...

Some days later, Alexander's mansion, Main Kitchen

"I need to ask you for a favor."

"Wfat dwo..."

"Can you first chew before speaking?"

Patricia was annoyed. There was only one reason for this, and it was not the starving raccoon she considered her sister, who was rummaging through their coldbox in front of her.

It was solely Alexander's fault. Since he had become well again, he had started running around without her knowing what he was doing or where he was. Even though she was happy for him and wouldn't wish him any harm, an unspeakable sadness also invaded her mind for some reason.

She wanted to know where he was, what he was doing, and with whom he was acquainting himself. She felt dread of not having him helpless before her, which constantly nagged at her.

Yet, there were some things that she didn't allow to change. After Alexander recovered, he wanted to sleep alone again. She didn't have any of it and argued with him, surprisingly only for less than a minute, making her stand clear that she would not go anywhere, which he accepted.

In her mind, he probably thought she had been in a bad mood for the last few weeks because she was about to leave, so he accepted her whims. Such a situation was perfect for her since she wanted to do so many more things with him, and with Alexander being much more accommodating, she already had many more ideas.

However, her mind only relaxed when she was close to him, knowing no other pests would try to mark him. Yet, she needed to leave for her training, and the only person she could rely on to keep the bitches away was her sister.

Linuel gulped the food down and looked at her little sister, "Yeah? What do you need?"

Patricia squinted her eyes and decided to trust her older sister. Since she was in love with Narsiz, which was apparent since she risked basically her life to kiss him, she could help. Also, she wouldn't need to worry because her older sister showed no interest in Alexander and was even somewhat indifferent.

She relaxed slightly, "I need you to keep whores away from Alex."

Linuel raised an eyebrow while taking a large jar of yogurt, and while she looked for a spoon, she asked, "Well, I think I can do this favor for you since he is helping me, but what about his disciple? What was her name again? Oberiana or something? She looks quite good and listened intensely to every word he says."

Patricia crossed her arms, shaking her head, "Ocilia is fine. She is into girls and has a fiancé or something, so she would also be okay to visit him..." She frowned, "...what I am worrying about are the bitches from the Cold-Snout household."

This was what she was most worried about - Rendezvous. She heard all of Alexander's crazy and ambitious ideas. He wanted to better the world and create something beautiful where everyone could prosper, whether commoner or noble. While she agreed with him on the outside, inwardly, she didn't give one single fuck about commoners besides her retainers.

Regardless of her opinion, he needed every guard household on his side to spread his ideals. As such, the usual practice for establishing oneself while not being engaged was to at least meet up with probable partners to show goodwill. Should Alexander persist with his projects, he would undoubtedly become the number one gossip topic in Moorgrel in less than a year, and with that, he would have to engage in such social interactions.

As he already had the goodwill of their household, he was about to do the same with the Cold-Snout for multiple reasons. While he sounded annoyed at the prospect of meeting other girls, he also mostly ignored Patricia's assertions that the Cold-Snouts were much more aggressive, giving her nonsensical arguments that because they were young, they wouldn't be interested in things like marriage.

Patricia knew them differently from some noble balls for the youth. They were like locusts who would take every half-decent boy if he had a pulse. For some weird reason, they didn't like to get engaged with each other and always looked outwards. As such, the girls, who made up a great majority of the Cold-Snout offspring, acted very nonchalantly, or what for Patricia looked like, whorelike. The boys, though, were not better, as they chased after any somewhat beautiful girl, trying to make them part of their future harem.

Linuel found a spoon and sat down on a table, starting to eat, "Well..." She tapped the spoon slightly at her chin, "...yeah. Let me ask you beforehand something."

"What?"

Linuel smirked at her slightly, "What do you think about being part of a harem."

Patricia raised an eyebrow and looked more sternly at her sister, "No. I want him for me and only me. I don't even want him to touch any other girl as long as I am gone."

