Chapter 922: Definitely Not a Date

Comes next morning, in front of one of the oldest True Vampire the continent had ever known lays a great challenge.

Celine had faced armies with less preparation, a realization that came to her after she rejected the third dress and found herself studying a fourth as though the fate of Bastos depended upon its sleeves.

The first had made her look ready for an Imperial banquet. Today involved no banquet, political gathering or gathering of noble families eager to judge the restored heir of House Bastos. The second had been comfortable enough for an ordinary walk through the city, which somehow made it feel too ordinary. The third still lay across the bed while Celine stood before the mirror in the fourth and wondered when choosing clothes had become more difficult than planning a battle.

Two women from the Tower worked behind her, sorting through the clothing accumulated since the manor’s restoration. One had regained an entirely human body after leaving the Tower. The other remained mostly lizardfolk, with muted green scales running along her cheeks and arms, though her shape was humanoid enough for ordinary clothing. She had adapted to life in Bastos with remarkable speed and become one of the manor’s most enthusiastic attendants, possibly because someone had described the duties of a maid and she had decided they sounded easier than surviving another Tower Floor.

The lizard woman was adjusting the back of Celine’s dress when her hands slowed. Celine saw the question forming in her reflection and waited until the woman stopped altogether.

"You’ve been staring at me for the last minute," Celine said. "Ask whatever is distracting you before you ruin the fastening."

The attendant hesitated, then glanced toward the human maid for encouragement. None came. "Lady Celine, are you and Chief Ludwig married?"

The other maid suddenly found a scarf fascinating enough to fold for the third time.

"No, we are not married," Celine replied. "Where did that question come from?"

"You live in the same house, eat together, travel together and fight beside each other. Chief Ludwig owns Bastos, but everyone comes to you when they need permission for anything. It looks like a marriage."

"It looks like poor delegation. Ludwig owns the land because the Emperor gave it to him, while I handle the estate because leaving him in charge would terrify the residents."

The lizard woman considered that answer. "Then are you courting?"

Celine adjusted one sleeve to buy herself time. "We have never discussed courting."

"Are you engaged in secret?"

"We are not engaged in any form."

The woman’s confusion deepened. "Are you simply mating, then?"

Celine turned from the mirror so quickly that the attendant stepped back. "We are definitely not doing that."

The human maid lost control of her expression and laughed into the scarf. The lizard woman looked between them, still genuinely confused by a situation that seemed far simpler to her than it did to Celine.

"I don’t understand," she admitted. "Chief Ludwig restored your ancestral home, and you govern the territory he owns. You spend most of your time together when neither of you is working. Everyone says he trusted you with his living armor, and the armor follows you even when he is elsewhere. If you are unmarried, unengaged and unmated, what are you?"

Celine’s gaze shifted toward the corner of the room.

Noctivex rested there in its dormant state, appearing at first glance like a dark metal object left carelessly among the furniture. Its surface moved whenever anyone came too close. Ever since the battle against Sloth, the living armor had shown an unusual attachment to Celine and often remained nearby when Ludwig had no immediate need of it.

That behavior had created enough rumors without the two of them providing further encouragement.

"Ludwig didn’t give Noctivex to me," Celine said. "It chose to stay nearby, and apparently it has strong opinions about who it considers acceptable company."

The attendant accepted the explanation with irritating ease. "That still leaves my question."

Celine turned back toward the mirror and tried to find a simple answer. Friends would once have described them well enough. After everything that had happened, the word now felt incomplete.

She had watched Ludwig do impossible things. She had seen Wrath tear him apart, stood beside him against Usurpers and crossed kingdoms with him while entire civilizations threatened to collapse around them. She had seen him at his strongest and weakest. Facing tools of torture with a smile no man could have, and immediately afterward joking with the emperor of mankind. Ludwig had witnessed what broke loose inside her on the Dawn Isles and seen it again during the battle against Sloth.

They had shared battles, arguments, meals and long stretches of travel. She knew where he disappeared whenever boredom drove him from the manor, and he noticed when she had worked too long before she admitted exhaustion herself.

The quiet moments had changed as well. Their hands found excuses to touch, their silences had grown comfortable, and the night they shared wine on the porch remained too clear in Celine’s memory. She had rested against him with their fingers pressed lightly together, and both had understood enough to leave them there.

"More than friends," she said at last. "That is the most accurate answer I can give you."

The lizard woman brightened. "Then you are lovers."

"We haven’t reached that point."

Celine heard how quickly she answered and frowned at her reflection. The idea caused no offense. It simply described a step neither of them had taken, although the distance separating them from it had grown embarrassingly small.

The attendant tilted her head. "What is the point you have reached?"

"I genuinely have no idea."

The human maid lowered the scarf. "There is a word for two people who clearly have something between them but refuse to decide what it is."

Celine looked at her with immediate suspicion. "I already dislike this word."

"A Situationship."

Silence settled across the room.

The lizard woman repeated it slowly. "Situation...ship. Is it a kind of courtship?"

"It means they behave like a couple whenever it suits them and avoid the conversation that would make them one," the maid explained.

