Lord Theodore's Favorite Ritual
Chapter 149: The Mark Of Punishment.

Chapter 149: The Mark Of Punishment.

Night.

Male Employed Quarters, Theodore Mansion.

Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.

*******************

The twins have a habit of sitting out Infront of their building in the night before going inside. They would gaze at nothing in particular and talk about whatever comes in between.

This night is not any different, Gabriel and Tom are seated on the front steps of their mansion in quite and differing thoughts. They hadn’t been able to attend the meeting or join in the dining hall but it was a feast with them all the way.

"Gab! I have good news" Tom broke the silence.

Tom shifted, his attention now on his brother. "I am all ears"

Tom took his time, prompting Gabriel to press his lips at the prolonged silence.

"We have a teacher!" Tom yelled the triumphantic announcement with a proud smile and a tinge of expectancy in his eyes.

Gabriel stared at him, deadpanned.

"We could train with Conan in the mansion and at the Knights training ground whenever we can" Tom added and then Gabriel understood making him sigh.

"Tom-" Tom cuts him off.

"Why do you sound like you have committed yet another atrocious thing?" he whined.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Relax, do this with me" and as Tom raised a brow, Gabriel continued. "I already have a teacher"

Tom had a frown that melted quickly when he understood what his brother had just said. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Hound"

Tom stood up. "What, why? What is he?"

Through gritted teeth, Gabriel lets out. "A killer"

"Gabriel!" Tom shrieked.

Without intending Gabriel’s voice rose too. "I cannot conform Tom, I am not one to" the atmosphere was tinged with concern and fear.

"You can stay by the book, let the rules rule you but not me and I am not sorry" Gabriel added.

Tom nodded. "Gabriel-"

"You might even become a knight someday, I am excited for you," Gabriel confessed after cutting off his brother’s sentence.

Tom simply stared at his brother.

"You do not have to do this with me, our paths are different" Gabriel continued, truthfully.

"I am not comfortable with yours" Tom confessed sharply.

"We work for Lord Theodore, we need to bring our the best in us" Gabriel’s coubter made his brother shake his head.

"I am going to the gates, good night" Tom started to strut away.

"I might just look for Joyous for some joy" his brother confessed.

Tom chuckled. "Is that an awful attempt at cheesiness?"

"Go away, off you go" Gabriel shooed his laughing brother away, hot with embarrassment.

*

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*

Night

Theodore Mansion.

Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.

****************

Joyous sat outside thinking about the last good thing, the last good person that had happened to her before this mansion. Mary, in the slave establishment, ’If you ever get an opportunity you must grab it’ Mary would tell her, ’The world is mostly a pattern and you’d have to find where you fit in. She had been her teacher and guide in that place until she’d helped her add her name to the list of people to show to the lord for picking.

"What are the odds you are outside just when I needed you to be" Gabriel voiced, interrupting her thoughts.

Joyous doesn’t raise her head as she already knew who it was.

"Is it not a bit too late for a child to be outside?" she retorted.

He scoffed. "A young girl should be indoors at this unholy hour"

Joyous sighed. "What is so unholy about fresh air and silence, anyway"

"You are right, I shall sit here" he invited himself and Joyous could only eye him.

As the night sky stretched out above them like a vast canvas of twinkling lights, Joyous and Gabriel found themselves sitting side by side on the entrance staircase of the female employed Quarters.

The cool breeze gently tousled their hair as they gazed upward, their eyes tracing the stars scattered across the dark sky.

Joyous’s face was illuminated by the soft glow of the stars, casting a radiant aura around her delicate features.

Her eyes sparkled with wonder and curiosity, reflecting the beauty of the cosmos above.

Beside her, Gabriel’s expression was one of quiet contemplation, his gaze was fixed on the stars as though he was searching for answers hidden among them.

Gabriel turned to her after awhile and the easy and soft expression she had on made him smile, his heart constricting, beating towards her.