Patricia needed to be honest with herself. She was jealous and possessive, but she also thought that she was more than enough for him since she would give her life immediately to him. She would never trust anyone else to do the same. He was hers, and she was his - There was no compromise.

This was also why she tried her best to get Alexander's family to like her, so they would only talk positively about her should her name come up when they spoke with him and she wasn't there. Securing her position inside his household was essential if she wanted to marry him.

From trying to bond with his siblings, who slowly warmed up to her, to his parents, to whom she tried to show her best side, which worked partly. Marisia seemed fond of her, but Kairoso saw immediately through her, just saying that he didn't care who his son wanted to be together with as long as he was happy.

There was also the positive point that she was his cousin once removed, which meant that she was already basically family, which should have somewhat played in her favor. However, by looking at her older sister, who was almost beheaded, it seemed not the case that Marisia cared about such things.

Linuel slowly pulled the spoon out of her mouth and pointed it at her, "Fine. I just wanted to be sure..." She whipped slightly the yogurt, "...I try my best to keep them away. Is this enough?"

Patricia nodded, "Thank you..." She took out her pocket watch, looking at the time, "...I want to get my scent on Alex as much as possible before I leave tomorrow, so I need to go."

Linuel raised an eyebrow, "You are weird, you know?"

Patricia looked at her, not really caring what she thought. She loved Alexander and didn't want to leave his side, but it was impossible. If she wanted to be able to stay by his side, she must get stronger when they met again and then make him hers by proposing.

Then she would take him with her, and they would train together. Fortunately, Alexander implied that he wanted to train under Scarlett, which would be perfect. Since she would have already trained for some time, she fantasized that she would again look after him when he was weak and unable to keep up with her. Even the thought of him being so helpless again made her blush.

However, for now, they wouldn't be able to see each other for ~two years, a time she would need to do her best to get more than enough head start against him.

She looked at Linuel, "So? At least I didn't force him to do anything, even though I could."

Linuel smirked at her, "I know those eyes. You are like me and were almost..."

Patricia interrupted her, "Just do me a favor and kill every whore who tries to touch him..." She turned around, "...I need to go."

However, as she left, she heard Linuel saying, "Weirdo."

...

Main Garden, Leonandra Estate

"It is such a lovely day, right Alex?"

"Sure, but you are very clingy today. Is everything all right?"

They were taking a stroll in the garden, enjoying the great weather. Patricia was holding Alexander's hand and trying to be as close as possible to him.

However, she could see he was slightly annoyed after they almost fell down because of her as she tried to hug his tail with hers. Her tactic of quickly changing the topic also didn't seem to work.

"I..." She bit her lip, not wanting to ruin the nice get-together. However, her inner self pushed itself out, "...Alex, can you promise me one thing?"

He nodded, "Sure? What is it?"

She looked deep into his eyes, and before she said something stupid, she caught herself from going further, "Please be careful, okay?"

She needed to be tactful. She already had Alexander in her hands, being there for him and nurturing and entertaining him for hours on end. All she needed to do was wait for him to mature in the next few years and then rail him in for good since making him fall for her would be easy.

She had already groomed him, and there was no way that he would suddenly fall for someone else. It was evident to her since he opened up to her over time, showing his most vulnerable side and even crying in her arms when he went through the torturous body-modifying process.

The more time she spent with Alexander, the more she discovered that he had a very soft side to him, far from the boisterous, prideful, and arrogant one he often showed. This was a sign to her that he had already fallen for her, and as he matured, he would sooner or later become more conscious of his feelings, 'Just wait. There is no need to rush.'

Alexander raised an eyebrow, smiling at her, "Of course. With Lili now around me, I am practically a bulwark."

She nodded, "Hm..." and got closer to him, not wanting to disturb their last day together, "...let's enjoy ourselves, okay?"

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Alexander patted her head, smiling, "Of course."

...

Marisia's Office

"Why such a face, my dear? Everything is as well as it could be."

