The next morning, Lumen felt more refreshed than he had in a long time. Ever since the news of his father’s end, he hadn’t got much peaceful rest and his few hours of sleep were often interrupted by nightmares.

Right now, however, he felt good, and he would have fallen right back to sleep if there wasn’t a slight annoyance interrupting his peaceful moment. Lumen was cold… and that was despite it being the middle of summer. Pretty soon, however, he realised the reason for that, as he was still laying pant-less on top of his sheets. In addition to that, he also finally saw the mess he had made after last night's... incident.

Thankfully, no staff should have entered his room this early in the morning and after quickly washing away the dried-up remains of last night, he focussed back on what had actually happened. The glowing eyes and gemstones of the woman already hinted at what she surely must have done to him yesterday.

Magic!

It was the most logical conclusion... except for the part where it wasn’t, actually.

Never before in his studies - theoretical and practical - had Lumen even heard of a school of magic that could do... whatever it was that had happened in that room. As far as Lumen knew, purple magic was a rather useless field of the arcane. It was the magic used to cast illusions and shadow plays, often employed during things like theatre plays, but in battle, it was wholly useless.

Maintaining an illusion required too much focus and time that could instead be spent actually attacking a foe, plus casting any defensive charm could easily disrupt the effect if a mage came close enough to either the illusion or its caster. And as the final blow against the magic explanation, Thalassia shouldn’t have any mages capable of using spells on such a level, especially none strong enough to fool another mage...

Maybe the woman had just been so alluring due to the fact that Lumen still was a nineteen-year-old boy who hadn’t engaged in the more carnal pleasures for quite a while by now. The new arrival was quite attractive, after all, and the young Duke could already feel the blood returning to his member just thinking about her.

It wasn’t quite on the level of last night, but it was enough for Lumen to imagine caramel-like skin and mesmerising glowing eyes for a moment. He might even have indulged himself in the illusion if he didn’t hear a quiet pair of footsteps approach his room.

Looking out the window, he realised that he had spent quite a bit longer in his daydream than he thought. In response to the approaching staff member, Lumen finally picked up his discarded clothing, even if it didn't help all that much in making him more presentable.

A moment later, a maid knocked on the door and informed the young Lord that the bath was ready, though she didn’t actually expect an answer. Lumen had been neglecting his personal hygiene for the last few days, and as such, the castle’s servants had gotten used to being ignored on their usual morning calls, but after a moment, Lumen gave an affirmative reply. After all, he couldn’t stay cooped up in his room forever.

Taking a bath in the morning had been his go-to way of starting off the day for a few years by now, as he got to enjoy the castle’s steaming baths all for himself. His sister would usually freshen up after her training, meaning in the afternoon or evening, while his parents didn’t really have regular times when they bathed, sometimes even doing so multiple times a day. But, unlike many of his peers, Lumen didn’t always like spending time surrounded by other people, so he quite enjoyed the solitude his early baths represented.

Unlike his normal routine, however, Lumen didn’t leave his room just yet. Looking around the chamber, he saw the still-open box of magical artefacts at the foot of the bed and, after contemplating it for a moment, decided to take at least the training necklace for protection. It deliberately only weakened spells and never fully negated them, as his uncle had insisted that the pain of failure was still the best teacher, but it should be better than nothing... even if part of him was still uncertain whether or not the Thalassian woman had truly used magic against him.

A few moments later, Lumen was ready to leave his quarters and followed the maid down to the baths. He obviously knew the way by now, so his mind wandered back to the events that led up to yesterday’s... climax. The conversation - if one could even call it that - with his mother and the news that was dropped on him out of nowhere.

As a duke, Lumen was intimately familiar with the aspect of marrying for political reasons, and his own prospects in that regard had been no different. In fact, if the war hadn’t broken out at the exact moment that it did, Lumen would most likely already be married into the kingdom’s royal family by now, maybe even have a kid on the way, but now he was meant to marry a Thalassian and an imperial princess at that.

Normally, someone couldn’t even ask for a better partner in terms of political importance, but that just made the calculating part of his mind even more nervous. Sure, the duchy had been influential in the kingdom, but to plan for a marriage literally days after the war was over was a lot quicker than what he had expected. Unfortunately, Lumen had no way of knowing what exactly the princess' or imperial family's plans for the Duchy looked like, so for now, his family would be on the back foot.

As Lumen was thinking about the uncertain future of his homeland, they had reached the entrance to the baths, but to his surprise and eventual shock, they weren’t alone there. The very woman he had spent so much time thinking about had just left the baths herself, and, before Lumen could even react, his guide already bowed her head and spoke up.

“Good morning, Mistress Alexia. I hope our baths proved to your liking.”

