Chapter 7: Investment Returns!!!
Breakfast wound down the way most meals in this house probably would from now on — quietly, with Aurelia finishing first out of pure efficiency, Seraphina lingering over her last few bites, and Evelisse insisting she was "still deciding" whether she liked it even after cleaning her plate completely.
Lucien set down his fork and looked at the three of them.
’Might as well say this now. No point waiting for a better moment. There isn’t one.’
"Before everyone scatters," he said, "I want to say something."
Aurelia’s eyes flicked to him, alert in that soldier’s way of hers.
Seraphina straightened slightly.
Evelisse crossed her arms, already bracing for something to be suspicious of.
"None of us chose this," Lucien said. "You three especially. You got sold off to a family reject because your own clans decided you weren’t worth keeping. That’s not something I can undo, and I’m not going to pretend it didn’t happen."
Silence. The good kind, though. The listening kind.
"But I don’t regret it," he continued.
"I got three brilliant, beautiful women out of a political transaction my father arranged like he was trading horses. That’s a better deal than I had any right to expect yesterday morning."
"So — for what it’s worth — you’re my wives. Not hostages. Not furniture. And I intend to love you and take care of you, to whatever extent I’m actually capable of."
Aurelia studied him for a long moment, the way she seemed to study everything, like she was checking the structural integrity of his words.
"You keep making promises," she said. "For a man with no talent and no bloodline worth mentioning."
"What can I say, I contain multitudes," Lucien said. "Mostly stubbornness."
Something in her expression didn’t quite become a smile. But it wasn’t far off either.
Seraphina’s eyes were damp again — she seemed to cry easily at kindness, like she hadn’t gotten used to receiving any.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "Even if you can’t help either of us... it’s kind that you’d want to."
"Got it," Evelisse muttered, not looking at him. "Doesn’t mean anything. Just, noted."
None of them believed he could actually fix what was broken in them.
He could see that plainly enough — in Aurelia’s careful neutrality, in Seraphina’s grateful-but-resigned smile, in Evelisse’s determined refusal to hope for anything.
’That’s fine,’ Lucien thought. ’You don’t have to believe me yet. Just stick around long enough to watch me try.’
He didn’t need the interface to tell him something had shifted.
He felt it anyway — a small, warm settling, like a held breath finally let out.
He checked later, alone, just to confirm it.
[Aurelia Astrax — Bond: Partner, 6%] — up by two percent.
[Seraphina Lilith — Bond: Partner, 6%] — up by three percent.
[Evelisse Noctis — Bond: Partner, 8%] — up by two percent, despite everything she says and shows.
’Small numbers’, he thought. ’But numbers going up even if small, I’ll take it.’
---
The estate only had three rooms fit to actually sleep in, and his wives had claimed them the night before without much discussion.
Which left Lucien technically homeless in his own house — a problem he solved by declaring, with as much dignity as he could muster, that he’d bunk with Evelisse "until repairs were finished."
Evelisse had informed him this was "purely a logistics decision" and "that it did not mean anything," a phrase Lucien suspected was rapidly becoming her personal motto.
He waited until the house had gone quiet — Aurelia off inspecting the perimeter like it was still a war camp, Seraphina in the garden,
Evelisse somewhere avoiding everyone on principle — before locking the door and finally, ’finally’ pulling up the Inventory tab.
[Inventory]
[Four Blood-Vein Restoration Herbs(Common)]
[Two Soul-Calming Petals(Common)]
[Beginner’s Culinary Manual (Common)]
He reached out mentally toward the herbs, the way he had with everything else so far — and felt something pull.
A small bundle of herbs, faintly glowing at the roots, appeared in his palm out of absolutely nowhere.
Lucien stared at it.
’...Okay. That’s a thing that just happened. In my actual hand. From actual nothing.’
He glanced at the door out of pure reflex, half expecting someone to burst in and demand an explanation for the vampire producing herbs from thin air like a cheap street magician.