Marisia looked at her Mother and couldn't oversee the absurd look she had. While her sister, Elisabeth, brought her ambitions to the forefront, Alexander accelerated them, making her almost ecstatic. Unfortunately, Alexander had even gifted her the skills he worked for so long, making her even more obsessed with him.

On that note, the skills were excellent, especially [Body Overload (Mana)], which was a very creative way to boost one's physical prowess. She also understood why Alexander almost died when he was very little, as this skill strained the body immensely. As such, such a skill could, at best, be useful for mages, who used mana skills to compensate for their weak bodies for a short time. Yet, it was like a blessing for knights.

However, knights having mana skills in the first place was ridiculous, but now they had and would have in the future. Using such a skill could permanently boost their physical prowess, with some finetuning, by over one-tenth. For a burst of power, though, she could triple her power for at least ten minutes without suffering any repercussions.

It was truly a miracle skill for the guard dogs, but she needed to stop Alexander from freely giving away all his knowledge. While ordinary skills were fine, the [Body Overload (Mana)] was too dangerous to distribute freely, 'He was such a hot head...'

After lengthy discussions during which he screamed about his liberty as a person and other ridiculous things, they concluded that he should wait before giving it out, with her promising him something in exchange, 'Matter for another time.'

With this in mind, Marisia was more than happy that her Mother would leave tomorrow since looking after Alexander while pulling her Mother away from him was becoming tedious, "Nothing, Mother, I just think you should concentrate on Patricia since she will be maybe Alex's fiancé in the future."

She raised her eyebrow, "Oh, why do you think so? I mean, I would love to have them engage, but you are usually so protective?"

She shrugged, "Nothing. Someone told me something, and I think Alex is slowly developing feelings while Patricia is already in love."

Ipe told her what happened after her son taught them the skills, and while she wouldn't believe her Mother, Ipe was too honest of a person to lie about such things. Even remembering how he encouraged her through the training she went through warms her heart to this day.

Regardless, Alexander was slowly developing feelings, and even though he didn't know this now, he would with time. Yet, in the following months, Alexander would have more rendezvous, which made her worry as she liked Patricia and wouldn't have any problems having her as a daughter-in-law, 'Hm, the Cold-Snouts will arrive in a couple of months or so...'

Even though she adored Patricia, Marisia also wanted to see how Alexander would react to others and if he was like her brother, Brutus, who had the typical Cold-Snout blood as he built up a harem made out of eight wives. This, though, would be impossible with Patricia. To be part of a harem, one needed to have a great ability to communicate and socialize while not having any thoughts about jealousy and the likes. Besides that, the Lord would need to have an exceptional sexual drive, 'Poor brother.'

Her Mother interrupted her thoughts, "Oh my, Mari. Should I take good care of Patricia or make her someone worthy?"

Marisia thought about it but nodded in the end, "Alexander needs someone who is worthy, but be careful about her personality."

Her Mother tilted her head in confusion while about to take another hazelnut cookie, "Oh? What do you mean?"

"Your training broke others or changed them drastically. If you don't want Alex to curse you after meeting a fully changed Patricia, try a different approach to avoid breaking her."

She suddenly stopped her hand before grabbing the cookie, "You are right..."

Alexander obviously liked Patricia, but if she came after training with a changed personality but in love, it would hurt both of them and cause Alexander's goodwill to dissipate toward her Mother. At the same time, Patricia would stop altogether as the training she was doing was because she loved him, wanting to somewhat catch up to his ridiculous talent.

Even though she didn't like helping her Mother get on the good side of her son, it would be a shame if he lost his first love because of something stupid like this.

Marisia leaned back in the chair, "Let's talk about it, Mother."

Her Mother looked annoyed at her, "You really sound arrogant, my dear."

Marisia smirked arrogantly, "I am one of two people who went fully through the torture you call training, so I am the best person to evaluate it now."

Her Mother popped a vein, "This will be a long day, huh?"

...

