Though it had been his habit in the past, for obvious reasons, Lucas did not sleep on the ride back this time. He didn’t quite spend the whole trip watching the bushes, but he certainly kept an eye out until they were mostly surrounded by fields. After that, he rexed a little and studied his system interface in silence, unaware if he was being watched or not.

  While he didn’t make any decisions, he felt like he was being wasteful by sitting on so many points. 35 points to develop himself was a lot, as far as he could tell. It was enough to make him damn near superhuman in some ways if that was what he wanted to do. He should have been getting them the whole time he was here in this world.

  If that had happened, he was sure he would have spent them on whatever made sense at the time. Now that he was in the position to do pretty much whatever he wanted, he felt paralyzed by his choices. Still, he felt the need to do something, so eventually, as he got closer and closer to the manor, he picked up the Sageblood feat and used a few points to bring all his attributes up to average.

  He felt nothing when he adjusted his attributes, but when he selected Sageblood, a warmth surged through him as something critical changed. That was interesting and unexpected, and he paused for a moment but saw no further ill effects. While increasing his mana was something he could definitely justify, given all the experimentation he pnned to do. The attribute bumps felt positively decadent. He could tell himself that he was doing it so that people would take him more seriously in his business dealings. He could even tell him it was a mistake, given a certain dragoness’ interest in him, but he doubted very much that it was his body Skyra was attracted to.

  The truth was that he spent those points for Danaria. They wouldn’t mean as much as the ring he’d have to get for her soon, of course, but someone as sweet and lovely as her deserved someone handsome on her arm. While he never pnned to become handsome, he would settle for not completely hideous to gaze upon for now.

  That still leaves twenty-seven more points to spend, though, he told himself as the carriage slowly went down the well-rutted roads outside of Meadowin. What the hell am I supposed to do with all that? Become a great warrior, or a mage or something?

  While learning magic wasn’t high on his list now that he’d figured out what he could finally use his mana for, the idea of becoming a better duelist overnight and beating the hell out of his dueling instructor overnight did put a smile on his face. Still, before he pulled the trigger to increase his strength or agility any further or locate any interesting martial feats he might have access to, the carriage turned, and he sighted Parin Manor.

  That made him forget everything else, and he contended himself just looking at it as they got closer and closer. The pce looked a hell of a lot better than it had the year before, and honestly, he kind of hated the idea of leaving it. He just didn’t hate it as much as the idea of living with Adin.

  The manor was no longer a decaying relic of wealth from another age. It had freshly painted walls, well-trimmed hedges, and wrought iron fencing. The backyard orchard was no longer a jungle either, which helped more than Lucas would have thought; the whole pce looked like a fine pce to live, even if it was ten times bigger than he ever needed.

  Still, it wasn't like he could even look at the pce without thinking of the real reason he was coming back. It wasn't the cider house in the back or the shabby b he'd built beneath it. All of that could be repced if he needed to. Only Danaria was irrepceable now, and her existence called to him like a siren's song.

  It had only been a month or so since he’d seen it st, but in that time, the snow had melted, and even though the trees did not yet have leaves, it already looked much better than it had. “It’s okay,” Lucas told himself. “Kar’gandin’s probably already got people hard at work on excavating the foundations for the new pce. In a year or two, you’ll be living somewhere even nicer than this pce.”

  All that was true, but as they pulled up into the gravel drive, he realized that he’d still miss this pce though. It had been the only real home he’d ever had in this life.

  Lucas’s carriage hadn’t even stopped when there were already a number of servants, including Gerwin, standing on the porch waiting for him. When it pulled to a stop and he got out, he said, “What’s the occasion? Did you really just miss me that much?”

  “On the contrary, sir,” Gerwin said, “We expected someone else. We received words several days ago that the Viscount would be returning today, and we thought you were him.”

  “Upstaged by Adin, huh?” he said, walking up the stairs to shake the butler’s hand while Heisenburgle’s men unloaded his baggage. “That’s fine, I’ll just—”

  Before he could finish his statement, there was a squeal of delight from the front door, and Danaria came running toward him, holding her skirts up as high as was decent as she ran as fast as she could on her delicate shoes. When she reached him, she bowled him over with a hug that was strong enough that was most assuredly considered indecent. At least that was what Lucas decided based on the way that Gerwin frowned and looked away from the two of them.

  “Oh, by the Gods, Lucas, you’ve come back!” she cried out, only barely restraining herself from kissing him. “Is it for good this time, or just another visit?”

  Apparently, that was her line for where decency was, which amused Lucas almost as much as Gerwin’s reaction. On Earth, Lucas would have, without a doubt, swept her off her feet in this moment and kissed her deeply, but at least until they were married, he decided to respect these cultural conventions, as silly as he thought they were.

  “For good?” he asked, feigning ignorance. “Haven’t you heard? The Prince wants to keep me on at the Pace full-time as his personal pharmacist. He only lets me come home every other month now and…”

  His words trailed off as it became clear that Danaria was taking him far too seriously, he started ughing instead. It took her a few seconds longer than it should have to pivot with him and get the joke. “Oh, you absolute brute!” she scolded as she released Lucas from his hug to beat her fists ineffectually against his chest.

