We were about halfway to the manor when I realized I had forgotten something, which was especially embarrassing considering that something had been right in front of me since around 10 minutes ago.
Praxis and Nari had finished chatting, both tired from the events of today and likely getting a time actually to rest for once.
"Nari," I interjected, causing her to turn her head away from the window and over to me, "Would you like me to let you out of your cage now?"
"Huh?! Are you sure that's alright?" She asked, eyes wide at the thought that I would.
"Why would it not be? You aren't some animal, so there is absolutely no reason you keep you locked up like you are now," I replied, taking the key to Nari's cage out of my breast pocket.
"You are right…Thank you, Master!" Nari beamed, a bright smile forming on her face as she happily put her hands on her cheeks.
"It's not a problem, and please, just call me Kallisto," I smiled back, opening the cage door, unlocking the shackle on her ankle, and lifting her out onto the seat next to said cage.
Excited, as soon as Nari fixed her position on her seat, she transformed into her larger form. Her larger form wasn't much different from her smaller form; the only difference was that her hair was half up with braids, and her features were fuller.
Nari happily kicked her feet in the air with a smile. It was funny that even when taking on a more human appearance, she still wasn't tall enough for her feet to touch the carriage floor.
'Hm, if I were to compare her to Yasuo's little sister, she'd be around 5'4…It's better to push those memories away for now.'
"Master," Praxis whispered to me, bringing me from my thoughts and back into reality, "That was rather kind of you to do…you aren't thinking of using this as a debt against her, are you?"
"No, even I wouldn't stoop so low," I whispered back, shaking my head and sighing, "And like I said to Nari, I'd rather you just refer to me by my name."
"Apologies, but I'm going to have to decline. It would be unbefitting of a slave such as myself to do so…plus, I'd rather refer to you as your real name rather than a fake," Praxis lectured, using his 'slave' status to try and get under my skin.
"Wha- how did you kno-?" I was going to question, but was interrupted by Lorenzo guiding the horses to a turn and then stopping.
"We are here," Lorenzo announced, then got off from the coachman's seat and opened the door, offering a hand to Nari, who got off eagerly. "Please watch your step."
I let Praxis get off before me, then climbed down the steps to see stars in Nari's eyes as her wings twitched energetically, and Praxis stood there in admiration.
"Like what you see?" I joked, making both of them turn to me, "Welcome to my manor, we'll be staying here for the next couple of weeks, so don't be afraid to make yourself feel at home!"
"...Master, you truly are being far too generous to us," Praxis tried to lecture, turning his gaze away from me in shame.
"Ha! What utter nonsense," I laughed, walking over to them and placing a hand on each shoulder, "You two are my subordinates now, so I will treat you as I so please. Meaning, if I wish to shower you with gifts, you must accept. If I wish to feed you to the dogs, you will walk into their den. Understood?"
"...Understood."
"Understood!"
They both said, Nari, a little too eager for someone who was just told that if I ordered them to sacrifice themself, they must.
'It's good that Praxis seems to have a sense of self, but Nari, on the other hand…well, I'm sure we can make adjustments.'
"Hahaha! A bold declaration, Kallisto! But don't you think you are being a bit much?" Lorenzo chimed in, putting his arm around my shoulder in a rather friendly manner. Praxis and Nari were startled; perhaps they thought he was a mere guard.
"Pfft, what nonsense. If you think this is a 'bit much', then you should see how I interact with my butler and personal guard, hahaha!" I laughed back, remembering how I'd boss the servants of the Zyon City estate around.
'This is nothing compared to how I'd threaten them…ugh, now I feel a little bad, thanks for reminding me…'
"My, poor them! You're scary enough as is, I can't imagine you ruthless to!" Lorenzo jested, clearly faking surprise as he lifted his hand to his mouth and widened his eyes.
I rolled my eyes at him and laughed, not bothering to remove his arm from my shoulders. I started to walk to the doors, Lorenzo following. Lorenzo kept laughing, finally stopping when he took his arm off my shoulders and watched me unlock the front door.
"You two coming?" I said, looking over my shoulder at the surprised Praxis and Nari, who both stood there with wide eyes.
"Huh? Oh, yes. Apologies, I was simply taken aback at the sudden familiarity of you two," Praxis admitted, walking up the sets, with Nari close behind and following us in.
"Hm? Did you think he was a mere guard? Ha! This is Lorenzo, a good friend of mine and a part of my party!" I introduced, gesturing over at him as I closed the doors behind me, locking them for the night.
"Your…Party?" Nari said like it was a puzzle. Tilting her head, she clearly wasn't familiar with the way the term was being used.
"Haha, if that way of explanation is too hard to understand, just think of me as a traveling companion!" Lorenzo commented, lightly smacking Nari on the shoulder.
"Ah, yes, that makes more sense!" Nari cheered, putting it all together, "No wonder you two are so friendly, I can only guess the things the two of you have seen on your adventures!"
"Eh, not really much," I answered, thinking it's best to leave the Inubat situation to the side for now, "It's rather late, Lorenzo, could you show Nari to one of the spare rooms while I take Praxis to his?"
"Sure! Follow me, Miss Nari!" Lorenzo exclaimed, Nari bouncing after him as he went up the stairs.
"Hm, is my room not by hers?" Praxis commented, watching the two of them go up the stairs.
"No, yours is by mine. I didn't originally plan to have Nari join us, so I didn't prepare a room for hers as I did for you," I admitted, feeling a little guilty. "Follow me, your room is by mine, so I'll show you on the way."
***
When Praxis woke up the next morning, he looked out his window to see Lorenzo doing his morning workout. Finally able to see the man without his helmet on, Praxis was in awe at how similar his features were to Nari's.
