Chapter Text
Marrying Latte was the best decision he had ever made. Prior to meeting Latte, it felt as though his life was a boring drab gray filled with islands of color, moments where he found a temporary thrill or momentary amusement. Now, there was never a dull moment. Even the peaceful times were filled with contentment— a feeling that was unfamiliar to him, but that he found enjoyable nonetheless.
Even looking at Latte’s face had the ability to make him laugh as she made the kinds of expressions no self-respecting noblewoman would ever reveal. Arwin was pretty sure he must have laughed almost every day this past year. Well…except for the days when Duke Esbande came over to have tea with his wife.
Which was today. The wizards of the Tower stayed well out of his way every time Duke Esbande made a social call to the lady of the tower.
It was not that he hated Duke Esbande. Arwin thought Kenneth was about as dull and inspiring as dirt but he was a reliable and honest man. And it was not that he was worried that Latte’s gaze would stray. The only thing he saw in Latte’s eyes when she looked at the duke was genuine friendship. He was never worried about Latte because she was unwavering and loyal to friends and loved ones.
She was also adorably clueless. So clueless, in fact, it had left him no choice but to pursue her as aggressively and shamelessly as he could. Otherwise, he might have needed to wait another decade to win a wife and he was not a patient man. He despised waiting, especially when he knew what he wanted.
Although Duke Esbande had always behaved properly, his presence chaffed at Arwin. Mages of Arwin’s caliber (not that there were any of his caliber) had a finely tuned sense of intuition that was augmented by mana. Arwin was good at reading people and his instinctive intuition told him to be wary of Duke Esbande. He was an intruder on his territory. His intuition had never been wrong.
Speaking of intuition…he spotted Latte walking with Duke Esbande out of the tower from his balcony. So of course he floated himself down silently to spy on them.
“Your Grace, are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?”
Kenneth shook his head. “It’s getting late. It will be dark by the time I get back.”
The barely discernible smile on Kenneth’s face made Arwin’s hackles rise. The green-eyed monster in him was pushing against its shackles so he touched down next to Latte and gave her a start by wrapping his arm around her waist. “It’s good that you know when you’ve worn out your welcome, Duke,” he said.
Kenneth merely gave him an apathetic stare and a raised eyebrow.
Latte looked up at the sky thoughtfully. Then she turned towards Arwin, hesitated, and when he tilted his head and gave her an enquiring look, she asked, “Would you mind teleporting him back?”
Normally, he would have agreed and then grabbed Bishot and made him do it while he enjoyed a quiet evening with his wife. But a sudden thought occurred to him and a sly grin lifted the corners of his mouth.
“Of course, whatever you say,” he said genially and was rewarded with Latte’s bright smile. So of course the evil he was planning was already well worth it.
Kenneth must have sensed something amiss in Arwin’s expression. “That’s not necess—“
Arwin interrupted Kenneth by clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go friend,” he said and then he whisked them both away in a flash of blue.
While in transit, he briefly thought about dropping Kenneth into the middle of an ocean and then leaving him there. Arwin was not one to tolerate an eyesore. But then he thought about how sad and disappointed Latte would be and the thought disappeared as quickly as Bishot when he spotted Arwin.
Instead, he made the trip as unpleasant and nauseating as possible and dumped them on the outskirts of the Esbande estate.
To Kenneth’s credit, he refrained from dry heaving, although he looked slightly green around the gills as he shot Arwin a resentful glare.
“This isn’t my house,” he said as he straightened up.
“Oh? My apologies,” Arwin said with an insincere smile.
Kenneth heaved a sigh, then turned on his heel and began walking towards his manor. Arwin followed leisurely.
“You may leave now,” Kenneth said, frowning at him.
“I fancy a walk. I think I’ll keep you company.” Not that Kenneth had a choice. If Arwin wanted to stay, no one on earth could make him leave.
If Kenneth had any thoughts about that, he kept them to himself and said nothing. Arwin sighed internally. Kenneth was ever so dull. Looks like he would have to carry the conversation.
After a few moments of walking through the woods, Arwin broke the silence. “Do you ever think about how your life would be if only you had made a different choice in the past?”
“Not really,” came Kenneth’s quick reply.
He must be a liar because Arwin thought about it all the time. “Say for example…if you were a little faster, perhaps the Esbandes might have welcomed a Duchess?” said Arwin.
“What are you talking about?” Kenneth demanded in a rough voice. And then a little more faintly, “Ridiculous.”
Arwin smiled knowingly. “You should be more honest with yourself, Duke.”
Kenneth stopped and turned to Arwin with an annoyed look on his face. “If you have something to say to me then say it and stop speaking in riddles.”
Duke Esbande was as dense as ever. Arwin felt like he was surrounded by idiots so he decided to hammer the point home. “I respect you, but if you ever cross the boundaries…” he let the threat hang, smile disappearing as bloodlust flashed across his red eyes.
There was a tight tense moment where the two men stared silently at each other. Eventually, Kenneth looked away, face a study of disinterest.
“We’re just friends,” Kenneth said with a serious look on his face. “You worry too much.”
Arwin scoffed. His keen vision missed nothing in the dark, not even the slight tremble in Kenneth’s eyes. “You’ve already missed your opportunity. Do you think I would ever give you a chance to be anything else?”
“You’re twisted,” Kenneth said. But this time, he didn’t tell Arwin that he had peculiar tastes or nor did he imply that he was making outrageous assumptions.
“Hmm, probably,” Arwin admitted with a light shrug. He had given his opponent a critical hit after all. It was cruel of him to make Kenneth look at the truth that he had denied and buried deep in the corner of his heart, but he had never been kind to his rivals anyway.
Not that he considered Kenneth a real rival. Arwin knew that Kenneth was honorable. He would never try to steal anything that didn’t belong to him. But honor meant nothing to Arwin. He was a lawless rogue and always had been. If, in an alternate timeline, the Esbandes had welcomed Latte as a Duchess, a dark monstrous part of him wondered if he might still seduce her, kidnap her, or lock her up in the tower. He couldn’t imagine a life without her anymore.
“Well, it’s good that it ended up this way. I’ll take my leave now,” he said and teleported back to the Arcane Tower, back home where his wife was waiting for him. He never turned around to see Kenneth’s face but when he imagined what his expression might have looked like…it made him a little happy.
After Arwin and Latte finished dinner they lounged on the stone bed in the garden. Latte watched fireflies as Arwin sat behind her teasing her hair into a giant gold ball of fluff. At first glance, it seemed that her hair would feel coarse but it was much softer than it looked. Sometimes he liked to wrap it around his fist and gently pull. Latte would make the most charming noises…
“Argh! Stop it!” Latte yelled batting his hands away. He was reminded again of when they first met, how hilarious it was to see her feign death.
Arwin suddenly laughed and buried his head in her unruly mane as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. Fate was a funny thing and not for the first time, he was glad that he had been in the right place at the right time and that all of the Latte’s moments from henceforth belonged to him and only him.
Latte half turned in his embrace and gave him a suspicious look. One that, in his opinion, was completely unwarranted. “What are you thinking about?”
He nipped her on the tip of her ear, not even bothering to hide the heat rising in him. “Just thinking…it was my life’s fortune to meet you.”
He watched for a moment, admiring the charming blush that travelled from her cheeks down to her throat and chest. Then he teleported them to the top of the tower and proceeded to show her just what he had been thinking about.