Henri sat on the couch alongside her husband. Her thumbs frenetically flicking the two joysticks of the controller to make her onscreen character recover before his could get in a finishing blow.

Sighing in relief as she watched the avatar leap onto its feet and even manage to get in a counter. She set to work trying to make a comeback, despite character’s health bar being two-thirds of the way down.

All while wondering, just how it was, exactly, that she’d ended up sitting on the couch playing a fighting game when she was supposed have been headed to work forty minutes ago.

All she could recall, was coming down from her room as she usually, did, making “okay” small talk over a cup of coffee, like she usually did, and then grabbing her keys from the keyring by the door.

Then just as she was about to say “bye” and head out, Desmond had sat up and broke the routine by asking if she didn’t mind waiting up for a little bit.

Getting to work early usually meant driving for around twenty minutes to get to the school. Being as conscientious as she was, and wanting to make a good impression on the school’s senior staff, Henrietta would usually leave the house a little early to ensure that she got to the school around thirty minutes before she had to. So that she could help out, if she needed to, and had enough time to do a little last minute prep before her classes.

Thus technically she “did” have the time. And in recent days, she and he, had been growing steadily friendlier, friendish. Their interactions less formal and stiff.

So she said yes.

He had her sit down next to him on the couch, she sat, with one cushion left between them, as she usually did.

Then Desmond turned and met her eyes and said,

“So...I’m probably going to be moving out soon…”

She shocked them both by gasping a little. It was this small high things, that sort of slipped out. She wasn’t even that surprised by his announcement. The two of them didn’t really know each other, and though they didn’t hate each other, it wasn’t like they were committed. At the very least she knew that she Henri, had no clue whether she’d wanted to stay married to guy or not, so she’d assumed that the situation was the same on his end of things. Still it always sucked to get dumped.

“Um...okay, so...I guess, you uh...I guess, you’ll be wanting a divorce then?” she said. Hearing her own words as if they were from slightly far away. Most of her attention and focusing, fixed on keeping her expression steady.

He froze for a good two seconds, and then blinked rapidly the following second.

“I..uh, that’s kind of skipping...a couple steps in the conversation but...not really?” said Desmond

“Not really?” said Henri.

“I mean...I was get to it, but what I wanted to ask was if, you wanted a divorce...or…”

“Wait, so you don’t want a divorce?” said Henri. Interrupting. Her thoughts confused, because for whatever reason she felt relieved.

“Well, no...I’m fine with the way things are...kind of...what I wanted to ask is if your fine with the way things are.”

“So you’re okay that we’re to-” said Henri. Trying sort of her own reaction and parse his reaction at the same.

Desmond interrupted whatever she was going to say, raising one hand to call for time.

“Hold up...Uh...Let me get through with what I was going to say first, for a moment...like before I lose, my nerve please?….So, uh..shit...where was I? Wait, right...So, I’m not what you thought you were getting right?”

Henrietta just stared at the man, not trying to point out his understatement. Noticing how flustered the big man seemed.

“...I’m a bit secretive. I’ve definitely been up to stuff that you should know about don’t because you know...just because...I-, I’m already kind of, sort of, in a relationship with our maid, since before we were married. I maybe might have adopted a daughter the other day because of well, that’s another secret...I’m also an immortal, an immortal-king even, and a reincarnator, and because of the aforementioned daughter, I might have entered into a feud with certain members of the Venris’ pantheon of light... So, yeah I come with a lot of baggage...The point being I’m probably not the guy you thought you were going to marry and I’d totally understand if you want to be….”not” married to me anymore. Hell, I’m probably not even your type…”

Processing the heap of information that had just been dumped on her head, Henri ended up reacting to the one thing she’d have rather just let lie.

“What are you talking about? Of course you’re my type.”

“Huh?”

“You’re incubus...a luxuriae...you’re even from one of the higher classed bloodlines, you’re everybody's type.”

Desmond, sat, brow furrowed. Not knowing what to say.

