Chapter 86. Wind It Down

...So listless. And I have no idea why. It would seem that I actually handled all the outstanding issues. Well, the situation in Grenwille is still going on, but we're there mostly as moral support to Lemand now, then anything else. Elaine, much to my amusement, turned out to be a member of Newspaper Club and gleefully informed Newspaper Gals that the cure for consumption is in process of being vetted on the first patient. I'm also amused by the fact she cited Lemand as the principal inventor of this, though my and Moon Unit's names crop up too. Not sure if it is her idea of being petty or that's how she genuinely views the distribution of labor, but her report dovetails with my plans perfectly, so I smile and confirm to MeeMee, LeeLee and DeeDee that yes indeed, that report is entirely accurate and sure, Lemand will be writing a treatise on methods and spells used to achieve the results and yes, the treatise will be copied and presented to the court, temple and medics as soon as it is finished and polished.

So, to alleviate my doldrums, I throw a bit of pizza party at my dorm room. Girls only. My wives are obviously invited (Bridgit uses me as a conduit to temporarily bamf Moon Unit back to dorms), Rafiqa and Selene show up in the middle of preparations, and the Newspaper trio come in right as we're ready to camp down and party. I have a bit of entertainment planned, while we are at it. It's been in my plans for a while to figure out the magical equivalent of TV, and I'm going to show off my newest prototype. No network to run it off from, obviously, but I did try to project some of my memories of cartoons, and it came out even better than I expected. So this evening, we're going to be entertained by assorted animals of various anthropomorphisation acting goofily for our amusement. But that's for later. For now, we're all set around the table, eating pizza and chatting.

"So what will be the next grand adventure?" - Selene asks suddenly.

"What do you mean?" - and I'm honestly not sure where she's going with this. Grand adventure? What?

"Oh, come on. You always have something cooking up." - she cajoles - "What is next in the plans, I wonder?"

I groan. "I'll have you know that I actually caught up on everything and fully intend to peacefully finish the term and enjoy some well-earned vacation." - I retort, rubbing my face tiredly.

"Really? That thing with consumption was the last big thing you planned?" - she teases - "Don't keep me in suspense, come on. You're planning on inventing something big again, doncha?"

"No, seriously. I sorted that one out, I dealt with the impostor, now all I plan to do is relax and pamper my faithful harem silly." - I tell her off.

"Impostor?" - Rafiqa pipes up suddenly - "Someone had the utter idiocy to try and pretend to be you?"

I pause as I suddenly realize only my wives are privy to this. Oh well.

"Shh. Don't spread it around. And... sort of?" - I admit - "I shouldn't have mentioned it, it's just a minor thing."

"Aw, come on. Tell us. That sounds like the sort of story I want to hear." - Selene insists.

Sighing, I rub my head. "Fine, fine. Nothing too exciting." - I tell them - "Basically, someone claiming to be madame Konistan had duped the scribe in Merchant Guild claiming that she was the one who opened Sweet Dream and such, and how regretful she is the registry went through before her marriage so the name on the registry is wrong. Scribe bought the lie and proceeded to cross out Alyssa Gillespie in the guild registrar and replace it with madame Konistan. Silly bint thought she's doing me a favor. This was brought up on the trip to Kraut by Marceu van der Klaas, who expressed his surprise and disdain that I would marry Konistan. Obviously, I didn't take kindly to that, we reviewed the ledgers and found the correction. Once I knew that was going on, I told everyone to be on the lookout for madame Konistan showing up. She did show up a few days later with marquis de Brege in tow, demanding to see ledgers for Sweet Dream and promising to sell the shop to de Brege. I caught them in the shop redhanded, told de Brege off, captured the impostor and stuck her in the mansion cellar to cool off. Then, me and Mihel van der Klaas went to the guild, found the guilty scribe and sorted that out. Inquisition verified all the ledgers were restored to rightful condition, and now I've interrogated the impostor herself in the morning with sir Malachi, found out what she knew, which was remarkably little, and punished both the impostor and scribe. Nothing really to write home about, just a petty con not really going anywhere."

Lily-Anne perks up. "Oh, I know about the scribe. She's going to work at my shop when it opens, right?" - she confirms.

I nod. "Well, yes." - I admit, raising my hands when everyone else begins to talk at once - "Not handling any ledgers or money, girls. Duh. She's going to be greeting people and helping them pick out the clothes, nothing more. I'm not about to trust someone gullible with any valuables."

"So what did you do with the impostor?" - she inquires - "I hope you're not going to ask me to take care of her too? Scribe I can understand, she's just a silly girl getting caught in someone's lies, but I don't want any actual criminals to be in my employ, you know?"

I shake my head. "No, no. As we were able to confirm, she signed marriage contract to Konistan when he was already dead, so... No way." - I retort - "Sir Malachi did say she's going to be an indentured servant for the rest of her life, once she's done with my punishment, provided she lives that long."

"Soo... What are you going to do to her?" - Selene inquires curiously.

