Chương 12: Chapter 12
—Five Years Later—
"Father, you asked to see me?", I inquired, stepping into his office wearing my mechanic's outfit.
"I am sorry to pull you away from your workshop, but a message came today for you.", he said, offering me a sealed envelope.
Realizing that the Royal Seal was embossed on the letter, I looked up at him with concern. Having spent the last few years exploring the southern half of our kingdom with Roxanne, repairing Lost Items we found, and perfecting products I wanted to sell, I was worried my peaceful life was ending. Wanting to burn the letter and feint ignorance of its existence, my father thought ahead and warned me not to do anything rash.
"Do not think of destroying that letter, Leon, the messenger and several knights are waiting to take you to the capital.", Balcus explained, producing two additional letters, "Both the Adventurer and Merchant Guilds, as well as the Crown, want you to make an appearance in the capital. They have patiently waited until you turned twelve to call upon you, now that your twelfth birthday has passed, they have set their plans in motion. Please do not shame our household, I will not be able to shield you from Zola's wrath in the capital."
Glancing over my shoulder to ensure the door was closed, I let out a frustrated sigh.
"I think you mean she is not safe from my wrath.", I corrected him, as I opened the letter and began reading, "Do I really need to go?"
"I am sorry son, it is out of my hands now.", Balcus apologized, "You are not being asked to move to the capital. Roxanne and the Guild Receptionist will be waiting here for you to return."
Skimming through the contents of the letter, I understood that this was more or less a formal meet and greet. Wanting to put a face to the Holfort Prodigy title, the Crown and Ministers were eager to provide options for my future. As I reached the bottom of the letter, their expected timeframe for the visit came as a shock to me.
"Dad, they want me to stay there for two weeks!?", I protested, "Assuming the Guilds want the same, I will be away for a month and a half! Roxanne and her family rely on our adventuring to put food on their tables. If I am gone that long, they will starve, or…one of them will be sold off as a slave. I refuse to abandon my friend when she needs me more than this country does!"
"You have some savings set aside for your future, right? Give that to Roxanne and her family to tide them over till you return.", Balcus suggested, "While you are in the capital, pitch those products you have been having us test for you to the Merchant Guild. The alcohol, makeup, soap, and other products will certainly be a big hit with them. You can easily quadruple your money by selling what you have stockpiled."
Understanding where he was coming from, I acknowledged that he had a fair point. Bringing the items to market now would give us an immediate surge of cash to our adventurer's fund, but something still did not sit right with me. Recalling the filthy expressions Rutart had been giving Roxanne these past few visits, I felt like he might take advantage of my absence and do something to her.
"Father, Zola and my elder siblings are not scheduled to visit while I am gone right? After Rutart's last visit, I am concerned about Roxanne's safety.", I stated, more than willing to erase him from the family registry for good.
"They are not scheduled to return for another four months. Rutart is about to enter the Academy so he cannot leave the capital right now.", Balcus informed me, "Nothing will happen to her while you are away, you have my word."
Staring at him intently, I did not feel like he genuinely understood what was happening in his territory right now. Zola had sharply increased her tribute demands after I beat Rutart five years ago. Figuring Rutart had told his mother about Roxanne, this was her way of helping her son get one over on me. Imagining what that bastard would do to her, my blood began to boil with anger.
'Damn this fucking nobility bullshit. If I could I would take Roxanne with me, but this involves the Crown so that is not an option.', I thought, reluctantly deciding to go, "Very well, I will go tell Lucoa and Roxanne of my departure. Make sure you honor your word, Father. She is an irreplaceable person in my life. If we were not nobility, I would have asked you to arrange a marriage between us."
Cracking a smile, my father understood now why I was overprotective of her. Having spent six years with Roxanne now, the two of us had grown very close with one another. After all the dangers we had faced, the times we shared a bed, and the nights we spent out under the stars…I could honestly say I had never loved another woman as I had her. I looked forward to the day we would venture off of this world and traverse the stars as a couple.
"I promise Leon, nothing will happen to her.", Balcus promised, with a warm smile, "I am happy you have already found that special person in your life. It took me far too long to find your mother…"
As that was all he had to say, I took the three letters with me and headed out to find Lucoa and Roxanne.
—3rd Person POV, Holfort Capital—
"Mother!! Mother!! It is time!!", Rutart shouted, bursting into Zola's study without warning, "Leon is coming to the capital!!"
"What are you talking about?", Zola remarked, before noticing one of her informant's letters in his hand, "Rutart, how many times must I tell you to stay out of my mail!"
