As he stood slightly off to the side and behind the estate’s golden haired guest, the Vesely’s head butler gestured around the room with swift, precise motions of his hand as he made notes of the various items of interest that dotted the bedroom’s vast layout. “As you can see, the bed here is spacious enough that you won’t ever be wanting for comfort during your stay here.”

As his head shifted towards the bed, making mental notes of every minor detail of the room’s interior that carefully absorbed, Aurelius shifted the hooded cloak from his body and slowly folded the dusty apparel neatly over his arms.

Despite him having freed himself from any further pretenses of secrecy since his arrival to the Vesely estate within the Duchy of Orul, Aurelius remained stoic as he acknowledged the human’s words with a solitary grunt.

It wasn’t because of any particular distaste for the room’s interior design that caused the elven prince to act in such a manner. Instead, it was because of the realization of the bedroom’s sheer scale that he had finally found the source of his wife’s consistent complaints towards their first home and its supposedly “tiny” size.

When he had first arrived at the Duke’s estate and stood behind its main gates, Aurelius had found himself in complete awe by both the calculated complexity and sheer scale of the immense maze-like garden that lay between him and the estate’s proper front entry.

Yet it was only when he first stepped foot into the foyer did he realize the sheer scale of the mansion’s true size.

It had come as quite the shock to him to finally, and truly, learn the reasoning’s as to why Iskra had considered their first home as “Quaint” and “Cute” while at the same time complaining about the sensation of being “Crushed” by its supposedly tiny walls.

‘The merits of being born into a storied family, I suppose.’ Aurelius had thought to himself during those initial moments after having stepped foot inside of the childhood home of his human wife.

Yet despite the impressive scale of the mansion around him. It paled in comparison to the mountainous scale of the Dreadblade family’s royal abode.

The Dark Elven prince’s childhood home was of such an impressive scale that it towered above even the highest of clouds.

“There’s quite a lot of space here.” Aurelius mentioned to no one but himself as he returned to the present whilst simultaneously planting silent praises upon the grave of a man who had already been long dead since before he was even born.

“If the size of the room is an issue for you, honored guest, then we will be able to move you to a different room which you will be happy to learn is far more spacious than the one we’re currently standing in.” The butler replied as he held out his arm, forcing several servants to halt in their tracks as he waited for the family’s guest to show interest or distaste for the offered swapping of rooms.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine.” Aurelius proclaimed with a lighthearted chuckle as he turned to the man behind him. “No matter where I am in this world, if I don’t have my wives by my side then I’ll always be a lonely man.”

“Very well,” The Head Butler replied, gesturing for the servants to resume their work and finish placing what little items the golden haired elf had brought with him into the room.

Continuing with his tour of the room, the grey haired butler brought the guest’s attention towards a door that had been left slightly ajar after a fierce round of breakneck cleaning. “If you look over to your right you’ll see that that door leads into the bathroom. If you’d like, I can summon a few servants to help you-“

“I’m more than capable of bathing myself, thank you.” The elven prince interrupted as he flashed a bright smile towards the servants.

The servants whispered amongst themselves as they became blinded by the gorgeous prince’s brilliant smile.

The women moved to quickly hide their faces as they grew flushed with desire, excitedly whispering amongst themselves from behind closed fingers as they slowly filtered out of the room.

The men were also quick to hide their faces, but remained quiet as they shielded their eyes from the guest’s blinding aura. These servants were all but willing to allow for their eyes to burn the dazzling sight before their eyes into their memories as they were well aware that the elf’s visit would be a hot topic for the many weeks and months ahead of them.

Despite the Vesely family being famous for many things, the professionalism of their servants was one of unparalleled envy amongst the Ranislavian nobility. For the servants to act in such a manner was something that many amongst the aristocratic world wouldn’t have even dared to consider in even the most bizarre of dreams. Yet, here they were; acting in such a manner that would have left countless gossipers of Ranislava’s high society abuzz for years to come.

All of the servants except one, that is.

The Head Butler remained astute in his composure and as the servants slowly began to filter out of the room one by one, the oldest servant amongst them bowed towards his master’s guest for one final time.

“As the master is currently indisposed with another of our guest, the Duchess will be more than happy to accompany you in a nearby drawing room if you so wish it.”

Aurelius thought over the offer for the briefest of moments, giving one last look over around the room before coming to a decisive conclusion.

“Tell her that I’ll be more than happy to have the two of us keep each other’s company, but please ensure that she’s aware of my desire to make myself presentable for our time together. She shouldn’t feel the need to rush over here only for her to wait for me to get out of the bath. After all, first impressions are important in moments such as this.”

The Head Butler nodded at the elven guest’s words as he slowly exited from the room, closing the door behind him with an audible click.

