Lord Theodore's Favorite Ritual
Chapter 94: Crying For Conan.

Chapter 94: Crying For Conan.

Midnight.

Conan’s Bungalow.

Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.

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Helena woke up and was alone in bed, she was ready to go back to sleep when she heard sounds from the other room, she stood up and her eyes widened when she felt her chest freer than it should be and there was fresh air caressing her back, she ran to the mirror, both her palms reaching for her back and soon she found out her dress and corset were open. Unzipped and unhooked, she was confused until she realized Conan must have released her of the bondage when she fell asleep, she smiled, her cheeks reddening before she walked out to reach the parlour and there stood the knight getting dressed in his knight attire and ready to go out.

"Conan?" she whispered.

He glanced at her before he returned to what he was doing. "What is happening?" she asked.

"I am leaving for the Citadel soon," he said without looking at her

Her heart sank. "That is an away journey" she pointed out.

"Yes it is," he said.

Her eyes widened. "Why did you not tell me before?" she asked her voice accusing.

He released his hair making it cover his ears. "Why am I supposed to tell you?" he asked coldly.

Her heart shuddered while she stuttered. "Oh I... you are right"

"It gets hotter in Critic Arley from tomorrow, you can open the windows" he added.

"Try to stay away from trouble and do not touch my muckrake collection" he was fixing his shoes now.

"Sleep early, brush your hair as often as you can when I get back I shall do it properly" The second shoe got fixed as he avoided her gaze.

He turned to pick up his sword and gazed at it with intent before settling it back into the sheath.

Without missing beats, he continued. "I stocked the kitchen with every foodstuff" which was true as he had thought of her well-being during his absence.

He stood up, his "You should cook if you get hungry, the kitchen is stocked"

He turned to her and the vision that met him shocked him. She had her eyes on him, they were wet and her fingers wiggled together.

"Hey," he approached her, dropping his sword.

"Do not cry" he persuaded, raising her chin by wrapping it between his index and thumb.

She sniffed. "I do not intend to..." she trailed off because her voice trembled during the reply.

"I shall be back soon," he told her.

Her tear dropped and he was quick to wipe it with his thumb, she sniffed again and he felt his heart constrict he had never felt like he was leaving behind something whenever he travelled before but with Helena here now he felt horrible and almost of his chest felt like there was a corset tightening around it.

"I know, it is just that I will be hungry" she lied.

He chuckled before drawing her into his arms, her head laid on his chest. His palm pressed her bare back and she shivered while he went rigid but his sense of responsibility soon took over.

"You should cook and eat please, the food I prepared would only last a day" he said but she remained silent, relishing the feeling of being o

In his strong arms.

"Helena?"

She sniffed before responding. "Yes, Conan"

"Good," he said.

She then felt him press a kiss to her hair, she froze but when he didn’t push her away or freeze she relaxed and thought it was her imagination.

Conan hadn’t planned to kiss her, it had happened subconsciously, and, he felt no regret afterwards, which should be for when he gets back.

For now, just tonight he will feel her before he journeys the one-week journey.

*

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Dear Critic,

It is of great shock to me that I have to say this to you but the Baron is angry and soon I hear the Baroness shall be on the streets, she is without child and neither has she bore any child for the Baron.

Let your young girls get prepared perhaps a noble wedding is soon to commence.

Furthermore, It is a new month, and soon a lot of good news and a few bad news I wish, shall be heard. Your hand fans and maids should be prepared for the new weather.

I hope all of you ladies have cleansed yourself of the last month’s unfortunate events, groomed your bodies and mind for the impending surprises of the month, ready for the teas, parties, banquets and it appears weddings, and if you have not, Oh I wish you well for you are in Critic Arley and should follow the rules.

The men? All of you with titles and responsibilities I am sure you are on your way to the Citadel, I shall not follow you there but I am confident you shall bring back stories.

Yours Guilelessly,

Muckraker.

