Chapter 18.1 The Diligence…

‘Easier said than done’ I grumbled to myself helping Sulla to get ready. Aikerim was heading off to the Primary manor, taking him with her. Which meant that I will be under Anaise watchful eyes for the rest of the day. Which also meant that by the decree of all-powerful Irje I am about to seduce the socks out of her.

Unfortunately for me, she didn’t wear any socks. Nor pants. Apparently, both of these garments were designated as combat-oriented and mostly used by mounted units. While the dregs of society would wear nothing more than a tunic and a shirt or even less, The city’s elite wasn’t that far off either in terms of layers. An undergarment dress, a fancy shirt to hide it, and the khalat or a kaftan on top of it all. The length of the garments was enough to fully cover the legs and keep them warm without additional clothing.

I had no idea how to seduce Dominas-to-be. Hell, I had no experience seducing anyone, whatever Irje and Yeva said. And my acquired knowledge wasn’t of any help at all. It is not like I can take her for a pleasure ride across the star system anytime soon. Or take her to the movies, even 2D ones. She was the cream of this society. Whatever they had available here - she had more than enough already.

Which didn’t give me any specific ideas, but did help with preemptively dismissing most as useless.

In fact, I was beginning to believe that there was little to no courting at all happening at that level of power. If Aikerim was that angry about me slipping out, or someone forcing her to give me away; I could only imagine how meticulously she would pick out the suitors for her daughter. And I wasn’t sure how much the chemistry between them would matter, if it did at all.

I had no idea how wer were courting either, nor murks. Despite scoring both of these without noticing.

I wasn’t too stupid and I knew that, frankly speaking, Irje wanted a very specific partner, someone who could dominate her in bed without dominating her life. Yeva? Yeva wanted someone who would treat her like a human being, not a broken slave. The reason that I was so successful with both of them was the fact that my new knowledge was established in a society with equal rights. Which was my default in how I was treating them outside of our sexual exploits.

Anaise was different. She was still an unknown to me at this point. But I knew from her mother that there were already certain expectations in place. She won’t swoon from me simply treating her like an equal. I wasn’t sure yet if it was my status, her mother’s words, or my lessons that have done it, but until I became a teacher, she would have taken even that as an offence.

Trying to put her on a pedestal would most likely fail as well. As I’ve seen from following her mother, they were constantly surrounded by people willing to grovel at the moment’s notice in order to get a boon or alleviate their punishment. If I mimic these, all I would end up doing is blending into the crowd of their faces. Safe but forgotten.

Worst of all, she had power in our relationship. Both literal and legal. She could still technically order me to do things and expect them done. While I was shielded from the most extreme outbursts by the fact that I was owned by her mother, and my rank as a teacher, that only meant any punishment would be done after Domina’s approval. And I already knew how high-strung Aikerim could be.

“Come in” a gentle voice answered my knock.

“L-Lady of the House.”

Her brows scrunched together in a frown, and I cursed myself internally for the lapse in my speech. Screw it, Irje didn’t say how quickly I need to seduce her, so I simply won’t. For now. If the possibility presents itself I will consider it. Getting myself impatient at my inability to come up with anything solid and at the lack of progress will not help me at all.

I sighed and composed myself. “Excuse me.” No matter what, I had to start with some rapport first. Not just her passing interest. And she would definitely smell my anxiety just like she did a second ago. She was the Heiress, reading other people was probably in her blood.

“You sound different today.” She proved my thoughts not a moment after, pointing at the books on the table. “I assume my mother had been stern with you after whatever political blunder you have managed to cause. Judging by your looks and the piles of codices I’ve been told to share with you.”

Well, my looks weren’t exactly because of that. I had standards and I wouldn’t begrudge her for the actions of her mother. However, my stumbling approach was an outcome, caused by them, so technically she was right. She also did speak in a neutral, non-commanding tone that I’ve heard from Aikerim on multiple occasions. When she was interested in my knowledge. And the wave of her tail confirmed that as well.

It was a prompt for a conversation, which I was happy to accept.

I glanced at her, giving myself some time before speaking. This was the first time we had been this close in a conversation. Even during lectures, she tended to sit further away and split her attention between me and ever-present Aikerim in the background. I noticed things, that I should’ve paid more attention to before. Like the fact that her ears were a bit larger than her mother's. On a smaller head, they struck a bigger presence, almost making her look like a Fennec fox.

A tiny button nose and a small smattering of freckles only enhanced the cute and curious look on her face.

“If you can consider something that I’ve done without knowledge as a blunder that is,” I replied calmly, turning away to check out my reading material. Looks like I will be studying the behaviour in the ‘polite’ society, more in-depth politics…and fashion. Fantastic.

“Children make blunders like these all the time. Proper punishment is the best way to make sure they will not repeat it.” She spoke the words as if reciting them.

I gave her an unimpressed look. She was lying on the sofa, eating grapes. Anaise was either trying to imitate her mother or the imitation had become a habit by now. Or maybe it was her mother that picked up that habit instead, from her.

“Are you saying I should’ve whipped you as well? All these times you have made mistakes during my lectures?”

She had the decency to blush. “I am an adult now, I can understand the reason.”

“Would you consider me as someone who can’t? Yet somehow capable in teaching you?”

“Surely she had her reasons to.” She frowned, thinking. “How many lashes did you get?”

“She hit me twice.” I honestly replied. “And stopped after I managed to explain my situation to her.”

