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Chapter 220 ~ Gentleman of Steel

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

“I have never seen a noble heir tucking 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 in the twins. 

Kuuderika and Ureirika had always been a pair of bright and excitable young girls who loved their eldest sister very much. They would often ask Arche to accompany them to bed, fully, until they were asleep. But since Arche still needed to accompany 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 clenched fist and pursed lips, he knew it to stem from grave determination. 

Arche stopped in her tracks and looked back, her eyes glazed 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 place 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 recognized what it was immediately. 

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

Compared 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 motion meant to draw a man's eye. She was clearly uncomfortable with the heels she wore that had disguised her short height, everything about her was in conflict.

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 noted the obvious, not to ridicule Arche or the Furts, but to conceal his disapproval for such griminess.

“Ah, well my father says we should invest in things that displays 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 hidden beneath a layer of dust illuminated by glowstones emplaced along the walls that belied the abandonment 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. 

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“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 solarium on the top floor. My dearest place, especially at night, which is ironic given that it’s supposed to be for sunlight.”

Arche said with genuine enthusiasm. 

“Very well.”

Sebas replied. 

“I studied magic, Lord Sebas. I had a full scholarship 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 clenched the hem of her dress as she bit her lips, trying to appeal to the lecherous instinct she felt sure must be beneath the steely, calm surface. 

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

She could not feel a single ripple in the watching eyes behind her. 

‘I’m failing! I need to 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 become of your sisters when the debts get called in, or if you go on a quest and don't come 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.

‘No hesitation… Everything. I will do everything and anything for them.’

"That is fortunate." 

Sebas responded with a neutral voice. 

"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 lolicon… 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 voice. 

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

"Yes, I can use up to the third tier, and my master thought I had potential to learn more. I studied under Fluder Paradyne, the 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 interest in her from the gaze on her back. 

"Is that so, then you graduated?" 

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

"Here we are."

The door opened to a very short hall, which in turn led to another door.

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

The room she opened up to him had a few small couches and seats, but it was utterly surrounded by windows, the room was large enough for no more than six to fit comfortably, 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 pretended to rummage for just the right bottle. 

‘I never thought I’d be praying to the Gods that a man old enough to be my grandfather would be checking out my ass.’

She bit her lips in frustration. 

‘Kuuderika and Ureirika are on the line.’

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

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

Instead she only heard him take a step within and seat 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 glasses.

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

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

She broke open the narrow bottle and poured the red wine into the clear glass. 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 glass 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 glass.

"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 continue 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 clinked her glass to his, the faint 'tink' noise followed by them both taking a sip.

"So your parents must have been proud of your performance at the academy, I imagine you must have graduated near the top of your class, 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 confirm the talent her lord had somehow divined. 

"Yes, I can immediately detect the tier of magic that someone or something is able to use, it's a particularly 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 knew the exact value of anything she touched. Her mother was always able to know exactly how to get where she wanted to go. Her brother was able to block any blow." 

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

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

Sebas thought as he memorized every word.

Arche felt hope, finally, as Sebas continued to 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 command that brooked no disobedience.

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

'I failed. I failed, humiliated myself for nothing… and now it's all over… I can keep being a worker… I can… 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 to cry against the waves of humiliation, shame, and futile efforts behind and the growing sense of impending loss ahead. But the dusty floor beneath 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 down a pair of widened blue eyes that looked at the man before her as he spoke with an unexpected gentle calm.