"Do you know?" He whispered, drawing her attention to him. "The sun is a star"

Joyous merely gazed at him, perhaps put of confusion or curiousity so he continued.

"Truly, the Sun is a star!" He said as though trying to make her believe before he then looked back to the sky.

Silence ensured for minutes but Joyous finally revealed her feelings on the topic about sun.

It was curiosity.

"Tell me" she whispered.

Gabriel smiled, glanced at her before he started. "It’s a yellow dwarf star, which is relatively a common type of star for us on earth" he explained but it only seem to get her even more curious.

"It’s located at the center of our solar system and serves as the primary source of light and heat for Earth" he told her and her little sharp intake of breath made him glance at her again.

He doesn’t lose his smile as he continued. "Also, despite the sun being just an average-sized star compared to others in the universe,"

Her eyes widened. "That is small?" she asked.

"Well yes, compared to other stars but because of Sun’s proximity to Earth makes it appear as the largest and brightest object in our sky" he educated patiently.

"That is beautiful, I never knew" Joyous admitted with a small smile.

Gabriel simply smiled back, happy he could make her smile.

Together, they sat in comfortable silence, and the only sound became the distant hum of the land and the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze.

As they sat there, bathed in the ethereal glow of the stars, a sense of peace enveloped them, binding them together in a moment of shared wonder and awe.

In that fleeting instant, they were not just two individuals sitting on a staircase, but kindred spirits connected by the timeless beauty of the universe above them.

They both slept off, shoulders and head on the other, right on the staircase.

*

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*

Earlier.

Theodore Mansion.

**************

"Not to be brash but should ladies have been seated in on the meeting?" magistrate mumbled outside the mansion.

After the meeting, they’d dined in a few negative emotions and as they men walked out of the mansion a few stood behind to talk.

"If it is about the security of our city they could barely do a thing about it" lord Jerald added.

"They very much could have been in the meeting earlier but they had been thinking you were all esteemed and we’re religiously preparing a feast only to be talked about like this" Theodore entered the conversation.

"Lord...lord Theodore that is not true, what could women possibly know?"

"He is correct" Jerald who felt he was in Theodore’s good grace because he was promised a reward added with a smile.

Theodore joined them with a perfectly practiced smile. He neared, his tailored suit exuded an aura of aristocratic elegance that choked the rest.

He glance at Lord Jerald. "I promised you a reward" he said.

His eyes flashed with fury as he confronted the man who had dared to speak ill of his beloved Gooseberry.

"Who knew a few others would require some too" he said as he held the gaze of the other three men.

"Hound" Theodore called out and his answer came immediately. "Here lord Theodore" he handed the lord a sword.

"Thank you" Theodore whispered.

Theodore felt the weight of the blade before looking at Lord Jerald. "Do you wish for someone to hold you down or this once in your life you shall try to be a man" he asked rather politely.

Jeralds eyes widened. "Lord Theodore -"

Theodore nodded towards Hound. "Hold him down then" he said.

With a swift and decisive motion, Theodore grasped the hilt of his sword firmly in his hand.

Without hesitation, he raised the sword and pressed the cold, unforgiving pencil tilt of the blade against the offender’s cheek.

Lord Jerald winced in pain as the sharp edges of the tilt pierced his flesh, drawing blood and leaving a deep hole on his left cheek.

An artificial dimple.

A mark of punishment.

Theodore’s actions spoke volumes, conveying his unwavering loyalty and fierce protectiveness towards his wife, as well as his intolerance for disrespect.

Jerald continued to wail trying to put pressure on his cheek, where blood rushed out in abundance.

"And as for you two, I think I should ignore you but no, wait for me" he promised.

The men blanched.

Theodore turned and he caught sight of Viscount Victor and Sir Conan in a heated argument, he could interfere but Conan wouldn’t like it if it was a small issue, so Theodore stayed back observing until the Viscount met his eyes and without a word the man turned and started to leave the mansion.

Theodore frowned. What a strange man, he mused.

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