Brewing Bad Ch. 126-127

Ch. 126 - Homecoming

Though it had been his habit in the past, for obvious reasons, Lucas did not sleep on the ride back this time. He didn’t quite spend the whole trip watching the bushes, but he certainly kept an eye out until they were mostly surrounded by fields. After that, he relaxed a little and studied his system interface in silence, unaware if he was being watched or not. 

While he didn’t make any decisions, he felt like he was being wasteful by sitting on so many points. 35 points to develop himself was a lot, as far as he could tell. It was enough to make him damn near superhuman in some ways if that was what he wanted to do. He should have been getting them the whole time he was here in this world. 

If that had happened, he was sure he would have spent them on whatever made sense at the time. Now that he was in the position to do pretty much whatever he wanted, he felt paralyzed by his choices. Still, he felt the need to do something, so eventually, as he got closer and closer to the manor, he picked up the Sageblood feat and used a few points to bring all his attributes up to average. 

He felt nothing when he adjusted his attributes, but when he selected Sageblood, a warmth surged through him as something critical changed. That was interesting and unexpected, and he paused for a moment but saw no further ill effects. While increasing his mana was something he could definitely justify, given all the experimentation he planned to do. The attribute bumps felt positively decadent. He could tell himself that he was doing it so that people would take him more seriously in his business dealings. He could even tell him it was a mistake, given a certain dragoness’ interest in him, but he doubted very much that it was his body Skylara was attracted to. 

The truth was that he spent those points for Danaria. They wouldn’t mean as much as the ring he’d have to get for her soon, of course, but someone as sweet and lovely as her deserved someone handsome on her arm. While he never planned to become handsome, he would settle for not completely hideous to gaze upon for now. 

That still leaves twenty-seven more points to spend, though, he told himself as the carriage slowly went down the well-rutted roads outside of Meadowin. What the hell am I supposed to do with all that? Become a great warrior, or a mage or something?

While learning magic wasn’t high on his list now that he’d figured out what he could finally use his mana for, the idea of becoming a better duelist overnight and beating the hell out of his dueling instructor overnight did put a smile on his face. Still, before he pulled the trigger to increase his strength or agility any further or locate any interesting martial feats he might have access to, the carriage turned, and he sighted Parin Manor. 

That made him forget everything else, and he contended himself just looking at it as they got closer and closer. The place looked a hell of a lot better than it had the year before, and honestly, he kind of hated the idea of leaving it. He just didn’t hate it as much as the idea of living with Adin. 

The manor was no longer a decaying relic of wealth from another age. It had freshly painted walls, well-trimmed hedges, and wrought iron fencing. The backyard orchard was no longer a jungle either, which helped more than Lucas would have thought; the whole place looked like a fine place to live, even if it was ten times bigger than he ever needed. 

Still, it wasn't like he could even look at the place without thinking of the real reason he was coming back. It wasn't the cider house in the back or the shabby lab he'd built beneath it. All of that could be replaced if he needed to. Only Danaria was irreplaceable now, and her existence called to him like a siren's song.

It had only been a month or so since he’d seen it last, but in that time, the snow had melted, and even though the trees did not yet have leaves, it already looked much better than it had. “It’s okay,” Lucas told himself. “Kar’gandin’s probably already got people hard at work on excavating the foundations for the new place. In a year or two, you’ll be living somewhere even nicer than this place.”

All that was true, but as they pulled up into the gravel drive, he realized that he’d still miss this place though. It had been the only real home he’d ever had in this life. 

Lucas’s carriage hadn’t even stopped when there were already a number of servants, including Gerwin, standing on the porch waiting for him. When it pulled to a stop and he got out, he said, “What’s the occasion? Did you really just miss me that much?”

“On the contrary, sir,” Gerwin said, “We expected someone else. We received words several days ago that the Viscount would be returning today, and we thought you were him.”

