Simone started to laugh at Lewis’s state of being. “Consider this payback for scaring me last night. You didn’t even get me a bottle of wine to wake up to.” She folded her arms and sighed. “My wedding plans are superficial Silva so we can listen to your ideas once we get this taken care of.”

Looking towards Lewis she tilted her head, “You are my best bet and I like that look like your face when I do something unexpected.” She pushed the chair out. “We need to go to the duchy now. Any more lost time and I’ll lose what my father left to me. It’s bad enough I have to explain everything in front of a council now.”

She paused, “And I suppose you better get used to holding me close and playing the role of the doting fiancee. You owe me this much.” Her eyes were drilling into him now that she was highly motivated. “Let’s go Lewis~ We have no time to lose. We can talk on the way there.”

They sat in the carriage together in a bit of silence at first, “So why did you kidnap me again?”

“You’re Lady Azure,” Lewis said lazily.

“Ah, yeah I suppose that was a bit of a shock for you?” She gave a smile. “I needed a way to control who saw Auclair and the best way to do it was to divert attention to others but also to help the land. No one would have listened to a fifteen year old. They would listen to a woman they thought was older though. Though coming up with the persona took a bit of work since I’m not actually that sultry at all.”

Once they got to Auclair she was quick to catch all of the house help up on what was happening. She apologized for the lie but explained that a secret that big had to have minimal people who knew. Her people were understanding and sad at their master’s death. Packing up the necessary paperwork she took a breath. “I’m not looking forward to this.” She got some flowers and grabbed Lewis taking him down into some catacombs. “The lands here aren’t good for building burial sites so we use the catacombs for nobility. I had it closed off after Father died… It was a secret." She unlocked the mausoleum and took him inside. Two stone caskets with statues of her parents’ likenesses were over them. “I made sure he was with her though.”

She put the flowers onto an altar and lit some of the candles. “Avery helped me shape the stone for him so he matched Mother. He would have wanted that too. He loved my mother very much. So please help me protect them and their hard work. They deserve that much. My father told me that Mother was strong and only really vocal in private. She named me before she died and told him to take care of me. Though I think I took care of him more. He really depended on Mother. She was really good at business relations."

This was all rather unexpected for Lewis. Sylva seemed rather gung ho about the idea that her master wasn’t going to be alone for the rest of his life. Between the pressure from Simone, and the pressure from Slylva, Lewis had to relent to the idea. At the absolute worst, he would have to lose the anonymity that the White Raven moniker granted him. But, it was about time for him to come out of the shadows anyway….at least partially.

“I make no promises on how ‘doting’ I will be, but I will play the role as needed.” Now that the emotions had run their course, he was back to his dull, monotonous tone.

The trip to Auclair was a long one, taking most of the day when traveling by carriage. Time passed by quickly though as they discussed the Lady Azure issue. The conversation devolved from there into gossip between the other kingdoms, and an exchange of more information.

After all, they were now partners.

—

Auclair was much different in the daytime. Even with the setting sun, it was a beautiful territory. The people loved Simone, and their admiration could be shown even in the face of a tragedy. After placating the people, Simone brought Lewis below to the catacombs, where she talked of her family for a time.

“She must have been a great person,” Lewis said, in reference to Simone’s mother. “What do we need to do to prepare for all of this?” As much as she was overwhelmed by it all, Lewis was completely out of his depth. “When do we have to sell this lie?”

Simone looked up at him when he asked. “Tomorrow night. Avery is going to gate us there so we can get some rest.” Her face lit up red a bit. “And it might not be a bad idea to actually work on our couple acting…” She took a breath. “We’ll have to get used to it. They might watch us for a while so we have to be really careful.”

Her fingers were careful as they reached over to his hand and took them lightly. “Just please deal with this for me. We can deliver punishment to Jerome after it's safe to do so. I’m not going to take this laying down. I put up with it because him being alive was damaging for Godwin and he’s an ass.”

They made their way back upstairs, What happened next had her losing composer. “But Martha…” She was arguing with her maid.