  “Of course I’m back,” he said. “The Prince and I have come to an arrangement with back taxes, and I think I even figured out… well, we can talk about business in private.” It wasn’t that Lucas didn’t trust the servants who worked here. It was just that he didn’t want everyone knowing his business.

  So, he commanded one of the footmen to bring his cases up to his room, and then he took Danaria’s arm and said, “Come on, let's take a walk.”

  She didn’t protest, and it would seem that as long as he held her by the arm. The two of them spent the next few hours appreciating the chill but sunny day as they walked through the garden. Very few of the rger pnts were even thinking about flowering yet. Only the weeds really had that idea for now, but that did nothing to mute his enthusiasm. He wasn’t here to look at flowers; he was only here to look at his flower.

  While they walked together and held hands, he caught her up on the vaguest possible version of what he’d been working on. While he was light on details about things like the Prince, the Goddess, and the dragon, he did expin that he’d been working on a nonaddictive version of his Blue that could help people.

  That conversation paused momentarily as she showed off her own talent, creating a scene out of a Disney movie. One second, she was just standing there when a singur sparrow alighted on her finger, and when Lucas paused to make a joke, she just smiled and said, “Oh, I can do much more than that now; I’ve been practicing.”

  She began to sing softly, and slowly, more and more little songbirds came at her call. For a few seconds, there were dozens of them orbiting her like a tiny, colorful tornado. Lucas found the sight staggering and said nothing until it finally began to dissipate. Suddenly, he wanted to ask more about her talent and how she viewed it, but he decided against it for now. They had a lot of catching up to do.

  Instead, he just told her the truth. “That was incredible, truly. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Danaria beamed at that, and thanked him awkwardly for the compliment before asking, “What were you saying before?”

  Toward the end of that conversation, they found a sunny spot, sheltered from both the wind and the eyes of the manor by a rge hedge, and the two of them sat on a stone bench. When he was finally through, she didn’t comment on any of that. Instead, she said, “Something seems different about you.”

  “What’s that?” he asked, feigning ignorance as he wondered how noticeable three points of appearance would be. While he did so, he picked a few of the white clover flowers near his feet that were blossoming between two fgstones and started braiding them together.

  “I don’t know, you just… seem more handsome?” she said uncertainly. “Is that strange to say?”

  “That’s probably just because you’re letting yourself like me more now that I’m not brewing poison in the basement,” Lucas answered with a ugh.

  “Well, that too, maybe,” she smiled nervously, “But there’s definitely something else going on too. Did you use one of those skin creams you made, or…”

  Lucas ughed even harder at that. The idea that he’d ever put on makeup was ridiculous to him. When he recovered, he said, “You know, I think I know what it is,” he said, finally. “You might not know this, but the more you fall in love with someone, the more beautiful they become in your eyes.”

  “Th-that’s not true, is it?” she asked, blushing furiously as she turned away.

  He’d only meant to tease her a little, but the way she reacted made him want to tease her more. He just couldn’t help it. “Oh, it’s very true,” he nodded. “Ask anyone. Face it, you’ve got it bad for me.”

  “W-well, ever since you talked about living together and… ” she sighed, leaning against him and burying her face in his neck. “I just can’t help it. You don’t hate me, do you?”

  “How could I hate you?” he asked. “I feel your pain. I’ve been dealing with exactly the same problem for months and months now.”

  This time, she caught on to his words slightly faster, but there was still an awkward pause as she tried to parse everything. “Really?” she asked, sitting up and looking him in the eyes. “I just thought that maybe…”

  “If I wasn’t serious, then why would I have asked the Prince for permission to propose to you at our st meeting?” Lucas asked, stunning Danaria even further.

  “The Prince? But why?” she said as she raised a hand to fan herself.

  “Why? Because your brother would never give me permission. Now, it doesn’t matter what he thinks of our marriage. If the Prince says yes, then no man can say no.” Lucas smiled as he took her delicate hand and held it in both of his.

  His words seemed to have the opposite of the comforting effect he’d intended, and for half a minute, she just looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights. Eventually, she managed to stammer the words, “M-marriage? Now?”

  “Well, not right now,” Lucas admitted. “The Prince asked me to wait until after we finish the thing we’re working on, you know, for political reasons, and I’d like to wait until you and I have somewhere built to call our own, but soon, I think. I hope, anyway.”

  “Oh, Lucas,” sighed, not pulling away, but acting like she was about to. “This is all so sudden!”

  “That’s not sudden,” he said with a smile as he slid off the bench and onto one knee. “I’ll show you sudden.”

  All of the blood drained from her face as he took her hand in his. Lucas couldn’t bme her for that. He felt nervous as hell, too. He hadn’t exactly been pnning to do this on the ride back, but as soon as he’d seen her, his heart swelled enough that it would have been strange to put it off any further.

  Still, none of that stopped him from slipping the little flower ring he’d braided together onto her left ring finger. “Danaria Parin, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”