"Well... Honestly, I'm planning on taking her indentured service writ to madame Cocoshon and asking if she could use another girl in her brothel." - I offer wearily - "I can't think of any place where any of us would want her, and while I'm still mad at her for giving people an idea I would even consider marrying Konistan, she didn't actually manage to do anything in the end."

"That's pretty lenient of you." - DeeDee remarks thoughtfully - "If she works diligently, she should be able to buy herself out of indenture in ten years or so. Courtesans do get a lot of presents if they are good to their clients."

"Father would've sentenced her to be fed to dragons alive, if she impersonated me..." - Rafiqa muses - "Northern laws are really kind."

I shrug. "I just want to be rid of her." - I admit quietly - "That whole mess annoyed me like no one's business."

Overall, it seems that the girls are impressed with my kindness... Except for Selene, who has.. rather much more distressed expression.

"That's not right." - she murmurs - "Alyssa, that's not right! How is that any better than selling me to Sultanate!?"

And that brings an awkward pause all around the table. I facepalm.

"Way to go, Selene." - I grumble - "Ok... I didn't want to spread this around, but I guess an explanation is a must right now. Selene is a bit of seer. Not enough to reliably forecast future events, but she occasionally does see visions about herself in one of the possible futures. The one she is talking about is one where I didn't decide I like girls and instead clung to engagement with Edward. In which I, apparently, after being thoroughly torqued off about her trying to poach my fiancee had hired a bunch of thugs to kidnap her from Academy and take her to Mersaille to be sold to Oijan merchants as a slave. Obviously, this is not a future that can happen now, given that I fully endorse Edward's engagement to Selene."

Selene is working her mouth like a fish. She apparently forgot about the fact no one else knows about transmigration, and is currently having a bit of cognitive dissonance. Thankfully, my explanation is long enough for her to reengage her mental gearbox.

"Yes! And that was horrible!" - she proclaims - "Look, I get it. She tried to steal from you, a lot. And you are very sore about her petty shit giving people wrong impressions about you. But when all is said and done, you did put an end to it before she actually got away with anything, right? Isn't it too much to put her up for legal rape in perpetuity?"

"Courtesans are actually a pretty respectable profession, and I doubt she has any issues with whoring, given that she agreed to marry a dead man, alright!?" - I snap back angrily, closing my eyes as I finally realize what was bothering me. Selene IS right, it's going a bit too far. I am justified in putting madame Konistan to labor for her transgressions, but putting her to stud is excessive by far.

I take a couple of deep breaths to calm down, and mentally rejigger the situation. I already told Malachi I'm going to give her to the brothel. But I didn't specify it would be as a courtesan. Taking one last deep breath, I look up, into Selene's eyes. "Alright. Fine... Let's amend this, then. I will curtail her indentured service as owed to me to ten years. I will pass her to madame Cocoshon, I already told that much to sir Malachi and he put it to record. But, I will give her a clear stipulation that madame Konistan is to pick on her own if she wants to be a courtesan or if she prefers to work her crime off as a scullery maid in the brothel. Does that satisfy your sensibilities?"

"That's practically letting her go free!" - Lily-Anne objects - "Besmirching a noble name deserves a rebuke!"

I raise my hands in the air. "Look." - I tell everyone - "When all is said and one, I just want her gone. Selene is right about one thing, it's not up to me to force someone into sex. So I'm going to pass her on to madame Cocoshon with clear instructions to let her choose if she wants to atone with her hands or with her cunt, and on that note, I am washing my hands clear of her. Whatever she does with her life from now on is of no concern to me, lest she crosses my path with hostile intentions again."

"...If she gets to pick, then fair enough." - Selene offers slowly - "Sorry."

I chuckle and lean over the table to ruffle her and Lily-Anne's hair in the same time.

"Hey, that's what the friends are for." - I offer, sitting back - "It actually bothered me, but I couldn't figure out why until Selene pointed out the whole forcing to sex part."

Lily-Anne pouts at me. "You're far too kind, Alyssa." - she grumbles - "If it was me who was impersonated, my father would have ordered her whipped raw in the public square and thrown into the moat."

She shakes her head and smiles at me. "But then again, you is... well, you." - she proffers - "If you're fine with just that... But this madame Konistan better remember your mercy for all of her life."

I suddenly perk up as something else occurs to me. "Gah, I almost forgot!" - I yelp - "Moon Unit, I apologize for the hassle in advance, but... I sort of advertised your copy machine to the Merchant Guild? And they would want to commission a bunch. So, uh... Once we officially return from Grenwille, we will probably have to see about setting you up with a proper workshop and labor to produce them. I'll help and cover the expenses, obviously. Oh, and we need to visit Merchant Guild to register you... And Lily-Anne, you need to come with us too, so we could get the paperwork on your shop rolling... And Roxolane, you too, because we need to properly register your portals and prepare licensing because dwarves are going to need paperwork come in before long and ... Augh, Selene, WHY!?"