My walk hadn't been very fruitful. A nearby group of Paladin recruits had worked together to complete a 5-Star Quest together, and so they'd turned the city into a goddamn festival. I couldn't try and gather my thoughts while dodging dancing townspeople and eager salesmen, so I decided to just buy some food and call it a day. I figured I may as well sleep on it. Maybe that would give me the clarity I needed?
Well, a hot shower, a decent meal, and a full night of sleep later, and I can say that I did feel a bit better about how things went with Isobel and me. Sure, she was quite clear about her willingness to use me to get ahead, but she'd also been clear about her interest in me as a person. Besides, would she have cried over my betrayal if she didn't care for me at all? Surely not! She couldn't have known I had an interest in House Greaves when we'd first met, yet she'd kissed me all the same! There was something there. The feelings were mutual. They had to be!
"God, I sound like a desperate schoolboy…"
"Still worried about your girlfriend?" Lyra asked. She was adjusting her makeup in front of the vanity mirror, dressed in her standard adventurer outfit of light silver and black armor.
"She isn't… I don't think we're there yet, but… I'm more worried about how things are gonna go. She seemed to have a plan for us."
"You know, if she pushes things too far, we could just kill her? Hide her body for seven days so the Contract clears. If her family asks, say she was fed up and moved to Ecril or the Wastelands or some other dangerous place." Lyra mused, cool as a cucumber.
"Are you kidding me?! No! Why would we do that?!"
Lyra shrugged. "I'm not saying I want to do that, I'm just saying we have a way out. It isn't like we're actually trapped in whatever web Isobel thinks she has us in."
As much as I loved Lyra, God, she could be dramatic! She was impatient as well, but it was a miracle that her impatience didn't match her ability to think drastically where that wasn't at all necessary.
"Listen, if we're dragged into a corner we can't see a way out of, then we can have this conversation again." I adjusted my silver breastplate. It didn't seem necessary to wear light armor to a casual meeting, but Lyra insisted we wear it "just in case". And neither of us had casual clothes. "For now, let's just see what happens. This run has been relatively tame so far. What's the worst she could do?"
"Corrupt our minds and remove our abilities to reject her rule. I've heard stories of the Demon Queen that involve her seeding unwitting followers' minds with brain parasites that corrupt them over the course of several months, slowly warping their ability to reason so that they willfully choose to do things that Isobel wants them to. She can order someone to jump off a building, and the victim would want to, rationalizing it as something that makes complete sense to them. She's insidious, Lloyd."
I groaned. "You're right. The Demon Queen is very insidious. Isobel Greaeves, though? She's harmless to us! You really need to relax."
"She could've gotten you already. Your willingness to see this through? Not seeing any risks? That's how the brain parasite–"
"You know what? Fine. I'll trust your judgment. If you think I'm ever too far gone, I'm giving you permission to turn the clock back and smack sense into me. For now, let's just focus on getting through the next seven days, okay?"
Lyra smiled in triumph. "Of course, Lloyd."
Remnants of last night's festivities dotted the city as we made our way through it; cups and plates lined the gravel roads as streamers and ribbons dotted the buildings above them. Even as I stepped over pools of dry vomit and past benches crowded with hungover townspeople, it was moments like this that made me love Aspia. Seeing the people outside and happy, taking any excuse to be happy with one another. It made me feel like everything I was doing was worth it. Like my goals didn't come from an overactive Hero Complex. I fought to protect this. For the sake of the teens getting paid to clean this place up, for the Adventurers and Paladins who give cause for parties like this, and for the children who hear the party and dream amongst themselves about the days they can be the cause of celebration.
"Come to any conclusions last night?" Lyra had asked as we finally made our way to the path through the farmlands to House Greaves.
I thumbed back to the city behind us, a smile on my face. "Only that my end goal is to keep them all alive. I can't stand the thought of losing them, Lyra." I gave her a warm yet accusatory glare. "So I'm willing to take on any challenge to do that. Even if it potentially means being Isobel's errand boy for a few days."
