I was on cloud nine. After what happened with Annabelle last night, I felt fulfilled in a way I couldn’t quite describe. Complete. Whole. It was as if I regained some piece of myself that had been missing this entire time.
In short, I felt fucking awesome.
In contrast to my buoyant mood, an awkward silence filled the House Sturm carriage. Father and Mother sat on one side, while Kaylee, Lady Calla, and I sat on the other, facing them. Father and Mother studied me with unfathomable expressions on their faces. Kaylee, on the other hand, openly glared at me.
Meanwhile, Lady Calla did her best to avoid looking at me. It helped that we sat on opposite ends of the carriage, with Kaylee in between us. That didn’t stop Lady Calla from glancing at me every once in a while; rather, she glanced at the choker around my neck. Every time she did, she blushed and looked away. I found her reactions endearing.
Despite the almost suffocating tension inside the carriage, the weather outside was crisp and clear. While there were clouds in the sky, they were few and far between. The sun shone bright and majestic, bathing the world with its light. Sol was in fine form this morning. The temperature was nice and warm, a harbinger of the days to come. All in all, it was a gorgeous day. A good omen for a new beginning.
It was the day after Kaylee’s birthday party, and we were on our way to bring Lady Calla and my sister to the Solarian Imperial Academy. We had already sent their luggage ahead of us, so all that remained was for us to drop them off.
Well, that was simplifying matters. There was a bit more to it than that. The five of us would arrive at the Solarian Imperial Academy and attend the entrance ceremony, which would be held in the academy’s Hall of Illumination. Despite the name, it was basically an auditorium used for lectures and events such as this.
The hall was a large open space, two-stories tall, with a stage at the end. A balcony hugged the walls on the second story, which had an excellent view of the main floor. During the ceremony, the students would occupy the first floor while friends and family would watch from above. The academy’s dean, vice dean, and teachers would be seated on the stage.
After the ceremony, came the welcoming party, which would be held at the academy’s banquet hall. This party was an opportunity for the students and their families to mingle and get to know each other. Students who were House scions used this time to make connections which would serve them well in the years to come. Students who weren’t House scions used the academy’s welcoming party as an opportunity to ingratiate themselves with students who were.
In a way, the Solarian Imperial Academy was a microcosm of House society as a whole. While learning and education were important, making the right friends was just as important, if not more so. These connections and friendships often survived beyond a scion’s academy years, turning into alliances for their House.
Of course, the inverse was true as well. Conflicts, grudges, and feuds were often born within the academy’s walls, as students competed and fought with each other for status, resources, or personal matters. Sometimes, this resulted in full on House wars, though it was rare.
Regardless, students who weren’t House scions and scions from weak Houses were at a distinct disadvantage. Their family background, or lack thereof, left them vulnerable to bullies and other students seeking to pick on the weak. Personal strength mattered as well, which evened things out somewhat. However, in a conflict between a scion from a strong House and a scion from a weak one, the former won more often than not, if only because they could leverage their family’s influence.
This was why making the right connections was vital. If a scion didn’t have the strength or influence to stand up for themselves, they needed to find someone they could rely on. Sometimes students went at it alone, but only if they had great personal strength or a powerful backer.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about Kaylee and Lady Calla. House Sturm wasn’t weak, though we were far from the strongest. More than that, I knew that Annabelle and her friends would look after them. Kaylee and I discussed the matter with Annabelle during the party yesterday. In fact, Annabelle wanted to introduce Lady Calla to Lady Teresa, since she thought that the two of them would get along well.
The five of us rode in silence for most of the journey, with my family staring at me and Lady Calla doing the opposite. However, when we entered the Sky District, Kaylee spoke up.
“I hate you,” Kaylee said, though I could tell from her tone that she didn’t really mean it.
“Kaylee,” Mother admonished. “Don’t say that to your brother.”
Kaylee stomped, which I found adorable.