Henri, frowned, feeling herself blushing furiously, because that was the last thing she’d expected to end up having to say.

She wasn’t gushing, it wasn’t some great confession of love, or attraction. It was just an objective fact. Luxuriae, lust demons, were attractive, magically and memetically so. Their looks automatically adjusting in subtle and not-so-subtle ways to match whatever the standard of good looks was for any time period they were in.

In the Caldwell’s case, they were of the type that would actually go extra step and exemplify that standard. Which was how the little family had managed to build a small media empire, starting with store catalogues, then expanding outwards to fashion modelling and movies.

There were even some rumors of one of the current Emperor of Cyrillus’ courtesan’s being a distant relation of their. Some very true rumors.

“See, sir...It’s as I’ve told you all along, you look perfectly fine.” said a prim but plainly excited, voice from the corner of the room.

Both Henri and Desmond jumped as they saw an adult Jacqueline standing there. She’d likely been there all the time they’d been talking but the girl had a way of blending in with her environment her presence seeming to thin out, in pretty much the way one would expect of an ideal maidservant.

“Uh Jack…” said Desmond.

“Yes, Master?”

“Er...be a dear get us some drinks, please.” said Desmond. Bluntly finding an excuse to get rid of the woman. If only for a moment.

Jack frowned, her stiff, professional veneer cracking for a moment to reveal a childish pout, before falling back into place.

“....Of course, Master.” said Jack aware, that she probably shouldn’t have interrupted. She just been unable to help herself, her master seemed to always doubt it when she was the one trying to tell him he was handsome.

Henri and Desmond spent a moment in silence, not sure how to pick up where they’d left off. In Henri’s case she was pretty sure she’d didn’t want to pick up where “she’d” left off and was trying to find another angle to re-enter the conversation from.

Finally Desmond broke the silence…

“...Um, be that as it may, it still doesn’t necessarily mean you want to be with me right?”

Henri frowned, perturbed but not entirely clear why.

“Why does it sound like you’re trying to talk me out of staying married to you? Are you sure that “you’re” not the one who wants the divorce?”

Desmond startled, his red eyes growing wide for a moment before his sank into a look of awkwardness and sheepishness.

“Um...no, that’s not what’s going on here...Really.” he said. Meaning it.

It really wasn’t that he was trying to talk the girl out of staying married to him, he was just trying to be absolutely honest. Perhaps even brutally honest.

“I was just trying to make sure you knew what you were getting into.”

Henri looked up into the man’s face, her eyes narrowed as tried to see whether Desmond was blowing smoke up her skirts or not.

Satisfied that he was being honest she sat back and sighed, her arms crossed as a million different conflicting thoughts when on in her head.

“Okay, so you said you’re feuding with part of our continent’s pantheon of light, right?”

“Er...yes..”said Desmond. Relieved to find that she seemed to have stop suspecting his intentions.

“Which ones?”

“Not entirely sure, mostly just a few of the gods of light and chaos, with most of them being direct competitors...gods of the wastes who regularly butt heads with us immortal kings... maybe a few of their underlings. And then there’s some extras who might be added to the list because of the kid I just adopted.” said Desmond.

“So not, Hildred?” asked Henri.

“No…” said Desmond.

“Um...Okay then….Then I guess it’s fine.” said Henri. Not feeling one hundred percent sure of her words, but not particularly minding.

Agartha was a world of countless gods, god-like being, many of which would make physical appearances to their mortal followers. While atheism and agnosticism could not exist in such a word, atheism and lack of faith, were still around.

For many people their patron gods were like congressmen or their state’s senate represents. They knew they were there and what they did was important but there wasn’t necessarily any emotional significance to it.

Thus while Henri was pretty sure that having a god mad at you was a bad thing, the fact he didn’t seem to be sweating it very much, made her not worry all that much either, especially once she knew that it would end up being an issue with her family and their faith. Since Hildred was more a goddess who leaned towards the gray than the light.

