Tug iwins in their room, Arche walked through the halls of the Furt mansion, Sebas following closely from behind.

  “I have never seen a noble heir tug in their little siblings in such a way before. You must care very much about them.”

  Arche felt her cheeks heat up slightly as she recalled the way she tucked iwins.

  Kuuderika and Ureirika had always been a pair ht aable young girls who loved their eldest sister very much. They would often ask Arche to apany them to bed, fully, until they were asleep. But since Arche still o apany Sebas, she could only promise them to return soon and tuck them into their covers and give them a kiss on their forehead, before leaving.

  “Yes, I do… Very much so. I would… do anything for them.”

  The trembling in her voice was not missed by Sebas. And from her ched fist and pursed lips, he k to stem from grave determination.

  Arche stopped iracks and looked back, her eyes gzed with water or tears and her lips reddened from being bitten.

  “Lord Sebas… May I give you a tour of our household? Or if your time does not permit, perhaps a brief visit to a pce dearest to me?”

  “...Very well.”

  “Thank you very much. Then please, this way.”

  Arche took the lead, and when she did, she began to roll her hips with every step.

  Sebas reized what it was immediately.

  'Lady Albedo does it often enough to entice Yuuji-sama. Though, far more effectively.'

  pared to the level one hundred succubus, Arche's effort at a seductive walk was clumsy as a chimp. Her steps were too far forward and threw off the rolling motio to draw a man's eye. She was clearly unfortable with the heels she wore that had disguised her short height, everything about her was in flict.

  But Arche was obviously trying.

  ‘Desperate. Very desperate. As He had expected.’

  “This is the library.”

  Arche said as soon as they entered. And immediately, she kicked herself for showing him such a thing. The shelves were empty and dust were everywhere, including the air.

  “It isn’t used?”

  Sebas he obvious, not to ridicule Arche or the Furts, but to ceal his disapproval for such griminess.

  “Ah, well my father says we should i in things that dispys our nobility, and so he began selling off the oldest tomes a long time ago while I was at the academy.

  The long open room was full of shelves, and every single one had not been properly dusted in months or more.

  Chairs of wood with cushy red velvet sewn into the seating and backs were in the same, exact state, including the wooden tables. All of them hiddeh a yer of dust illuminated by glowstones empced along the walls that belied the abando of this part of the estate.

  “I see.”

  Sebas responded and looked down at her, and Arche could feel his gaze physically.

  “You disagree?”

  “A good noble’s daughter supports her father’s goals.”

  Finally, she turned around, and Sebas felt like he had seen the real Arche for the first time this evening.

  “But I disagree with him. I learned a lot in the academy. I studied magic there. Everything that I know, all that I got for myself, I got it because I studied.”

  “What did you study?”

  He asked with feigned curiosity as they began to head towards the door.

  “This way to the sorium oop floor. My dearest pce, especially at night, which is ironic given that it’s supposed to be for sunlight.”

  Arche said with gehusiasm.

  “Very well.”

  Sebas replied.

  “I studied magic, Lord Sebas. I had a full schorship there, and I am very good.”

  "Really? You're quite young, aren't you?" Sebas inquired.

  "I'm seventeen, I know, I'm a little short, but-"

  Arche ched the hem of her dress as she bit her lips, trying to appeal to the lecherous instinct she felt sure must be beh the steely, calm surfabsp;

  “The women in my family, we always look much, much youhan our years.”

  She could not feel a single ripple ig eyes behind her.

  ‘I’m failing! I o step this up another notch!’

  'The moon, the stars, a man and woman alone… lots of wine…'

  Arche felt her own will falter, now having realized what she was about to go into without being able to turn back. But her mother's admonition hit home once more.

  'What will bee of your sisters when the debts get called in, or if you go on a quest and don't e back?'

  The simple question haunted Arche so much that simply remembering it asked made her wish to bawl and throw up. However, like the worker that she was, she steeled her resolve and carried on.

  ‘ation… Everything. I will do everything and anything for them.’

  "That is fortunate."

  Sebas responded with a ral voibsp;

  "Y-Yes, I think so." Arche responded and pointed down the long hall, "It's just this way."

  'Please don't let him be a loli… or maybe that would work in my favor…'

  Arche thought, her desperation whispering to her in the back of her mind, only to be snapped out of it by Seba’s voibsp;

  "So you studied magic?" Sebas asked, and Arche's ears pricked up at the hint of i.

  "Yes, I use up to the third tier, and my master thought I had potential to learn more. I studied under Fluder Paradyhe greatest magic caster of the Empire, if you're not familiar."