“It’s not fair,” she huffed. “It was my birthday yesterday. Why did Gabriel have to get something from Lady Annabelle?”
I raised an eyebrow at my sister.
“The two of us are courting now,” I said. “Why shouldn’t we give each other gifts?” I gestured to the silver bracelet around her wrist. “Besides, she gave you a gift yesterday.”
Kaylee crossed her arms and huffed once more. Father and Mother looked amused by this. Even Lady Calla smiled.
“Yes, but your gift is better.” She looked at the choker around my neck, her eyes green with envy. “It even has her aura.”
“Kaylee,” I said, before pausing. “I can’t believe I have to say this to my little sister, but Annabelle is mine. Nothing is ever going to happen between you two. There’s no point in being jealous.”
Kaylee rolled her eyes.
“I know that,” she said. “Besides, I don’t like women. Not like that at least.” She pouted and faced away from me. “It’s just that yesterday was supposed to be mine. Lady Annabelle should have given me all of her attention.”
I ruffled Kaylee’s hair. She smacked my hand away and scowled at me.
“Think of this choker as a sign of Lady Annabelle’s affection for me,” I said. “It’s one step closer towards us getting married, which would make her your sister.”
And the choker in my pocket was another step. While the silver one would come later, I decided to make a temporary placeholder. It took me all night, especially since it required adapting a silver brooch with a sapphire, but I managed. I even infused a bit of my aura into it. Now all that was left was to give it to her.
“Speaking of marriage,” Father said, interjecting before Kaylee could respond. “Have you discussed the matter with Lady Annabelle?”
I shook my head.
“No,” I said. “Or at least, we haven’t discussed it much. We are getting married, but we haven’t worked out the details beyond that. We’re happy as long as we’re together.” I frowned. “That said, I should make my preferences clear.”
Father nodded.
“Yes,” Mother said. “Given our family’s circumstances, it would be better for us if Lady Annabelle married into House Sturm. However, I’m not sure if her parents would agree to that.”
The situation was a little messy since neither Annabelle nor I were the heir to our respective Houses. That meant either one of us could marry into one another’s House. We could take the third option and form our own, but I didn’t want to do that.
I snorted. This was one of the few times I regretted giving up my seat as heir to House Sturm.
Taking Clan Sturm’s needs into consideration both simplified matters, and made them even more complicated. Clan Sturm needed me. If I married into House Thorne, my Clan would lose a good chunk of its power. However, we couldn’t tell Lord and Lady Thorne that. Well, not Lord Thorne at least. I wasn’t sure about Lady Thorne. While I strongly suspected that she was a cultivator, I didn’t know for certain.
At the very least, if I ended up marrying into House Thorne, I needed to make them pay a dear price to make up for it.
“Um,” Lady Calla said, speaking up for the first time since we got into the carriage. “Is it all right for me to hear all of this?”
Kaylee shrugged.
“I don’t see why not, Calla,” she said. “It’s not like this is some big secret. Besides, what affects our House will indirectly affect yours. Since our Houses are allied with each other, House Icefall now has a connection with House Thorne. You should think of ways to leverage that connection for your family’s benefit, even if it’s only to sell mythril to House Thorne.”
Lady Calla’s jaw dropped, as if she hadn’t considered it like that before.
“Yes,” Mother said, giving me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Gabriel’s marriage to Lady Annabelle is inevitable, especially after what happened last night, so there’s no point in keeping it hidden.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Oh,” I said. “You know about that?”
“Yes,” Father said.
“You’re not as sneaky as you think you are, Gabriel,” Mother said. “Of course we know.”
Damn it. I thought that Annabelle and I had managed to get away with it, since no one said anything to us last night when we made it back to Sturm Manor.
Annabelle and I made love for hours yesterday, thanks to our superhuman stamina. We went at it with an almost terrifying ferocity, as if to make up for lost time. Annabelle and I had always liked it rough, but what happened last night was on a whole other level. What we lacked in quantity, we made up for with intensity.
