Chapter 762: Tucking Them To Sleep [Bonus - ]

Chapter 762: Tucking Them To Sleep [Bonus Chapter]

Silas slowly let his head fall back against the velvet cushion of his chair, staring up at the chandelier with a long dry groan.

"Thora, you menace..."

A long exhausted sigh rattled through Silas’s chest, lifting Ther’Abella’s silver bangs where her face was buried firmly into the fabric of his jacket.

He sat in the high-backed velvet chair for a full minute, listening to the synchronized rhythmic breathing filling the dining hall.

On his right, Elowynn was snoring with soft fluttery snorts against the birch wood with one limp hand still curled around an empty bread roll.

To his left, Aki’s forehead rested gently against her porcelain dinner plate, her long lapis hair pooling across the tabletop like spilled ink and her delicate lips parted as she mumbled something unintelligible about decorative garden hedges.

...And plastered across his own lap, draped like a heavy leather pelt, was the proud untouchable elf of the Viridian Guard, completely dead to the world.

Silas reached down, hooked his hands beneath Ther’Abella’s armpits, and gently shifted her upright.

Her head lolled back against the velvet headrest of an adjacent chair with a soft clatter of silver hairpins.

CLINK!

Silas stood up, stretched his arms overhead until his spine popped, and looked down at the wreckage of the meal.

There was no way he could just leave the table like this.

...If they woke up with dwarf-liquor hangovers in the morning and found cold chicken grease crusted onto the plates and dried gravy cementing itself to the polished birch, Aki would probably have a quiet nervous breakdown before sunrise.

He stacked the porcelain plates with careful quiet precision, balancing the empty crystal goblets between his fingers, and picked up the heavy copper pot by its brass handles.

He carried the whole load down the short corridor into the kitchen, his leather boots stepping softly over the floorboards so as not to disturb the sleeping trio.

’I should probably look at these before distributing alcohol...’ Silas thought.

This specific alcohol from what he was aware was made strong and specifically for Thor.

"Ah."

Silas set the dishes down in the stone basin beside the prep island with a low clatter.

CLATTER!

Another heavy sigh escaped him as he rolled his sleeves up past his elbows, turning the brass valve on the water conduit.

Cool, clean mountain water gushed out into the sink, swirling around the discarded cutlery and foaming against the residual butter.

He found a block of coarse lye soap, worked it into a fiber scrub pad until it lathered with white suds, and began scouring the plates one by one.

The sound of the scrub pad against the smooth porcelain filled the quiet kitchen.

He rinsed each dish until it squeaked beneath his thumb, setting them into the wooden drying rack in neat, orderly rows as he then scraped down the copper pot, scouring the bottom until the scorched butter lifted away and the metal gleamed under the warm light of the mana lanterns.

By the time he dried his hands on a clean linen towel, the kitchen was spotless, smelling faintly of citrus lye and fresh water rather than burnt tallow.

"Right," Silas murmured to himself, flicking the moisture off his knuckles. "Now for the heavy lifting..."

He walked back into the dining room, looking over the three unconscious women.

Ther’Abella was the obvious first choice.

If she woke up mid-movement and realized she was in his arms, she would probably try to summon starlight daggers into his windpipe, so getting her tucked away while she was completely out was purely a matter of self-preservation.

Silas stepped over to her chair, bent down, and slid his right arm beneath her knees while his left supported her shoulders.

...He lifted her up in a smooth effortless motion.

Her head dropped against his collarbone with her breath coming in warm honey-scented puffs against his neck.

For all her posturing and screaming about killing him, she weighed almost nothing. She was lean, toned, and remarkably light with her silver hair spilling over his forearm in cool silky strands.

Silas carried her out of the dining room and up the grand curved staircase, following the faint scent of crushed lavender and pine that led to the second-floor living quarters.

He nudged the first door open with his hip, recognizing the austere decor of the elven guard’s room.

The bed was made with sharp military precision, lacking any of the soft frills found in the rest of the Keep.