"Mhmm," Lyra grunted. "And just what errands is she gonna have you do?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know what it means."
"W-well," I stammered, unwilling to go down that road with her again. That was way too awkward. "She called you here, too. Whatever she's gonna have us do, you're a part of it."
"Y-you think so…?" Lyra asked in a tone I wasn't sure how to interpret. Was she… excited?
***
House Greaves was so empty as to be a goddamn haunted mansion! Isobel wasn't kidding when she said the place would be cleared out. There was nothing in here save for the marble, stone, and wood the place was built with! Lyra and I had walked around the place to try and find Isobel, but when she didn't show up, the two of us had decided to take a little tour of the place.
Despite this place being ours–on paper, at least–, I don't think it set in for either of us that this place was ours. We owned it. We explored the massive dining room, the large empty bedrooms, that expansive regal Throne Room… all of it belonged to us!
"You think we should sleep here tonight instead of the inn?" Lyra mused as we walked through the upper floor of the House, where the bedrooms were.
"We'd have to bring our clothes over, and probably ask Isobel, but… yeah. We could."
Lyra opened the door nearest her to what could only be the master bedroom. The room had a massive circular bed with a fountain in the room. A fountain! "Which room do you want? Because I call dibs on this one."
I shook my head as we continued. "Long as I get a comfortable bed, it doesn't matter which. I'm way too used to that inn…mattress… though…" I said, trailing off at the end.
"What?"
As we'd toured the halls, I'd lost track of where we really were. We'd walked a few doors down from that master bedroom and now stood in front of a very familiar bedroom door.
"Nothing. It's just… this is Isobel's door."
"You think she's sleeping? Let's check."
"Wait!" I called out, but I was too late.
Lyra opened the door to Isobel's room, which, unlike all of the others, was still fully furnished. Her bed was made, that massive mural of her grandfather still glared at us from the back wall, the chair I'd been tied in was still in the corner, her lavender patchouli perfume still permeated the air, taking me right back to the moment where we'd been together.
"Getting flashbacks?" Lyra asked as she stepped into the room, sitting on Isobel's bed. I called after her, but she ignored me.
Accepting that this was happening, I sat beside her, leaning back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. "Yeah. It's… a lot."
"What did you guys even do?"
"I told you what we did."
"I know, but I mean… how did it start? How'd you get into it?"
I turned to Lyra. "Do you seriously want to know that?"
She turned back, angling herself to look me in the eye. "Yeah, I do," Lyra spoke again, her voice unusually… smooth. "How did you guys start having sex?"
"W-we… kissed. Isobel uses a lot of tongue when she's horny, so she was doing that."
"Did she touch you while she did it?" Lyra asked, leaning a bit closer. I don't know what it was, but there was something about her voice. Her appearance. Had she always looked this… I didn't have the word.
My breaths were coming heavier. "She told me to take my clothes off first, then she did."
Lyra lay on the bed beside me, turning to look me in the eye. All five of my senses were trained on her. The feeling of her warm exhale on my skin, the look in her eye as she waited for my response, the sound of my own intensifying heartbeat, the unusual feelings growing in my stomach as I anticipated… what?
"I bet she had her way with you," Lyra mused, smiling softly.
"...She did," I admitted.
"Aww. My little Lloyd," Lyra spoke softly in a faux sympathetic tone. She leaned closer. "I bet you loved it. I bet you loved every second of it."
That feeling in my stomach grew significantly as the sound of her intoxicating voice. "I did…"
Lyra spoke again, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "What did she do to you?"
"She tied me in a chair and stuffed her panties in my mouth, then gave me head until I couldn't stand it anymore."
"I bet you were rock hard."
"I was…"
Lyra cupped her hands over my ear, chills racing through my body. "I wish I could've–"
"I'm glad that my room is so comfortable that you two felt it acceptable to avail yourselves to it." A new voice called from the doorway, snapping us both from… whatever that was. "But I must ask that you get out of my room."