Taking a shower and getting dressed, he used his magic to style his hair like usual. A blowout 'jelly-fish' cut, as the younger demons liked to call it.
'Hm, it's quite early…Kallisto wouldn't mind if I got something to eat from the kitchen, would he?' Praxis thought to himself as he heard his stomach growl.
Due to how late He and Nari were taken to the manor last night, Praxis didn't get a chance to get a proper dinner. He supposed that the one good thing about Kal Natrona was that he made sure his 'products' were well fed.
Going down the stairs and reaching the Kitchen, Praxis was surprised to find someone he wasn't expecting there. Sephtis was standing in front of the stove top, cooking an ungodly amount of food for just one person.
"Pardon my manners, but who are you?" Praxis' voice cut through the sizzling of the eggs and bacon and right into Sephtis' ears, making his ears and tail shoot straight up from surprise.
"H-Huh?! Oh, h-hello. I'm Sephtis, you must be Praxis. It's a pleasure," Sephtis smiled awkwardly through his surprise.
'Gods, I wasn't expecting him to come down before Lev! How do I deal with this? I'm too nervous!' Sephtis thought, internally panicking more than he really needed to.
"I am…thank you for the welcome," Praxis replied, walking over to Sephtis to see what exactly he was making, "If you don't mind me asking, what is all this for?"
"N-Nothing special really…I just thought it'd be nice for everyone to eat together this morning so we can get to know each other better," Septhis muttered, his face reddening and ears drooping from embarrassment as he looked away.
'...This guy is quite cute, I can see why Master Kallisto keeps him around…Though he seems quite strong as well, perhaps another travelling companion?'
"Heh, that's rather nice of you! I suppose it would be rather rude of me to refuse such an invitation after you went out of your way to do all of this!" Praxis smiled, his pretty features making Sephtis blush even though Sephtis' true feelings lay for someone else.
Sephtis' ears shot up again, his tail slowly wagging as well. Though just a moment later, his head snapped to the doorway, and his tail started wagging at a worrying speed.
"Huh?! Is this guy okay? What's with the sudden reaction?" Praxis thought, though his question was quickly answered.
"Mmm, smells good, Sephtis! Oh, and you are here too, Praxis, good morning! I hope Sephtis didn't make you uncomfortable in any way," I smiled as I entered the room, quickly being tackled by Sephtis.
"Good Morning, Teacher! I made breakfast for all of us!" Sephtis announced, hugging me tightly, not even worrying about what Praxis might think.
"Haha, good morning Sephtis. It not only smells good but looks good, good job!" I praised, looking over at the stove and patting Sephtis on the head.
'Ho? So those two are like that…No wonder Lev's energy seemed to go somewhere else in the house along with Sephtis. I thought there was some history of that here.' Praxis thought, putting pieces together that he really shouldn't have.
"Shall I make myself scarce and set the table?" Praxis asked with a knowing smile, signaling to me that he knew what he thought was going on was about to go on.
'Haha, yeah, I'm not letting him think that of all things on the first day we meet!'
"Ah, let me show you the way to the dining room! Sephtis, I'll be back to help put food on the table," I announced, shoving the cuddly hound off me and practically dragging Praxis to the dining room.
***
Just moments later, Lorenzo and Nari joined the three of us at the table, filling the seats at the round table. Nari was still yawning and stretching as Lorenzo took it upon himself to get his own food.
"Good morning, Nari, I see you had a good night's sleep?" I joked, smiling and laughing at her.
"Hm? Oh! Sorry, I look rather unpleasant, don't I?" She noted, looking down at her night gown and undone hair. Her face flushed from embarrassment.
"You are fine, Miss Nari!" Sephtis interjected, slapping Lorenzo's hand to stop him from piling food in his plate, "You all returned rather late last night, so it's understandable to be tired!"
"Oh, what a cutie you are! So kind!" Nari exaggerated, her hands clasped together as she relished at Sephtis' understanding. Sephtis' tail wagged in response to the praise, and he laughed rather foolishly.
"Well, eat up, everyone! I don't know about Sephtis and Lorenzo, but Praxis, Nari, and I have a rather packed schedule today!" I announced, Nari, turning to me in curiosity while Praxis raised his eyebrow.
"Huh, why just you three?" Lorenzo asked, pouting as he stopped to shove his face for a moment before taking another large bite.
"I plan on taking them shopping for more clothes. If I intend for them to be proper subordinates, then it's best to start by having them look the part," I explained, resting my chin on my knuckles with a mischievous smile.
'I'll enjoy using them as my personal modeling dolls! While I may not have been able to do this as Saito, I quite enjoy dressing up others and myself!'
***
Meanwhile, a couple of days later, in Lev's office over in Zyon City, Victor was going through accounting papers when a certain amount and address popped up.
'Huh? Eleos City in the Silversun Kingdom?...3,600 GOLD COINS?! Lev, what the hell did you buy? I know for a fact that a manor and that slave you wanted to help wouldn't cost that much!'
"Arwan," Victor called, causing Arwan to come into the office, curiosity written on his face at the surprise in Victor's tone, "Pack your bags, we are going to pay Lord Lev a short little visit."
"Huh? Okay…this is a bit sudden…where should I pack clothes for?" Arwan asked, tilting his head.
"The Silversun Kingdom. It's fall there at the moment, so make sure to dress warmly," Victor expressed, worried that his junior might dress as he is now and catch a cold.
'Hmph, only fools catch colds in fall.' Victor thought as he stood up and left the office, making sure to bring the accounting paper with him to shove in his lord's face at the obscene amount.