Chapter 85 part 1 – Lunamarie and Jessica

"So did the naughty boy finally turn into a man and bring a mistress home?"

"WHAT!?" Jack and Lunamarie both shout out in unison, exchanging a quick glance at each other before looking at Jessica. Jessica is exiting the bed with a yawn but mouth has a subtle little smirk on it as she sits on the bed's edge.

"Sorry, I didn't know he was your husband." Lunamarie mutters out while Jack thinks about the easiest way to get out of this situation.

Jessica giggles to herself, "Oh you have that wrong, he's not my husband but I guess I will be Queen around here someday, right my brave King?".

"Hey, we haven't decided on all that yet." Jack mutters out after stewing on what to say.

"Oh, so is this new mistress here to take my position?"

"I would never try to take your position Ma'am." Lunamarie interjects, but Jack can feel her hand rest on his clothing. Jessica looks sternly at Lunamarie while the flickering of candlelight brings a romantic atmosphere to the tent, it's not enough to diffuse the slightly tense talk.

"I just brought her back to find some clothing. I didn't think she would start screaming as soon as we walked through the door." Jack replies while the little bird, Fia, continues to dance on top of his head, messing up his hair.

"Sorry to disturb you ma'am, I just got so excited about sensing Phoenix Qi I forgot myself. If you'd like I can let you return to your rest." Lunamarie bows toward Jessica on the bed, her voice one of regret instead of the earlier energy.

"Don't worry about it." Jessica slides out of bed then standing up. Her loose sleepwear, her hair fluttering in the candlelight and her radiant skin almost draw Jack's breath away as he watches her back straighten up and adopt a smile. A beautiful smile that can bring a smile to everyone's face but especially Jack, but Lunamarie is still as nervous as ever holding onto Jack's shirt.

"This naughty boy wouldn't be able to last if I had him all to myself." Jessica says as Jack is still dumbly smiling at her as if he wasn't able to hear these words just now.

"It's nice to meet you, I am Jessica Guld Returner." Jessica bows toward Lunamarie.

Lunamarie stiffens up and responds in an almost dull tone, "I am 992nd heir to the Nalliath Kingdom throne. My father is fourth in line to the throne and special envoy to the Phoenix Empire, I am Selena Portia Lunamarie Heliuso Tialak Kallius Reguld Nelliath."

Lunamarie responds with her best formal bow, "Welcome to Dragon - Phoenix Village, Selena. I see that you have some good upbringing but I want to know, are you here to be a concubine or a helper?"

Jack wants to interrupt this talk as it's getting to be far too personal already, but Jessica subtly shakes her head toward him. He stands back and lets this interaction continue. This is between these two and doesn't really involve him.

"This Princess a concubine?" Lunamarie is taken aback as she mutters but the little phoenix chick pops its head outside of Jessica's loose robe causing her eyes to widen in shock.

"If you wish to be with Jack, then you need to make a decision, so who are you?" Jessica strokes the little phoenix chick. The little ball of spikes rubs against Jessica's fingers, the feathers are slowly spreading out in the phoenix chick, the yellow feathers have a strange light effect that almost makes them look like they're on fire.

"I'm... I'm stuck with him in a life or death contract." Lunamarie isn't paying attention to her words as she stammers.

Jessica pushes the phoenix chick back into her robe.

"Oh, so a contract?" Jessica looks at Jack with questioning yet lofty eyes. "They do say marriage is like a contract, perhaps that makes you the actual first wife?" Jessica looks at Lunamarie with an unyielding gaze.

"No, never. It's something that I forced upon him without giving him a choice in the matter. I had no other option otherwise I would have been trapped for a long time. Umm... was that a little phoenix?" Lunamarie responds

"Oh well good then, uhh before we talk about the little chick what shall we do about your clothing? Shall we get you out of that smelly man's robe and into something fresher? What happened to your clothes? What did you do to the poor girl, hus... Jack?"

"Nothing, she did it all to me. Do you want me to tell you the full story or shall I give you two some privacy for a few minutes to get changed?"

"Well, I'm certainly curious about what this small, young and attractive bunny woman did to you." Jessica smirks at Jack. He knows that he'll be walking into some sort of trap by staying here so looking for any excuse, he decides to make a run for it.

"Haha, be careful of that dagger she has. It's pretty sharp. I will check in with Hilda and ensure everyone knows I'm back." Jack disappears out the flap, leaving the two girls alone. The excuse rings true even if it's not needed as the soldiers would have reported it up the chain already.

He rushes down out of the garden, onto the main street directly to the city hall. That's one of the good things about the garden location of the 'royal tent', it's close to the middle of the village but once it grows and the noise builds up things will need to change.

Hilda is attending to the book-keeping inside city hall when the door suddenly swings open, giving her a fright. A few of the guards posted by the door respond by preparing to strike, but salute upon seeing who it is.

"Wow your Majesty, why are you in such a rush? I was just about to go off to sleep as we have a busy day with the auction on Sunday."

"I needed to inform you that I've returned. I strangely ended up over at the village we took over the other day. We're not sure what's going on there, but it is where Bane was investigating. They'll probably send a report by soon." Hilda writes all of this down.