Rising from her seat, Zola stormed over to her son and snatched the letter from him. Taking a moment to read the update one of the castle maids sent her, a smile crept onto her face. Having waited patiently for this day, it was time to exact revenge on Leon for beating Rutart and disrespecting her.
"I cannot wait to break her, and shatter Leon's heart!!", Rutart cackled, licking his lips as he imagined all the things he would do with Roxanne, 'It is even better that she has started to become curvier as of late. Even though she is a commoner, Leon does have good taste in women.'
"Calm yourself, Rutart, there is still some work that needs to be done before you can claim her. We cannot directly snatch her from her home, I will need to put one last squeeze on Balcus to force those insects to sell one or two of their children. An acquaintance of mine will be there waiting to purchase all of them from their parents.", Zola explained, "After they are brought back to the capital, they will all be put up for auction and we can purchase the girl there."
"Can I come and watch?", Rutart requested, with a twisted smile.
"No, you are a student of the Academy now. It is a requirement that you attend the school, if you skip classes, you will become a social outcast and likely lose your birthright.", Zola scolded him, "Just leave this to me, you can attend the auction to purchase her."
"Fine…", Rutart reluctantly agreed.
Not wanting to be on his mother's bad side, Rutart decided to leave things to his mother. With his new toy secured, he retired to his room to continue working on his coursework. Once her son was gone, Zola returned to her desk and began drawing up a letter to her acquaintance at a local slave merchant's store. Knowing that he would get the girl one way or another, Zola began quietly laughing to herself.
'I will make sure you suffer dearly for the disgrace you gave me, flea!', Zola thought.
—Leon POV—
Explaining everything to Lucoa and Roxanne, the two were understandably upset. Lucoa was upset that she would be all alone for a month and a half while Roxanne was worried about her family's financial situation. Unable to earn money while I was gone, she was worried about what would become of her aunt, uncle, and cousins. Handing her the bag of money I had been keeping for our adventuring debut, Roxanne immediately pushed the money away.
"I cannot take all our savings!", she insisted, "We were going to use it to help jumpstart our adventuring careers in the capital!"
"It is only in case something happens while I am away.", I argued, pushing it back into her hands, "I do not want the most important person in my life to be worried about her family. Use it to keep your family afloat while I am away, I will not take no for an answer."
"Oh my!!", Lucoa giggled, "Did you hear that Roxanne? You are the most important person in his life!"
"Am I really that important to you?!", she questioned, as her face turned a bit red.
"Yes, you are! Having spent nearly every day of the past six years with you, there is no one else I would rather spend my life with.", I told her, pulling out a project I had been working on from my Item Box.
Presenting her with a handmade iron necklace and locket, Roxanne stared at it in shock. Placing it around her neck, I motioned for her to take a closer look at the locket. Doing as I requested, she immediately noticed our first and last initials carved into the locket.
"I know it is not much, but the chain and locket are made from the rusty tools we collected on our first adventure together.", I said, scratching the back of my head, "Consider this my way of claiming you as both my party member and future bride. Once I lose my family title at eighteen, I want you to be my bride."
"Hehe, such a bold declaration from someone barely twelve years old.", Lucoa laughed, "It is good to see that you are being honest about your feelings now. So where is my locket? Are you going to make this poor Guild Receptionist beg for it?"
"Huh?", I asked, with a confused look, "What are you talking about? I only made one for Roxanne."
"You have seen me almost completely naked, shared a bed with me, and buried your face in my chest on more than a few occasions. As a man, you should take responsibility for your actions.", Lucoa huffed, poorly stifling a smile.
"As you said, I am twelve years old so I am not a man yet. Your argument is moot.", I said, cracking a smile, "That said, I would not mind taking a beauty like you as my second wife. The three of us make an excellent team so I would be happy to have you."
"Jeez, I am playing second fiddle to your childhood friend…oh well. I do not mind it, she did meet you first.", Lucoa admitted, "Just make sure you get us a bigger bed. That small one on your boat now is not going to cut it when both of you are fully grown. We will need plenty of room for adult activities."
Nodding my head in agreement, I swore to renovate the boat to get a bigger bed. Even though I would not mind being sandwiched between two beauties, it would be uncomfortable during hot summer nights. Figuring that HVAC would be a necessary addition as well, I added it to the long list of things I needed to do.
"Well I need to get going, the knights and messenger are waiting for me on their ship.", I told them, "I will be back as quickly as I can."
"I…I will have an answer for you when you return.", Roxanne said, still in shock from my proposal.
"Alright, I look forward to hearing from you.", I stated, giving them both a hug before heading to the ship.
Looking forward to my return already, I was eager to get this over with and go on another adventure with Lucoa and Roxanne.
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