Simone held Lewis’s hand when they walked in and even she seemed like she was at a loss of words. “This… This is almost as big as Auclair castle.” Auclair had been a small successful nation during its time but this place… It was huge even by its standards. Simone let go of Lewis and she dipped herself under the light. “The stained glass is in perfect condition…” Whoever had made it was a master of their craft.

Listening to the math the boys had going on… It was pretty cheap for how big it was. “Not so fast. Listen to what I have to say first,” Simone strolled over and crossed her arms. “You are silver-tongued. No wonder you managed to get the twins by buying them.” She was tapping her foot.

“There’s a lull in people buying weapons right now which has put Kalina out of work. It’s making her irritable. I want a discount and Kali can work in this place as long as we provide the materials. Also, a discount for providing Leilah with all the flora she wants as long as she doesn’t strip the place. I heard for hours last night about the moss and the flowers here and how good they are for ingredients. I’ll let you have all you want for a discount.” She was drilling holes into Raile.

“Also, I’ll take the girls whenever you two want a break once they are born. I figure all in all this is a fair deal.” She put her hands on her hips now. “I got time, the flora, and the workload that you need. Kali is going to crack soon if she doesn’t get a decent workload. This place will at least give you two months to have the weapon stock she made deplete.”

Once that was said she rolled her shoulders, “That’s it. You can think about it. Like you said this is investment… Isn’t it? For all of us.” The first room they came to was a huge great room. It had dark wooden floors that needed to be touched up and a large stone fireplace. “It’s made out of dark marble isn’t it?” She went over to it and tilted her head. “The craftsmanship is good but it’s starting to crack a little from having no care,” she looked around the room and was fond of the big picture windows looking out over the island. “It’s cozy…”

Next was a dining room she supposed with the way it was laid out next to the large kitchen. There was even a pantry off of it that was the size of their old room. Enough room for a lot of kids.

Raile listened with a sly smile on his face as Simone spoke of her ‘deal.’ It wasn’t entirely true on how he ‘bought’ the twins, but he was going to let her have it this time. But it was true about everything else that was happening. With the more recent events happening around Jayou, sales in weaponry were down, and he had already factored that into his calculations. The fact that Benin didn’t know of Kalina’s wares meant he had an entirely new market to sell to, and had been hoping to let her pop over and start her craft here to get a jump start on some profits. As for Leilah, she was out of commission for the time being, but he did know of the special moss that grew in the area, as well as other unique flora that might help in the alchemy.

“You’re sharp,” Raile said as they continued looking about the bottom floor. “However, you need to factor in a few other things. Even with gating, transportation of materials is costly, and a lot of times it’s easier to ship it across the sea despite how slow it is. You wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of materials. Mass transportation is costly, and draining. No discount, however there can be a commission on what she makes that gets put back into the house which should help with repairs and upkeep. Based on the area I’d say….twenty five percent should be good. And for Leilah, there won’t be much she can do until after the twins are born, so you’ll have t o wait until she can work again before we can make any deals. Until then, no discount on that front either, but that’s open for discussion once she’s back to work.”

“In the meantime, you can start pressing and bottling the materials for storage, which I don’t mind buying at cost. I’ll even set up a trade deal for you to make it easier on shipping. That would be 100% profit for you, as long as you maintain the gardens here.” He showed them the next set of rooms, and continued on with his negotiations. “Lastly…I’m sure Leilah wouldn’t mind having help with the girls when they’re born. But, like I said, we can negotiate that once they’re born. So for now, no discount.”

“If you must know, Simone, I bought this place for quite a steal. It is still an island though, and Benin was not very happy with my acquisition. Something about angering the ghost pirates. Anyway, short version of that whole ordeal is that they taxed the shit out of the island. Lucky for me, it’s still well within what I expected from the original price, so it was workable…” Raile looked to Simone, and then to Lewis. “It’ll be up to you two…you’ll need to make a good impression on the locals.” He looked back to Simone. “Well…more on you than on him.”

Lewis gave Raile a look, “Excuse me.”

“Well, you aren’t exactly…sociable,” Raile replied back. “Anyway, if you guys can lower the taxes on the island, I’ll give you a break. Until then, I can’t afford less than the three thousand a month.”

Simone shrugged a bit as she and Raile had their little negotiation. “I have nothing but time to wait. That’s reasonable too, I never said when I wanted to make the deal anyways that part was on you.” Raile really was silver-tongued though and she could see why someone like Leilah was drawn in but she had no idea how Kalina was… That part of the story had been left out.

She waved her hands at it. “I can maintain gardens, I worked for an alchemist.” Worked was the loose term. Something that sent her skin some goosebumps thinking about it. “Shouldn’t be hard to maintain the gardens at all.” She looked up at Lewis and shrugged. “I was the alchemy ingredient for two years.” An almost immortal human tended to fetch a good price.

