...

Some days later, In front of Alexander's room

Patricia was before Alexander's room and waited for the fairies to come out. Nobody was ever allowed to enter while they healed him. It was a direct command from the Lady and lord after they observed the process and decided that her son's dignity needed to be preserved since the whole process was too gruesome.

So, she had to wait, but it didn't matter since she had already done so for two weeks, which was torture. At first, she wasn't allowed to visit him, but after begging, crying, and sometimes cursing, they granted her the wish to see him.

Patricia was told he was heavily injured and needed a lot of sleep. She understood it as she slept on the same floor in another room and heard his screams when he woke up for the first time. It was so terrifying that she started crying and couldn't find rest for the following days.

Little to say, she was sleep-deprived since the assassination attempt. Not because she almost died but because Alexander risked everything to save her, willingly putting his life on the line, which gnarled her conscience. At first, she thought he would be okay after some healing, but this wasn't the case, as evident by all the screams of pain and suffering she listened to every time he woke up or got healed.

Patricia had the option to change the mansion but decided against it. She wanted to hear Alexander. She somehow felt she would share his pain if she were as close as possible. It was maybe nonsense, but it made the whole situation somewhat more bearable.

This was why she tried to visit him after he stabilized immediately, but they didn't let her in. She, though, saw through the opened door how the room looked. It was a slaughterhouse, and Alexander's body was something nightmares were made of. After seeing him like that, she thought that he was dead. Only through his screams of distress was she sure that he was alive.

She understood what he went through was because of her. Now, she mainly stayed beside his room and only left to argue with the lord and Lady, 'I need to see him...'

All she could think about were the last two weeks and the assassination attempt. She constantly replayed them and became more ashamed of herself through every iteration.

Not even her inaction while they were attacked made her feel terrible. No, the thoughts afterward made her truly feel disgusted of herself.

After getting some sleep after days of restlessness after the assassination attempt, she tried to rationalize the whole situation on different levels to calm herself down. However, she now understood that it had been only a wish of hers since she didn't want to take responsibility for her inaction and awful thoughts afterward. All she wanted was a clear conscience.

At first, it was Alexander's health. She thought he would be well again, even after seeing the gruesome scene since he was alive. Her mind repeatedly told her that. However, the last bit of delusion she had about his well-being was blown away the moment a fairy named Green talked to her.

The fairy was stoic and had no manners, but what she told her was cold and detailed in her explanation of how she stabilized Alexander. It was for her a horror story that made her unable to sleep for days again.

At that point, her mind became fragile, far from her past self. Before, she would fight every soldier she could find to train herself. She had no fear. Yet, now, the moment she saw a shadow move weirdly, she threw objects at them and panicked. Other times, she started to cry without any reason and became frightened. She was an emotional wreck and didn't know what to do.

It didn't make it better as nobody forced her to do anything and accommodated her excellently while not blaming her. Inwardly, though, she wanted to be punished.

She clenched her fists, 'It is all my fault...'

One thing she couldn't rationalize was her inaction, no matter how she turned or tweaked the situation. While they were attacked, she was frozen and couldn't do anything. Alexander, on the other hand, acted immediately and did everything to save her, even going so far as risking his life. It was like the assassins tried their best to get her, but he was always there for her.

She thought nonstop about it, and after many sleepless nights, it became more apparent. He did something nobody else would do. She couldn't imagine that someone would protect her so madly while she was nothing but dead weight.

He was not family, and nobody forced him to do what he did like a guard. He had no loyalty towards her or admiration. He had nothing to gain by saving her as he was a genius who could have somebody much better than her. Nobody would blame him if he ignored her and let her die.

She couldn't comprehend what made him act in such a way, but her chaotic thoughts changed at some point, and every negative feeling became pure determination: She couldn't think of anything else but him. Now, she wanted him. No, she needed him as he was her hero and her true love. It was so apparent to her the moment she reached clarity.

Even the thoughts she had had afterward, she took it as a lesson of her juvenile self, not to be repeated. She would fully accept the responsibility for her mistakes now. For this, she swore absolute loyalty and love to Alexander, who was ready to throw his life away to save hers, and she would do the same.

However, something was always amiss when she tried to imagine them being together. After much thought, she understood the problem, 'I am not enough.'

It was like she looked at someone so far above her that even jealousy was useless. Now, even Alexander's personality, which she found decent before the assassination, became unreachable.

She needed to change and become better—someone who could stand beside him and be worthy. Before marrying him and becoming one, she knew what she needed to do. Even if it would hurt him to be away from each other, she needed to do this for them.

Clack

The door opened, and she came out of her thoughts. Out came six fairies. The one in the front looked annoyed, but the ones behind her could barely walk straight.

"I can't anymore... it's like... how many damn pieces are there?!"

