come in, Master Anatolis,” said the house servant.
“Ah, thank you,” Rene said.
“The master of the home has just now been informed that you’ve arrived. I’ve been instructed to ask you to wait in the study for him. May I offer you some tea?” asked the man.
“Oh. Thank you,” Rene repeated.
Geoffrey has standing orders, in case I show up.
“As well as notifying the young mistress,” finished the servant.
Great.
Pulling out the several credit documents and the necklace in its presentation box Ju
nk had made, Rene felt more nervous than he had in his entire life up to this point.
As he walked into the study, he didn’t quite know what to do with himself. He stood there and waited.
We never really dated. This is all rather exciting and new.
You kind of made it impossible to date anyone. You constantly told me to kill them.
That’s fair. I did.
“Rene?” asked Odelia.
Turning toward the voice, Rene found Odelia Delacroix. She looked as amazing as ever and had a wide smile from ear to ear.
“Heya,” Rene said.
“Good evening. How’s Lori? Is she alright?” Odelia asked, her brows pressing together as she came to stand in front of Rene.
“She’s alright, I guess,” Rene answered. “As alright as you can be, given her circumstances. She’s chosen to keep living with me.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure that’s the best thing for her right now,” Odelia said. Then she tilted her head, watching him.
I… what… er…
“Well. You’ve come to visit,” Odelia said, a small smile creeping over her face. “Are you here to perhaps present a gift to me?”
“I, uh… yeah. I am,” Rene said holding up the box. In fact, now that he looked at it, it seemed considerably bigger than he expected.
“Good. I was growing rather tired of avoiding you, so that you could do things properly. You have no idea how hard it was to not come see Lori at your house and—”
Odelia’s eyes flicked to the box and remained there, her words cutting off abruptly.
Rene moved his hand forward, holding it out to her.
Taking it in her hands, Odelia cracked the box open slowly. Staring at the contents for several seconds, she closed it and looked to Rene.
“I think—” she started, then cleared her throat. “I think I’m… going to go before daddy gets here. This is a very… extremely… nice gift, Rene. More so than I think I want to contemplate, right now.”
Moving in close to him, Odelia kissed him for a split second, and then left the room. Holding the box close to her chest.
Mission achieved, received with great adulation.
Relationship conceived, I look forward to rigorous copulation.
Hump-hump-hump-a-bunk.
Glancing back over her shoulder, Odelia gave him a shy but warm smile and then vanished.
Half a minute passed before Geoffrey arrived.
He looked around as he entered, as if confused.
“Odelia came and went,” Rene answered his unspoken question. “I… gave her a gift that seemed to have spooked her perhaps. I’m unsure.”
He wasn’t as sure as the Monster was that Odelia had liked it.
“Well, that’s of no matter. I’m sure she’s just being silly,” Geoffrey said with a grin. He immediately shook Rene’s hand with his own. “To what do I owe the pleasure, otherwise?”
“Well, I have this letter of debt for Frederic Dern. I bought it from the late Master Junk, along with a few other letters,” Rene said, holding them out to Geoffrey. “Could you tell me about them, and whether it’s worth making a deal with them?”
“You have… Fred’s…? Haha, truly? That’s actually hilarious,” Geoffrey said, taking the papers from Rene. Then he started to laugh even harder. “Oh, goodness. You really do. And a few others. Sell them to me if you would? I’d truly love to be able to pay some of their childishness back to them. All in good fun, mind you.”
“Consider them yours,” Rene said with a grin.
He actually liked Geoffrey.
Chapter 30
Returning to his home, Rene felt rather sick and giddy at the same time. After giving both Odelia and Aurora presents that he probably shouldn’t have, he’d found himself unable to really keep his mind still.
So when he opened the door of the carriage, he ended up staring dumbly at the person sitting in front of his home.
It was Caleb, relaxing as if nothing were the matter at all. The two knights next to him, guarding the entrance to the door, seemed unimpressed by Caleb, but also unconcerned.
Except his face looked like someone had done a dance on it. Wearing wooden clogs.
“Ah… Caleb?” Rene asked, going over to his friend.
“Hey, Rene,” Caleb said nonchalantly. “How’s it going?”
“I mean… not so great,” Rene murmured. “Been trying to get Lori situated. Get… get Bill and his parents settled. I had them interred in a mausoleum at the Felicie cemetery.”
“Yeah, I visited,” Caleb said, nodding his head. “It looks… really good. Bill would be pretty happy about it, I think.”
“Yeah,” Rene said, getting down in a squat in front of Caleb. “You ah… you piss the Billings girls off that badly or something or…?”
Caleb snorted at that and shook his head.