Afterwards, both of us had to drink low-grade health potions to get rid of all the bruises and scratches.
We could have gone all night, but we stopped when it neared midnight, since Annabelle had to return home by a certain time. If she was too late, then her parents would have gotten suspicious. It required an incredible amount of self control on both our parts to stop, and we failed several times. It was so bad, that an errant touch was enough to get us going again.
By the time we both had made it back to Sturm Manor proper, we were both dirty, disheveled, and covered in sweat. I had been so out of it, that I had forgotten to use my cleaning technique.
Huh.
Put it like that, it was obvious to anyone with eyes what the two of us had been up to. Not to mention the smell.
Still, a few hours together hadn’t been enough to satisfy my hunger for Annabelle, and I couldn’t go to sleep after she left. Since that was the case, I decided to be productive and spent the rest of the night making a choker for Annabelle.
This kept my hands busy, though my mind kept wandering back to Annabelle. Like she wanted, every time I moved my neck I thought of her. Whenever my hunger started to die down, it roared to life again. After indulging in Annabelle once, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go without her for long. We had let the genie out of the bottle, and there was no putting it back in.
Kaylee looked at me, looked at our parents, before looking at me again.
“What happened last night?” she asked.
No one answered her. I turned away and looked out the window, my face burning with embarrassment. That was not a conversation I wanted to have with my little sister.
“Just be careful, Gabriel,” Father said. “I don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”
Oh ancestors, I did not need this right now.
“Can we talk about this later?” I asked, my voice cracking towards the end.
I was mortified. Out of all the things I had done in this life, getting caught having sex by my parents somehow crossed the line. This was what embarrassed me. Becoming a virgin again must have messed with my mind, because I felt like I would never live this down.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“What happened last night?” Kaylee demanded again, speaking in a louder voice this time.
Like before, no one answered her. An awkward silence filled the carriage for the rest of the journey, punctuated by Kaylee’s occasional demands for the truth.
----------------------------------------
Relief filled me when the walls of the Solarian Imperial Academy came into sight. Soon, I would escape the confines of the carriage. When no one answered Kaylee’s demands earlier, she fell into a sullen silence. However, she perked right back up when she saw that we had reached our destination.
A tall wall topped by a wrought iron fence surrounded the grounds occupied by the Solarian Imperial Academy, similar to the wall that once surrounded the original Sturm Hill Hall. While it would deter regular mortals, a wall like this wasn’t much of an impediment for wizards. However, only a fool would believe that was the extent of the defenses protecting the Solarian Imperial Academy.
In addition to the wall, several defensive magic circles surrounded the academy’s grounds. Deeper within, beyond the perimeter, awaited a small army of guards and constructs. Some of the constructs were obvious and patrolled the grounds. Others were hidden, and a few were even disguised as statues. It was a popular pastime for students to guess which statues were actually constructs, and which ones were just statues. Only the dean knew the truth.
If an intruder somehow managed to get through all of that, they would then have to deal with the academy’s teachers and students.
All in all, there were few places as safe and secure within the Solarian Empire as the Solarian Imperial Academy.
A line of carriages waited in front of the gate leading onto the academy’s grounds. The guards at the gate checked the identities of everyone trying to enter, before letting them through. Thankfully, guards were brisk as well as thorough, so the line moved at a steady pace. Our carriage joined the line, and within minutes, it was our turn.
There was a brief pause when the guards saw me, but they otherwise acted like the professionals they were.
After the guards let us through, one of them directed us towards the special parking space set aside for today’s event. Given the influx of people, there wasn’t enough room in the regular parking.
We headed towards the designated area, which turned out to be a grassy lawn, before exiting the carriage. Once I was free, I took a deep breath. The open air had never smelled so sweet.
While waiting for everyone else to exit the carriage, I looked around. Hundreds of students and their families milled about. It was easy to tell the students apart from everyone else, since they wore the uniform for the Solarian Imperial Academy, which consisted of a white shirt, a black blazer with gold trimmings, and either black pants or a black skirt.