The exotic woman didn’t look back at the maid, though, as her gaze was solely focused on Lumen. In response, the Duke nervously held onto his necklace to make sure it was still in place as the two held an uneasy eye contact, but this time it was a lot harder for Lumen to keep looking than it had been yesterday.

To his embarrassment, Lumen was the first to give in as he found himself unable to look into her eyes without remembering what happened last night. Thankfully, the woman didn’t comment on what had transpired between the two, as she addressed the still-bowing maid.

“They were... adequate. Although, I have already found a few ways to improve them. But for now, I will return to my chambers. And you, young Duke, I’m sure we will get to spend more than enough time together soon.”

With that, Alexia - as Lumen finally learned her name - left with a light chuckle, not even waiting for a response. In his mind, there were a thousand new questions nagging just from this second interaction, however. Why was she at the baths at this hour? Surely it wasn’t just a coincidence that they had met, right? And what did she mean by that last bit? Also... why did her maid seem so happy to talk to her and call the exotic woman ‘Mistress’?

Asking these questions, Lumen was finally led into the baths himself. The answers he got, though, all seemed harmless enough on their own, but they also painted a picture that Lumen wasn’t quite sure what to make out of yet.

Alexia simply liked taking early long baths and had asked to have one prepared before the sun had even risen. From what the maid picked up on, the woman was also looking forward to teaching Lumen about her homeland and any weird phrases were probably just her still adjusting to the nuances of an unfamiliar language. And, lastly, Mistress was apparently the best translation for her title as an unlanded noble in the empire, so she said that the staff should address her as such.

On their own, those answers weren’t unusual, but something was still bothering Lumen. If the woman was still learning their language, why didn’t she have any noticeable accent... and why did the maid have such a dreamy expression when talking about her? Was his maid attracted to the woman? Maybe he was just overthinking this whole thing. What the staff did or didn’t do outside their jobs wasn’t his business, after all...

The normally relaxing morning ritual Lumen was used to suddenly seemed like a thing of the past as he brooded over these points in his head, always coming to the same conclusion. He didn’t have enough information... and jumping to any false conclusions could prove far worse than waiting for the enemy’s next move for now.

Eventually, after a few minutes of sitting in the steaming water and only occasionally cleaning his body of the filth that had accumulated, Lumen realised he had to finish up soon. The bath had at least felt physically relaxing as the water had rinsed through his long hair and over his body, but it did little to ease his mind's worries.

Was this how his father had felt when he had become Duke? Had he felt so out of depth, as if he could get swept away at any moment? At least back then the Duke didn't have to worry about new foreign powers suddenly ruling over him.

With quite a long sigh, Lumen finally left the hot water as he grabbed one of the towels from a shelf nearby and started drying himself off. Like usual, a servant had already prepared today’s outfit and had laid it out in the dressing room adjacent to the baths. The mundanity of getting dressed at least calmed down Lumen’s wandering thoughts a bit as he slipped back into his old routine.

Thankfully, the outfit wasn’t anything extravagant while still being adequate for his status, so Lumen didn’t require any help with putting it on, and soon enough, the young Duke was walking out of the baths onto the next order of business. Breakfast should be just about ready by now, so the dining hall was naturally his next destination.

Lumen hadn’t asked what meal would be prepared for breakfast like he usually did, so he didn’t know what he should have expected in the dining hall, but even so, what he saw surprised him. Not because of the prepared meal - which seemed to consist of an ordinary soup or stew of some sort served with fresh bread - but the people sitting at the table.

Near the head of the table, though not at the very top, sat his mother and sister in their usual spots, but opposite to them, sitting in what had once been Lumen’s seat, was the new arrival, Alexia.

The dark-skinned woman seemed content to just listen to the other two talk about something and, once Lumen got close enough, he realised they were talking about the Duchy’s geography. Specifically, about the salt fields near the city that gave the Saltmarches their name.

From where he was approaching the table, though, all three women soon noticed his arrival at roughly the same time. Normally a servant would have announced his entry as well, but they were, oddly enough, all missing at the moment.

“Ah, Lumi,- “ Internally Lumen’s thoughts - focussed mainly on the newcomer at the table - were brought to a screeching halt as his mother nonchalantly used his embarrassing teenage nickname... and right in front of their guest, no less!

“-nice to see that you cleaned up a bit. As I told you yesterday, this is our guest, Mistress Alexia. I’m sure you will see more of her in the coming weeks.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that his mother seemed to be in rather good spirits compared to the last few days, and that the one person he didn’t want to show his embarrassment to was still looking at him, Lumen might have argued about the casual nickname usage. For now, though, he could only hope his feelings weren’t too readable on his face.

Meanwhile, his sister, Alyanna, only gave a small nod to Lumen. His older sister was a woman of few words, though, so Lumen didn’t find that too unusual. She did also seem fascinated by the Thalassian woman, however, as she glanced her way every now and then.

