Chapter 49 – Surprise Visit
Ever since arriving in Tigres, a month had already passed. Now, after the initial expenses and signed agreements, the income had become constant, and Kaelen no longer needed to worry about a lack of resources for a while. They had managed to stabilize. Kaelen trained with Akra daily while thinking of new ideas to elevate the technological level of that world. However, the doubt remained whether it would be wise to release more technology to the heteromorph kingdom—a true impasse. His heart still aspired to create a toilet or, at the very least, toilet paper as a last resort; nevertheless, many steps needed to be refined before the next one became viable, preventing knowledge from being lost over time.
While he was in the office in the shed behind the house, Thys came to call him to announce there were visitors. Kaelen asked if it was someone from the commercial guild with a new order or a modification to fit some castle, and she replied no, but left without saying who it was, leaving him both very annoyed and curious, since Thys usually announced visitors.
Upon leaving the shed toward the house and opening the door, Kaelen was hugged by a heteromorph tigress, which deeply surprised him: — You idiot! You stupid! Why didn't you go to the castle? Why didn't you come see me? Don't you want to marry me, is that it? Were you hiding... Did you want to hurt me? — Valéria blurted out.
— Valéria?! — Kaelen exclaimed, looking into the living room and finding Lord Varian and Lady Natreia sitting and eating potatoes. — Welcome, Lord Varian and Lady Natreia.
— I see you haven't forgotten your manners... — Varian commented, smiling slightly.
— Child, why did you forget about us? — Natreia questioned, with a mix of affection and reprimand.
— Forget? I didn't forget, but I needed to stabilize first. It took a month here just to start making money, it was a lot of work... — Kaelen defended himself.
— You are only a month late in showing up at our castle. After all, wasn't your presentation as a spouse supposed to happen? — Varian retorted.
— But I'm only twelve years old now! Wasn't it only at fourteen? And to make matters worse, my father left us at the city entrance and his men went away... We had to make do with the gold we had.
— Didn't your father say that we would help you hide or give you a residence? — Varian asked, arching an eyebrow.
— If I had known that, I wouldn't have gone to buy a house or look for work... My father, that... When I get back, I'm going to create something truly terrible to drive him crazy, he'd better watch out! — Kaelen thought, already imagining the possibility of manufacturing nitroglycerin or some explosive to make things blow up literally.
Varian began to laugh, accompanied by Natreia.
— Your mother had already arranged everything with me about how your stay would be. We were surprised by your delay, until we heard about it through the commercial guild... — Natreia explained.
— You really are a pest. You barely arrive in the city and you already stir up a commotion. Your father warned me not to leave you too loose, or you'd end up making me grow a few more white hairs on my tail... — Varian joked.
— Lord Varian can't complain, I was the one who got tricked the most! If I had known this, I would have gone straight to the castle without a second thought... Wait... Thys, did you know I was supposed to go straight to the castle? — Kaelen asked, turning to his assistant.
— Yes, young master, but your father instructed me not to inform you... — Thys replied impassively.
— My father... That good-for-nothing, shameless, liar... — Kaelen grumbled mentally.
— You spent four years without seeing me and you're not paying attention to me! — Valéria complained before delivering a firm bite to his shoulder.
— Ouch! Can you leave me in one piece at least until the wedding? At this rate, there won't be much left of me, you know... That hurts!
— Serves you right for not showing up on time! I was anxious to see you and you wouldn't show up, even knowing you'd be my fiancé, but you didn't even send news... — Valéria retorted before giving him another bite.
— Ouch! You know I'm not a steak. The way things are going, when you're done, I'm going to look like chopped meat and there won't be much left to marry you...
At that moment, Akra came out of the kitchen and witnessed the scene of Valéria biting Kaelen. Rushing to his defense, the dragonkin pulled him aside and glared at Valéria with a fierce expression, as if wanting to protect him.
— So that's the answer? You were already with someone else, though I think this dragonkin is much too small and young... There's no way she can compete with me — Valéria stated, crossing her arms.
— Valéria, you really look very pretty. If I saw you from afar, I might not have recognized you. Now I understand when they say heteromorphs mature fast, you look like you're already sixteen to eighteen years old.
— Of course I look pretty! Besides training over these past few years and studying magic, I made a point of studying etiquette to be a good wife to you. So, surprised? — Valéria bragged, keeping her eyes fixed on Akra.
Akra looked from Valéria to herself, measuring her own hips and bust in a quick attempt at comparison, and blurted out: — I'm stronger than you. My master teaches me.