“Upstaged by Adin, huh?” he said, walking up the stairs to shake the butler’s hand while Heisenburgle’s men unloaded his baggage. “That’s fine, I’ll just—”

Before he could finish his statement, there was a squeal of delight from the front door, and Danaria came running toward him, holding her skirts up as high as was decent as she ran as fast as she could on her delicate shoes. When she reached him, she bowled him over with a hug that was strong enough that was most assuredly considered indecent. At least that was what Lucas decided based on the way that Gerwin frowned and looked away from the two of them. 

“Oh, by the Gods, Lucas, you’ve come back!” she cried out, only barely restraining herself from kissing him. “Is it for good this time, or just another visit?”

Apparently, that was her line for where decency was, which amused Lucas almost as much as Gerwin’s reaction. On Earth, Lucas would have, without a doubt, swept her off her feet in this moment and kissed her deeply, but at least until they were married, he decided to respect these cultural conventions, as silly as he thought they were.  

“For good?” he asked, feigning ignorance. “Haven’t you heard? The Prince wants to keep me on at the Palace full-time as his personal pharmacist. He only lets me come home every other month now and…”

His words trailed off as it became clear that Danaria was taking him far too seriously, he started laughing instead. It took her a few seconds longer than it should have to pivot with him and get the joke. “Oh, you absolute brute!” she scolded as she released Lucas from his hug to beat her fists ineffectually against his chest. 

“Of course I’m back,” he said. “The Prince and I have come to an arrangement with back taxes, and I think I even figured out… well, we can talk about business in private.” It wasn’t that Lucas didn’t trust the servants who worked here. It was just that he didn’t want everyone knowing his business. 

So, he commanded one of the footmen to bring his cases up to his room, and then he took Danaria’s arm and said, “Come on, let's take a walk.”

She didn’t protest, and it would seem that as long as he held her by the arm. The two of them spent the next few hours appreciating the chill but sunny day as they walked through the garden. Very few of the larger plants were even thinking about flowering yet. Only the weeds really had that idea for now, but that did nothing to mute his enthusiasm. He wasn’t here to look at flowers; he was only here to look at his flower. 

While they walked together and held hands, he caught her up on the vaguest possible version of what he’d been working on. While he was light on details about things like the Prince, the Goddess, and the dragon, he did explain that he’d been working on a nonaddictive version of his Blue that could help people. 

That conversation paused momentarily as she showed off her own talent, creating a scene out of a Disney movie. One second, she was just standing there when a singular sparrow alighted on her finger, and when Lucas paused to make a joke, she just smiled and said, “Oh, I can do much more than that now; I’ve been practicing.”

She began to sing softly, and slowly, more and more little songbirds came at her call. For a few seconds, there were dozens of them orbiting her like a tiny, colorful tornado. Lucas found the sight staggering and said nothing until it finally began to dissipate. Suddenly, he wanted to ask more about her talent and how she viewed it, but he decided against it for now. They had a lot of catching up to do.

Instead, he just told her the truth. “That was incredible, truly. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Danaria beamed at that, and thanked him awkwardly for the compliment before asking, “What were you saying before?” 

Toward the end of that conversation, they found a sunny spot, sheltered from both the wind and the eyes of the manor by a large hedge, and the two of them sat on a stone bench. When he was finally through, she didn’t comment on any of that. Instead, she said, “Something seems different about you.”

“What’s that?” he asked, feigning ignorance as he wondered how noticeable three points of appearance would be. While he did so, he picked a few of the white clover flowers near his feet that were blossoming between two flagstones and started braiding them together. 

“I don’t know, you just… seem more handsome?” she said uncertainly. “Is that strange to say?”

“That’s probably just because you’re letting yourself like me more now that I’m not brewing poison in the basement,” Lucas answered with a laugh. 

“Well, that too, maybe,” she smiled nervously, “But there’s definitely something else going on too. Did you use one of those skin creams you made, or…”

Lucas laughed even harder at that. The idea that he’d ever put on makeup was ridiculous to him. When he recovered, he said, “You know, I think I know what it is,” he said, finally. “You might not know this, but the more you fall in love with someone, the more beautiful they become in your eyes.”