She waved her hand at him. “I can do it, I was raised to kiss nobleman’s asses and did it quite well. It shouldn’t take too much to get on even grounds… If there are ghost pirates here… Angela said something about me scaring the dead so again I can take care of that, maybe.”

Going to the end of the hall on one of the wings she opened a set of double doors. It was a massive two-story library with stained glass. The bookcases were all built into the walls with fine mahogany. “So, who the hell built this anyways?” She tilted her head at Raile.

“This is a lot of love and care for someone just to abandon it…” She walked around the room and the floor broke and bit but she managed to avoid it. “Also, mine and Lewis’s room is upstairs right?” It would have been the largest bedroom in the house she was sure of it.

The merchant took another look at his own documents. “To be completely honest, between the ghost pirates and…well, apparently this place was made with smugglers money, so I’m sure there’s probably secret paths and the like around here as well. The whole place is just a mess of superstition. The locals try to avoid it. You know how normal people are.” He waved the question away. “Besides, if there is an issue with it, between you and Rhenakos, you can fix it, right?”

Lewis nodded. “It shouldn’t be a problem. But smugglers? And how did it end up in the hands of whoever you were dealing with?”

Raile sighed. “You ask too many questions, you know. The documents trace back to an inheritance. Old smugglers must have given up the trade, and it got passed down through the family until someone decided they didn’t want it anymore. Long story short, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth Lewis.”

The young assassin was surprised at Raile. “Wow, you do have a spine.”

The merchant rolled his eyes. “A silver tongue only gets you so far in life.”

“So…this library is all ours? Even the books already here?”

“Yes,” Raile replied. “And all the books in the second library as well. I’m sure some of the rooms are furnished as well, but I can’t attest to the quality. Up to you.”

Lewis gave Raile a wide eyed look of shock. “A second…library…just how big is this place?” The teen was in shock. “I won’t know what to do with all of this space…”

Raile started to laugh, “Don’t worry Lewis. I’m sure you’ll be busy running around here soon enough. You’ll probably soon be wishing for more space…believe me.”

Simone chuckled, “Kali has obviously been giving him lessons.” That was one woman she wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole after the show of strength at the fair.

There was a smile as Lewis freaked out a bit over it. “Most places have a family library and then a public space library for visitors. Books that they don’t want to go to others and books that are fine. Believe it or not, it comes in handy when dealing with family disputes. The family library, for example, could have tax information, castle information, and all that other good stuff. At least most places that are large like this one.” She corrected herself.

She pulled out one of the books and opened it up. She could smell how old it was and she smiled a bit as she blew on it getting the dust off. Simone blushed a bit at what Raile said and chuckled. “I don’t think we’ll have a herd of children quite that fast.”

Though she didn’t know Lewis’s idea of fast. “We’ll need to fix up everything first. Make it safe. Probably find a nanny for when I need to leave with you. Nanny or three… Depending. That means making sure we have wages. Not only that but house staff would be nice eventually. Going through the painstaking task of making sure people are who they say they are. I only got to sit in on meeting my bodyguard after he was assigned to me.”

That gave her a better idea, “How about we stop shocking Lewis…” Though they might shock him more. “Can we go see our bedroom?”

Raile smiled when she asked to see the master bedroom. “Of course, my lady,” he said with a sly smirk. He had seen pictures of the room, and had intentionally avoided showing Lewis for the shock value alone. Leaving the library, they made their way back to the foyer and up the stairs.

“It’s on the east side here,” Raile said as he went the opposite way that they had come from, and down the hall. “There’s a fantastic view of the lake from here, and you can even see the mountains that surround Benin. It’s amazing,” he said as he approached the ornate double doors. “And here we are.” He stepped aside to let Lewis and Simone open the doorways.

Lewis took the left door and Simone the right, and when they pushed they were greeted with a large room with ornate, baroque swirls on almost every surface imaginable. Golden patterns and sheets decorated the whole room, with a four poster bed at the right end of the room. A small gold table was at the other end in front of a gaudy hearth and chairs.

“It’s…so bright,” Lewis said with a disgusted look on his face. “And…so much.” He looked to the frilly window drapes, and he could see the view that Raile was talking about. At least he hadn’t lied about that. “We’re…burning all of this.”

That smirk told her one of two things. Either Lewis was about to die of shock or Lewis was about to blow his lid and then die of shock. Sure enough when she opened the door she started laugh. “This is supposed to be a show of wealth. I hate it too.” It had been worth the shock. She now understood why Raile hadn’t show them it until now.

“We can burn whatever you want once we make a deal with Lewis,” she chuckled. “We’ll own an entire island to do whatever want~” Simone was excited about it.