  Her voice was filled with obvious pride, and she felt the first stirring of i in her from the gaze on her babsp;

  "Is that so, then you graduated?"

  Sebas asked, and Arche held back a relieved sigh when she reached the door she sought and could repce her answer with a simple…

  "Here we are."

  The door opeo a very short hall, whi turo another door.

  The hall was wide enough for only two to pass abreast, and gauging their path, Sebas guessed they were he back of the estate.

  The room she opened up to him had a few small couches as, but it was utterly surrounded by windows, the room was rge enough for no more than six to fit fortably, and it was clearly meant to be intimate.

  Arche led him to the table before she made her way towards the shelves and cupboards.

  Then, she bent far forward and began to bob her legs a little while she preteo rummage for just the right bottle.

  ‘I hought I’d be praying to the Gods that a man old enough to be my grandfather would be cheg out my ass.’

  She bit her lips in frustration.

  ‘Kuuderika and Ureirika are on the line.’

  She said to herself, like a mantra to ence her faltering spirit, and opened her legs a little more.

  But to her disappoi, and relief, she didn’t feel a hand reach out to touch her.

  Instead she only heard him take a step within a himself on the couch.

  "Arwintwar has some beautiful nights."

  "Yes, it does."

  Arche agreed, cursing her failure, she drew out a bottle and a pair of gsses.

  And as Sebas reached for a silk rope, Arche stopped him.

  "No, o pull that and wake a servant. I'll pour for us both."

  She broke open the narrow bottle and poured the red wio the clear gss. Slowly, every so gently as she leaned forward towards Sebas, giving him ample time to witness her pure white chest and bare, lithe shoulders.

  She handed him the gss and sat on the couch as close to him as she could, so that his arm naturally fell behind her on the polished dark wooden rim of the seat. The soft cushion gave under her slight weight, and she held out her gss.

  "Do they 'toast' where you're from, Lord Sebas?"

  Arche asked.

  "Yes."

  Sebas said, and in his heart, guilt began to grow as he let her tinue her desperate attempt.

  "Then… may we toast to new beginnings? It's a favorite toast of mine."

  Arche replied.

  "As you like, to new beginnings then."

  Sebas said.

  "To new beginnings."

  Arche echoed and ked her gss to his, the faint 'tink' noise followed by them both taking a sip.

  "So your parents must have been proud of your performa the academy, I imagine you must have graduated he top of your css, not many magic casters ever reach the third tier, let alone greater."

  Sebas said, and Arche mentally cursed.

  "I… I didn't graduate."

  She said in a small voice, before looking up at the stars

  "I chose to put my talent to use."

  "Talent?"

  Finally, something Sebas was waiting to hear. To firm the talent her lord had somehow divined.

  "Yes, I immediately detect the tier of magic that someone or something is able to use, it's a particurly unique and powerful gift."

  Arche's humility gave way to pride again.

  "The women in my family… We've always had children born with talents, my mother always khe exact value of anything she touched. Her mother was always able to kly how to get where she wao go. Her brother was able to bloy blow."

  Arche's voice was briefly enthusiastid then she had to look away to the night beyond the windows again when she felt the old man's eyes b into her. The first time she ever felt his gaze with anything but empty politeness and manners.

  'A line of talent holders, how iing, my master wants useful servants, and I think I may have found just the one. I arrange for Fluder ter, but for now, this one…'

  Sebas thought as he memorized every word.

  Arche felt hope, finally, as Sebas tio drink his wine and their distance began to close.

  ‘Just a little more… It’s now or never, and then when I’m… damaged goods, he’ll have to marry me to make up for tainting a house, even if we are fallen nobles.’

  However, before she could do anything, Sebas had already decided.

  'Alright, this has gone far enough.'

  "L-Let me show you how h-hospitable, the Furt house is…"

  "Enough."

  Sebas said in a voice of and that brooked no disobedience.

  At his words, the totality of her situation smmed down on her like the crack of a broken gss that mirrored all her hopes.

  'I failed. I failed, humiliated myself for nothing… and now it's all over… I keep being a worker… I … maybe make enough money, run with my sisters, then what?! No…'

  Arche’s legs grew weak, wobbled, and she fell to her knees in front of the man as the reality of the situation fell upon her…

  She tried not tainst the waves of humiliation, shame, and futile efforts behind and the growing sense of impending loss ahead. But the dusty floor beh now received their first moisture and water in years in the form of her tears.

  That was, until…

  "I have a proposal for you, Arche Eeb Rile Furt."

  She froze, and looked up. Tears streaming doair of widened blue eyes that looked at the man before her as he spoke with an ued gentle calm.

  VergsX