“Th-that’s not true, is it?” she asked, blushing furiously as she turned away. 

He’d only meant to tease her a little, but the way she reacted made him want to tease her more. He just couldn’t help it. “Oh, it’s very true,” he nodded. “Ask anyone. Face it, you’ve got it bad for me.”

“W-well, ever since you talked about living together and… ” she sighed, leaning against him and burying her face in his neck. “I just can’t help it. You don’t hate me, do you?”

“How could I hate you?” he asked. “I feel your pain. I’ve been dealing with exactly the same problem for months and months now.”

This time, she caught on to his words slightly faster, but there was still an awkward pause as she tried to parse everything. “Really?” she asked, sitting up and looking him in the eyes. “I just thought that maybe…”

“If I wasn’t serious, then why would I have asked the Prince for permission to propose to you at our last meeting?” Lucas asked, stunning Danaria even further. 

“The Prince? But why?” she said as she raised a hand to fan herself.

“Why? Because your brother would never give me permission. Now, it doesn’t matter what he thinks of our marriage. If the Prince says yes, then no man can say no.” Lucas smiled as he took her delicate hand and held it in both of his.

His words seemed to have the opposite of the comforting effect he’d intended, and for half a minute, she just looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights. Eventually, she managed to stammer the words, “M-marriage? Now?”

“Well, not right now,” Lucas admitted. “The Prince asked me to wait until after we finish the thing we’re working on, you know, for political reasons, and I’d like to wait until you and I have somewhere built to call our own, but soon, I think. I hope, anyway.”

“Oh, Lucas,” sighed, not pulling away, but acting like she was about to. “This is all so sudden!”

“That’s not sudden,” he said with a smile as he slid off the bench and onto one knee. “I’ll show you sudden.”

All of the blood drained from her face as he took her hand in his. Lucas couldn’t blame her for that. He felt nervous as hell, too. He hadn’t exactly been planning to do this on the ride back, but as soon as he’d seen her, his heart swelled enough that it would have been strange to put it off any further. 

Still, none of that stopped him from slipping the little flower ring he’d braided together onto her left ring finger. “Danaria Parin, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Ch. 127 - Someday

Danaria looked at him in complete shock. There was no evidence that Lucas could see that she had even the faintest suspicion that this was coming, which, too, to be fair, he understood since he hadn’t planned on doing this today, either. 

When he’d woken up, it was something he planned to do someday or soon. It was only when she saw her beautiful face and boundless enthusiasm, though, that someday became today and soon became now. 

“I—” she gasped. Honestly, she looked like she was about to pass out, and for a second, he worried he’d badly misjudged the situation.  

“Listen, if this is too fast, or you don’t want—” Lucas said, trying to figure out what to say that might bring her back to life.

“Of course I will!” she said finally, snapping out of her trance. “I just… Can I tell you something? Do you promise not to be angry with me or with Adin?”

Fucking Adin, he growled mentally. Why didn’t I fucking guess. 

“Of course,” Lucas lied. “I could never be mad at you, and Adin, well, when he comes back from rehab, I’m looking forward to giving him a second chance.”

“Well, before all that, after you talked to me about the prospect of moving out, I talked to him about it, and, well…” she started before faltering. “He wasn’t sure it was a good idea. He told me that you weren’t such a good person and that he could probably find me a better match.”

“He didn’t, though, did he?” Lucas asked, squeezing her hands tighter. “No one else proposed to you, have they?”

Lucas had many reasons to hate that prick. Between the attempt on his life, addiction, and embezzlement of the group’s drugs and funds, he had more reasons to want him dead than to want him breathing, but trying to fuck over his relationship with Danaria was worse than all of that combined in his mind. 