There weren’t any retainers or servants attending any of the House scions here. Students were forbidden from bringing them along, unless said retainers or servants were also students. Instead, the academy handled everything. This was a safety measure, since assassinations weren’t unheard of in House society, but it was also to prevent students from making their retainers do all the work for them. The Solarian Imperial Academy was still a learning institution after all. It also made the situation fairer for the students who weren’t House scions and didn’t have servants to bring along.
I knew most of the students, since we had all been classmates just last year, but the rest were new. All of them looked so young to my eyes, even the ones that were older than me. A lot had happened in the past year, and I was no longer the Gabriel Sturm they once knew. Still, a part of me felt wistful, and wished that I hadn’t gotten kicked out of the Solarian Imperial Academy.
The rest of me was glad that I didn’t have to attend anymore, since it meant that I could focus on more important stuff. Besides, thanks to Master Tempest, I wasn’t behind any of my peers when it came to wizardry knowledge. In fact, I might have been ahead of them. It wouldn’t be long before I finished with the Stone Corridor and solved the tile puzzle at the end.
A part of me wondered what would happen after that? Would the Stone Corridor continue? I hoped not. Learning through that particular method gave me a literal headache.
After everyone was ready, the five of us headed towards the Hall of Illumination. People stared at us as we did, whispering in our wake. Their gazes contained mockery and contempt for me, and pity for my family. Interesting. I guess that meant that my plan to rebuild my reputation in a certain direction was working. Time would tell for sure.
More than one of my former classmates snickered, no doubt amused about how far I had “fallen.” There were always those who took satisfaction from the misery of others. Their lives were so shallow and empty, that they had nothing else going for them.
Others studied me with suspicion and curiosity. Despite what happened last year, my actions since then had caught peoples’ attention. Restoring my Circles, picking fights with other Houses, etc.
“Gabe!”
My heart leapt at the sound of Annabelle’s voice. I turned to see her running in my direction, before she leapt towards me. A part of me noted that Annabelle looked sexy in the academy’s uniform. Then again, she would look sexy in a potato sack, so that wasn’t a surprise.
I caught Annabelle and twirled her around, before setting her down on her feet. She gave me a brief kiss on the lips.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed everyone staring at the two of us with wide eyes. I didn’t blame them. It was a far cry from how the two of us acted towards each other last year. Even before our duel, Annabelle and I often argued and fought. I started things, but she gave as good as she got.
When she pulled away, Annabelle smiled at me. Her eyes flickered to the choker around my neck, and her smile widened.
“Gods, if we weren’t in public,” Annabelle said in English. “I’d throw you to the ground and have my way with you right here and now.”
Someone made a choking sound from behind me. I looked back to find Lady Teresa and Lord Oliver coming up to us. Lady Teresa stared at Annabelle, wearing an incredulous expression. Her cheeks were bright red.
“Huh,” I said in Common Tongue. “I forgot Lady Teresa could speak English.” I glanced at Annabelle. “You should be careful about what you say in front of her.”
Annabelle snickered.
“It’s her fault for eavesdropping on our conversation.”
“It’s not eavesdropping if you say it out in the open!” Lady Teresa protested, drawing attention to herself. When she realized this, she lowered her voice. “I’m not the only one who can speak English. You should be careful. Otherwise, people will label you as a trollop.”
Annabelle sighed.
“Fine,” she said. “Spoilsport.”
“Lady Teresa,” I said. “Lord Oliver.”
I gave each of them a slight bow, which was more than what I owed them due to the difference in our status. However, they were Annabelle’s friends, so it didn’t hurt to brown nose them a little. From the expressions on their faces, they knew what I was up to but went along with it anyway. I didn’t like them and they didn’t like me, yet we would strive to get along for Annabelle’s sake.
“Lord Gabriel,” they said, bowing in return.
