The very next day, Arthur woke up on the couch where he had tactically gone to sleep to allow Cate to rest in the bed. To his surprise, she was sleeping on the other side of the corner couch. Separated from him but still close enough for him to feel awkward. He wondered if she feared something and that's why she always wanted to stay close. However, he quickly shook his head. It was better not to overthink this or he might reach some impossible conclusions. She purred in her sleep and buried herself under a thick blanket. However, the moment he tried to quietly stand up, her ears flickered and she woke up. She looked at him with a wide smile, her eyes sparkling.

  "Good morning, my Lord." She smiled and sat with a yawn.

  He blinked a few times in surprise. What was going on? Was she always this cute?!

  "Good morning, Catherine." He nodded.

  She stood up and changed from her comfortable-looking green pyjamas into her maid outfit. "I shall bring something to eat. Is there anything you wish for, Sir?"

  "Not really." He shrugged. "But remember, you have to order enough for yourself as well."

  She simply smiled and walked toward the doors. Arthur took the chance and decided that he needed to rethink his plan of returning home. His original plan to stay in Howthorns for a couple of days was too optimistic. His cultural incompatibility with the locals was going to hinder his progress, at least on the official level. The changes in Saftian society were recent, and most of the common people hated them, so there was hope. Even some nobles might hate the changes but, sooner or later, he would be confronted by the Temple, which seemed to embrace the changes greedily. He would, however, still need a base of operation here in Howthorns. He sat with his eyes closed for a bit until he decided that despite everything, he would eventually wind up abusing Sion's generous hospitality.

  "You seem gloomy, my Lord," Catherine said as she poured him a cup of a special cold tea that seemed to be a local thing.

  "Am I?" He tried to smile but, somehow, it was hard for him and he didn't know why. "I was just thinking about what we should do."

  "May I be helpful to you somehow?" She offered after she prepared a few sandwiches with some kind of meat.

  "I would even say that your input will be decisive." He shrugged. "As you know, most of the assets belonging to Griss Vul became my property after I arrested him. Those include the Clark's Trade Company building, which should belong to you."

  Her ears twitched, her hands stilled momentarily, and her expression became pensive and tense.

  "I was thinking about taking it and turning it into our home base. We could even use it to restore your family's Trading Company." He said and, for some reason, he was nervous. "I want to hear your honest opinion, Catherine."

  "I... Don't know, honestly..." She said and put away her food. "It was my home but I don't know if I want to return there. Everything that belonged to me or my dad was surely destroyed, Sir."

  "We can check after breakfast." He said.

  They returned to eating in an awkward silence that seemed to gnaw at Catherine and she finally sighed and looked at him.

  "If I may ask, Sir..." Her voice was trembling.

  "Yes?"

  "Why did you stop calling me Cate, Sir?" She asked quietly, without looking him in the eyes.

  "I..." He hesitated and shook his head. "Since you stopped calling me Arthur, I thought you..."

  His voice waned. Not only because, for some reason, it was hard for him to admit he enjoyed her closeness, but also because he shouldn't impose anything on her while she was wearing that damn slave collar. Instead, he sighed heavily and avoided her gaze. Despite that, he noticed that she turned red and took a large bite of the sandwich. However, she relaxed a little bit. Her odd behaviour wasn't helping at all, only confusing him further. He ate his sandwich in silence while she seemed happy.

  "Let's go and see what remained of my home, Arthur." She grabbed his hand and smiled at him once they finished eating. "I don't know if I could muster the courage to enter there alone..."

  "I will be there for you, Cate." He smiled and felt an unreasonable relief.

  Once they fetched Silfa and Ben, they went to the former Clark's Company. It was sealed by the Baron and two guards were keeping anyone from entering it. However, they immediately opened the doors for Arthur.

  "Stay here and prevent anyone from interrupting us," Arthur ordered the siblings, who nodded in confirmation and he looked at the Nekomi. "Lead the way, Cate."

  She was nervous and somewhat sad as she entered and looked around her former home. They climbed the staircase until they reached the door to her father's office. She stopped before the doors and reached to open them, but hesitated. Arthur encouragingly put his hand on her shoulder and she pushed the doors. The room was still full of marks from Arthur's recent fight. Bloodstains marked the floor and walls liberally. Cate put her hand on Arthur’s and took a deep breath before slowly entering the room and carefully looking around.

  "It's not the place I grew up in anymore..." She said in a blank voice as she approached Noah's desk. "This was my Father's desk... It's now scratched and chipped despite how well my father cared for everything we owned..."

  She slid her hand across its surface and opened the drawers, one by one. Arthur stood nearby in silence. There were no words he could speak to help her or ease her heart.

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  "As I thought. Nothing here belongs to him." She pulled out one of the drawers and opened the hidden compartment. "That bastard even found the hidden compartment..."

  Cate’s inspection took her around the office and she stopped in front of the bookcase. Her mood suddenly shifted.

  "I wonder if he was afraid of touching them or something but Vul had not touched the books… Just look at the amount of dust!" She chuckled and quickly pulled one of them, triggering the mechanism for the hidden door.

  She groaned with the effort, but couldn't even move them slightly. Arthur approached and opened them with a gentle tug.

  "There you go." He said softly.

  "Thank you, Arthur." She said with anticipation and entered the small room.