“No, of course not,” she said. “He just… Well, he said a lot of troubling things after we went on our walk and before he left. I think he was looking for a suitable match, though, despite the fact I told him I didn’t want him to.”

“Tell me,” Lucas said as he got off the ground and sat beside her again. “Tell me everything.” 

She started to explain then, or at least summarize what her brother had told her about him. Most of it was based on some little fact that was true. That slender fact was a nail that the man had hung other garish lies off of, though, or facts that had been so distorted that they no longer bore any resemblance to the truth. 

Adin told his sister that Lucas had killed men, which was true, but he’d also told her that he had a bloodthirsty streak a mile wide. He told her not just that Lucas had tried to sell prostitutes his potions and perfumes but that he’d taken payment in the form of sexual favors. He even told her that most of the Blue that Lucas made he did himself. 

“That’s why I’m going to get clean,” Adin had told her when the Prince’s men had come for her. “Because I don’t want to go down that same dark road.”

Lucas was in shock. For a long time, Lucas had kept himself from killing that motherfucker because he didn’t want to upset Danaria; now, he thought it probably would have been better for everyone if Adin had never come back from the woods after the owlbear attack.

The prick wanted to poison her against me, so she wouldn’t believe me if I ever tried to tell her the truth about the way he offered her up to the Prince, Lucas realized.  

“I’ve never had a drop of blue in my entire life,” Lucas promised here, squeezing both of her hands in his. “And the Red Lantern gang? Well, I can tell you the whole ugly story if you want. There’s plenty of betrayal but no sex involved.”

“I know that,” she answered. “I just—” 

For a moment, Lucas thought she was going to cry. Instead, she just embraced him before she murmured, “Even if everything was true, I don’t know how I could turn you away.”

“It’s not,” He reassured her. “You can ask Kar’gandin or—”

“I don’t need to ask anyone but you,” she said, sitting up and looking into his eyes so closely that she was practically daring him to kiss her. 

Lucas did just that. Not just because he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say in the face of all these lies or because his heart was pumping with rage. He did it because he wanted to completely blot out the moment that had threatened to overshadow his entire proposal.

This wasn’t their first kiss, but it was their first kiss in months, and the first one that actually lingered, and as their tongues danced together, Lucas was sure that it was worth the wait. By the time they both came up for air, his murderous rage was all but gone, at least until he heard Adin calling his sister’s name. 

“Oh dear sister, where are you… there’s someone I’d like to introduce you to…” Adin called from somewhere closer to the house. 

As soon as he heard that, Lucas was on his feet to beat his ass, but even as he tried to stride around the hedge to find him, Danaria was grabbing his right hand with both of hers and pulling him back. “No, please don’t fight him,” she pleaded. “In fact, don’t tell him anything about this conversation. Just let it go.”

“Let it go?” he partially snarled. Lucas immediately regretted that when he saw the way that Danaria pulled back. “How can you expect me to let something like this go. At the very least, I should beat his ass or challenge him to a duel, or however, it is you guys—”

“I don’t believe his wicked words,” Danaria promised him. “I know that even if you’ve done some bad things, you’re a good man. Soon, we will be free of this place, just as you promised. Surely, we can live peaceably until then. Please? For me?”

Lucas had no idea how he was supposed to live peaceably with the man for another few minutes, let alone another few months. Still, he took a deep breath and said, “I’ll try.”

That was a lie, of course. I’ll try didn’t mean he wasn’t going to kill Adin; it just meant that he wasn’t going to strike the first blow. Taking a punch or two from that little bitch would be a small price to pay for what I can do to him after, Lucas decided as he strode toward the voice.  

Lucas found Adin, but unfortunately, he wasn’t alone. He was there with his wife and an older nobleman whom Lucas didn’t recognize. “Ah, there’s my sister, and it would seem my, uhmm… cousin has returned to us as well,” he said snidely. “Welcome home, cousin. I’m glad you’re here to help me celebrate my return to the wider world.”