Kali came in and she had a tool chest over her shoulder. “Are they buying the damn place or not I want to wreck shit and rebuild.” Simone hadn’t been lying about her about ready to crack attitude.

“Lewis would like to redo this in… darker colors and not as… busy. Maybe swap color pallets to a midnight blue with silver?” Simone suggested.

“Fine,” Kalina nodded, “I imagine like any first time home buyers you two are going to fuck in every room… Just give me a warning.”

“…How many rooms are there?”

“One hundred bedrooms and quite a few other rooms. The most work will be downstairs for the kitchen, libraries, and the washrooms of course.”

That… was a lot of sex. “Sure… Might take us a bit,” Simone said with surprise. That reminded Simone as she went over to a set of doors. “This is this room’s washroom right?” The bathroom was huge with an equally large tub. There were huge mirrors wrapped in gold and the walls were white with beautiful molding. It wasn't heavily patterned but it did have a pink like granite in it. Who knew how Lewis would like this.

“Big enough for four people if you are freaky enough,” Kali spoke and Simone blushed a bit, “Does his lordship require a color change in this room too?”

Sure, Lewis’ reaction was a little over the top, but at least Simone was on board with the changes. He looked behind him when Kalina came in, and agreed with Simone about the color swap and the change in ‘business’ as she put it. He was appreciative of the help, though he wondered what other deals Raile was actually getting out of this whole island.

Kalina and simone went on about ‘christening’ the whole palace, and Lewis was, for the most part, on board with it all. When they entered the bathroom, Lewis gave Kali a look at her remark. “Of course I want it redone. Just don’t…call me that again.” He hated the term. “I’ll even pay you not to call me that again.” He paused for a moment. “Do you need anyone killed?”

Raile shook his head in surprise and looked at Lewis. “Was…that a joke?”

“Did you take it as one?” Lewis asked, a little confused.

“I’d…rather not say,” Raile replied. “Anyway, let’s just call it a work in progress. Are you satisfied?”

Lewis looked to Simone. “I am if you are. Is this…okay?” The assassin was ready to sign the paperwork needed to get it all done. All he needed was the ‘yes’ from Simone.

Kali smirked a bit, “I’ll call you whatever you want me to call you.” He was the boss technically. There was a choking sputter from Kalina as Lewis offered to off someone and Simone was giggling about it. They really were two peas in a pod.

Simone took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m in. Guess we own a really big house now… don’t we?” She should have asked how many gardens there were but it didn’t matter. She liked gardening it calmed her down. “This means we’re going to be busy for a long while Lewis,” Simone chuckled.

She waited until after he had signed to jump into his arms and kiss him. “This was just what I needed~ Thank you.” After that visit to Angela, she had been really depressed and now she had an out. They had an out together.

“We’ll probably have to acquire our own boat but for now I can always fly to Benin,” it was weird to hear Simone talking about her flight skills. She had gotten a lot better at transforming and her aerials were always something to watch because of her coloring.

“When can you have at least our bedroom and the kitchen done?” Simone was eager to get a move in.

“Give me three days and a heavy ass hammer. It will be done,” Kali was ecstatic to get back to work.

So when the work was finally done and they had started to move their things in Simone brought up a tray with some tea for her and Lewis to share. "It's crazy quiet here… except when Kali is yelling at her tools," she offered a smile as she fell onto the couch in their room. "What do you think about it all?"

The next few days passed as Kalina worked on the important rooms first. When it was all said and done, Lewis and Simone found themselves alone in the newly renovated bedroom. The color was a lot better on his eyes, and made him feel somewhat at home. It would be a long time before he could really consider anything truly home, but at least this was a start.

“I think it’s a lot to take in,” Lewis replied. Their resonance had started to die down a lot, and he was starting to get a grasp on how to control it. For the most part, he silenced the emotions he felt, going back to his old self, though he could still at least understand them coming from Simone. Finding that balance had been a pain, but now that they were here, he felt a lot better.

Lewis sat down on top of Simone, and sighed. “I don’t really know how to take it. It doesn’t feel real.” He thumbed the ring on his finger. Until the end of days. He smiled. “These past months have been so much. And I’m so happy…” He laid on top of her, and closed his eyes, just holding her on the couch.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you…”

—

Weeks passed, and Simone worked her magic on the locals. Raile had contacted them about the almost immediate lowering of taxes, to which he asked how she managed to do it in such a short amount of time. Simone merely smiled and replied about her womanly charm, and Raile simply let it drop after that.

Even when Lewis asked, Simone remained quiet and merely smiled and gave him a kiss. Kalina had done a lot of the work, getting most of the downstairs done, and had started working on the upstairs. Everything seemed to be going smooth.