“No buts. IF I knew this was your grand plan I would have prepared you for men better,” Martha crossed her arms. “They will expect you two to sleep in the same room. That means you need to get over it. You need to get comfortable with each other. You’ll be watched from the moment you announce it until you can get a handle on everything.”

“I know that… but…”

“No but,” Martha wiggled her finger. “I've set up the Duke’s living quarters just in case you’re being watched. So…” Martha put them in the room. “There’s a change of clothes for both of you. I suggest you get used to it.”

Simone stared at the chambers and looked more like a scared rabbit before she took the nightgown and ran over the changing screen. “I’m beginning to think… I’m in over my head.” She came out and ran over to the bed jumping on it to hide herself.

Lewis was staying back in the argument between Simone and Martha. He couldn’t argue against the logic being used. It didn’t bother him much. It wasn’t so long ago that he was an acolyte of the assassin group, which meant rooming with men and women alike. He had seen everything there was to see, and nothing could really bother him anymore.

When they entered the room, Lewis watched Simone scamper off like a scared rabbit, hopping about as if he were a predator. He smirked, and walked over to his own change of clothes. He didn;t bother with the changing screen, taking off his shirt and pants with little shame.

It was the first time Simone had seen his exposed body. He had a small frame, built for an assassin, but his muscles were defined. Scars littered his body from training and near miss encounters from growing up in the trade. Every scar had a story to be told.

Simone couldn’t stop staring.

“My eyes are up here,” Lewis stated as he threw pants and a shirt on. “Get used to it. There’s not much we can do about it now.”

There was a rustling at the window, and immediately Lewis went on edge. Simone was shocked to see that he had a dagger in hand, despite not wearing any of his gear.

“Master,” a familiar voice rang out.

“Sylva!?” Lewis said in a barely surprised tone.

“Why of course Master Lewis. I could hardly call myself your faithful servant if I couldn’t do something as simple as following you to help out as best I can.”

“H-how did you get in here!?” Simone asked, covering herself more.

“I’m simply one hell of a maid, Lady Auclair,” Sylva said with a curtsey. “I figured that you two might be struggling with something like this, so I am here to instruct you both on performing your duties to each other.”

Simone sat there on the bed in absolute shock. “I…” She hid her face. “Sylvaaaaa,” she whined. “I can figure it out.”

“I won’t stay,” Sylva waved her hand and she smiled, “Master Lewis, you have more experience than Lady Auclair. You’ll have to take the lead for most of it. What’s your actual experience with men Lady Auclair?”

Simone whimpered and looked away shyly. “I’ve never had my first kiss and barely held hands with the ex fiance I had…”

“Oh dear… Master Lewis, you have your work cut out for you,” Sylva brought over a book and opened it to a page. “I do believe that a script will be better Master Lewis. If you just do all of this… It should familiarize the two of you enough by tomorrow.”

Simone was bright red and she fell over clutching a pillow, “I know that book…”

“Then you know what scene I am showing him,” Sylva seemed proud of herself. “I must arrange a matching set of outfits for both of you so pardon me while I leave Master Lewis to begin.”

Simone was biting her lip as Sylva left and suddenly her eyes snapped up to Lewis, “Please be gentle…” She was saying it sarcastically but her body was inching away from his shyly. Cornering herself basically on the corner of the bed against the headrest.

Lewis had no idea what Sylva was talking about when it came to the script he was supposed to follow, but Simone definitely had an idea. Their ‘bond’ over their books was a little disturbing, to say the least. Sylva was far too gung ho about it all. But, Simone played the role well enough to convince Sylva to leave…

Which left the two of them alone. Her tone was sarcastic, but her eyes were fearful of what may actually happened. Lewis took a few tentative steps towards her, his eyes locking with hers. He watched as she seemed to forget about everything else, including how to breath. She trembled as he got closer, his face close to hers. His hand was resting against the headrest, closing off her escape.

“Simone…” Lewis breathed. “Is…this what you want?”

Simone stared blankly, and after a moment started to nod, too terrified to speak.

“Well too bad…” Lewis started to pull away, but Simone pouted suddenly.

“Y-you can’t do that!”

“Do what?” Lewis asked with a half smirk. He wasn’t an idiot. He just wanted to hear her say it.