“Well, met to you too,” Lucas answered dismissively. “Feeling much better, I see.” That was a lie, too, of course. Even as Danaria left his side to hug her brother, Lucas could see that the man had lost a lot of weight. Normally, Adin was handsome enough to cut a fine figure, but today, his clothes hung off him limply enough that they looked like they belonged to someone else. 

“Thank you, Lucas,” Adin said hardly enough that his fragile smile barely covered his resentment. “I would have to say that in a word, I feel rejuvenated, but we can talk about my health later. I come bearing excellent news. I have finally found the perfect suitor for my beloved sister. You know my beautiful wife of course, but may I present to you, the Baron of Belgrave? He’s heir to vast titles to the north, and his house is as ancient as it is honorable.”

“Charmed,” the Baron answered as he bent to kiss Danaria’s hand. 

The older man was most definitely not the perfect suitor. He was about three times her age, and as he bent before him, Lucas considered knocking the man on his ass for his trouble. The time that Danaria had taken him to a ball, two dozen men had kissed her hand. It was a common enough gesture in this medieval society, but somehow, at this moment, it made his blood boil. 

“House Belgrave really is a perfect partner for house Parin in so many ways,” Adin’s wife, Arissa, chimed in. “Really, it's a wonder such a fine match wasn’t made before now.”

Still, Lucas waited until the man stood, and Adin opened his mouth before he dropped the bomb. “While I thank you for your matchmaking services, Adin, they will not be necessary. Your sister has already accepted someone else’s proposal.” The look of shock that both men gave him then was priceless. 

“But that can’t be!” the Baron said quickly. “We—” Lucas thought it was particularly telling that the Baron directed his words at Adin’s wife and not Adin himself. That made sense. Adin was clever enough for petty revenges, but trying to marry Lucas’ woman off behind his back definitely had a feminine touch to it. 

Adin talked quickly over the other man, apparently eager to hide whatever their deal had been. “As you well know, cousin, it is my choice to decide these things, ultimately. No matter who might pluck at my dear sister’s heartstrings, it is my role as her loving brother and the head of her family to make the right decisions for her.”

Lucas swallowed his growing bile as he looked at Adin’s smug expression and decided that he was going to enjoy dropping the hammer on him, though not just yet. “Well, cousin,” Lucas said, matching the Viscount’s tone. “If you were known for making good decisions, I should absolutely entrust you with this, but since you’re a—”

“Please, can we not fight?” Danaria asked. “While I don’t want to lead the good Baron on, I want no rancor in this house.”

“Who's fighting?” Arrisa said smoothly. “This is simply a discussion where your cousin is uninformed about the facts of life.”

“Exactly. There’s no rancor, dear sister,” Adin said, flashing that fragile smile. “Just as there’s no one in our home that can overrule me in this. It is my opinion that despite whatever passing fondness you might have for—”

Lucas could see that everything was on the verge of exploding at that moment. The Baron feared that he was being played for a cuckold, Danaria worried they were about to fight, Arissa was ready to crow in triumph, and Adin was trying to dance fast enough to keep all of this together. That was when Lucas decided to drop his bomb. “The Prince decided to go over your head on this one, buddy. You got a problem with it, you talk to him.”

“I— But— Why would he—” Adin sputtered. 

He exchanged glances with Arissa, but she shook her head in disbelief. “You’re lying. I can tell.”

Lucas shrugged, and as a smile played across its lips all on its own, he changed his mind. He’d wanted to use this moment to pick a fight and beat the shit out of Adin again, even though he told his betrothed he wouldn’t. The presence of Adin’s wife hadn’t changed that, but their befuddlement did. 

Instead of trying to aggravate them further, he took Danaria by the hand and said, “Well, you can write to him on the subject if you like, or better yet, bring it up at the ball in a couple weeks in front of everyone and see what he has to say on the subject. For now, Danaria and I have an engagement feast to plan.”

He didn’t even bother to look back as he escorted his bride-to-be into the house.