“Okay, how about the kid then? You said you adopted a daughter.”

“Er, right...I mean I had Jack adopt her since I didn’t want to get you wrapped up in anything without asking so…”

“Wait, so you and Jacqueline have a kid together.” said Henri. Not sure if she liked the sound of that. She’d assumed the two of them had something going on together and as a child of a big family, hadn’t particularly minded the idea of having a big family of her own one day, but still there was an etiquette to things. The wife was supposed to have the first child….if only for the sake of keeping some semblance of order when it came to matters of inheritance.

A rule that had always struck Henri as old fashioned, till she was the one in the position of the wife, and sitting there feeling more than a little unhappy.

“So...uh, how old is she?” said Henri. Searching her own feelings. Trying to sort them out because they seemed to stubbornly remain mixed.

“Huh?”

“Your daughter. How old is she?” asked Henri. Her words coming off a little sharper than she’d intended them to be.

“Uh...I think thirteen?” said Desmond. Aware that something was going wrong but unsure exactly what it was. If only because there were too many options.

Henri blinked at him, doing the math. Her husband was eighteen, his daughter was thirteen...he couldn’t have had the child when he was five.

“Like I said, I adopted her for...reasons...secret reasons. That I guess you’d need to know, if we’re actually staying together, but if we’re not, then knowing might just get you into trouble instead so…”

“Oh,...Okay...I guess. So it’s like for work?” she said. Making a guess.

Startling Desmond because it a highly accurate guess.

“Right! Exactly.”

Which made Henri want to ask what exactly this secret job of his was. Except that she knew she really did need to decide what her own feelings were about staying with the man or leaving first.

Especially if whatever he was doing was “that” sensitive. Her understanding of the situation being supplemented from her own experiences working for the Moonfire sect.

She sat in silence, thinking, mulling over all that the man had said. She was surprised to find that she didn’t need to think long or particularly hard. The space between to her thoughts seeming calm, like the waters of a lake after a rain storm.

“Okay.” said Henri.

“Okay what?” said Desmond.

“Okay, I don’t want to have a divorce...I mean so long as you don’t want a divorce I guess I don’t want one either…” said Henri.

“Oh...uh...great! Mind if I ask why?” said Desmond.

Henri frowned, once again getting the sense that the man was trying to talk her out of staying with him. She eventually, if somewhat begrudgingly, decided that the question was fair. If they were actually going to give this marriage a shot the man at least deserved to know why.

“Al-...Alright, if you insist, well, when you say you’re not the man I thought I’d be with. You’re totally right. You are absolutely not the kind of man that parents would have set me up with.” said Henri. Her tone slightly darkening as she said that last bit. She watched the man droop, not understanding that his falling short of her parents’ expectations was actually a good thing.

“And yes you seem to have a lot of secrets, at least a few of which, I’d need to be let in on, if we’re going to really do this...but besides that I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t stay together. I mean, I sort already figured that you and Jack were an item, but it’s not like you hid it, nor did you throw it my face, you were just sort of normal about it. Which is pretty cool, since, till this moment right now, it wasn’t really any of my business...I guess…And...And beyond that, I’m not sure why you mentioned being a reincarnated as one of the reasons why I might divorce you. Since it’s honestly not that big a deal.”

“It’s the reason why I spent the first fifteen years of my life catatonic…” said Desmond. Cutting.

Henri’s face grew thoughtful, as she absorbed the information. Then a bit of sympathy entered her expression.

Speaking of parental expectations, she couldn’t imagine what the Caldwells would do if she heard all this. Perhaps just the fact that the boy was speaking at all would be enough for them to lose their minds.

“Oh...I. I guess that makes sense. I’ve heard that there can sometimes be complications with people coming back from more than one life. But in general reincarnations aren’t that rare you know...or that big a deal. Heck, “I’m” supposed to be one too, if you believe the church of Hildred status-seers.” said Henri.