The fairy she knew as Green glared back, "You don't like healing bones? How about when we come back, you try to remember them better and what they are made of? This will ease the whole procedure..." She looked at him more viciously, "...don't worry though. I will quiz you before the day is over."

The other fairies shivered, and the one who commented became as white as a bedsheet, "No... wait! I am too tired!"

Green turned back and walked forward while talking, "Fine, so I will send a letter to your forest, and we will see how it will go."

The other fairy ran forward and apologized, "I am sorry! I will do it!"

Green ignored her visibly and saw Patricia in front of her, "Go in..." She smirked slightly at her, "...he is though in a bad mood, hehe."

From the room came an angry voice, "You bitch rearranged my bones while annoying me with your dumbass questions! Let me do the same, and we will see how happy-go-lucky you will be!"

Green laughed, "Haha, till tomorrow..." and left.

Patricia stood before the open door and wanted to go in but couldn't. However, before she could go into her terrible thoughts once again, his voice, which sounded so cheery it made her almost cry again, if she thought what he went through, brought her back, "Hey, I know you cursed a storm out there for the last few days, so just come in, hehe."

She gulped her saliva down and went in, only to see something more terrible than she could've imagined. She wanted to cry but held back her tears and took in the scene while her mind became chaotic again, 'He did it for me while it was all my fault. I did nothing to deserve this...'

Alexander was lying on his stomach, so his back was free. His tail was entirely burned and more of a stick than anything else. Even Linuel's was far from this terrible in condition. Only tiny hairs were seen on it as they started to grow again.

His back was fully closed, but there were so many scars it looked horrendous. Looking at his face, he didn't have any, but as Patricia looked lower, his arms, the part of his chest she could see, everything was scarred heavily. Some were circles, some were slashes, and some were just enormous ones, which she couldn't see the end of as he lay on his stomach.

She always found boys with certain noble features attractive: Fair skin, no scars or impurities. They needed to be perfect. Initially, she found Alexander acceptable, only his attire was a little sloppy, but overall, he was not too bad-looking. It wasn't that important to her since she was never interested in his looks but in his personality and talents.

However, the moment she saw the scars, he looked like the most beautiful boy she had ever seen, 'This is all because of me... they are so beautiful... I want to touch them.'

Everything around him emitted the energy of nature. Two dozen talismans were hanging from his princess bed, which she could feel very clearly. They immediately stopped the headache she had for the last week, even while being meters away from them.

She now also understood his pain much better, 'Terrible.'

She was again perplexed and frightened, but his voice brought her back again, "Hey Patricia! If you want to play a round of tag, I guess a sack of potatoes would be a better partner than me, hehe."

Listening to him being like he was before made her incredibly happy. There was no blame thrown at her. No insults as he did with the healers—only his usual self as before when he tried to accommodate her by joking stupidly.

At first, she found them funny, other times not, and sometimes inappropriate; at other times, she couldn't understand them. Yet, now they were like a sad but happy ballad to her ears. It was beautiful to hear him in such a condition, being like he was before to her, 'I love you...'

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

She wanted to say it, but she couldn't do it. She wasn't even close to what she considered qualified to say such a thing to him, 'Not now...'

She didn't answer him and came close to him without saying anything. As she was at his bed, she removed her Mary Jane shoes and crawled onto the bed without saying anything, cuddling as close to Alexander as possible.

Her tail wrapped around his, and she just lay there. She wanted to be as close as possible to him. She wanted to smell him and feel his warmth. She also wanted him to have her smell on him as much as possible, and something inside of her feared that he would die if she didn't hold him close enough to her, 'I want you.'

She heard Alexander's confused voice, "That's..." However, she quickly interrupted him, "...don't. None of your jokes. Please be silent."

Patricia had barely slept since the assassination, but it was soothing when she smelled Alexander and felt him. His breathing was like a calming lullaby. She immediately fell asleep.

...

Scarlett's room

Scarlett sat on a chair beside the window and looked at the moons while drinking scotch directly from the bottle. It looked sad, yet her thoughts weren't, 'Who do I need to kill?'

All she wanted to do was to start a war as she barely held her rage back. For this, she respected her daughter, who was as on the book as possible in such situations. Even though they had a little fight, it was personal and had nothing to do with their fief.

When it came to their territory, her daughter was far better equipped than she ever was, 'Hm, after which ancestor did she come? We have too many maniacs who overshadowed the competent ones.'

The Leonandra household, or rather every guard household, had a blood-filled history. Fights against nobles, monsters, demons, their subjects, etc. There was barely a period when it wasn't about killing—so having someone who could actually think more than who to murder next was a nice change of pace.

It was also obviously seen by how well she administrated. Even though it was Scarlett who implemented some of the current policies that led to prosperity, it was undoubtedly the execution that mattered. So, she was incredibly proud in that sense.