  It was dark until Arthur conjured a small orb of light that hung in the air and followed Catherine. She looked around and realised that the room contained everything precious to her. All the memorabilia of her late mother, her beloved toys from the time she was a little girl, and finally some personal belongings of her father. She ran her hand over the familiar and oh-so-precious items. Her father's diary, the letters her mother sent to her father when they were young, and a single parchment... A letter to Catherine.

  "If you are reading this, Cate, I'm so sorry. If you are reading this letter, it means that I am dead, but there is still a chance for you. I've prepared gold for you, it's in the pouch of holding on the desk. Take it and run, my beloved Daughter. Leave Saftia, don't seek vengeance, just save yourself! I know that you can't take everything from here, so just choose a few things that will fit into the pouch." She read aloud with a trembling voice. "I regret I couldn't protect you but I pray for you and can only hope that you will find happiness. Please forgive me, Cate. Your loving father, Noah Clark."

  She felt dizzy as tears blurred her vision. Arthur caught her before she fell.

  "He's gone..." She pushed her face against his chest and started crying. "Why?! Why..."

  He just held her in his arms, embracing her as she sobbed out the loss of a child for a beloved parent. She continued for a long while before she managed to cry out her pain, and there were no words he could say that would help her.

  "I'm so sorry..." He whispered nonetheless. Words couldn't mend the wounds. He had seen this so many times. Vestargo's slaves, people they saved from all over Aderon... But, it was easier for him back then. They were complete strangers to him and Cate wasn't. Not anymore…

  "Thank you, I'm a little bit better..." She tried to smile, but she was a poor liar.

  "I promise to protect you. I will take you to Arcadia and I will show you the magnificent Avalon where no evil can reach you." He blurted out.

  "Thank you." She said with a watery, but still breathtaking, smile.

  He looked around, still holding her in his arms. "I hope that I don't have to tell you that everything here belongs to you? You can take whatever you want, and if you run out of storage space, I will store anything you like until we get you another holding item."

  She smiled and rubbed her cheek on his chest with a smile. "You have given back my happiness and hope... I don't know how I could ever repay you."

  "Just stay with me..." He said quietly.

  "Of course!" She nodded and slowly let go of his shirt. As she stood up and took a deep breath, she warmly smiled at his back when he left the room to let her store everything. "I will."

  Once everything was safely inside her ring, her mood improved. She took all the books from the shelves and took one last glance at the office. They slowly checked every room, but there was nothing valuable or personal enough that she wanted to keep. Before they returned to the siblings, Cate paused in one of the other rooms.

  "I know that this place would make for an excellent home base, but I can't... I... I want to keep only my fond memories and I hoped that they would return to me... But no... I still remember the fear when Vul's thugs stormed my home. I still remember the humiliation when they stripped me. I still remember the pain when that brute burned that mark on my back." Her voice trembled but she gritted her teeth and looked at Arthur with resolve. "He said that once I was humiliated enough, he would have his way with me. That he would take away my innocence and then allow everyone to have their fun as well."

  "So, you knew..." Arthur sighed. "I wanted to spare you another horror he had planned for you..."

  "Do you think that someone like Griss Vul would keep me in the dark?" She shuddered.

  "I probably shouldn't be surprised..." Arthur shook his head.

  "But thank you for trying to keep it a secret. I really appreciate the consideration."

  He forced a smile, but she was glad that he was simply there. For her...

  "So, you want to sell it?" He asked instead.

  "Yes." She nodded. "Maybe a new owner will be able to awaken the happy memories etched in those walls... But I can’t anymore. Forgive my selfish request, but staying here will be too painful for me. Once you sell it, use the money to buy a new house..."

  "No. You will keep the money. You will need it once we reach Arcadia. It will be your dowry when you find a..." His voice faltered and she wanted to protest, but stayed silent. Arthur seemed conflicted but forced a smile on his face. "I'm sure your father would approve of it."

  She smiled softly and he couldn't tell what she was thinking about.

  "Besides... I have enough money to get a new, temporary home." He smiled.

  They both cheered up, albeit each of them had a different reason. Catherine had managed to close a painful chapter in her life, while Arthur... She couldn't tell what changed for him, but he seemed happier. They returned to the siblings who were sitting near the table and looked bored.

  "All right, kids." Arthur grinned at them. "We are going to register as Adventurers."

  "I'm not a kid, my Lord!" Silfa immediately protested.

  "Details, details!" He said flippantly and grinned as he reached for the doors. "Lead the way, Ben."

  "Yes, Sir!", the younger man confirmed with enthusiasm as he moved to the front of the group.

  They quickly returned to the main street and walked towards the Adventurer’s Centre. The building was enchanted and Arthur smiled with the corner of his lips as he effortlessly read all the magic formulas that reinforced it. They stopped before the gates and Ben lost most of his enthusiasm but Arthur laughed and pushed the doors open. The Centre was full of adventurers who cast disdainful stares at them. Arthur took the lead and approached one of the receptionists. A young man looked at him with a friendly, but quite obviously fake, business-like smile.

  "Good evening, Sir. My name is Dolan. How may I help you?" The man asked from behind the reception desk as he cast a gaze at Arthur and his smile slightly froze.

  Arthur stopped in front of the desk and nonchalantly leaned on it. He’d activated his wards before they entered the building, so no one could tell what level he was.

  "Good evening, Mr. Dolan." He smiled charmingly and slowly switched his gaze to the nearby receptionists who watched them with a moderate interest. "My name is Arthur Ives and I, along with my companions, would like to register as a freelance Adventurer."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!