The Extra's Rise
Chapter 650 - 650: Extraction (5)

The sitting room door burst open with enough force to make both Rachel and me jump apart, our romantic moment shattered like glass against stone. Rose Springshaper stood in the doorway, her auburn hair slightly disheveled from what must have been a very hasty return journey from the Ashen Territories. Her brown eyes blazed with an anger I'd rarely seen from the usually composed businesswoman.

"Arthur Nightingale," she said again, her voice carrying the kind of controlled fury that was somehow more intimidating than Rachel's earlier threats. "We need to talk. Now."

Rachel instinctively moved closer to me, her hand finding my arm in a gesture that was part protective, part possessive. "Rose, what's wrong? Did something happen at the extraction site?"

Rose's gaze flicked to Rachel, then back to me, and I could see her taking in our slightly mussed appearances, the way we were standing close together, the lingering tension in the air that spoke of interrupted intimacy.

"Oh, the extraction is going perfectly fine," Rose said with the kind of sharp smile that made me wince. "The equipment is working beautifully, the teams are efficient, and the profit margins are exceeding all projections. No, my issue isn't with business, Arthur. My issue is with the fact that I had to learn about your new romantic entanglement from Reika herself."

I felt my stomach drop. "Rose, I can explain—"

"Can you?" she interrupted, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind her with deliberate care. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you made a rather significant decision about our... arrangement... without bothering to inform the people it affects."

Rachel shifted uncomfortably beside me. "Rose, it's not like that. Arthur was just telling me—"

"After the fact," Rose pointed out, her attention laser-focused on me. "Weren't you, Arthur? You confessed to Reika, accepted her confession, and then came to tell us about it afterward."

The accusation hung in the air, and I realized she was absolutely right. In my excitement about Reika's confession, in the warmth and joy of that moment, I'd acted first and thought about the consequences later. I'd made a decision that affected all of us without consulting anyone.

"You're right," I said quietly, and Rose's eyebrows rose slightly at my immediate admission. "I should have talked to all of you first. I should have been more considerate of everyone's feelings."

"Yes, you should have," Rose agreed, though some of the fire was already leaving her voice. "Arthur, I don't have a problem with you caring about Reika. She's wonderful, and honestly, anyone with eyes could see how she feels about you. But the way you handled it..."

She ran a hand through her hair, a gesture of frustration I recognized from our business meetings when particularly obtuse clients tested her patience.

"We're not just your romantic interests, Arthur," she continued, her voice softer now but no less serious. "We're partners in this... whatever this is we're building together. When you make unilateral decisions about our relationships, it makes us feel like we don't have a voice in our own lives."

The guilt hit me like a physical blow. She was absolutely right, and the worst part was that I should have known better. Rose, Rachel, Cecilia, Seraphina—they were all strong, independent women who deserved to be treated as equals, not just informed of decisions after they'd already been made.

"I'm sorry," I said, meaning it completely. "You're absolutely right. I got caught up in the moment and forgot that this affects all of us. It won't happen again."

Rose studied my face for a long moment, searching for sincerity. Whatever she saw there seemed to satisfy her, because her rigid posture began to relax.

"Good," she said with a nod. "Because honestly, Arthur, adding Reika to our little group makes perfect sense. She's been part of your inner circle and she clearly adores you. I'd have to be blind not to see how happy you make each other."

Rachel looked between us with something like amazement. "Wait, that's it? You're not going to threaten him with financial ruin or demand he sign a contract promising equal time distribution?"

Rose looked genuinely puzzled by the question. "Why would I do that? Arthur made a mistake in how he handled the situation, he acknowledged it and apologized, and he's promised to do better. What more is there to discuss?"

"I... showed him pictures of cages," Rachel admitted with a blush.

"You did what?" Rose stared at her in disbelief. "Rachel, please tell me you weren't seriously considering actually caging him."

"It was just a joke!" Rachel protested, though her blush deepened. "Mostly. I mean, the research was real, but I wasn't actually going to..."

She trailed off under Rose's incredulous stare, and I couldn't help but smile at the interaction. Leave it to Rose to make Rachel's earlier threats seem completely absurd just by treating them as such.

"You two are ridiculous," Rose said, but there was fondness in her voice now. "Arthur, next time you want to add someone to our relationship, just talk to us first. We're reasonable people—well, most of us are reasonable," she added with a pointed look at Rachel.

"I will," I promised. "And Rose? Thank you for being understanding about this."

She smiled then, the first genuine smile I'd seen from her since she'd stormed into the room. "Arthur, I care about you. All I want is to be treated like a partner, not just someone to be informed of your decisions after the fact. As long as you can manage that, I think we'll be just fine."

The tension in the room finally began to dissipate, and I felt myself relaxing for the first time since Rose had burst through the door. Crisis averted, lesson learned, and everyone was on the same page. This was going much better than I'd dared to hope.

"Now then," Rose continued, settling into one of the chairs with the air of someone ready to move on to other matters, "we should probably discuss how to tell Cecilia and Seraphina. They're going to want to know, and I'd rather they hear it from us than through gossip."

"Agreed," I said, already dreading those conversations. If Rachel's reaction had been threatening and Rose's had been reasonably angry, I could only imagine what the princesses might say.

Before we could begin planning that particular diplomatic nightmare, however, a knock at the door interrupted us. The sound was polite but firm, carrying an undertone of urgency that immediately put me on alert.

"Come in," I called.

The door opened to reveal Marcus, one of the estate's senior staff members, looking slightly out of breath as if he'd been hurrying.

"Master Arthur," he said with a bow, "forgive the interruption, but you have a visitor. His Majesty is here and requests an immediate audience with you. He says it's a matter of some urgency."

I felt Rachel tense beside me at the mention of her father. Alastor Creighton, the King of the Northern Continent, was not the type of man to make casual social calls. If he was here, and if he was requesting an immediate audience, then something significant was happening.

"Did he say what this was about?" I asked, though I suspected Marcus wouldn't have much additional information.

"No, sir. He simply said that time was of the essence and that you would understand the importance once you spoke with him."

I exchanged glances with Rachel, who looked as puzzled as I felt. Her relationship with her father was complicated at best, and his sudden appearance at my estate was definitely unexpected.

"Very well," I said, standing and straightening my clothes. "Tell His Majesty I'll be with him shortly."

Marcus bowed again and departed, leaving the three of us alone with a new tension in the air.

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