Jenkins didn't et anyone's eyes as he spoke, his gaze fixed on the teacup cradled in his hands. Hathaway had served them with an exquisite porcelain set, the kind of quality that, in this era, could easily serve as a noble lady's dowry.
"Thursday is the last day of this month, isn't it?"
His tone was slow as he did his best to state the facts calmly.
"At the beginning of the month, my father made a rather... interesting request of ..."
He briefly recounted Robert's words, and the living room suddenly fell silent. The only distinct sound was Chocolate licking its paws. The cat was probably getting hungry.
"So, who did you invite?"
Finally, soone had to ask. The question ca from the blonde girl. Hathaway remained much calr; she already understood the man's heart.
"As it turned out, the people I wanted to invite weren't around."
It was a vague statent, as he didn't ntion anyone by na. He considered it for a mont. He felt like a heel for what he was about to say, but knew he couldn't keep dodging the question.
"I wanted to invite you both, but neither of you were around... so I invited a distant friend to accompany ho. We had dinner, then went to see a play. It was wonderful."
He tried to keep his tone placid, to make the whole thing sound perfectly normal.
"I see..."
The atmosphere of the conversation suddenly grew awkward. For once, Jenkins understood why, but he had no idea how to handle it. The two girls glanced at each other, each subconsciously trying to hide the joy in her eyes from the other.
"He wanted to invite !"
"Speaking of the theater, the Silver Jasmine Opera Troupe sent another letter. The opera is having its premiere tomorrow night, and they gave three tickets. Mary and Robert won't go—Robert got a promotion, so they took John on vacation and won't be back until next week. Papa Oliver has never cared for opera; he prefers his old things to be inanimate. And Chocolate, well, he doesn't need a ticket..."
As he spoke, he pulled the envelope from his pocket, slid the tickets out, and laid them on the table. The opera house was clearly taking the premiere seriously; so of the tickets, particularly those for the VIP seats, were beautifully adorned with colorful, hand-painted illustrations.
"I believe I happen to be free this weekend."
"I believe I am as well."
The won's voices chid in one after the other. In his peripheral vision, Jenkins saw elegant hands pluck the tickets from the table. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and finally looked up. Seeing no strange expressions on their faces, he had the distinct feeling he'd managed to smooth the situation over.
Papa Oliver was right. He was definitely going to regret his decision for at least a week.
After a little more conversation, during which he warned them both to be wary of the recent illnesses and plagues, Jenkins took his cat and headed ho. Once there, however, he found himself with nothing to do, and so he projected himself to Ruen.
His vision had barely cleared when he saw roaring flas all around him. Startled, he instinctively moved to tuck his cat into his arms for safety, only to realize it wasn't a real fire. Soone was simply using their abilities.
A fiery dragon coiled and danced through the room without singeing a single object. The flas ultimately flowed back into Alexia's hand. With a simple clench of her fist, they scattered into sparks and vanished.
"What are you doing?"
He sat down right next to Alexia, his eyes falling on an old book on the coffee table before her. The title read, "Ancient Arcana: Manifesting Through Text."
He was in the living room of Alexia's ho. Winter still held the city in its grip, so a fire crackled rrily in the hearth. It was afternoon, and through the window, he could see an overcast sky and drifting snowflakes. Ruen was a city known for its precipitation; it wasn't a re coincidence that Jenkins always seed to see snow whenever he visited.
"Preparing for Dolores's lessons. I plan to teach her sothing besides mathematics."
"That's wonderful. I'm sure Miss Stuart will be pleased."
"Is everything in Nolan resolved? That was quite the commotion this ti."
The petite woman asked softly, without looking at Jenkins.
"It's resolved. Skryu Pompey is dead, and the Skull Sword has vanished. I actually have Miss Stuart to thank, as well. I had to call on so of her people in Nolan yesterday. I hope it doesn't cause any trouble for her."
"She'll be delighted."
Alexia replied, then closed her book, set it aside, and reached out to take Jenkins's hand.
"On the 28th, you took Julia ho with you?"
She rarely beat around the bush when asking questions, unlike Jenkins.
"Yes."
Jenkins had known all along that Julia would tell Miss Stuart. It was only a matter of ti before Alexia figured it out, too.
"Everyone I knew who I could have brought ho just so happened to be away."
"Did you co looking for ?"
"Of course. Both Julia and Miss Stuart can attest to that."
The corners of Alexia's mouth lifted slightly, forming a beautiful curve. Though she had known about it for so ti, her mood suddenly brightened all the sa.
"What an unfortunate coincidence. I imagine your 'friends' in Nolan must have been quite disappointed, too?"
"Mm... I suppose so..."
He mumbled a vague reply, raising his teacup to his lips as a convenient excuse to stop talking.
"Julia ntioned yesterday that she forgot to return that set of jewelry to you. I must say, it was absolutely gorgeous."
"There's no need to return it. She can keep it. Consider it a gift for attending; it's nothing significant. My father said it was just a normal dinner party, and asking for the gift back would only make it seem like sothing out of the ordinary. The gems were cut from raw stones my father brought straight from the mine. They turned out to be exceptionally high-quality, a rare find."
He hesitated for a mont, but decided against ntioning that he'd actually had two sets of jewelry made. His intuition told him it was best not to tell anyone about that, or it would surely lead to trouble.
"So I'm a terrible man after all."
He whispered to himself, feeling utterly lost about how to handle the situation.
He had to admit it: he had feelings for more than one woman. When he first realized this, he was shocked to find he had beco the very sort of person he used to despise. Then, he felt an imnse sense of relief that the won he cared for also cared for him back.
But the laws of this world stipulated monogamy. While nobles and rchants often kept mistresses, it was considered immoral. Perhaps they could all be together for the sake of love, but the won he cared for all ca from respectable families. None of them would be willing to beco a mistress with no official standing.
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