Scarlett already copied some of what her daughter did for their other territory north of Moorgrel, where she defended against the dwarves and gnomes. Their household also had a tiny fief in the West where her parents were fighting against the humans. The guard households had their name for a reason, as they guarded all four sides of Moorgrel.

There was a reason why most guard household rulers were knights with an apparent slight towards combat. They would fight almost all their life and needed to go through a whole process to become a knight in the first place. It didn't end there, though. Their ox ride (political career term) continued when they became more powerful or developed other more outstanding abilities.

First, one needed a proper spouse and experience in administration by going to some smaller city. They would then manage it together with the local Earl. The probable heir would need years to go through this. If they were lucky enough, their spouse would have the experience, and the heir could skip the whole annoying process. This was also why her husband, Roland, never went through the whole process. He would rather fight the Count than do any bookkeeping, so she did all the administrative work even though she was, at best, mediocre.

Next, one would need to wait for the current rulers to undergo their first body modification and leave for the North or the South. Only then would the heir actually be able to administer the fief in the East, which, in her honest opinion, was a coin flip.

The territory besides Kratikal was less steady than in the north or south. Usually, the rulers could relax and fight weaker demons while sharpening their fangs, but since Marisia took over, they had one giant demon run after the other. It was unfortunate.

However, it didn't end there. The rulers would need to have heirs themselves who could take over the fief. It was an arduous process, which made it much more complicated.

However, Scarlett's position wasn't the end of all things as she went through her first BM long ago and aimed for the second one. After reaching the second one like her parents, would she join the West, the most dangerous region of all battlefields.

They were the elite of Moorgrel and the ones who survived the numerous battlefields while prospering. While it all sounded very linear, asterisks were attached around every case: What if the rulers had no heir? What if their puppies weren't fit to be the heir or didn't want to? What if someone born in the North wanted to take the title in the East? There were a lot of what-ifs with massive books that tried to clarify the law they needed to follow if any of those cases happened.

This thought brought her back to Alexander, who was a giant asterisk. She wanted him not to take the title and avoid going through the process since it would only hinder his potential and future prospects.

At first, she was a little bit careful about him since she wasn't sure where his talents and ambitions were. Still, after the assassination attempt, he had only one way: Alexander must take the position inside the Council of Talents.

She regarded the ability to fight as the most important one should have. There were options, but it always became a question of loyalty if his retainers would not back off if he would be attacked by someone influential and rather endure the penalty of a contract. So, the moment she heard the account from Sarusos and how he fought, she wholly ignored the route where he would become a knight. It was a waste of time.

However, her grandson had obligations as he was privileged from birth, and everyone needed to do certain things like Noblesse Oblige. In central Mal-Gil, only one heir was required to do this for the whole household, but in Moorgrel, they needed to be more proactive, and everyone needed to do their part because of the unique situation at their borders.

She needed to think more thoroughly through how she could make Alexander avoid it, as he would need to put twenty years of his time on the line, even as a non-heir. A time in which his potential would considerably be slowed down.

Scarlett shuddered slightly and contorted her face in disgust as she thought about the only person who could help her, 'Urgh, I need to talk to Anastasia then...'

Anastasia had a very troubling past, which Scarlett didn't want to think further about. As a teacher, though, she was, without any question, excellent. So she was happy for Alexander to have her. She was also extraordinary in politics and law, so not consulting her would be idiotic.

However, when she thought about Alexander again, it made her joyful. It was a prospect that could change their whole situation in Moorgrel. So, she was expectant to see what legacy he would get and how far his ambitions would push him. She would, though, direct them a little bit in a direction that would be more fitting to him.

Her delightfulness quickly changed when she remembered how he lay on the bed when she visited him. He was full of scars, which even the most hardened warrior wouldn't have. She hoped he would find someone who would love his appearance since the trend for noble girls these days didn't look favorably on someone who looked this rough. A strong killing intent filled the room, 'Whose head do I need?'

Her aura immediately intensified when she thought about their first interaction, 'He is such a lively boy...'

It hurt her a lot on every possible level. First, she feared such an attack would traumatize him like her daughter, destroying everything he had before him. But she wasn't a monster; something maternal made her almost snap at the thought of having her grandson become someone like Elisabeth.

Her aura heightened again to the point where red droplets were seen on the window, slowly condensing, destroying the glass as cracks appeared on them, "Who..."

Even though she was cold-blooded and had enormous greed, it didn't mean she wouldn't care about her family. Her grandson was attacked. How could she not be enraged?

He was young and went through something akin to torture that Scarlett only now knew was possible. She remembered the talk with the fairy and what they needed to do to stabilize him. Then, the restoration phase would be slow and incredibly painful as he lost a good chunk of his bones and muscles. She had already sent a letter to her personal healer to visit her so she could hasten the process.