A beat of awkward silence followed, before Kaylee inserted herself into the situation.
“Lady Annabelle!” she cried out, giving Annabelle a tackle hug. “It’s been too long!”
Annabelle chuckled.
“We just saw each other yesterday, Lady Kaylee.”
“Yes, but you spent half of it with Gabriel,” my sister pouted. “Apparently, you and my brother got up to something last night, but no one will tell me. What-…?”
I clamped my hand over her mouth.
“Unless you want me to die a painful death,” I said in a low voice. “You will not bring that up in public.”
Kaylee glared at me, while Annabelle struggled not to laugh. After a while, my sister nodded and I removed my hand from Kaylee’s mouth.
Lady Calla stood a few feet away from us, looking awkward. Our parents stood a little further back, amused by the scene playing out before them.
“Isn’t there someone you should introduce Lady Calla to?” I asked Annabelle.
“Oh, right!”
My beloved walked over to Lady Calla and threw her arms over her shoulders. Lady Calla squeaked at the sudden contact. Annabelle brought her over to Lady Teresa.
“Tessa, Ollie, this is Lady Calla Icefall,” Annabelle said. “I promised Gabe and Lady Kaylee that I’d look after her.”
Lady Teresa raised an eyebrow at that. Lord Oliver, on the other hand, waved at Lady Calla with a smile on his face.
“Lady Calla,” Annabelle continued. “This is Lady Teresa Keen and Lord Oliver Holmwood. They’re friends I made here at the academy.”
They all greeted each other. Despite her nervousness, Lady Calla conducted herself well.
“Tessa is currently reading Lord Ezra’s A Study of Unorthodox Magic Circles,” Annabelle tossed out.
“Really?” Lady Calla said, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “I read that one last year, though I didn’t like it as much as Lady Sara’s Magic Circles: The Art of Scribing. While Lord Ezra’s theories are interesting, most of them are based on speculation rather than hard evidence.”
Lady Teresa’s eyes widened, before a joyful expression spread across her face, as if she had just found a kindred spirit. I had never seen her smile like that before. Then again, most of the time when we saw each other, we were at odds.
“Well,” Lady Teresa said, before taking Lady Calla aside.
I gazed on in amusement as the two of them dived deep into a discussion of magical theory.
“You were right,” Annabelle said. “Introducing them to each other was a good idea. They’re birds of a feather.”
“Told ya,” I said.
Someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to find Lord Oliver staring at me with a conflicted expression on his face.
“Be careful, Lord Gabriel,” he warned.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
Lord Oliver shook his head, before walking off. He offered to escort Lady Teresa and Lady Calla. Together, the three of them headed towards the Hall of Illumination.
“Do you think that was about House Shelton?” Kaylee muttered.
I nodded. As a fellow vassal of House Griffin, House Holmwood had close ties with House Shelton. If the latter were up to something, the former would know about it, or they would at least have an idea. However, giving me a vague warning was probably all Lord Oliver could do in this situation. His loyalties were with his own House, which served House Griffin. The only reason why I got that much was because of my relationship with Annabelle, or so I assumed.
“Don’t worry,” Annabelle said. “Whatever happens, I’m with you.”
I gave her a grateful smile.
“Gabriel, Kaylee,” Father called out. “We should get moving now.”
Kaylee nodded.
“Yes, Father,” she said.
“Go on ahead,” I said. “There’s something I wish to discuss with Lady Annabelle.”
My parents gave me speculative looks, but Father nodded. My family made their way to the Hall of Illumination, though Kaylee looked remorseful at separating from Annabelle.
“What’s up?” my beloved asked in English.
“I wanted to give you this,” I said, pulling the choker I made out of my pocket.
The choker consisted of a strip of blue silk. A silver brooch with a sapphire served as the centerpiece.
“It’s not my best work,” I explained. “But I wanted you to have a placeholder until I could give you the choker I had in mind. That way, no one would misunderstand our relationship.”