"I gained a lot of herbs. These are the ones I have come back with, ensure that they're planted and looked after." Jack jots down all the information he can remember from the event, the plants and their effects from the system. There's a lot, but they'll be regrown and not all will survive.

"Umm, I have acquired a few contacts in other regions... I have acquired an Imperial Moon Rabbit of Royal Bloodline, but it ended up being a rabbit that has turned into a human. She's currently in my tent with Jessica. Umm I didn't arrive with Drakon or Tyson but ensure they send word to them."

Hilda is jotting his remarks when her pen tears through the page. Her face is one of disbelief, "She's in your tent? Right now? Is she... of age?"

"The Imperial Moon Rabbit? Yeah, why?"

"Oh lord, why didn't you inform me sooner otherwise I would have rushed the construction of the royal palace. These sorts of things... they need to be handled properly. Will Madam Returner be the first wife, or shall we have the new girl be the first wife? What is her name?"

This change in attitude surprises Jack, but he's not surprised at her change in behaviour. "Her name is Lunamarie uhh Nelliath but wait, she's sort of like a slave at the moment and I can't force anything like that. She has just arrived and is getting settled in. I'm not really looking for anything like that at the moment"

"Ok Lord, but you won't deny her if she chooses of her free will? Madam Returner was speaking about Miss Lazuli being another potential candidate."

Jack shakes his head, "No, I won't deny her nor Amber if they choose, but before all that we need to prepare a workspace for the new girl as she'll be acting as the lead alchemist. Please ensure there's a workshop area setup soon for her. The closer to the garden the better, inform the dwarves of it so they can construct a furnace and such for alchemy tomorrow."

"Ok Lord" Hilda notes down his last words while her gaze is unfocused. Jack waves his hands a few times, but she doesn't respond whilst muttering quietly about things. "The first child will be the first prince...", "perhaps I can have a daughter".

"Make sure you go to bed, I'm returning now."

Jack leaves while some attendants come in to help Hilda clean up ready to leave for the night.

The main street is quiet as it's well past midnight, but Jack doesn't feel sleepy at all yet also dreading the return home. A light jog through the village reveals that many residents are settling into their new life, but with soldiers patrolling constantly it brings the feeling of oppression. It doesn't take long to make the way back to the garden area.

"Lord!" The attendants address him by the gate.

"Did anything happen?" The dimly lit tent is within view between all the leaves of the giant willow tree hanging above. The garden looks pleasant in the scattered light from between all the trees and branches, even if it is kind of eerie, it still settles Jack's uneasy mood on the walk here.

"Nothing Sir!"

"Good Work."

Jack nods at the soldiers and walks on, silently probing around with his divine sense and spotting the hidden guards lurking around. The arrangements look secure but anyone in a commanding position needs to accept a certain level of lowered privacy. Shrugging these thoughts away, he pushes open the flap of the tent.

"No, you can't enter yet." Jessica pushes him away while closing the flap. Jack can see that her hair and clothing are wet.

"We're trying on a few different things. She has never worn some of my stuff... I designed some of what you described, and she was really curious about them. Can you wait and we'll be out soon?"

"Fine, I'll be outside waiting" Jack reluctantly agrees on waiting but out in the garden.

The garden has many open spaces for practise so Jack heads off to one of them and goes through the experiences of the day that just went by. The two qi types, Moon and Shadow moon Qi, which are tied back to the Moon Shadow skill.

The Moon Shadow skill incorporates using both qi types around your body at the same time but it's actually designed to use the 'pure moon qi' or the upgraded form of the energy that flows around his body right now. That was revealed in the information about the 'Moon Race' which was only ever alluded to but never shown. It will be impossible to use this skill without mastering the two qi types or acquiring 'pure moon qi', so it has to be put on the backburner until passing Stage 3 cultivation, Qi condensation.

Jack takes out 'Fang of the Night-Demon' and tries to use his divine sense to talk with the dagger but it doesn't respond to him. He's frustrated but doesn't put the dagger away, placing it on his side Jack starts to practise with a random spear. Tomorrow it shall be important to talk to the dwarves about his spear but also about the spirit inside the weapon.

"Xueli, is there any way you can force a spiritual entity inside a weapon to speak?"

'Not without binding it. I need to sleep now, don't wake me up unless it's important'

"Still avoiding Lunamarie? How can I bind it?"

'There're many ways but I can't use any of them. Good night.'

Jack smiles to himself at the lack of response from Xueli, it's strange how she seems so shy around Lunamarie but the reason should come out in time.

The quiet garden is pleasant as the gentle breeze wafts through it, the smell of spring and freshness brings an uplifting feeling with it as Jack pulls out the spear. It's a great time for him to practice the combat skills that were important today, not just spear skills but dagger skills and sword skills. He quietly trains himself using a combination of foundational spear skills combining them with the dagger and sword at times.

What feels like hours passes by, Jack pauses a moment to consider whether he should check on the workshop as training without his proper spear is almost worthless.

He turns toward the tent one last time before making a decision and is left startled with what he sees.