“Y-you know…I wanted……” Suddenly she was shy again, turning bright red.

“I know what you want, woman,” Lewis said as he closed the gap, locking lips with her. “All I have to do it play the part, right? Is this convincing enough?” His voice was a sultry whisper, almost completely different from the dull, bored tone he always expressed. “Now little rabbit…what else do you want…?”

Simone whimpered and looked up at him after the kiss. “That’s not fair…” He was truly a master of his craft when it came to extorting information. He was enjoying this too much. Which wasn’t a horrible thing in the long run. She could barely form a thought. “You shouldn’t tease me like this… I can’t tell you what I want if you keep teasing me…” She looked away from him for a second. She reached out and took his hand before pulling him close and putting her lips to his ear. Hesitating just a bit she began to whisper. It was stuttering at first but she finally managed to get it out before she pulled herself back and looked up at him with a red face.

God Sylva was going to get her killed tonight. Lewis looked amused at how much he achieved and cupped her face to get her to look at him. She did very well. He picked her up to move her farther down the bed before continuing. In the morning, she woke up and peeked an eye open to see if he was still there. She wasn’t sure if he would have taken off in the middle of the night after a lousy performance on her part.

He was there but she couldn’t tell if he was sleeping. Simone had a little bruising but that was more so due to her delicate skin than anything else. She reached up and poked his cheek. “Are you awake?” It came out as meek as wide eyes stared up at him. “Surprised you stayed here,” it came out as a joke but she felt a bit better that he hadn’t run away from her. “Thank you for helping me… Last night and today… Especially today…” She blushed and diverted her eyes again. “It’s going to be rough.”

Sylva knocked on the door and her and Martha opened it to look in. Simone got bright red and pulled the blankets above her. “Breakfast in bed Master Lewis?” Sylva asked.

“Don’t forget we need to dress you up Lady Simone~ Sylva and I are looking forward to it.” Martha smirked towards Sylva.

“…This sounds like inhumane torture…” Simone frowned up at Lewis. “Protect me!”

Lewis was fast asleep when Simone woke up. He rarely got the opportunity to rest, and after the night’s fun activities, he found himself in a particularly drained demeanor. So when she asked if he was awake, he grumbled, and shifted. He heard her as she spoke, but he was still half awake.

“It should be interesting,” he muttered. “All of this is so very new to you. I anticipate that you will struggle.” He rolled over, meeting her eyes with his own. Watching you struggle and squirm will be worth it. But even more so, watching you push through the adversity and rise to the occasion will be all the better.”

This was nothing like his usual self. It was less guarded, and more sincere. Despite his almost bored tone, it seemed as though he felt something for Simone. A sincere will for her to succeed.

“Now little rabbit,” he said as he closed his eyes. “Five more minutes…”

Unfortunately, his request for more sleep was interrupted by a knocking at the door.

Sylve marched in after Martha, and smiled. “Oh my, Master Lewis. You seem to have done an excellent job with our Lady.” She seemed pleased with herself. “I hope you have many blessed nights in the future.” She giggled as Simone turned bright red. Despite Simone;s protests, the two pulled her in front of a mirror, stark naked.

Despite Lewis having seen all of her, she still tried to hide herself, stuttering and stammering as Matha and Sylva took her measurements and started to work their magic on her.

“My, my, Lady Auclair,” Sylva said with a pout. “I would have hoped you were more well endowed…” In comparison to Simone, Sylva’s bust was far more pronounced.

At the mention of this, Simone glared down at Sylva’s chest, and then pouted to Lewis. “Leeewwwwiiissss!?”

“You are perfect as your are, my lady,” Lewis stated as he sat up in bed, staring in her direction. His cold eyes never wavered from her form. “Sylva…will my usual attire do?”

“Of course, Master Lewis. I have prepared your formal wear in the wardrobe. If you should require my assistance-”

“I will ask. Please see that Lady Simone is perfect for her…performance today…”

His words made her flush a bit and all she could do was nod when he wanted five more minutes. He could have that and whatever else he wanted if he kept looking at her like that. Once the maids showed up all hell broke loose for Simone and she was whimpering towards the two picking on her.