Yet, even though he was alive, she needed to hold back, not run to Foxteeth and just go on a rampage. But even then, she didn't know who to aim for since she couldn't believe that trash like Fiorello could have such contacts. She wanted the one behind him.

Her killing intent amplified to the point where the window broke, and she became filled with rage as she thought about how her grandson asked her daughter almost immediately after being stabilized if his siblings and the Nine-Fire youth were okay and survived.

"Who..." The moment she opened her mouth, she could feel her fangs and teeth were entirely covered with her aura, which became liquid. One drop fell on the floor, which immediately cracked, producing a small crater.

Knock Knock Knock

She suddenly came out of her murderous thoughts as she heard three barely audible knocks. She immediately retracted her murderous aura while asking, "Who is there?"

Full of fright, a small voice came from the other side of the door, "Pa... Patricia."

She sighed and said, "Five minutes, or else you will be in danger, so wait."

...

Five minutes later

In front of Scarlett sat Patricia, who looked as determined as ever while also shivering. It was obviously the effect of the residue of her killing intent. However, she wasn't in the mood to care, "What do you want? If it is about Alex, just come tomorrow again... as you can see, I am not in the best of moods to discuss romance between puppies."

Patricia looked deeply into her eyes while clenching her dress, "I want you to train me!"

Scarlett became baffled and frowned, "Like I said, visit me tomorrow after..."

However, she was interrupted by her, "No romantic advice! I want to go through your special training!"

Scarlett became surprised and looked at her more intensely and knew that something happened with Alexander. As much as she could remember, she was allowed to visit him today.

She put one leg over the other and asked her, expecting something interesting, "So, you don't want to have my grandson as your husband?"

Patricia looked her dead in the eye, and her voice intensified like she found it ridiculous what Scarlett said, "Don't joke with me. I want strength so something like what happened before never happened again..."

She jumped down from the bed and stood before her. An aura came from her, which Scarlett admired dearly. It was the aura of a determined knight ready to die for whatever cause they wished to. It was regal and prideful but also reeked of arrogance and an unwavering confidence. She loved such puppies.

Scarlett smirked at her, "So, you want to undergo my training? You know what that means, right?" As for the answer, Patricia nodded as determined as ever.

Scarlett was inwardly getting more giddy as she probably found the perfect wife for Alexander. Someone wanting to undergo her outrageous and well-known training inside their little guard household circle was perfect for someone who would soon shake the world.

Patricia's stare intensified, and her shaking stopped, "I need to be able to protect Alex... no, I need to protect Alex."

Scarlett wanted to laugh loudly but obviously held it in. She now had a little disciple she could groom to become, worst case, a fantastic asset and friend to the household. She couldn't determine Alexander's decision if he would take her and would need to observe him for longer and talk with him more directly, but this could wait.

She thought for a moment while tapping her chin with the index finger. She needed a timetable for everything to work out. After some more time, she got an insight.

Scarlett looked at her and smiled friendly, "Fine..." She held three fingers up, "...in three years, there is a ball for the noble youth of Mal-Gil. Everyone is invited who is at least a second-generation noble..." She held her hand before her mouth and chuckled, "...hehe, well, this is obvious."

Patricia looked at her, confused, "I know about that, but don't we have one in Moorgrel simultaneously? I remember my sisters telling me that they went there."

Scarlett nodded, "Yes, but the old mutt decided to make it special this time by joining the others..." She suddenly started to laugh, "...haha! Can you imagine Moorgrelian noble youth forged with steel and fire together with those wusses from the central region?"

Patricia asked again, even more confused, ignoring her comments, "Okay? But I was too young then and now would be too old to go there again. I have my legacy in around a year."

Scarlett waved her hand in dismissal, "The central region was always different. They have three balls at the same time. One for the ones before their legacy, which Alexander will be at the time, one for everyone before the age of 50, so to say: Teens, and another one for the Lord and Ladies. If I remember correctly, the youth would at some point join each other and have a get-together..." She pointed at Patricia, "...this is where you will have your chance to impress Alex."

She looked at first happy but immediately started to frown, "I don't think Alex wants to attend such a gathering."

Scarlett leaned back and looked at her with a smile, "He will. He is much more ambitious than you think..." She also mumbled something barely audible, "...even though he obviously dislikes nobility and helps trash."

For some reason, she couldn't find out why Alexander was bent on helping the disadvantaged. She didn't know why, but this indicated that he was very ambitious. So, Alexander going to the ball was a given. If not, she would make it tasty for him to overthink his previous decision.

Patricia nodded, "Fine, when do we start?"

Scarlett looked outside the broken window at the moons, "I guess after we leave. Enjoy your time and bond with him..." She turned back and could strongly smell the mix of nature's energy and Alexander on her, "...it seems it works well already, right?"