Annabelle covered her mouth with her hand, tears in her eyes. For a second, I thought she hated it and my heart dropped.
“I love it,” she said, to my immense relief. “Quick, put it on.”
Annabelle lifted her hair out of the way, and I wrapped the choker around her neck. After I secured it in place, I took a step back to admire the view. I had to admit, seeing Annabelle wearing the choker satisfied a primal part of me. I claimed her as my woman. She was mine, and mine alone.
The two of us stared at each other for the next several seconds, lost in our own thoughts.
“Annabelle, there are you,” a familiar voice said. “You shouldn’t run off like that.”
We turned to find Annabelle’s family walking in our direction. Lord Thorne escorted Lady Thorne, while their sons trailed behind them. I raised an eyebrow at that. It looked like Lord Miles had left the Grand Temple’s loving care. He looked skinnier than the last time I saw him, but he otherwise seemed fine. Good for him. Annabelle cared for her brother, and if anything happened to him, it would sadden her.
The rest of her family were in fine form today as well. Lord and Lady Thorne looked every inch the aristocrats that they were. Lord Dominic, Annabelle’s younger brother, must have hit a group spurt, since he was taller than when I last saw him. Like Annabelle, he wore the uniform for the Solarian Imperial Academy.
Lord Thorne stopped and stared at Annabelle, narrowing his eyes.
“What’s that thing around your neck?” he demanded. Before she could respond, Lord Thorne turned his eyes towards me. “You dare!”
The temperature around us rose sharply, and Lord Thorne pressured me with his aura. The other people in the area let out exclamations and scrambled to get away. However, before Lord Thorne got too worked up, his wife patted him on the arm.
“There now, dear,” Lady Thorne said. “Take a look at Lord Gabriel’s neck.”
Lord Thorne’s eyes flickered to my own neck. When he realized that I also wore a choker, one infused with Annabelle’s aura, he calmed down somewhat. The temperature around us lowered and he stopped pressuring me with his aura.
I felt a lingering ache in my head from his actions, but contrary to my previous experiences, it didn’t hurt as much as I expected.
“It looks to me like Annabelle and Lord Gabriel found a rather dramatic way to show their affection for each other,” Lady Thorne continued. “I think it’s romantic.”
She glanced at Annabelle and gave her a wink, before facing her husband again.
“Don’t think that I don’t know that you had a hand in this, dear,” Lord Thorne said with a snort. “I still don’t like Lord Gabriel.”
“Neither do I,” Lord Dominic said. “Our Annabelle is too good for the likes of him.”
Lord Miles remained silent. He stared at Annabelle with an expression filled with both pain and longing.
“Dad!” Annabelle said. “Dom! Will you two stop it?”
Lord Thorne sighed.
“I know, I know,” he said. “I just wish that things had turned out differently.”
Annabelle grabbed my arm and pulled me closer.
“Well, I don’t.”
Lord Thorne grimaced.
“Fine. I shall respect your wishes.” He looked at me and nodded. “Lord Gabriel.”
I bowed.
“Lord Thorne,” I said, before greeting the rest of Annabelle’s family.
Despite their obvious dislike of me, they at least greeted me with the proper courtesy and respect. Well, Annabelle’s father and brothers disliked me. Lady Thorne, on the other hand, seemed to support our courtship.
“It is a pleasure to see you all again,” I said.
“Really now?” Lord Thorne asked in a dry tone.
“Of course. You’re Annabelle’s family. That alone makes your presence a pleasure.”
Especially compared to Annabelle’s birth parents. Despite the way House Thorne treated me, they were still leagues above the Smiths. If nothing else, their dislike of me stemmed from their love of Annabelle. Her birth parents hated me because I had been a blight on their daughter’s “perfect” image.
“You say the right words, I’ll give you that much, Lord Gabriel,” Lord Thorne said. He nodded in the direction of the Hall of Illumination. “Come on. We don’t want to be late.”
With that, I escorted Annabelle in the company of her family.