— Your master?! What kind of story is this, Kaelen? Did you buy slaves? Weren't you the one who always argued that you didn't want others buying slaves, and now you show up with one? What are you doing with her? — Valéria questioned, scandalized.
— Master does everything with me, he teaches me everything he knows — Akra retorted innocently.
— Akra, please... Last time you already got me into trouble, and I didn't even know where to hide my face in shame! — Kaelen thought, feeling his face burn.
— You scoundrel! Doing obscene things with a slave, when you're barely twelve years old! How dare you? You were supposed to do that with me first! — Valéria accused before starting to cry with anger.
— Your father was right when he said you'd have a harem, and I laughed... — Varian commented, shaking his head.
— Wait a minute! I'm innocent in this story! When I saw Akra, I bought her because she has abilities similar to my power... And I didn't just buy her, I needed help with work...
Valéria jumped on Kaelen again, dealing another bite, while Akra tried to pull her away by the waist.
— Let go of master! — Akra demanded.
— Ow, ow... Stop it, Valéria! My body won't survive this many bites.
— It's so you learn to be more faithful and stop leaving me waiting again! — Valéria retorted, applying another bite.
— Ouch... Valéria, have mercy, you're going to leave me completely covered in bite marks...
— With a victorious tone... — Valéria thought —, at least no other female will come near you knowing you're mine.
At that exact moment, Miri and Eradan walked through the living room door.
— Young master? — Miri called out, surprised.
— Master... Do you need help? — Eradan asked, looking quite startled upon seeing the commotion.
— So you bought more slaves? Another girl... You really need to learn a lesson today! — Valéria exclaimed, sinking her teeth into his neck now.
— Ow, ow... Did you turn into a vampire now, Valéria?
Varian intervened, pulling his daughter by the arm: — Wouldn't it be easier for you to fight him to teach him a lesson?
— I'll do that after leaving him completely bitten up, so no other female comes near him! — Valéria declared, unyielding.
— Young master... — Miri whispered, looking at him with a mix of surprise and deep pity.
Eradan stayed in the corner, trying to hide from the scene. Akra, in turn, grabbed Valéria's tail and pulled hard: — Leave master alone, he's mine!
— How I wanted to cry right now... — Kaelen thought, resigned —, but I knew my suffering was only beginning.
Varian and Natreia, watching the whole situation, began to laugh.
— Daughter, wouldn't it be easier for you to give him a good thrashing so he learns to be faithful? — Natreia suggested, laughing.
— Good idea, mom! — Valéria agreed.
Then, out of nowhere, she grabbed Kaelen by his arms and legs and pulled him forcefully out of the house.
A little further away, Valéria asked her father for her weapon. Varian pulled a spear from a magic bag and tossed it to his daughter.
— At a time like this, I really envy you guys for being able to use mana... — Kaelen thought, concentrating afterward to summon his two swords that were kept in the work shed. Soon the blades appeared flying at high speed and stopped firmly in his hands.
Varian watched that with some surprise.
The fight began: Valéria advanced with a lateral thrust using the spear, followed by various jabs, a spin, and a heavy overhead strike downward. Most of the time, Kaelen just tried to dodge or parry her attacks.
Noticing Valéria was starting to get annoyed, she attacked him again with a side strike and a spin. However, this time Kaelen dodged in time and grabbed her tail, saying: — Wait a minute... You're being too aggressive. We can talk.
— Ouch... — Valéria let out, making a very strange sound.
At that exact instant, Kaelen let go of her tail immediately, feeling awkward.
— You... you... pervert! Until I beat you up, you're not leaving here today! — Valéria ranted, red with shame and anger.
— I think I did the wrong thing... I know felines have sensitivity in their tails, but that was too much... — Kaelen thought, feeling guilty.
That was when Akra tried to meddle in the fight. Kaelen tried to use telekinesis to push her away without hurting her, but the problem was elsewhere: Valéria didn't wait. Spinning the spear like a club, she hit Kaelen right in the stomach, making him fly and crash fifteen meters away onto the ground. It was at that moment he blacked out.
— Damn, I should have used precognition since the start of the battle... — he thought before losing consciousness.
Fifteen minutes later, Kaelen woke up in the living room, lying on Valéria's lap. He looked at her and thought about how heteromorphs had so many mixed human traits. He looked at his fiancée and said: — It feels pretty cozy here, I liked the service. You can repeat it more often, preferably with a massage, you know... My shoulders are a bit... bitten.
— You smartass! If they're bitten, it's because you deserved it. At least I know the whole story now, Thys told me everything. You got off easy this time, but if you do it again, I won't be nice.