“No. This was a gift from someone trying to get to you,” Caleb explained gesturing to his own face. “Pretty sure they would have done worse but I managed to kick him in the nuts and run. Courtesy of our dearly departed Master Junk. ”
“Yeah… yeah,” Rene muttered. There wasn’t anything he could say about that with his bodyguards around.
They were almost more hindrance than help at this point.
“Well, with him being dead, I suppose that makes everything better,” Caleb said. “Because from what I hear, Junk is the one who bought the Moon fire.
“No one can confirm that though, since… well, the person who did it supposedly was found dead. Or at least… his headless body was found. In front of the burned out ruin of the Moon house.
“An apology, supposedly. I guess the way Junk died raised some fears. Kinda crazy. I guess someone pulled his lungs out through his back.”
Rene snorted at that.
All the Snakes had done was buy themselves a little time. He’d go for the Raven’s first, then the Snakes. He was just waiting for their guild leadership to show back up so he could eliminate them.
“Yeah,” Rene said. “I heard he died pretty horribly. I’m betting he ran afoul of some dastardly people.”
“Yep, clearly he did,” Caleb said and closed his eye. The swelling in his face looked worse when he closed his eyes. “I’m going to go visit some family for a time.”
What…?
“Dunno how long I’ll be gone. At least two months. Takes two weeks to get back home. Been a bit of a wanderer since I was a little kid,” Caleb said.
“Alright,” Rene replied. He really didn’t know what to say to that.
He couldn’t really blame Caleb. It was obvious to anyone in their inner circle that it was because of Rene that Bill had died.
That Lori had been orphaned simply because of knowing Rene. Being part of his life had almost ended hers.
But in the same breath, Rene did feel hurt.
Alana and Odelia hadn’t even intimated at the idea of him not coming around. That they might not want him in their lives hadn’t come up at all. It wasn’t even discussed.
“You need anything for the trip?” Rene asked.
“Nah, I’m good,” Caleb said then slowly got to his feet. “Was really just dropping by to say goodbye. Didn’t want you worrying over where I went.”
“Ah, yeah. Okay. I guess, goodbye and fair journey then,” Rene said holding his hand out to Caleb.
“Thanks. Bye, Rene,” Caleb replied, shaking Rene’s hand. Then he started walking back towards the street.
The Monster stirred, grumbled something, and then went quiet.
Rene couldn’t really disagree with the sentiment he felt coming from it though.
Better now than when we need him.
Shaking his head, Rene moved to the door, which prompted a knight to open it for him.
When he walked inside, Rene found Alana rising up from her work desk as the door closed.
“Welcome home,” she said, coming over to him with a smile. “How was university? Did you go to work afterword?”
“I mean, it wasn’t bad,” Rene murmured. “Seems pretty mundane so far. And no, I didn’t go to work. I paid a few house calls to keep myself active in the social circle.”
“Ah. That makes sense. Did you leave your bag in the carriage?” Alana asked as she began to pull Rene’s coat off.
“Yeah, I did. How was your day?” Rene inquired, as his coat came free.
“I’ll go fetch the bag from the coach later. As for my day, it wasn’t bad at all,” Alana said, brushing a hand over his coat’s collar and shoulders. Then she put her hands in each pocket and checked them. “Today’s classes seemed rather simple, but I’m told that’s a normal feeling. I have a split schedule, so I go more often, but get out far earlier. I thought that’d be best given our home situation with Lori.”
Alana pulled out a small purse from a pocket Rene had forgotten about.
Opening the mouth of it, she glanced inside and then closed it again.
“Take your boots off, please, and put them near the door. I’ll clean them and have them ready for tomorrow,” Alana instructed as she walked over to where she’d stored his belongings previously. “Lori is finishing with her tutor right now. She’s been asking when you’d get home for a bit now. I’ll have dinner set in a short time. If you’re hungry, I picked up a bag of rather nice-looking apples on the way home, but don’t spoil supper.”
Uh.
Uhm.
“Thanks,” Rene murmured, doing as he was told and pulling off his boots.
Alana hung his coat up, put the purse into a different drawer, and locked it up. Putting the key back into her pocket.
“Of course,” Alana said, smiling at him. “I’ll be sure to keep your coat purse filled with at least thirty gold going forward. Is that a standard amount you carry around?”
“I… yeah. It’s enough to buy anything I could want impulsively, but not enough that I’d care if I lost it,” Rene mumbled.
“I understand,” Alana said with a nod of her head. “I’ll start on dinner now. Go introduce yourself to Lori’s tutor.”
“Okay,” Rene said, feeling somewhat cowed. For whatever reason, Alana’s decor and projected behavior and expectations had practically turned his brain off.
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