Celine hated how accurately the word fit. She faced the mirror again and examined the dress as if it had personally contributed to the problem.

"Fine. Apparently, Ludwig and I are in a Situationship." She met the human maid’s eyes through the reflection. "If that word leaves this room, I will deny hearing it and know exactly whom to blame."

"Yes, my lady." The woman managed to control her laughter, though her shoulders continued moving.

Celine inspected herself one final time. The wine-red dress fit closely at the waist without the heavy layers favored by noblewomen at court. Its sleeves ended below her elbows, and the skirt remained elegant while allowing her to walk through crowded streets. A dark coat, simple boots and a small amount of jewelry completed the outfit.

The result looked appropriate for a day in the capital. No one would guess that she had rejected three dresses or spent half the morning preparing to go somewhere with Ludwig.

The lizard woman smiled as she made a final adjustment to the fabric. "Chief Ludwig will like it."

Celine met her eyes in the mirror. The attendant immediately turned toward the discarded dresses and became deeply occupied with arranging them.

Celine left before either woman found another question.

She reached the lower hall, saw Ludwig waiting beside the stairs and stopped.

He had chosen his old regalia.

The dark manticore leather fitted him well, reinforced across the shoulders and chest with protective layers that could survive serious punishment without resembling conventional plate. Celine knew the quality of the work because she had helped design the damned thing. It allowed unrestricted movement, endured most forms of damage and made Ludwig look ready to walk into a war council.

That was precisely why he could not wear it today.

Ludwig noticed her expression and looked down at himself. "You’ve been standing there for several seconds. What’s wrong?"

"Everything about your clothing says you expect the capital to be attacked before lunch."

"This looks good, and I’m comfortable in it."

"I made it for war. We’re visiting the capital for the day. Not to kill demons and usurpers..."

"And you look good too." He smiled.

Celine stepped closer and tugged lightly at the reinforced collar. "I’m pleased you appreciate my craftsmanship. Go upstairs and choose something that doesn’t look capable of surviving a siege."

Ludwig frowned. "Nobody in the capital will care."

"I will, and your invitation made your appearance partly my problem."

That argument failed to move him, so Celine looked toward the adjoining hall. "Harold, I need your assistance."

The Bastos steward appeared with disturbing speed. He had joined the restored household recently, yet already treated its public image as a personal responsibility. One glance at Ludwig’s clothing caused his expression to fall.

"My lord," Harold said with the grave disappointment of a man witnessing damage to something valuable. "Please come with me."

"I already changed."

"You dressed yourself. The difference is visible."

Celine covered her mouth, earning a suspicious look from Ludwig.

"You planned this," he accused.

"I hoped you would choose something sensible without intervention. Harold was a precaution."

The steward took Ludwig by the arm and pulled. Ludwig remained exactly where he stood.

Harold planted his feet and tried again with the same result. "My lord, I restored wardrobes belonging to a seven-hundred-year-old noble house. I survived three competing textile merchants, two Imperial tailors and Lady Celine changing her mind about the western hall curtains eleven times. You will not defeat me through stubbornness."

"It was four times," Celine corrected.

Harold ignored her.

Ludwig stared down at the older man. "You understand that I could carry you across the manor with one hand."

"You understand that Lady Celine would send you back if I allowed you to leave dressed this way."

Ludwig looked toward her for confirmation.

"You won’t hurt him, and I won’t change my mind," Celine said. "Let the man do his work."

With a sigh, Ludwig allowed Harold to lead him toward the stairs. "This is tyranny."

"Presentation," Harold corrected. "House Bastos has standards."

"They sound remarkably similar."

Celine watched them disappear along the upper corridor. The lizard attendant had followed her downstairs and now stood several steps behind.

"Is this part of the Situationship?"

Celine kept her eyes on the staircase. "Go...fold something."

Nearly half an hour passed before Ludwig returned. By then, Celine had begun to wonder whether Harold had buried him beneath seven centuries of formal clothing.

The steward had wisely abandoned anything ceremonial. Ludwig wore fitted black trousers and polished dark boots, paired with a white shirt left slightly open at the neck. A charcoal coat rested over it, with subtle silver embroidery worked into the cuffs and inner lining. The tailoring was expensive enough to suit his title without announcing it to everyone who passed.

Harold had even managed to tame Ludwig’s dark hair instead of leaving it wherever sleep and impatience had placed it.

Ludwig looked deeply unhappy. Harold appeared triumphant.

Celine’s gaze lingered until Ludwig noticed. "After being abducted for half an hour, I expect something more useful than silent inspection."

"You look much better," she said, clearing her throat. "Harold made the correct choices."

"That hardly seems worth the suffering."

"You survived worse hardships before breakfast."

Harold adjusted one sleeve and stepped away. "My lord, please make some effort to return these clothes without blood, ash or unexplained holes."

"I can make no such promise."

The steward looked toward Celine for support. She gave him a helpless shrug. "That is probably the best answer either of us will receive."

They left the manor together. For once, Ludwig Hart looked like a wealthy man going somewhere because he wanted to, and Celine found herself smiling as they approached the gate.