Next Day, Entrance to the main mansion of the Leonandra Estate

The large chunk of the Leonandra household stood at the entrance to the main mansion to see Patricia and Scarlett off. Besides them were around a dozen servants and guards from the Leonandra estate who would follow them since the previous ones were obviously unavailable.

Everyone was talking with their family members since the trip would last for at least a month. Some were aloof and asked for souvenirs from the other city, and others were crying as if they would be away for years.

One of those crying was Patricia, who didn't dare to move too far away from Alexander, "I will miss you."

"Yes, I will miss you too."

"No, I will really miss you!"

'God fucking damn it! How many times do you want to say it?!'

Alexander hugged her again, softly patting her back, which usually calmed her down, "Don't worry. We will see each other again in two years, right?"

For the last few days, Patricia has been clingy. No, calling her clingy was an understatement. After he was mostly done with some old business, she started following him everywhere, and at night, he felt as if a boa constrictor was hugging him, not giving him any space at all.

It went so far that she wanted to bathe with him, which he reluctantly agreed to. It was no big deal since when he bathed, there were at least some naked maids or butlers with him, tending to his needs. Being naked around other naked people became nothing special to him.

However, she wanted to go as far as to wash each other, which his former human self found weird. Still, he agreed after Patricia brought up some good points.

It was a cultural thing that most beast-kin didn't feel any shame at being naked and usually were okay with their body. Be it chubby, petite, tall, skinny, etc. This probably came from the fact that they were too diverse to care at all due to their already very various secondary animalistic characteristics.

Washing each other was also very common among family members, close friends, and lovers as it built trust. Even now, when he wanted to enjoy a bath, someone from his family was always joining him. As such, he saw no reason not to indulge her wishes.

Such thoughts were thrown to the back of his mind as he saw that she was in distress, probably because she was about to leave a safe haven and travel again into a world where dangers lurked. So he tried to reassure her, "We will see each other again. Everything will be fine, okay?"

She pressed herself firmer against him, "Hm."

"Say it will be fine."

She sounded distressed, "I... really don't want to go... I miss you already."

His voice became softer, trying to calm her, "Patricia..."

She grabbed his clothes more firmly, "No... promise me just one thing."

"What?"

She looked into his eyes, "I..." She suddenly stopped, not saying anything, only to continue after staring at him for some time, "...be safe, please. Don't endanger yourself, and please also have Linuel look after you, okay? I talked to her, and she promised me that she will be your retainer, at least as long as Narsiz is here."

Alexander smiled at her, feeling warmth, "I will, I promise..." He wanted to say that she should also stay safe but decided against it since she should fight against her anxiety. So he tried the next best thing, "...please have fun and enjoy yourself. You being happy is important to me."

He liked her. She was a truly great friend, and Alexander hoped to make more like her along the way. Even if he had only one or two, it would be enough if they were like Patricia, who was truly worried about him. Even on Earth, he had at most two to three true friends who were always there for him, and he felt incredibly fortunate to make his first one in this world.

She stopped hugging and slowly walked into the carriage, continuously looking back at him, 'I am truly fortunate, huh?'

A loving family, great friends, and no care in the world about finances or status. This motivated him even more to move faster with his new projects and expedite his charity. He felt guilty for not using all his newfound resources to better the world so everyone could live as carefree as he did.

In his opinion, privilege came with responsibility, especially in a society where one was explicitly granted a higher status from the get-go. While his shoulder felt heavy, with all the self-inflicted burden, it was nonetheless a great feeling.

Was it his ego? Yes. Were there arrogance and pride involved that he could do a better job than almost everyone else? Absolutely. Saying that he did it only out of purely philanthropic feelings would be a lie. If he were a commoner from a poor family, he would probably not even lose a single thought toward others outside his circle before not building up himself.

However, his pleasant thoughts were interrupted by the hissing of a venomous snake, "How endearing."

He looked to the side, seeing his Grandmother coming over to him after she was done talking to his Mother, "Youth is truly something beautiful."