But, if Alexia even noticed the attention focused on her, she paid it no mind, as she fixated solely on the young Duke, a small grin on her face. Unlike yesterday, her mouth wasn’t hidden behind a veil even if the rest of her outfit was similar to what Lumen had seen her wear in her room. He especially noted that she still wore the big jewelled necklace.

“Greetings, Lord Lumen. I am sorry I didn’t introduce myself yesterday. Hopefully, this meeting will be the start of a long and fruitful alliance between our realms. I am Mistress Alexia, but please just call me Alexia.”

For a moment, Lumen was stunned by the apparent sincerity behind the woman’s words but soon noticed how her smile didn’t quite reach the purple eyes looking up at him. He was willing to put up with her attitude, though, if the empire was truly looking to make friends with him.

The young Duke did realise that those thoughts were quite different from what he had thought about the empire just a day prior, but back then he had also been dominated more by his emotions than sound reasoning, so he didn’t question his shift too much.

After a few moments, he noticed that all three women were still looking up at him and finally realised that he hadn’t actually answered Alexia yet. Thinking about how to respond, Lumen decided that it was probably best to pretend yesterday hadn’t actually happened if his guest was also willing to do so.

“Ahh, sorry. I imagine your journey must have been quite tiring, so do not worry too much about it. As the lord of Salhaven, I welcome you to my home. If you find anything lacking during your stay, please let me know.”

Not wanting to waste any more time standing, Lumen finally approached the big dining table but stopped before actually taking a seat. His usual spot, the first seat on the left, had been taken by Alexia. It was usually the reserved seat for the second-highest person at the table or when a high-ranking guest visited, but Lumen didn’t really think that the woman sitting there deserved the spot that had once even seated the king himself. If his mother had allowed it though, he felt it wasn't worth starting an argument over right now.

Plus, the young Duke had to deal with a whole different situation. The only position where another meal was placed was the head of the table, the Duke’s position. It shouldn’t really have come as a surprise and in the presence of his guest, it had been the right decision from the staff, but a part of Lumen’s mind still felt undeserving of that chair.

The Duke of the Saltmarches was meant to be someone... bigger, not necessarily in body, but in presence. Someone like his father. After all, that man could dominate an entire room without even lifting a finger. In fact, during a feast, the late Duke had once stopped a full-blown brawl from happening with just a single word. And now Lumen was meant to sit in that very spot as well?

In reality, it wasn’t even a question, though. The only other seats would have been further down than Alexia, meaning he would put himself at a lower rank than her and doing something like that wasn’t even up for debate in his mind... yet there was still a slight hesitation in Lumen’s steps as he reached his seat.

Once he had sat down, the three women looking at him finally resumed their previous conversation, though it was mainly just his mother giving an overview of the Duchy’s lands and people. Lumen, for his part, just ate his breakfast in silence.

All the while, he was still watching Alexia, however. The woman might not be the existential danger he had believed her to be, but she still represented a different threat: the unknown. She might have wormed her way into his castle and the staff seemed to like her as well, but Lumen knew that beneath her golden caramel-like skin and full lips lay something more... sinister, though he couldn’t quite figure out what.

It was sometimes said that the eyes were a window to a person’s soul, so what exactly hid behind those glowing purple vortexes that seemed to suck Lumen’s attention deeper and deeper...

Suddenly, the discussion about the decreasing mining output of the Duchy’s western regions was interrupted by the clanking and clinking of Lumen’s spoon falling to the floor. All three women looked at him with either surprise, confusion, or amusement in their eyes.

“Are you sure you got enough rest last night, your highness?”

Alexia didn’t even try to hide her amusement, but if she knew the truth of why exactly Lumen’s hand had travelled beneath the table and let go of the spoon, he was sure he would have died of embarrassment right then and there. His own mother and sister were literally sitting at the same table as he was, yet if the sudden noise hadn’t snapped him out of it, he would have seriously just... done that?

At the moment, Lumen was immensely thankful that the table was hiding the front of his pants, as the tent inside was still not receding, and in fact, seemed to be straining against the fabric more and more.

“I.. uhh... I...am...”

Lumen couldn’t quite bring out what he wanted to say, as every time he glanced at the woman to his left, the sensations coming off his nether regions made him unable to articulate any proper words. By now, his blood seemed to be split between either going to his private parts or to his face as it became redder and redder with each passing moment.

After the third attempt of trying to get the words out, Lumen gave up as he just wordlessly slipped beneath the table to get the dropped utensil. The long tablecloth meant there was little light, but the spoon shouldn’t have fallen far, and sure enough, after less than a second, Lumen could already see the light reflecting off the metallic surface. There was just one small problem...

In his few nightly escapades, Lumen had found out that he could appreciate many parts of a woman’s body. From the obvious choices like the breasts and butt to the face, hair and legs, there was much to like, after all, but never in his time had Lumen felt attracted to the feet or toes of someone... until today.