Silas carried her over to the mattress, gently lowering her down onto the pale linen sheets.

CREAK!

He pulled off her knee-high leather boots, setting them neatly side by side on the floorboards by the bedpost, then took the heavy woolen blanket and pulled it up over her shoulders, tucking the edges beneath her chin.

"Mhm... Cute."

Ther’Abella shifted in her sleep, her brow furrowing slightly as her constellation marks gave a weak sluggish pulse of blue light.

She curled onto her side, hugging the pillow to her chest with a tiny sleepy mumble that sounded suspiciously like a complaint about usurpers, before her breathing evened out into deep rest.

Silas smiled faintly, shook his head, and stepped out, pulling the door closed until the latch caught with a soft click.

CLICK!

Next was Elowynn.

When Silas returned to the dining room, the red-haired warrior hadn’t moved an inch with her cheek still pressed flat against the wood.

Silas walked up beside her, hooked an arm under her legs and behind her back, and lifted her into his chest.

She was considerably heavier than Ther’Abella, packed with lush generous curves that pressed firmly against his ribs as he adjusted his grip.

Her thick mane of ember-red curls tumbled everywhere, tickling his nose with the rich heady scent of cinnamon and wild musk.

As he carried her toward the stairs, Elowynn stirred slightly in his arms, her eyes fluttering open just enough to reveal a sliver of hazy unfocused amethyst.

"Mmm... Captain..." Elowynn slurred, a dopey completely uncoordinated smile spreading across her lips as she instinctively wrapped both of her soft arms around his neck, burying her face into the crook of his throat. "You’re my soulmate, you know that..."

"Go to sleep, pirate," Silas chuckled softly, carrying her down the upper corridor until he found the room decorated with crimson draperies and brass nautical lanterns.

He laid her down on the plush four-poster bed, easing his neck out of her loose sleepy grip.

RUSTLE!

Elowynn groaned in mild protest, rolling onto her back and sprawling across the pillows like a stranded siren with her tight bodice rising and falling with deep heavy breaths.

Silas unbuckled her riding boots, pulled them free, and dragged the thick down comforter over her, tucking it securely around her shoulders.

She gave a loud contented sigh, snuggling into the feather mattress, and was snoring again before he even reached the threshold.

Finally, he went back down for the lady of the house.

Aki was still resting peacefully with her cheek against the table, looking small and fragile in her voluminous lavender dress.

Silas walked over, bent down with gentle care, and scooped her up into his arms, cradling her close against his chest.

Her head rested naturally against his shoulder with her long lapis hair spilling over his arm, shimmering like liquid blue silk in the soft lantern light.

She smelled of sweet vanilla, fresh morning dew, and pressed flowers... it was probably one of her expensive perfumes.

’Heh, I want to smell like this too.’

Silas carried her up the stairs to the grand master suite at the end of the hall.

The room was vast and airy, dominated by a massive canopy bed draped in sheer pastel silks, with large arched windows looking out over the moonlit valley below.

Silas walked across the thick woolen carpet, approached the bed, and gently laid her down onto the soft lavender mattress.

He carefully slipped her embroidered slippers off her small feet, setting them neatly by the baseboard then, taking the plush velvet quilt, he drew it up over her slender frame, smoothing out the wrinkles with his hand until she was warm and comfortable beneath the covers.

Aki let out a soft delicate sigh with her eyes remaining closed as she nuzzled her cheek into the pillow as her face looked extraordinarily peaceful and young in the pale moonlight.

Silas looked down at her for a moment, his dark blue eyes softening with deep unreserved affection.

She was carrying the weight of an entire territory on her shoulders, striving with everything she had to prove herself worthy as his vassal, pushing her limits every day without complaining once.

He leaned down over the bed with his dark bangs brushing against her brow, and planted a gentle lingering kiss right in the center of her smooth forehead.

SMOOCH!

Aki smiled faintly in her sleep, her breathing deepening as she settled into the warmest corners of her dreams.

