Kristie marveled at her room. It was bigger than her first apartment. A huge four post bed. It was bigger than a California King waterbed. Curtains and lace everywhere. There was even a tapestry showing a picture of nymphs and satyrs in a forest setting. She wondered if it was considered risqué in this world. There was even a private water closet that included a toilet. Apparently, it used magic to remove the refuse rather than plumbing. This world would take some getting used to but it was already a thousand times better than Earth.

  After exploring her bedroom, she went downstairs and asked Raffel where her husband was. Raffel led her to his office and knocked on the door. After getting an acknowledgement from Trevor, Raffel open the door and let Kristie in. Kristie was once again stunned by the elegance of a room. Trevor’s office was large enough to have a desk and a sitting area. Tapestries covered the wall, and there was a large window looking out over the back garden. Behind his desk, there was a beautiful picture of her, Linsey, and Trevor. It was like a family photo, but was an oil painted. The details were remarkable.

  “How did you get a painting of us?” Kristie asked.

  “I commissioned a very talented magic painter. It took many sketches before he got the details right. He also had to touch up the original painting a few times.” Trevor answered.

  Trevor walked over and gave his wife a hug. “Welcome to Covern House, your home away from Earth. If you have the time, can we talk about somethings? I am sure you have questions. I will do my best to answer them.”

  “Of course, I have time. I don’t really have anything else to do.”

  “You will probably find yourself busy in the next few days. I am sure the Countess Corville will want to meet with you, as well as a lot of the other nobles, once the word gets out. I don’t normally interact with the nobles outside of healing them but now that I am a count, I don’t think I can continue that policy. Luckily, Fabia was able to handle my calendar. Why don’t you go first with your questions.”

  “How did this all really happen? You gave a short answer before, but now I need a better answer.”

  Trevor told Kristie his story. How he wound up on Heaven’s Path. Interfered with a battle between Arigulius and Zemoculus. Healed the Earl, and everything that followed.

  “After the Earl found out my level, he had to inform the King. The standard policy is to make a level 40 martial class a baron. In my case, since I was level 45, they made me a count. I wasn’t given the option to not accept it. There was a ceremony and everything. Finally, the System gave me a blind quest, which resulted in my going to Earth. You know the rest.”

  Kristie was silent as she thought about what her husband had gone through. It was a lot to take in. Trevor just waited for her to process his story. The silence continued for another minute, then Kristie asked another question “Where do we go from here?”

  “It’s different for you than for me. It’s only been six months for me, since I died. It’s been over 2 and 1/2 years for you. You’ve moved on. I can accept that. I haven’t. I still love you but I don’t want you to feel obligated to be with me. I don’t think divorce is a thing here but we can live separate lives if that is what you decide. Let me be clear. I don’t want that. I want us to be together like we were. But I will accept whatever you choose.”

  “First, I haven’t moved on. I didn’t need to. No one can replace the love of my life. Yes, I had to adapt, but I never, never stopped loving you. You are impossible to replace. Second, I want us to be together like we were before you died. That still feels weird to say that. My husband died but is doing much better now.” We burst out laughing after saying that.

  “Let’s take a tour of the house and the Healing store.” I offered.

  “That sounds like a good idea.” We both stood up and moved out of my office. I took Kristie around the house. After the house, I showed her the healing store. It looked more like a psychologist office than an MDs. That was because I didn’t really need an examination chair. A normal chair was good enough. Diagnosis did the rest. While I did engage in the occasional emergency, it was normally done in the front space rather than back here. Heaven’s Heal and Cure All didn’t require privacy.

  On the way back to the office, we met Fabia. She followed us into the office.

  “My lord, the vendors were able to feed the refugees and Gabriel’s cousin was able to house them all. They will make their way to his inn this afternoon. The vendors agreed to provide them food at the inn for tonight also. Gabriel’s cousin is very happy. The inn itself is of a moderate level, and the staff is quite nice. Luckily, the refugees all speak common. It seems they all picked up the Linguistic skill. I guess you gave us the skill for nothing.

  “They will settle down today, and tomorrow, I will go there to conduct job skill interviews. If they have the appropriate skills, I would like to hire them to work for us. The Dungeon Inn will need staff, as will the store and tavern. In addition, Gabriel has a list of needs for the Decharte City compound. All in all, we have about 20 positions that need filling. I will also call on Mr. Morisa to see if he has employment opportunities. Between the two, we should have the majority of refugees covered. Of course, some of the younger ones may opt for the Adventurer Guild. I will talk with Gorver about it and tell him House Tierra will cover their first year’s dues, if he provides basic training. I think he will agree. Lastly, if any have an affinity for healing, I will bring in Chief Jonas and let him make the call on bringing them into the Association.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Thank you. Wonderful work as always. Do you have time for tea? Kristie might have some questions about life in Forest Glen. You would be better able to answer them than I?”