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Morning.

Last floor, Theodore Mansion.

Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.

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Lydia woke up alone, she knew she would be but that didn’t stop the ball of sadness and a sense of loneliness that crept into her.

Critic-Citadel was a three-day journey that could easily turn four, to and fro and he was sure to spend eight days away from her.

"Lady Theodore" a voice meets Lydia on the last floor of the mansion, she had been going around opening each door since she had woken up and got dressed, somewhere at the back of her mind hoping to suddenly find her husband behind any of the doors making her reach the area she hadn’t bothered much with before.

"Shade" she recognized the figure as he was visible and had just acknowledged her.

"Master is not in the Mansion," he said.

She blinked. "I know that I just..." she trailed off.

Shade nodded in understanding but she thought he barely understood. "Perhaps you should check on your gems?" he suggested nicely.

The gems! She had almost forgotten, they were still in her dungaree pocket.

She held his eyes for a moment, it was endless and empty, and she blinked. "You are right, thank you how are you?" she said with a smile.

She has her dress bunched in her palm as she redirected to the most used areas of the mansion.

"I am better now that you are smiling lady Theodore" he flattered.

She smiled again. "Who else is in the house?"

He continued to follow her, his steps a foot behind her. "The twins went along with the lord"

Her eyes lit up. "He gave them a place?"

"Yes, Lady Theodore" Shade confirmed.

He is surprised at the quick rate at which the mansion was gaining people, it is as though it no longer held the rumours that had plagued it before.

"Hound and the girls are home" he added.

"I see, please watch over Red, I do not want him leaving the mansion without our knowledge like the last time" she requested.

"Alright lady Theodore, I shall leave now" he grunted. She nodded wondering how he lived his life.

What he is and why he remained here, she continued her walk through stairs and contemplation.

Upon reaching the ground floor she no longer felt his presence, he had left to be in the walls.

She still called him out. "Shade?"

Like he never left, he re-appeared like a shadow and air out of the wall next to her. "Yes, Lady Theodore?"

"Are you always behind every wall in the mansion?"

Her question made him chuckle as they stood under the stairs he replied. "I cannot see everything at once lady Theodore"

She frowned still needing more information. "I also sleep and I leave the mansion most nights" he added.

"Oh?" she gasped in surprise, she had thought he was constantly conscious and watching.

He relaxed on the wall, his brown cloth a contrast with the walls. "Yes, I am a living creature, a shadow of master but he has made me a shadow of the mansion instead" he explained.

She quirked a brow. "Do you hate that?"

He blinked and appeared dismayed. "I can never despise what master ordain for me, but yes sometimes I seek to watch other things" he confessed.

"Like the day I fell into the lake" she recalled, citing it.

"You are correct, if I had been in the mansion that day, I would have sensed the mishap and rushed to get help," he said matter-factly.

He cleared his throat before continuing. "You see I can sense emotions and there must have been extreme nervousness or fear that day which would have drawn me to that area, I am sorry for failing you Lady Theodore" he apologized at the end of his explanation.

"You did not fail me I had been careless" she said and then got curious. "Are there female shadows?"

"None that I know of," he said with a shake of his head.

"You said earlier you shall rush to get help, can you not help?" she pointed out.

He sighed. "Unfortunately if a person who has not acknowledged me is within the same vicinity I shall not be able to appear and be of any help" he told her the dynamics of his being.

"I see, I had suddenly grown curious," she said to him.

He leaves the wall and now to her. "I understand, the absence of the Lord presents a certain clarity and rationality" he spoke with his voice gruntly all this while but now clearer.

She scoffed, her chest rising. "That is almost a flatter yet an insult" she pointed out.

"It is the truth" he merely countered.

"Okay you can go now, thank you," she said and immediately, he was gone.

She smiled her head full of new information and she remembered she had forgotten to pick the gems from her dungaree.

Gem of riches, she squealed mentally.