’No storage ring. No space related bloodline or talent. Just... the system, I guess. Cool. Very normal. Very explainable to literally anyone who might ask.’
On impulse, he tried to push the herbs back into the inventory the same way.
Nothing happened. The herbs sat stubbornly in his palm, glowing faintly, entirely unmoved by his attempt to un-take them.
He tried again. And again.
[Item cannot be returned to Inventory once retrieved.]
’Ah.’
’Good to know that it’s a one-way door with no refunds, no exchanges, no "actually let me put that back."’
’Filing that under ’things I should’ve tested before pulling out the item I actually wanted to keep hidden for a surprise.’
He set the thought aside and turned his attention to the herbs themselves, focusing on them the way he had the interface, until a small description bloomed into view.
[Blood-Vein Restoration Herb]
[Rarity: Common]
[Effect: Gently repairs minor damage to mana veins. Not potent enough to restore severe or long-term vein collapse alone, but may ease strain and ache in damaged pathways. Best used repeatedly over time, or combined with stronger treatment.]
Lucien’s breath caught slightly.
’Not enough to fix her, especially not on its own. But—’
’But it’s a start. It’s something. Something’s better than the nothing everyone else gave her.’
He turned to the petals next, pulling one free — again, one-way, apparently, no putting it back — and read its description with the same focus.
[Soul-Calming Petal]
[Rarity: Common]
[Effect: Temporarily soothes conflict between opposing spiritual energies. Provides several hours of relief from internal soul strain. Not a cure. Repeated or prolonged use may extend periods of relief, but the underlying conflict remains.]
’Temporary relief, and not a cure.’
’Still. A few hours where her soul isn’t at war with itself? For someone who apparently lives every day like that?’
’I’ll take temporary, it’s a start.’
He sat back, staring at the small pile in his lap — herbs that could barely dent Aurelia’s ruined core, petals that could only quiet Seraphina’s suffering for a handful of hours.
’Baby steps,’ he thought. ’Fine. I can work with baby steps. Eighteen years of nothing taught me patience, if nothing else.’
He set the items aside and reached, finally, for the last reward — the one he was, if he was honest with himself, most excited about.
[Beginner’s Culinary Manual (Common)]
[Learn Skill?]
[ YES | NO ]
’Obviously yes, like why wouldn’t I?’ He thought.
The moment his fingers closed around the small leather-bound book, knowledge simply arrived — no reading required, no page-turning, just information settling into his mind like it had always been there.
Knife techniques. Ingredient pairings. Heat control. Plating.
Lucien blinked.
’...Huh.’
’I’m not entirely sure what a Michelin star even required back on Earth — never had the money to find out — but I’m fairly confident this knowledge would qualify me for at least one. Possibly two. I’m choosing to believe two.’
He grinned to himself, more than a little pleased.
’Garbage bloodline, no talent, disowned by my entire family — but I can apparently cook like a five-star chef now. Priorities. This system has excellent priorities.’
He gathered the herbs and petals carefully, already planning how to bring them to Aurelia and Seraphina without turning it into a whole conversation about ’where exactly’ he’d gotten mysterious medicinal plants with no storage item on his person—
A knock sounded at the door.
Sharp and deliberate. Aurelia’s knock, if knocks had personalities and he had to guess.
Lucien swept the herbs and petals out of sight in one smooth motion, shoving them into a drawer, and crossed the room to open the door.
Aurelia stood there, posture straight, expression unreadable in the particular way it got when something required her full attention.
"Someone’s here," she said, without preamble. "From House Noctis."
Lucien’s stomach did something cold and unpleasant.
’Evelisse’s family. The people who called her worthless and shipped her off as a political discard.’
’Here. Already. The day after the wedding.’
"They’re waiting in the living room," Aurelia continued.
"They asked for you specifically."
"Did they say why?"
Aurelia’s eyes narrowed slightly. "No," she said. "But they didn’t come empty-handed."
***************
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