Zen felt himself lose balance as he made his way up the stairs toward his bedroom. The wine that was sent by Heaven’s Step was remarkable but potent. The celebration lasted almost three hours and it was nighttime before they were done. Zen wasn’t starting to sober up a little bit because of the food, but he still couldn’t walk straight. He got to his door and opened it and staggered over to his bed and sat down on it. He had started to pull off his shirt when he felt movement near him and looked up.

Standing there in front of him was Elina, and Zen had to blink a few times before seeing her clearly. Elina slowly walked over to him dressed a white dress. His heart raced as she slowly untied a string and her dress fell to the ground. Zen had been holding back his urges over the start of his time here, but he clearly remembered Bean’s word about acting like a noble. He looked at Elina’s naked body and could see her thin waste and contours of her hips and firm body. Her breasts weren’t large, but they were full, and he saw her sweet smile as she neared him.

“Ah fuck it.” Zen thought to himself as he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close to him.

He ran his hand across the small of her back and kissed her belly button gently as he pulled her on to his lap. He could feel her tremble with each kiss, and slowly his hands raised up her back as he pulled her down on to the bed. His kiss moved up to her breasts where he slowly kissed her nipple, and used his tongue to caress it as the force of his mouth to suck on the tip. He could hear her soft moan at his touch and he firmly squeezed her ass holding her tightly .

It took only a moments to get her into a position where he could pleasure her, and he took joy in hearing her gasping. He was the lord and he was in control, and with each kiss he made sure he was slow and precise. Elina slowly reached down to his pants and untied them pushing them downward as she grabbed on to his to his already erect member. He felt the touch and he ravished her breasts once again as she guided his member in to herself. There was a sound of pain as he pushed his way in to her, but it slowly subsided as they gained a mutual understanding and rhythm.

Zen lost all his hesitation as they made love a few times, before finally both lay still in each other’s arms. Zen was close to sleep when he looked up and saw Bena putting the blankets over the two and smiling at the sight. He couldn’t help but smile back at her as he fell asleep with Elina clinging to his chest.

The next morning Zen awoke, and he felt the girls touch on his chest as she seemed to be in a peaceful slumber. Zen looked down to see the sheets mostly off him and saw the blood stain and knew it was her first time. He gently brushed her hair from her eyes. and put her arms on the bed and slid off to get dressed, but his hand was caught by Elina.

“My lord.” Elina said softly.

Zen saw the worried expression on her face, and he gave a smile and bent down and kissed her lips and whispered. “Don’t worry, sleep a little longer I have some things to do.”

“Yes, my lord.” Elina said as she looked down at the bed.

“Come to me a little later and we will discuss this some more.” Zen said as he walked naked to his bathroom and put on the robe and entered his sanctuary.

“Finally.” Bena giggled as her eyes went up to him. “She has been making calf eyes at you this whole time and she finally gained the nerve to take action, because god knows you wouldn’t.”

“I think you played a part in this as well.” Zen said with a chuckle.

“I didn’t need to push her to hard.” Bena said cheerfully. “She wants to become your retainer, because she believes it will be the fastest way to becoming one of your concubines.”

Zen stumbled and then caught himself and looked up at Bena with a shocked expression and then stuttered. “Concubine?”

“She knows she can’t be an official wife, but she is alright with that.” Bena explained. “She really likes you a lot.”

Zen walked in to the bathroom and got in the shower, and let the warm water come down on him as he sighed in pleasure. His avatar was taking a cold bath right now, and he wanted to avoid that. The shower also gave him time to think about what he was going to do. It would help them if Elina became a retainer, but he felt uneasy at the responsivity that seemly was being thrust upon him. He sighed and had to reprimand himself that GCO seemed to suck him in, and he seemed to mix reality with the virtual world he was in. He wasn’t sure which he would prefer was his reality, but this at least was more worth while than his real life.

He finished the shower and dried himself off changing to the current clothes his avatar was wearing. He looked down at his silks and nodded in approval as he left the bathroom and went over to the central table to try to start the work on the plans for the new village. There were hundreds of designs in the system to help the lords, but finding the right one wasn’t always easy. Bena helped narrow it down but there was still a dozen that seemed to be a decent fit for the area.

“Bena, did you discover anything about the bonded slaves that could help us?” Zen asked.

“We were relatively lucky, but only about half of the 91 bonded slaves are useful for manual labor.” She said as she took a seat near him. “We were able to get about a half dozen dwarves that have mining and quarrying experience. That will help a lot with the resources and setting up any mines. There are some that have trade skills and even a few that have herbalist and alchemical experience. We have about 25 that have actual construction and labor experience. We can use them to start by building housing for the villagers and then eventually traveling to the new site when we are able to establish an outpost there.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“That’s good.” Zen said as he eliminated one of the designs as being to elaborate for his needs.

“You know some of those slaves would make good concubines.” Bena said nonchalantly.

Zen just sighed at her remarks and looked up at her and said. “Is it really necessary for me to bed every woman I meet?”