— So the prerequisite to lie on your lap is to knock me down? We can try another type of negotiation, you know... Less violent. It could be tea or cake, after all, your lap and the view from here are very nice...
— You pervert, since you're better now, you can get off my lap! I only did that because I heard from your mother that you like laps.
— What did my mother tell you?! — Kaelen stood up quickly, startled.
— Everything! And that you'd want a woman of every species... And that if I didn't manage to keep you in check and hold you down, I'd have even more competitors... On that part, your mother was right. — Valéria glanced sideways at Akra.
— Good grief, why are these women so possessive? Can't you take turns? Stay one day each... Because the way things are going, there won't be a piece of my body left, I guarantee you've already ripped some off...
— Kid, you woke up quite lively... — Varian entered the conversation, laughing. — I came here to visit you and warn you that when you turn fourteen, you'll have to take the adulthood trial. It's a fight against someone older and you'll have to win. We already have your opponent chosen: the chief of our guard. If you win, not only will everything be settled for the wedding, but the heteromorphs will fully recognize you...
— Is that how it works here?
— Yes, but didn't you know that? Didn't your father inform you? — Natreia asked.
— Do you really think he would inform me? He must be laughing hard at this whole situation right now.
— Yes, that's very much his style, from what your mother has told of his stories — Natreia laughed.
— Lady Natreia, whenever you can I want to hear those stories. Who knows, maybe I'll find something to torment them with when I get back— Kaelen said.
— Yes, dear, I'll tell you when I have time... But you'll need to visit us — Natreia replied, smiling.
— Not only that, I need to talk about something else. You're the one who created the floor heating module... Do you know how great that is during the winter here? I wanted to invite the person—who I now know is my son-in-law, I'm cashing in! — Varian laughed. — I'll need you to do the installation in my castle.
— No problem, but it will have the cost of materials and labor...
— Don't be stingy! You're making money... Can't you do it for me for free?
— If I do it for free, I'll have to pay not only for the material, but also the blacksmith, the carpenter, and the potter out of my own money. And I'm not necessarily rich, I've only been here for a month.
— Don't be rude, husband! Kaelen, don't worry, he'll pay for everything, okay? Just show up there to make the adjustments. — Natreia intervened.
— Don't worry, I'll show up... Mainly because I don't want to get bitten again — Kaelen said, rubbing his neck.
— Good thing you know... If you don't come visit, I already know where you live, and I can come see you anytime! — Valéria threatened with a mischievous smile.
Akra stepped in front of Kaelen: — Don't worry, master, I'll get stronger than lady Valéria, and I will be the wife...
— Keep dreaming, dragonkin, keep dreaming! He's already mine! — Valéria retorted.
— What did I do to deserve this? My luck with women must be negative... If there's a goddess of love, I must be in her personal category of jinxed romantic torture.
— Kid, we need to talk seriously now. Do you know why your father sent you here? — Varian changed his tone.
— He told me the basics... That I was coming here to stay for two years, and he sent me just like that...
— I received a letter from your father two days ago — Varian recounted, laughing lightly. — The kingdom's princess is arriving at Vance Castle right now, probably talking to your father. They wanted you as a political prize, the crown won't stop until it gets something out of you...
— Those vultures... They all want my twelve-year-old body, they won't even wait for me to mature! Although, to be completely honest... Some of the noblewomen were dedicated enough to look like vampires. Just imagining it makes me feel like a dried fruit squeezed in their hands... Valéria, would you still marry me if I was turned into a dried fruit sucked dry by them?
— Don't worry, I'll defend you so they don't even get close to sucking you dry! — Valéria guaranteed.
— Master, don't worry, I'll protect you too! — Akra reaffirmed.
— Kid, the situation is very serious — Varian continued seriously. — If you don't get organized and don't have enough strength to go back, I've already talked to your father for you to stay here safely.
— This is wrong on so many levels... What kind of story is this that I can't go back?
— That's the truth. If you go back, there's a big chance they'll force you to marry the princess...
— I know the princess is pretty, but she's a viper... Right? Ouch! Don't bite me again, Valéria!
— What was that story about the princess being pretty? You've already got your eyes on her, huh? — Valéria growled, infuriated.
At that moment, Akra lunged and sank her teeth into the opposite arm from the one Valéria had bitten: — Master is mine! I won't give my master to anyone!
— Ow... Akra, don't copy Valéria! That hurts! It's unfair, why am I the only one serving as a snack?
— So you learn to be faithful... — Valéria justified.
— For master to be mine... — Akra echoed.
Kaelen gave a jump and stood up in a burst: — At this rate, my only destination here is going to