Finally alone and left to his own devices, Aurelius reached for the back of his shirt and pulled the musty smelling attire over the top of his head.

Within these last few moments of the room before he was completely blinded by his dusty shirt, Aurelius paused to gaze towards the bundle of sealed tubes that stood neatly together against the nearby wall.

A light smile crept over his lips as he resumed in removing his attire from the top half of his body and made his way towards the bathroom.

A warm, thick haze wafted over Aurelius as he rested his head over the rim of the tub, allowing for his glistening golden hair to shimmer beneath the thick mist as it floated atop of the water’s surface. The elven prince let out a tired breath of air as he lifted his arms from out of the water and placed them atop of the tub’s sides.

His eyes lingered over the sight of his muscular, toned arms as steaming droplets of the bathwater slid along the contours of his muscles. A slight smile broke from his weary features as the exhaustion that had been weighing his body down became cleansed by the rose-scented bathwater.

Aurelius couldn’t help but be reminded of his wives as he imagined them imagining them sitting together inside of the family’s pond-sized bathing pool whilst gossiping amongst themselves over the various things that had kept them preoccupied over the last few years that their husband had been absent from their lives.

The Dark Elven prince was relieved to have learned that his wives had not only grown closer together during his absence, but as well as having made names for themselves amongst the Dar’Nari aristocratic elite in one manner or another.

Yet Aurelius couldn’t help it as his fingers rapped themselves against the tub’s marble surface, tapping against the finely polished stone in an orchestral tune as the thoughts of his family twisted itself into a dreadful tone.

Closing his eyes, Aurelius took a deep breath and covered the front of his face with the palms of his hands. ‘How many more are out there that are like my cursed brother.’ The elven prince pondered as his fingers ran the length of his gorgeous features before slowly falling beneath the water’s surface without making the tiniest of sounds.

His smile disappeared and twisted itself into that of a cruel frown as he began whistling a running his fingers through the shimmering locks of golden hair as he began to whistle in an intensive and hypnotic melody.

The air around him began to stir as the once warm haze that lifted itself high into the air turned ice-cold and dropped low, covering the tub in an armor-like cast of thick fog. The chandelier that was once solid in its composure began to sway against the strengthening wind, letting forth a dreadful creaking sound as it grinded against the once well-polished hinges.

The hypnotic melody slowly morphed into that of a frightening tune as the candles around the room began to flicker in and out of existence. The life of their flames dimmed to a near extinguished state before quickly roaring back to life with a resurgence of energy that could only be found during the rebirth of a legendary phoenix.

Soon the song that which the prince had orchestrated turned into that of chaos as the walls around him began to bow and reverberate, threatening to cave in and collapse around his prone form as the howling wind reached its apex and threatened to shatter the clattering windows.

Yet such a noise shouldn’t have been possible to hear. Not because of the strength of the frames that kept the panes of glass in check, but because the room was completely devoid of such things. Amongst all of the estate’s residents and its workers, everyone knew that there were no portals to the outside world that allowed for rays of sunshine and moonlight to bask the gorgeously crafted room in their warmth.

The frightening song stopped without warning and in the dead of silence that quickly followed, reality paused for the briefest of moments as it questioned itself and reevaluated what did and didn’t exist amongst the confines of this particular location within real-space that the princely song-weaver now inhabited.

A cruel, sickening grin formed over Aurelius’ blindingly gorgeous features as the sound of shattering glass erupted all around him.

Shards of glistening pieces of glass rained all around the Dark Elven prince as reality slowly returned to the new normal that it had created for itself and with this recreated mortal realm, there approached something that was simply beyond reality’s understanding.

“You,” Aurelius called out in an eerie tune, slowly reaching up to his neck and massaging at his throat as he slowly returned his voice back towards its usual sing-song tone. The elven prince could neither see, touch, hear, nor smell the presence from beyond, but what he could do was sense that it was at his side.

Most importantly, however, he could command it.

“Find the master of this estate and keep watch over him,” An irritated Aurelius proclaimed as he grew irritated at having to waste his breath in order to imprint his will upon the being. “He may be family now, but it’s best to keep an eye on someone who is so close to those who had once deigned to harm my lovely wife.”

The presence slowly dissipated from the reality around the elven prince as he reached for a nearby bottle of shampoo.

Strands of silky, glistening golden hair draped themselves over the front of Aurelius’ face as he began to lather his hair with the creamy substance as he waited for the remaining presence of the entity to dissipate in its entirety.

And once the presence was no more, an eerie smile could be seen from behind the strands of golden hair.

‘You do me a disservice by honoring me with such unwarranted praises, Baron.’ Came the irritated voice of Duke Vesely, the master of the Duchy’s main seat of power as well as Aurelius’ father-in-law.