It was true. When her parents reported the information to her superiors they weren’t surprised. Reincarnations held the same level of commonness in the population as people with an allergy to peanuts did. Though in some regions the incidences of reincarnator status’ were drastically higher.

In generally, they were rare but not unheard of and according to historical records in the earlier ages they were actually quite common, with about half the population being labelled as such.

Desmond frowned, cocking his head slightly, as he took in her words. A thought coming to him and then slipping from his reach.

“And...well, I guess being an immortal is a slightly bigger deal...but it’s not like it’s a bad thing right.” said Henri.

She wasn’t entirely clear on what it meant for her husband to be an immortal, but she knew enough to know that had it been revealed to his family, they absolutely wouldn’t have let the Andrases have him, even if he was a waste. Which he wasn’t…

“So yeah...Like I said...I’m not really seeing any reason why we shouldn’t stay together. I mean, forty percent of marriages on Venris are arranged marriages. And when it comes to clans like ours the number rises to sixty or so, if not higher...No matter what I always figured that eventually, my parents would end up setting me with “somebody”...Maybe not so soon...and maybe I’d have had a little more of a say about when or who..but still that’s just how people do things...at least that’s how it is in Cyrillus anyway, so my not knowing you isn’t all that big a deal to me...I mean you seem like a nice enough guy….”

Desmond stared and then slowly nodded, a wide, somewhat relieved smile spreading across his face. He was surprised to find that he was happy. Pleased that this stranger that he called his wife, still wanted to stay his wife.

“So…” said Desmond.

“So…” said Henri.

“So...we’re really gonna give this thing a shot huh?”

“I-, I guess so...I mean so long as you’re okay with it, that is.”

“I am. I totally am.” said Desmond.

“Great…” said Henri.

Which was around the time, when Desmond invited her to play games with him. She’d argued against it, saying that she needed to head to work, honestly surprised that she was only running late and not completely late as it was.

The talk had exhausted her, leaving her feeling like she wanted to lie down, despite the fact that she still had a whole day of teaching ahead of her.

Desmond pushed, insisting, saying that school would probably be cancelled. She’d been hesitant but eventually he talked her into playing one round with him.

Part of his persuasiveness lying in the fact that the game he was playing was a new one that she’d ordered online, and was eagerly looking forward to playing when her own copy arrived.

As well as the fact that she didn’t want it to look like she was running away from the man after insisting that they were going to stay married.

Just as her character knocked his off its feet, the electricity went out for a second and the whole world seemed to shake. Dull rumbles like thunder sounding off in the distance.

The lights came back on and Henri frowned mouth ajar. When she looked outside the living room window she saw flames and smoke in the distance. She saw their neighbors standing on their lawns, she saw getting out of their cars. All of them look up in the direction of the part of the city where most of the smoke and sound was coming from.

“What the hell was that?!”

Desmond dropped his controlled and got up off the couch.

“ ‘That’ was someone doing something very stupid and fucking up a lot of people’s plans. It’s also ostensibly why I..and I guess, if you want to come with, “we” are probably going to end up having to move.”

Desmond left. Stalking out of the front door, towards the driveway. His maid, and a second copy of her current adult form, trailed after him, both of them carrying a polearm and a rifle respectively. Both of them wearing the kind of padded leather, warded armors that sect elites and leveller soldiers were known to wear into battle.

A third copy of Jack in a pantsuit following soon after with a cell phone in her hand. Her tone clipped and commanding and not at all maid-like as she gave orders to whoever was on the other end of the call.

The world shook a second time, with the electricity flickering once more.

Left on her own, Henri just gaped, uncertain of what exactly was happening. She looked up at the window and then she looked at the door and then she looked at the tv screen that was occupied by a splash image of the game that was currently restarting itself.

With a sigh, she dropped her own controller and headed for the door. Chasing after her husband, who was still parked in the driveway. Waiting for the third iteration of Jacqueline to enter the car.

It seemed that her period for being filled on his so-called “secret” life started now.