“A little corset never hurt her figure,” Martha nodded with Sylva, and Simone frumphed. “Now now… At least your behind is very cute.”

“I don’t know if cute is very endearing,” Simone frowned a bit and went to cross her arms but Sylva stopped her.

“We need you to stand still for us… Can you do that?”

“I guess…” Stand still they said as they got Simone into one hell of a corset and she was gasping for air by the end as they tied it off. “Did my waist need to be that slim?”

“It’s all for your bust my dear,” they were teasing her at this point. The parade of dresses on her started after her undergarments were done. Martha focused on her hair and makeup while Sylva was on dress duty. Simone looked miserable.

After a bit the maids looked at each other, “Out of the dress and corset.”

“What? WHY?! We’ve been at this for an hour…”

“And your figure isn’t being helped at all by these lousy full dresses,” Martha sighed. “We’ll have to go all in…”

“All in?” Simone looked worried as they got the corset off of her. “What’s that mean.”

“You are going to show skin,” Sylva clapped her hands.

“Wait… What?!” Simone was blushing again but the maids didn’t let her get a word in as they left the room for a few minutes. “…I’m not allowed to move am I?”

They came back in with a dark midnight blue halter dress made from the lightest of fabric. It was deep cut to her navel with flowers decorating in it various appealing colors. “There even with her bust… Much better.”

“Can… I sit down now?”

“Absolutely not… You’ll ruin it by your fidgeting.” Martha sighed as they got her jewelry on.

“Master Lewis… I made sure to make it look authentic…” Both of them were presented with matching gold rings. “Your simplistic engagement rings since you are designing her wedding band just for her as a surprise.” It was romantic and Martha seemed to approve of it.

“Isn’t this much?” Simone looked.

“They think of you as too plain and boring. This will shock them just enough,” Martha commented and helped Simone into a pair of heels as they finished her hair.

“What do you think Master?” Sylva presented Simone to him and Simone seemed a bit shy as she didn’t want to be judged right away.

Lewis had watched through most of the dressing up and down of Simone with a smug smile across his face. He had gotten up and started to slowly dress himself during the whole ordeal. Black dress pants with a white button down, and an elegant silver vest with dark blue accents. It was almost a perfect match to her dress, by the time Sylva and Martha finished having their fun.

“You play the role of a dress up doll quite well, little rabbit,” Lewis said as he looked her over. “But you do dress up quite nice. I think that they will be stunned into accepting anything and everything you say.” The assassin smiled. “I do believe we should g het going then. Sylva, do make sure that the meal is perfect. I expect nothing but the best from you.”

“As you wish, Master,” Sylva said with a delighted smile. “I shall perform my duties with the utmost perfection.”

—

The council was waiting for the appearance of Lady Auclair in the main hall. It was tradition that they all enter the council room to be seated at the same time. Until everyone was present, they would all wait.

The main hall was a massive room with a stunning marble staircase, courtesy of the mines that the Auclair estate held. Eight men stood with their wives and servants, all waiting for Simone to arrive. Most seemed impatient that they had to wait, while a few seemed rather annoyed that an emergency meeting had been called. It was only Jerome who seemed content with the situation. He was grinning from ear to ear, as though he had just won a wishing fountain grand prize.

“Now announcing,” Sylva’s beautiful voice rang out, silencing the group. “Lady Auclair, and her fiance, Lord Terrowin.” The silence that followed was met with the sounds of Simone’s shoes tapping against the marble. She came into view and descended the stairs with Lewis at her side. They both stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and looked around at the council.

One of the butlers, a younger man, was staring at Simone. He had never seen the lady of the house in such a stunning state. His gaze, though, moved to Lewis. Their eyes locked, and at once the butler paled. Lord Terrowin had seen the lust in the butler’s eyes…

She’s mine… A terrifying presence exuded from Lewis, as if a massive beast lurked in the shadows of the assassin. The butler was paralyzed with fear, and his heart felt it was about to explode.

“Are you ok?” A young maid asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. The butler nearly jumped out of his skin.

“F-fine…” he said. When he looked back to Lewis, the assassin was staring forward with a happy smile.

Perhaps…he had just imagined it all.