Silas straightened up, stepping quietly across the bedroom toward the large, arched balcony window overlooking the western gardens.

He pushed the glass casement open with a slow noiseless motion, letting the cool evening air billow into the room, fluttering the curtains.

He stepped up onto the stone sill, looking back over his shoulder at the peaceful, quiet Keep.

"I’ll help them upgrade later..." Silas murmured softly into the breeze.

With a light effortless push of his legs, he dropped out the second-story window.

His mana hummed through his legs as he touched down on the manicured clover lawn below with barely a whisper of crushed grass.

He walked across the darkened courtyard with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his dark trousers as he followed the gravel path back toward the circle of rose-tinted marble.

The cool night wind ruffled his hair, clearing the lingering warmth of the dining room from his thoughts.

Silas looked up at the lilac sky, watching the twin crescent moons drift through the clouds with his mind shifting into high gear as he thought about what lay ahead.

...Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

There was no getting around it. First, he was announcing who was moving into the Keep.

The mining contest had run its course, and the promise he had made in the barracks before leaving to free Rika had to be honored.

Once the names were out, the whole valley would be buzzing.

He stepped onto the pale gravel surrounding the travel runes, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful hum.

’I also need Morrighan and Lupina to come,’ Silas thought, his dark blue eyes narrowing with practical intent.

Having his core combat heavyweights stationed out in the perimeter barracks was becoming completely inefficient.

With Blessed Land’s name glowing gold on the Leaderboards and the transition to the Classic bracket creeping closer by the hour, he needed his strongest fighters living right under the same roof, ready to deploy at a second’s notice.

Lupina’s wild pack instincts and Morrighan’s cold tactical belonged in the central war room, not three ridges away down by the training yard.

...And then there was Solenne.

A warm crooked smirk tugged at the corner of Silas’s mouth as he pictured the kitsune chief artificer.

’Solenne moving in is a no-brainer, of course.’

She spent half her days covered in grease and static electricity anyway, running from the workshop to the Keep with armfuls of blueprints and kinetic components.

But more importantly, the undeniable luxury of having her around the living quarters was a necessity.

’How could I live without resting on those beautiful nine tails of hers?’ Silas thought with a quiet shameless chuckle with the memory of that thick impossibly soft silver fur warming his chest.

Sleeping with Solenne’s tails curled around his shoulders was better than any enchanted featherbed the System could ever spawn.

It was restorative, therapeutic, and very addictive so bringing her into the Keep full-time was just sound territorial policy...

Silas stepped up onto the marble circle, planting his boots right in the center of the carved circles.

He channeled a single thread of mana through the soles of his boots, triggering the spatial array.

VUUUM!

The dormant silver glyphs flared into blinding brilliant white light... The spatial winds roared around him in an instant, tearing away the starry sky of Aki’s Wonderland and sweeping him into the swirling, weightless slipstream between realms.

FLASH!

The light collapsed with a sharp concussive snap, and the air around him shifted violently.

The scent of spun sugar and gardenias was torn away, replaced by the sharp familiar bite of cold northern air and the rich scent of the great foundry furnaces drifting up from the lower gorge.

Silas stood outside his own Keep in Blessed Land.

The sky above was a vast dome of midnight blue, dusted with thousands of cold piercing stars that reflected off the jagged peaks framing the valley.

Lanterns were still burning steadily along the granite battlements, and the distant clang of a hammer against steel echoed up from the workshops, proving that Thora and her dwarven smiths rarely slept when there was ore to be smelted.

’Plus snow’s falling again... Fuck this snow man.’

Silas stepped off the platform, taking a deep refreshing breath of the mountain wind.

As he approached the broad stone steps leading to the fortress entrance, the heavy iron-reinforced front doors creaked open into the courtyard.

CREAK!

Two figures stepped out onto the landing with their silhouettes framed by the warm amber torchlight spilling from the great hall.

Silas stopped at the foot of the stairs, blinking in surprise as he recognized them.

It was Eluned and Morwenna.