Thanks to sharing the being’s sight, Aurelius was able to tell that the estate’s master was of an impressive stature. Far more than he had remembered him being during their very brief meeting from so many years ago.

Even though the Duke’s powerful figure was sitting in his seat, the elven prince was able to see that his father-in-law, a man called by the name of Radoslav Vesely, was of a height that easily towered over many of his people.

It was no wonder that Iskra often boasted about how her lineage was rumored to have hailed from a race of “giants”.

And to accompany his father-in-law’s towering height was none other than a mass of muscles that the elven prince could only describe as burly and belonging more to a bear than that of a mortal man.

If Aurelius was a man who was built with a meek personality and of a soft-heart then he would have felt downtrodden to meet with such a man and confront him in being his estranged daughter’s husband.

From the brief mentions about the man from the elven prince’s wife, Duke Vesely was said to be an extremely impressive fighter, but Aurelius wondered if he would even need to unsheathe his sword if the two men were to duel one another.

It was only thanks to the time he spent on his journey to righteously earn the title of kin-slayer and stand before the Gates of the Dark Gods after having slaughtered his oldest brother did Aurelius gain such confidence to boast about such a claim.

‘Such humble mannerisms aren’t needed from someone such as you, Duke.’ Claimed the raspy voice of a portly man who Aurelius had quickly learned as being his father-in-law’s first guest.

Neither the elven prince, nor the human Duke were fond of the man that now sat across from the Duchy’s ruler and the barely contained disgust that one of Ranislava’s most powerful figures had for the pig-like man was left unchecked upon Aurelius’ scowling expression.

The portly guest began to say something else, but his words were silent as the voice of the estate’s Head Butler reached the elven prince’s ears.

“Honorable guest, Madam Duchess has arrived” The Head Butler proclaimed from behind the room’s double doors as he knocked upon their maple frames.

Blinking away the creature’s vision and returning his sight back to where his eyes could actually see, Aurelius looked towards the door with a disinterested stare as he remained focus upon the conversation between the Duke and his plump-bellied guest.

Yet, the elven prince couldn’t help but smile at the unasked question for giving the Duchess his permission to enter the room. By announcing her presence in such a way, the estate’s most veteran servant was allowing their guest to be aware of the Duchess’s entry whether he wished for her company or not.

Aurelius was quite happy to learn that his raven haired wife’s haughty attitude wasn’t something that she was just born with.

“She’s free to enter whenever she wishes.”

With a soft click the door opened, revealing the Head Butler as he took several steps into the room before moving aside to allow for the Vesely household’s matriarch to enter unimpeded.

Along with the Duchess came a flock of maids as they quickly made themselves busy by quickly preparing an extravagant array of tea and snacks whilst others moved to make the couch that sat across from the golden haired elf far more comfortable for their master’s wife to sit herself down upon.

Aurelius gave the scene before him a greedy, yet surprisingly sweet smile as he stood to greet his human mother-in-law.

She was, of course, a mother-in-law who was unaware of having earned such a title with the elven man standing before her, but such a lack of knowledge on such matters would change in due time.

The maids moved to the side as the guest drew closer towards their mistress, giving the golden haired stranger suspicious looks before quickly getting back to their duties and prepping for the impromptu meeting between the two individuals.

And as the elven prince stood in front of his hostess, two maids moved behind the Duchess with a wary look in their eyes. Their hands twitched at their sides, signaling that they were ready to draw whatever weapons lay hidden beneath their uniforms.

Aurelius offered a gentle smile for those assembled before him as he bowed towards the raven haired Duchess, planting a gentle hand over his heart. “Forgive me for my uneducated behavior, but I must proclaim that I hold the dishonor of not having learned the proper etiquette for the Ranislavian kingdom and its glorious people.”

The elven prince looked into the emerald green eyes of his mother-in-law and was reminded of Iskra. The two women shared some similarities when it came to their eyes, but Aurelius was of the mindset that the Duchess’s daughter had a far more captivating and lust-inducing glint in her eyes than when compared to those of her mother’s.

“Yet despite my lack of proper manners, I’ve been made aware of the fact that someone of my status must kiss the hand of any lady who holds a higher position in society than that of the man with whom she is speaking with.” Standing tall and proud, Aurelius gestured towards the Duchess’s hands as he eagerly waited for her reply and acceptance of his offer.

The Duchess uttered not a word as she shared an inquisitive look with the two maids standing behind her, giving each of them a nod of her head as she dismissed them for the time being.

The two maids bowed in compliance of their mistress’s orders and moved to the wayside, keeping a healthy distance between themselves and the Duchess in case they were needed to intervene in any predicament that may present itself in the near future.

The Duchess, who even with the assistance of heels, stood at height that was well below the elven prince’s shoulders, stared into the black-and-silver eyes of her family’s guest with the determination of someone who knew that only her husband and the kingdom’s Tsar and Tsarina were the only people above her in both status and pride.