“This world is unforgiving when it comes to weakness and your lack of players to help you is a big one. I wasn’t kidding that you need to create heirs and train them up well. It may seem morally wrong to you now, but if you stagnate because of no heirs and you are betrayed by players you recruit. Then that would be morally wrong to the citizens you are sworn to protect.” Bena said flatly.

“Alright I will do what I have too, but I don’t want to be one of those bastard nobles that steal people’s daughters.” Zen said.

“I am not asking you too.” Bena said with a smile. “Just do your duty you stud muffin.”

Zen groaned at her words and went back to the task of choosing the right village design. The night he just spent with Elina was fantastic, but he didn’t want to think of it as part of a job requirement. He thought that it was a natural occurrence even if it was probably orchestrated by Bena. It was just a little overwhelming for him, so he decided to bury himself in work.

He was going through a village plan called the Castalia, when he stopped and looked closer at the blue prints. The village outlines were simple in nature at the beginning but as the village grew buildings could be used in defense as well. This seemed like a good plan and he pulled it up and put it on the 3D screen.

“Bena what do you think about this one.” Zen asked.

Bena looked over and then looked at the specifications of the village, town and city upgrades and nodded in approval.” I like the channels and bridges in the city map, because it makes it easier to defend. The channels would have to be done in stone, but it is something we can work towards. I always liked cities with water ways and it fits the land well.”

“Do we have to wait till we have enough retainers to start building the base buildings there?” Zen asked.

“No, but most likely it they will be attacked by creatures if we don’t.” Bena explained.

“So that is why you chose bonded slaves, because they have to follow my orders.” Zen mused as he felt that didn’t sit well with him. “Can we hire a few soldiers to watch over them as they build?”

“That would be ok, but we would have to outfit them fully and pay a little more for loyalty.” Bena stated. “Soldiers with out you near them tend to be more chaotic.”

“Well let’s upgrade the village here a little bit to make things easier while we figure things out.” Zen smiled as he bought the Castalia blue print from the system.

Zen brought up where his Avatar was and saw that he was heading toward spear practice and he nodded to Bena and left the sanctuary. He entered his Avatar and started his routine with practicing the spear and after Banick was done they continued with he sword practice. He was still learning the different forms and combining it with balance training. His skills increased more when he was doing them rather than his avatar, and he enjoyed the routine.

He had gone back to the manor to eat lunch and for the first time since this morning he saw Elina. Her complexion and manner seemed to be glowing today, as  her and Cora served him his meal. He spent the afternoon with Vern and Cora practicing his archery, and then the later afternoon he had time to himself. He thought it was about time to talk to Elina, and he called her to his office for a talk.

Elina entered and curtsied to him and he smiled and stood near his desk. He wasn’t sure how to approach it gently, so he decided to discuss it with her outright. She stood motionless in front of him and seemed to become nervous because of his actions.

“Elina, I have something to talk to you about.” Zen started out and tried to give off a calm gentle smile. “It is important that people that surround me are loyal, and especially those that I meet with intimately. That is why I called you in here because I want to offer you a choice. This choice is free for you to choose without any pressure. As you know Cora is my retainer, and because of that she has given up many rights to serve me. Unlike her you are a servant of our manor and are still free to leave if you wish. The offer that I am extending is to become a retainer like Cora, but I am not in any way ordering this. I am only offering, and I ask you to think about it. It will give you many advantages, but the price is your freedom. You will no longer have control, because that control will be given to me.”

He could see that Elina was going through a whole range of emotions in front of him, and Zen was truthful in saying that he wouldn’t pressure Elina. He was going to give her a chance, but that option was totally up to her. He was not surprised when she bent down to a knee and made a pledge of loyalty to him. Zen walked forward and put his hand on her head. A window popped up that was like the one that showed when Cora made the request.

Elina Saroto has offered to swear loyalty to you. Do you accept? Yes or No.

“Are you sure this is something you want because you can’t turn back from it Elina?” Zen said as he saw Elina nod her head affirming her pledge, and Zen answered the popup with a thought picking yes.

You have accepted Elina Saroto as a sworn bound retainer. You now have control over her future progress. You can set tasks for her growth in the sanctuary under the retainer section. You currently have 2 retainers.

Zen’s connection with Elina grew stronger and he said. “You may rise, and from this point you are my retainer and are under my protection and control.”

Zen kissed Elina on the forehead and she started to weep as he gave her a hug. “It is ok you have a family now.”

Elina wiped her eyes, and Zen let her go. She didn’t say anything else but stood there with a smile on her face. Zen didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable and stepped away and went behind his desk and sat down before saying, “I won’t take you from your duties Elina. You can go back to your room if you need time to compose yourself. Bena will inform you of any new duties or orders from me.”

Elina nodded and then left the study and Zen was surprised she wasn’t angry with his orders. He truly did have a lot to do, because the slaves would be here in a day and he had quite a few plans to work out. He filled out some orders to Banick and the other guards and looked over the reports that they had turned in on the progress. He couldn’t wait for the building to begin, and for him to see it with his own eyes.