I also smiled."You didn"t hear anything." And got ready to give her blunt-force induced amnesia. One good whollop, just one!
What happened to, "you don"t mess with a loli", you may ask?
Well this is for her own good. I can"t have her spreading even MORE rumours about me, okay? And I got the feeling mother didn"t want it to get out that she was a Dragon in human form. Or claimed to be, anyway.
Plus this little girl would be a lot of trouble in the future if she had this kind of misunderstanding!
"Don"t worry, Lord Damien, I have no intention of causing any kurfuffle at this time." She lowered the bow and raised a hand. "I did mean what I said. Go ahead and gather your strength. Spread the seeds of chaos at your heart"s content. I know I cannot stop you at my current level of power. But while you rampage across the land, I, too, will be growing ever stronger. And once the time is ripe, we will have our duel. Prepare yourself well. I know I will." She bowed politely. "Now if you"ll excuse me I have to go check up on Alex. Although I don"t believe that mother of yours has any reason to harm him I still can"t leave him alone now that I know what you and your family are, can I? Have a pleasant day."
And with that she walked right past me, opened the door, and walked in.
...That was surprisingly anti-climactic. I thought she was gonna start chasing me.
That didn"t go as I expected at all.
Well whatever.
"Let"s go." I led the two back towards the carriage. "Set a course for Dunkirk, my good man." I asked the driver.
Then I remembered something of grave importance.
"Wait, hold that. I"ll be back." And hopped off.
I then walked leisurely into the house. Mother, in the middle of writing a letter, looked up with bright eyes at my re-entrance.
"Son!" She shouted jubilantly. "You came back! Oh I knew you"d see reason! Don"t worry, I won"t speak more of your poor taste in women. Now, let"s sit down and talk about your first round of clients."
I didn"t even spare her a glance.
Instead I continued my walk until I reached the center of the building. Then, with every ounce of strength I could muster, I yelled, "VEEEEERRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Did I not promise a spanking?! Did you guys think I forgot?!
Two minutes later Vera came down the stairs, yawning.
"Yes, Young Mas--?" She stopped as soon as she saw me. It was hard to tell from just my face but somehow she was one who always knew when I was angry.
And so she promptly ran away without a word.
Let the chase begin!
***
Five minutes later, the garden.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You won"t get away with this. Hitting a young maiden like this, you"ll get yours someday!"
Smack.
"I hate you. You"re nothing but a piece of fecal matter not even flies would touch."
Smack!
"Despicable rogue, I dare you to hit me again!" A whimper.
Smack, smack, smack!
"T-This is nothing...you hit like - Oh!"
SMACK!
And she finally, at last, broke out in tears.
I had her bent over my knee, her naked rump in the air, mercilessly reminding her of the Devil"s Left"s power!
The little girl"s impa.s.sive face had the deep red of shame and anger, losing her indifferent gaze. She sobbed and sniffled and had tears streaming down her cheeks as she started into a fit of hiccups.
But the stubborn rebelliousness never left her eye!
This called for another round of punishment!
Smack...
And yet even after that she still spouted abuse, flinging curses and spiteful words at ever opportunity until even I had to call down Baz to get me a gla.s.s of water to replenish myself(I also had him go pack his bag, cuz he was comin" with us!)
I"d have left it there but the girl wasn"t done, she ran off and brought back a small horsewhip--had no idea how she found one so fast, the stables were all the way to the other side of the house-- she tried getting revenge upon me with.
I couldn"t let that slide so I took it away and used it for yet another round. But apparently I was too gentle, or the whip was too soft, because I knew she was faking the tears.
So my left arm had to tag in for one final time.
While I readied myself her mother found us.
Her beautiful, expressionless face held a touch of mild disapproval.
"Young Master." She sighed. "I truly wish you wouldn"t indulge her like this. Can you not simply leave it alone?"
I snorted. "Bad deeds must be punished! If you won"t whip her into shape I"ll just take it upon myself to discipline her!"
"I fail to see how this will do anything but encourage her bad habits, though."
"Huh? How?"
"Your mother didn"t tell you about us during your talk?"
"What do you mean?"
Just then Vera broke into the conversation. "Mother! Please!" She pleaded sorrowfully, obviously begging for help.
"Quiet, you." I smacked her.
"Hm." The woman considered."Very well then. I suppose it doesn"t really matter." She shrugged. "I won"t interfere if you don"t want me to."
"Ah. Thanks." I nodded.
"Mother..." Vera"s eyes shined with true tears as she gazed up at the woman.
She was ignored.
"Yes, yes, you"re welcome. Honestly." She shook her head. "The things I do for my children..."
A mother"s love was a complicated thing. I knew she didn"t want to, but she understood she had to let me. This was all for the sake of her child"s growth.
Still I felt the need to rea.s.sure her this was the right choice.
"I know it"s tough but remember this is for her own good."
"I wonder about that." She expressed her doubt. "But carry on then, you two. I"m a woman of my word."
"Got it. Don"t you worry, I"ll break her eventually. Someday she"ll be a well bahaved little angel, just like Dolly. You"ll see."
The woman gave the ghost of a smile. "I somehow doubt it."
Hmph. It"s true this girl was a tough nut to crack, but I didn"t believe my methods were wrong! She"ll learn sooner or later! I just had to keep at it!
"By the way, about that talk with Mother. Thank you for looking after her. I had no idea she had such delusions!"
That earned me an odd look. "You don"t believe her?"
"I"m human, okay."
"A human..." Her mouth twitched. "Somewhat, I suppose. If your great-grandfather wasn"t such a prolific lover I guess you would be even more so. It is true you don"t take after your father"s bloodline, however. At least in terms of appearance. Sometimes I think you should"ve been born a blonde though."
"Why?"
"You"ve met Lucius. You should know."
"No idea."
"The blondes of this world are weird." She clarified.
"Oh. Wait, you callin" me weird?"
"Maybe slightly unhinged would be a better description."
"I"ll spank you too, you know? "
"I"m sure you"d make good on those words. It"s funny since even the strongest of men wouldn"t dare do such a thing, yet here you are."
"Weakness disgusts me"
What more needed to be said?
...She said some odd things but I chose to not mind them for now.
I didn"t believe the words of others so easily, I required hard proof!
And I had not one scale! Or feather! So there.
Lizard...bird...
No, I was fine with s.e.xy Angel girls with wings--preferably sprouting from their lower backs, because that was hotter somehow--and s.e.xy Argonians are okay also, to each their own. Scales on them aren"t a problem.
But ME with scales? No can do. I refuse, thanks.
***
I came back to the carriage fully satisfied.
Baz was waiting with the door open. His ahoge twitched happily.
"Are we going to see Sir Kane, Young Master?"
"Yep. Since we"re in need of a place to crash for the time being and he"s got a cozy place and I"m low on funds until next month."
"Should we stop by Belhaven on the way to get him some wine? He"ll be angry you didn"t show up when you were supposed to."
"Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Sure, why not."
"And is Lady Dahlia not coming with us?"
"Nah, Alex and Charlotte are there right now and she should get to know them better. She can"t be hanging around me all the time. I"ll be seeing her later once Mother cools down. We got into a disagreement and I can"t say us being in the same house won"t spark an early crusade."
"What?"
"Nothing, Bazman, nothing. But what"s your take on cat ears?"
"They"re really soft and fun to play with, aren"t they?"
"What about girls with cat ears?"
"Um? I don"t understand. But they"d still be soft, right? What"s the matter with it?"
I loved this oblivious little airhead.
"Atta boy. That"s why you"re the First Apostle."
"...?"