Chapter 7 Stunning.

“She’s not expecting us for four more hours. Are you sure we need to start getting ready now?” Isaac complained. He was three chapters away from finishing the book he was reading.

“Yes.” Lenna replied with a tinge of worry in her voice. “You have no idea how long it takes to get ready for these things. It’s a process.”

Isaac sighed and placed his bookmark. He set the book down on nothing and it disappeared into his Inventory. “Fine.” He relented and started getting his nice clothes out for the tea party with the duchess. He started to undress in the middle of the room.

“Isaac!” Lenna snapped.

“What?” He questioned.

“Have some modesty.” She chastised.

“No.” He replied and gestured towards his sculpted abs that were now visible. “Have you seen these? I don’t even have to work to keep them. If it wasn’t so damn cold I’d be tempted to walk around town without a shirt too.”

Lenna sighed and rubbed her forehead with her palm. “Ugh.” She sighed again. “At least let me get my clothes so I can change behind the screen like a normal person.”

Isaac shrugged and continued changing. Lenna specifically did not look in his direction. Ten minutes later Isaac was dressed and looking at himself in the mirror. “Not too bad.” He said to himself. His tossed back hair was perfect as ever. His silver eyes looked back at him. “Wait. What?” He said aloud. The room was still dark as neither of them needed light to see. In Isaac’s case it had always been his darkvision ability that relieved the need for light but that had always come with the price of leaving shadows over his eyes.

His eyes lost focus for a moment as he turned his attention inwards. His eyes were still using a miniscule amount of mana to allow him to see in the dark but he couldn’t see the shadows. “Lenna?” He called across the room.

“Yes?” She replied.

“Come look at this.” He told her.

“I’m not dressed… I can’t do the last two buttons…” She confessed.

Isaac looked over at the screen that she was behind. “Buttons on your dress?” He asked for clarification.

“Yes.” Lenna spoke defeatedly.

Isaac walked over and around the screen to see her. “Let me help you.” He told her.

She looked up from trying to do the buttons under her armpit. “Privacy…” She took in her charge. His black button-down long sleeved shirt, black hair, black pants and boots brought out how bright his eyes were and his pale skin. ‘Has he gotten paler?’ She questioned. His clothes were all cotton harvested from another part of the world and looked both soft and comfortable. His shirt wasn’t tucked in and hung just below where a belt should be. He had his sleeves rolled up showing off some of his muscles and he had the top two buttons of his shirt undone. One too many for Lenna’s taste.

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Isaac noticed Lenna’s eyes take him in and then return to his own. “Notice anything?” He asked. Lenna tilted her head to the side in question and her silver hair fell from her shoulder, leaving it bare. Isaac couldn’t keep his eyes from tracing her collarbone and then sweeping over her dress. The silver silk dress hugged her figure in such a way that it was flattering without revealing anything. He knew that there was a corset under the dress that was built in to allow it to always fit properly as well as be invisible from the outside. The dress was smooth, with no embellishments, a slit up the right leg that ended just above her knee, and looked as though it was meant to be strapless but a three inch thick strap went from under her left armpit up and over her right shoulder.

“Can… you see?” She asked once she realized that she shouldn’t be able to see his silver eyes.

“Yes.” He whispered. “You look stunning.”

Lenna’s face flushed slightly but she refused to acknowledge it. “You look good as well. You should do the second button.”

Isaac smirked. “No.” He replied to her recommendation which got a flat look in return. “But back on topic, turn so I can do your buttons. Where are they?” Lenna rolled her eyes and turned. She raised her right arm and Isaac saw the buttons were hidden under a flap that ran down her side to just above her waist. The two right under her armpit were the ones she couldn’t get. He did the buttons while talking. “I think the reason I can still see is that whatever effect the shadow mana usually had on my eyes to let me see in the dark has become imprinted into the mana pathways in my eyes. Have you ever heard of something happening like that?”

Lenna thought for a long moment. “Yes actually.” Isaac gave her time to expand on her answer and after a moment she did so. “That is how shadow sorcerers become semi-ethereal. It is necessary for them to pass their level fourteen level lock.”

“So it’s normal?” Isaac asked and stepped back as he had just finished doing the second button and smoothing out the flap to hide them.

“Not for all sorcerers but I believe it is similar for most.” She replied.

Isaac sighed in relief. “At least that’s something. Do you know how it happens?”

Lenna shook her head. “No.” She replied simply. Her slightly heeled slippers were resting on the chair next to her so she walked over to the mirror barefoot. She looked at her hair and sighed. “This is the hard part.”

Isaac joined her and looked her over again with a question in his eyes until he got what she meant. “Your hair?” He asked.

Lenna nodded. “Yes. I only know how to braid it.” She confessed.

“You only learned how to braid it in how many centuries?” Isaac asked incredulously.

“Nearly three…” She replied sheepishly.

“Jessica said to put it in a bun and pin it up with the spikes right?” Isaac tried to recall what the seamstress had told them so long ago.

Lenna nodded. “Yes.” She started with brushing her hair and once she was done Isaac gave her a questioning look.

“You want help?” He asked.

Lenna gave him an incredulous look. “Can you help?”

Isaac shrugged. “Probably not.” He returned.

She shook her head. “No. I’ll figure it out.” She told him. He shrugged again and then got his book back out. He had hours to kill as they weren’t in a rush.

Isaac finished his book and got up with a stretch. He looked over and saw Lenna still trying to get her hair right. She finally sat on the bed and sighed. “Can’t do it?” He asked rhetorically.

Lenna shook her head. “Not within the next two hours.” She resigned.

Isaac gave her hair a long look. He sat on the bed behind her and ran his fingers through her hair to get it to fall straight again. There were some lingering waves from her hair being in a braid for so long but it was otherwise completely straight. Her hair was smoother than her silk dress and he quickly forgot about trying to put it up in a bun.

Lenna cleared her throat. “My Lord, do you intend to try to do my hair or are your perverted thoughts getting the better of you?”

Isaac sat up a little straighter. “There were no perverted thoughts thank you.” He defended. “I was just admiring your hair.”

She sighed. “So?” She questioned.

After a long moment of him tilting his head back and forth while looking at it he gave up. “I have no idea.” He confessed. She leaned back and tilted her head back to get a look at him. His eyes found her lips and the world disappeared. For a long moment only she existed in his mind. He wondered how her lips tasted.

She noticed his gaze and felt her face flush. She sat back up quickly and cleared her throat. “Now what?” She asked in an attempt to move on from how close they were to sharing a kiss. She could see it in his eyes, he was about to go for it. ‘I should not have done that.’ She chastised herself internally.

Isaac shook his head to clear it. “Plan C.” He told her and stood up.

“Which is?” She questioned as he walked towards the door.

“I get Celeste to help.” He told her and left to do just that.