“No, stay. I missed you back there. Were you hiding?” She lit a candle on her nightstand and I realised how drunk she was. If I wasn’t there, she would pass out on her bed. Her eyes were prepared for it.
“We grabbed a drink inside,” I said.
“Inside? But, we had waiters for that,” she mumbled.
I adored her innocence. “He… We kissed,” I blabbed.
“You did?” Her voice got quiet.
When I sniffled, she jiggled beside me and patted my arm. “What’s wrong? You should’ve seen Elvora’s face,” she tried cheering me up.
I curled up and hid my face in my arms in search of words. I couldn’t tell her about my suspicion of Veymor’s bond or the eventual truth behind the lover’s cross. Not because I had no way of proving it, but because I avoided the obvious reason for my disgust with all my might.
The faces of men never excited me unless they were feminine and shaven clean. Their bodies had to be slender instead of muscular. Primarily, it was not the feminine men I craved, but the female herself. All my studies of nature had made me believe, that my lust was unnatural, senseless as I couldn’t reproduce. I had learned to hate myself for it.
“I didn’t like it,” I cried out loud.
“You didn’t?” her high-pitched voice trembled. She seemed surprised, but it was off.
I shook my head.
“You should stay the night, I mean, I can’t let you walk through the woods, drunk,” she said.
I despised her for giving me hope that it relieved her, that she wanted me around and craved my touch, too. “I’m not that drunk anymore,” I mumbled and pointed to the bucket, “but you’re right.”
We slid under the heavy covers on her bed and whispered about the happenings of the evening. There, I heard her wonderful giggle again.
“I didn’t know you’re a Viscountess,” I said.
“There are many things you don’t know about me.” She came closer and pulled off her gloves. The way she brushed my hair fastened my heartbeat until it pounded in my ears.
“Secrets?”
“Not necessarily,” she said and transported me into an ecstatic state with a slight kiss. Her warmth spread through me and freed tears of happiness from my lids.
When she pulled her lips away, I drew nearer and arched over her while she hugged my neck. Claire’s touch had been gentle and her hard breathing turned into moans, animating me to penetrate her boundaries.
I clasped her hands and pushed them into the mattress. The lust in me broke out. This time I had the courage to gorge all over her chest.
After she freed herself and climbed over me, she ran her hands down from my breasts to my stomach. With lithe strokes, she released euphoria from my core and I tried my best to make her feel the same. She didn’t resist when I crawled between her legs and led her to the climax. I encapsulated her and enjoyed our exhausted breaths during which we were complete.
We slept arm in arm that night, with broad grins on our faces.
12. Family
Claire demanded to be left asleep when I tried waking her, but an urge to stay hindered me from walking to my tower.
I scanned her room, sitting down on one corner of the bed. Three bottles labelled with numbers instead of names stood on the nightstand. Her medicine, I figured, since they produced it themselves.
While she slept, I dared to sniff on the medicine and tried to distinguish the compounds. The first bottle was the most obvious. It was lavender to calm her. I held the second bottle under my nose and discovered Yipi flower essence. The third smell was strange, an intensely earthy scent that burned my nostrils. I tapped some of it on a handkerchief and stuffed it inside my pocket. My fingers tingled again, I had to find out the truth about Claire’s medicine.
“Lady Volkov?” Loyra cracked open the door. “Doctor Di Centi awaits you for brunch.”
I stepped outside and witnessed Elvora sneaking out of Tonio’s room. Her smile held satisfaction, and her stare followed me while I walked down the stairs.
Loyra guided me to the dining room, and I recognised that by Doctor she meant their father.
“Please,” he said, “take a seat, dearest.” He pointed his palm to the seat on his left. The only visible differences between him and his children were his moustache and a pair of thick glasses in a silver frame.
Sweet breakfast pastry and hearty dishes with meats waited on the round table. Instinctively, I searched for a soup. My eyes lit up when a maid approached us, carrying a steaming pot.
I bowed down to him and sat down with my hands placed on my lap while he ordered the maid to fill my bowl with broth.
“Forgive me for waking you up, I just couldn’t wait to meet you,” he said. But I didn’t mind since I’d slept longer than I usually would.
“Thank you, for inviting me into your home.”
The way he smiled at me reminded me of my grandfather and I found comfort quickly, especially after getting a whiff of my meal.
“I remember Gerogy’s love for chicken broth,” he said and poured some of it in his bowl. He didn’t allow the waiters to serve him. If I had to describe his attitude in one word, it would’ve been humble.
I nodded to him and enjoyed the first spoon with a slice of bread.
Doctor Di Centi laughed with his hand on his chest, watching me. “He always did that.” He pointed at the drowned bits of bread. “I certainly expected your hair to be radish-red, too.”
We reminisced about him, during which Doctor Di Centi asked at least a hundred questions about me, my powers and my goal at the academy.
I answered as shortly and honestly as possible.
“Well, if you’re interested in alchemy, we could make you an intern at the apothecary,” he theorised. “You could become a Doctor, too, if you study a little longer. What if we arranged a marriage between