Alexander forced a smile, and something about her irked him the wrong way, "Yeah, for someone like you, who hasn't experienced it for at least hundreds of years, that's true."

She, though, didn't react to his insult and only looked confused at him, "Hundreds of years?..." She chuckled slightly, holding her hand before her mouth, "...that's a little too much since I am only 173 years old."

'Right, there was something.'

Alexander forgot that the age insults didn't really work. Most just didn't give a fuck, after their first mating season, how old someone was. If someone were physically fit, their looks would hold until a decade before death. This was also the reason why his Grandmother looked no day older than mid-thirties.

He cleared his throat, trying to be amiable even though her presence annoyed him, "Ahem, right. However, I wish you a nice travel, and don't forget our deal."

She raised an eyebrow and looked back at how Patricia was staring out of the carriage window at them, "You really like her, do you?"

The deal was that he would pay for all her expenses and that his Grandmother shouldn't be stingy about all the potions, equipment, etc. It was something he only later found out, but the potions he drank weren't cheap. Altogether, his torture, besides the immense manpower, cost his Grandmother more than 10.000 large gold coins, and he wanted to make sure that Patricia would get the same efficient treatment. Otherwise, if his Grandmother would choose cheaper ones, she would suffer more and longer, something he wanted to avoid.

In return, he would send his Grandmother all of the wares he invented, like paper, ink, etc., while also providing information on skills he researched and other things. It looked like he lost on this, but there were two good reasons he felt otherwise. First, the time and resources, besides gold, his Grandmother needed to invest to acquire better potions were valuable. Second, Patricia became important to him, and he would not be stingy to sponsor a great friend who stood by his side.

Alexander glared at his Grandmother, "Yeah, so?"

She looked back at him and shrugged, "Nothing, I just find it cute."

Before Alexander could continue the relatively tense chat, his Mother came from the side, "I think it's about time, Mother. If you want to reach the next town before sundown, you should leave now."

His Grandmother sighed and straightened up while looking at Alexander, which made him shiver, "You heard your Mother. I need to leave, and I will see you in a couple of years, hopefully..." Her smile became sinister, "...even stronger."

Alexander nodded toward her, feeling how his neck hair suddenly stood up, "Sure, Grandma. Have nice travels."

She turned around and entered the carriage while all the servants and guards went into others, making Alexander look at Patricia, 'Such a weird time.'

While she was here, so many things happened, and even though they were terrible, he wouldn't want to change it. A friend was a precious thing to him and more worth than months of torture.

He came out of his thoughts when they started driving away and how Patricia leaned out of the window, screaming, "Alex! I l... ugh!"

She was suddenly forcefully pulled away by her Grandmother inside the carriage and audibly reprimanded, 'Well, she is now her trainee, and probably it is not ladylike to scream out of the window, I guess?'

His Mother sighed, which made him look at her. She worriedly looked at them, "Patience is truly a blessing that the youth isn't gifted with."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, "What does it mean?"

She shook her head, "Nothing..." She turned around and went inside, "...let's have some tea and cake."

Alexander walked behind her enthusiastically, "Oh, I want strawberry... no! I want the weird one with the tea flavor!"

She smiled back at him, "Sure."

...

Later that night, Alexander's room

'Damn it, I can't sleep!'

After sleeping with Patricia for months and cuddling, he now understood how great it felt to feel someone he could trust close to him. The warmth alone soothed his mind, and now, it seemed, there was no going back.

On Earth, there was always some kind of shame and other emotions involved if he wanted to feel closeness, but here, beast-kin just didn't give a fuck. Only by having a fiancé did he feel it for the first time, which he mostly forgot until Patricia forced herself into his life. Before that, there were some cuddle sessions here and there, but not as extreme as with her.

He turned and turned around for hours till he stood up on the bed, 'Fuck it!'

He jumped down and went to Lorient's room, 'Time to pay rent, you freeloader!'