Anaise brightened up. “See! She was generous with you!” At my unamused look, she continued. “Even I would be treated similarly if I caused Domina a similar amount of frustration.”

I sighed. “That doesn’t make it better for me, instead, it is you, who shouldn’t be treated like this either. Also even if we receive similar treatment, you are still a wermage with a much stronger body compared to mine.”

She fidgeted. “My mother would definitely hold her strength, she isn’t that rash.”

“Perhaps.” I’ve conceded, the image of the lash, embedded in the pillar, clear in my mind. “But here is a thought experiment. How many murks she had directly under her, that she had punished personally?”

Anaise opened her mouth but said nothing. Instead, she got up and walked up to me. Her tiny hand on my chest. A faint smell of lavender.

My eyes narrowed as I saw the runes glow on her dress. I wasn’t afraid of her Flow, I was fascinated by it. As she was trying to do something that I couldn’t perceive myself, I scanned every glowing line of her dress. Identifying the patterns. Trying to figure out what they were there for. Not much apparently. From my glance, the glowing parts didn’t help with anything at all. Their main point was to simply glow. To show that the wermage was actively using the Flow themselves. And strike an intimidating figure to onlookers.

Anaise frowned, then gritted her teeth, only to give up a moment after. “Looks like you are healthy enough, normal healing doesn't work anymore.”

“I also heard that murks are resistant to internal Flow,” I mentioned, stretching my shoulders. I didn’t feel anything beyond the warmth of her palm and my nanites reported that no change has been observed.

I got a sharp gaze in return. “Who told you that?”

This wasn’t a shared knowledge among the wermages? Or she didn’t know that yet because of her age? Or was it a forbidden knowledge for murks to know? Nevertheless, he got me into this mess so I had no issues returning the favour.

“Albin Shebet Chasya.”

Anaise sighed once again and returned back to her sofa. “I don't get it,” She said petulantly, falling down dramatically. “You talk brazenly about my mother’s actions, you show no deference to my grand-uncle, and they still seek you out. Even now, casually dropping the name of a House Speaker as if speaking about someone you’ve met on the street.”

I kept my smile hidden. I had a feeling that telling her that is exactly what happened wouldn’t make her feel better.

“If I can’t get my answers from them, I will get them from the source.” She went on, imperiously, “So tell me, why?”

I put the book aside as I looked at Anaise once again. She did strike a commanding pose even while lying down on the sofa. But something was missing. Something was fake. Young as she was, she didn’t look like a spoilt brat expecting everything that she demanded. Anaise looked like or at least tried to look like her mother. Even though that type of majesty came from years and years of experience, she had gotten the basic parts already at least.

Grabbing the book with me, I sat down on another sofa. Beside hers and near her legs, so that she could do the ‘looking down imperiously’ part without additional effort. And hummed in thought.

“What makes people better at their craft?” I ventured.

“Effort.” Was an immediate answer from her.

I smiled and nodded along. “Indeed. I believe that anyone can achieve mastery if one puts enough effort into it. As long as his body can do it. Some say that people can be born gifted, but that is simply a head start, one easily surpassed by the diligence in the future.”

Anaise frowned. “You do not consider my mother and my grand-uncle gifted?”

I smiled. “I will get to that in a moment. Diligence will get you far. It will make you an expert on whatever you sought out to learn. But that alone is not enough to achieve mastery, to be the best among your peers.”

Grabbing the grape, I moved along. “For that you need passion. The burning desire to keep your diligence unwavering. And then more. While a diligent person might be satisfied to learn all that is known, a passionate person won't. They see the boundaries of their knowledge as a challenge, yet another barrier to overcome. For these, my knowledge isn't just something new: a curiosity. It is something that can help them to overcome these barriers within their minds. And it is their desire to break these barriers that make them seek me out.” Damn, it was a really juicy grape, no wonder Aikerim was munching on these non-stop during our conversations.

“So what barriers are they trying to overcome?” She pressed on.

“Would you agree with me, if I said that Domina is really enthusiastic to see the Manor prosper?” I asked her, only to see her preen from my suggestion.

“Indeed. She was so great at it, that my grandmother gave her permission to establish a new branch! It is an honour even above of the heiress since you can only earn it through your efforts and not from the seniority of birth.” She smiled proudly.

Truly she was her mother’s daughter.

I nodded along. “And Virnan Shah finds beauty in mathematics.”

Anaise kept smiling, thinking to herself. Although her smile turned from dreamy into a pensive one. “How does he enjoy it? Is that what makes him so strong?”

I wasn’t really sure about Virnan’s strength. The worst he had done to me was a smack of his writing rod and even that wasn’t meant as a punishment. But I could attempt to answer the other part of the question. In fact, I wanted to. Keeping her engrossed in my conversations allowed me to learn more about her character and mannerisms. It also solidified a more friendly relationship between us.

Who knows I might come up with some ‘seductions’ in the meantime too.

But first, as usual, I had to ignite her curiosity.

I leaned closer and smiled surreptitiously at Anaise. “What is beauty? Why do we find something pleasing to the eye? Or harmonious to the ear? Or beautiful to the mind?”

“Isn’t beauty personal? Unique to every individual?” She prompted back.

“It is and isn’t. The finer details are unique to us, but the major part of it is shared.”

She smiled, accepting my conspiratorial look. “Very well, tell me these secrets of beauty.” She demanded with amusement.

Hook.