  “Of course, my lord. What can I tell you about, Countess?”

  “You can call me Kristie; I don’t feel like a Countess.”

  “I am sorry, my lady, but as I told your husband. The fact that you are now a noble means that House Tierra must follow the etiquette and that means calling you ‘My Lady’ and ‘Countess’. It’s just the way things work here. The reputation of the House would be damaged if someone inadvertently called you anything else in front of others. You’ll find people calling me ‘Sir’ because I am a Knight of House Tierra. I prefer Fabia, but etiquette requires ‘Sir’.

  “What does ‘being a countess’ even mean? Do I have responsibilities?”

  “Because Count Trevor was awarded the title, you have whatever responsibilities the count gives you. Countess Corville is responsible for managing Donnert county. Her husband, the count, isn’t known for his managerial knowledge and has offloaded those responsibilities to the countess. Everyone knows it, and everyone is grateful he has enough insight to do it. Count Corville is recognized as the premier warrior in Decharte. Luckily, he married a woman that shores up the weaker areas of his being a noble. I assume you and Count Trevor will make similar arrangements.”

  After that, Fabia started in on an etiquette lesson. Something about the proper addressing of nobles above your station and below. The truth is I tuned out as soon as she started. Flashback of the horrors of etiquette lesson in my head. Kristie recognized the glazed look in my eyes and gently elbowed my ribs. Oof. Okay, not so gently.

  Linsey picked this time to enter the office. She came over and sat down in a chair and said “What’s up?”

  “We were just going over some etiquette lessons, dear” my wife replied. Linsey’s eyes widen and started to rise, but Kristie stopped her. “And I think it would be good for you to stay, listen and learn.” That’s a familiar phrase. Kristie used it a lot. ‘Stay, listen and learn’. It sent tremors in both Linsey and I.

  “Yes, mom.”

  I know that tone, and that means it’s time for me to leave.

  “Etiquette lessons are important and you three should talk. I have to go do my exercises. I haven’t done them for weeks and need to refresh my muscle memory. Ladies, if you will excuse me” I said and make my escape. It’s good to be the count.

  I changed into my exercise clothes and headed out to the garden. First up, martial arts forms, then sword form, then knife, and finishing with spear. Exercise is my way of relieving stress. Others may drink, or use meditate. I exercise. It works for me, and since there is no TV here, it’s a good way for me to relax, and I needed to relax. It’s been a hectic few weeks with the Blind Quest and all.

  When I finished, I saw Ramram had been watching. He had a spear with him.

  “Are you doing the spear forms today?” I asked. Ramram must be going through a growth spurt, because I swear, he was taller than before I left.

  “Yes, my lord. The adventurers taught me the form. I practice every day as they told me to.”

  “Great, can I see?”

  Ramram moved to the clear area and began his forms. I could tell he had been practicing. He movement was fluid and clean. He needed to emphasize his thrusts and his aim. I gave him a few pointers and he incorporated them into his forms. We spent an hour just the two of us and practice our spear forms together. It was a lot of fun. At the end of our practice, Ramram announced that he had received a level in his Spear skill, bringing it up to three. Three is a high skill level for a 12-year-old. I got the feeling he would be getting his class soon. I congratulated him and told him he could join me any time I was doing my forms.

  I cast Cleanse on both him and myself, and he went back to look after the horses. I went back into my office to find Kristie, Linsey and Fabia chatting away. They gave me a look which said don’t interrupt, so I turned around and went in search of a snack. It seems they are getting along well.

  Gabriel found me as I made my way to the kitchen.

  “All the refugees are in the inn. Vendors will be providing food service for dinner today, but tomorrow meals will be available at the inn. The inn owner has set up an agreement with a local cook to prepare and serve the food at his inn. The warehouse is empty with the exception of the Gateway. What do you want to do with it?”

  “Just leave it there for the time being. I have a feeling that I will need to use it again in the near future. The System is not done with me yet.”

  I swear Chef is psychic. As soon as I entered the kitchen, she handed me a sandwich. It’s the equivalent of a chicken salad sandwich. Delicious.

  “The dressmaker and tailor will be here in two hours, my lord. They will also visit the inn to get everyone’s measurement, in case they need new clothing. As you can imagine, they are very excited to be working for a count. It will do wonders for their business, and I think we can get a very good deal.”

  “That is good. Let’s get our guest and new House members done first though. Then we can discuss outfitting the other refugees. I am sure many of them need new items. I will leave it in your hands.”

  “Of course, my lord.”

  I wandered back to my office to find it empty. I asked Gabriel and he said the ladies went out to tour the town with Fabia.

  I sat behind my desk. I was quite content. I had completed the Blind Quest and retrieved my wife and daughter from the hellscape that was Earth. My family was adjusting well to Tellus Nova and everything seemed to be going along smoothly.

  It was time to focus on healing.