“How can I allow such a thing if the man in question has yet to offer me the courtesy of his name?” The Duchess asked of the golden haired stranger as she allowed a disbelieving expression to slowly spread across her plump lips.

“Forgive me for my rudeness, Duchess.” Aurelius smiled at the woman’s words before offering another polite bow, this time introducing himself to the fullest of his abilities. “My name is Aurelius Sylvos Dreadblade and while it’s true that I have a home to return to, I’m more known for my reputation as a wanderer in this day and age.”

With a slight chuckle, Aurelius looked back into his mother-in-law’s eyes and offered her one last smile before extending his hand in a manner suggesting that it was now the hostess’s turn to introduce herself.

“A wanderer, is it?” Asked the Duchess as she reached into her sleeves and pulled out a fan.

‘How do these women do that?’ The elven prince asked himself, growing curious as to how the women around him managed to hide such things upon their bodies whilst keeping it a secret until the very last moment from his watchful eyes.

“It’s a cute title. I’ll give you that.” The Duchess quipped as her eyes glanced towards her guardian servants before slowly returning their gaze back towards the elven prince’s towering figure.

“Cute as it may be, it is the truth.” Aurelius returned with his own witty remark as his gaze roamed over the Duchess’s short stature and head-whipping figure.

‘Despite having raised my wife, she looks quite young for a woman of her age.’ The prince’s inner voice chuckled to itself as he continued to gaze down at his mother-in-law; carefully absorbing the differences between the pair of blood-related women as he pondered over what his wife would look like when she eventually reached a similar age as her mother.

Save for an obvious difference in height, of which Iskra towered over her mother by a wide margin, the mother and daughter pair were alike in many ways.

Their sleek, stark raven black hair shimmered beneath even the dimmest of light. Yet it was only through the articulate care in the grooming of their hair where the similarities ended between the two women.

Iskra was a woman who was far beyond obsessed in growing out her hair and in doing so, she often left her midnight black hair straightened out with minimal styling to its glistening strands. Upon his return home, Aurelius was surprised to find that she had allowed for her hair to grow to the point where it had surpassed her ankles in length and could easily brush across the floor if she had even the slightest bend in her posture.

The Duchess, however, was a woman who kept her hair at a moderate length that ended somewhere halfway down the length of her back whilst styling it in whichever manner she saw fit on any particular day.

The two of them shared similar facial structures as well, but while the Duchess held a softer and motherly tone to her gaze, Iskra had a far more fiercer glare to her eyes.

There other, more mountainous similarities as well, but Aurelius found that his gaze remained locked upon the Duchess’s eyes as he became lost in the pair of emerald irises that glared towards his obvious perversion.

The Duchess’s eyes were so much like her daughters, but Aurelius found the pair of gems that belonged to his first and only human wife to be far more mesmerizing.

Whenever he attempted to put such thoughts to words, the elven prince found that he was always at a loss as to how to best describe the beauty held within Iskra’s pair of gem-like eyes.

“I see that the Duchess feels that it is unnecessary for her to introduce herself. Or perhaps it is because I don’t warrant such an honor, of which I wholeheartedly agree.” Aurelius chuckled as he returned his hand to his side before gesturing to the pair of couches standing behind him. “Shall we sit down for a brief moment while we wait for the Duke to finish up with the other guest?”

The Vesely matriarch eyed the blonde haired stranger with a wary gaze before relenting her frustrations towards her guest with a heartfelt sigh. “Very well, if we must.”

Giddy at the opportunity to finally sit down with his mother-in-law, Aurelius allowed for her to step ahead of him and waited for her to take a seat upon the well-cushioned and meticulously prepared couch.

“And Duchess, if I may say one last thing before we begin.” Aurelius stated as he moved to sit across from the Duchess, setting himself down with a relaxed posture as he leaned back into his seat before continuing with what he had left to say. “I’ve only seen one other woman with such captivating emerald eyes such as yours, and I must say that being reminded of her eyes is making me quite greedy.”

Despite the guilt that boiled deep within him, Aurelius found that he didn’t have the heart to tell the mother of his wife that such a description wasn’t the best choice of words that he had wanted to use. Instead, the sensation that he felt deep within his soul whenever he looked upon the emerald green eyes of the mother of many of his children was something else entirely.

Ever since his return, Aurelius found that such a sensation had grown at such a frightening height that it left a looming shadow over the depths of his increasingly paranoid mind whilst a sickening curiosity constantly lingered over the back of his shoulders.

Such feelings that he felt towards his wife could no longer be extinguished until he had found the courage to pluck the pair of finely crafted gems from Iskra’s eyes and lock them away from the prying gazes that dared to lay their sight upon the world’s finest pair of emeralds.