The sandals Alexia wore did, much like her outfit as a whole, leave little of her skin hidden, so, even in the relative darkness, Lumen could perfectly see where the end of her trained legs seamlessly fused into a slender ankle and finally ended with unblemished soles and toes.

If it had been under different circumstances, Lumen might have just continued staring at them, but the way Alexia’s toes almost massaged the silver tool in their grasp proved that time had not in fact stopped in its tracks. Plus, the longer Lumen stayed in this position, the more awkward it would be once he got back up again.

So he crawled the few steps over and was just about to grab the spoon when he felt a new pressure on top of his head. At first, he believed it might have been the tablecloth or something similar, but when he went to brush it away, the object stayed put.

Looking up in confusion, Lumen saw that one of Alexia’s arms had left its position on the table and was now... giving him a head pat. The childish and seemingly innocent action was abruptly replaced by something dirtier, though, as Lumen suddenly felt the hand travel down his face, tracing his ear and cheek and finally landing on his closed mouth.

In his confusion, he didn’t offer much resistance when Alexia’s digits tried to part his lips a bit, and Lumen might have just surrendered to the weirdly pleasurable feeling if he hadn't noticed something in the dim lighting.

Alexia’s outfit was, in many places that would normally be considered quite scandalous, an almost skin-tight fit - most notably near her breasts, neckline, and rear side - but one region where the fabric wasn't quite so restricting was the front of her hips. Lumen had assumed that this was to offer the woman at least some privacy, but some part of him was convinced that that explanation couldn’t have been the whole truth, as he saw an undeniable... bulge slowly forming in front of his face.

At first, it could have been explained as the fabric getting blown away for one reason or another, but with each passing moment that seemed less and less likely as Lumen saw the cloth of Alexia’s pants stretch ever outwards. If his hunch about what the bulge hinted at was true, then not only did Alexia have a... penis, but it was also a lot bigger than the one that was still trying to escape Lumen’s own pants... and it was still growing.

The realisation of what was happening finally snapped the young duke - still on his knees in front of a guest with one of her fingers between his lips - out of his stupor as he suddenly remembered why he had been beneath the table in the first place. With only the slightest bit of hesitation, he finally grabbed the spoon with one reluctant motion. By doing so, however, he also brushed his hand along the woman's slender foot, and for a fraction of a second, there was skin contact. The sensation radiating from Lumen's hand was almost enough to stop him from pulling back.

Much like the feeling of Alexia’s hand on his face, it was like every nerve in his fingers had reacted to the woman's soft skin and demanded more of the intoxicating touch. Thankfully, Lumen had enough presence of mind to not give in, though.

A moment later, the young Duke re-emerged by his seat, but to his surprise, it seemed like the women’s discussion hadn’t even been interrupted by what had just happened. If his mother noticed anything unusual happening, she didn’t let it show for even a second as she listened to Alexia describe some weird food preservation method common in the empire or something. Alyanna, as well, just listened with rapt attention.

The only indication that Lumen hadn’t just imagined the event was Alexia giving him a sidelong smirk that seemed to stem from genuine arousal instead of the earlier fake friendliness. That was as far as it went, however, and bringing the incident up now seemed like a rather bad idea. Accusing his guest of attempted sexual assault might not be as bad as trying to kill them, but it still wasn’t an accusation made lightly. Especially if said guest had apparently held an entire conversation about the empire’s economy while it took place, and it wasn’t like Lumen had been entirely opposed to what she had planned to do to him...

Wait, what? Where had that thought come from? Lumen might find the woman attractive, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to hold him down and...

Just as his thoughts began to drift again, the room’s discussion was suddenly interrupted when a maid opened the door to the kitchen, followed by a second staff member pushing along a dining cart with three plates on top. Once the two reached the table, the second maid gave a bow and wordlessly returned to the kitchen while the first gave a bow to all of them from the left to the right.

“Mistress, Lord Lumen, My Ladies.”

Normally, the head of the table should have been addressed first, but Lumen felt that it would have just started a pointless argument right now, so he let it slide as the maid continued.

“We followed the recipe exactly as you wanted, Mistress.”

The confusion that Lumen felt must have been shared by his family members as they all looked first between the maid, who was putting a plate hidden behind a cloche before each of them, and Alexia, who was the only one not to receive a plate.

“Ahh.. don’t look too surprised. I am here to bring our two realms closer together, after all, and there is no better way of bonding than a shared meal... though I’m afraid I will have to refrain this time, or else I could ruin my perfect figure.”

Alexia explained with a small laugh and Lumen’s mother and sister seemed to accept that explanation, but something about it bugged the Duke. Surely, sharing just one portion of whatever this mystery dish was, should be manageable, even if the woman had the most perfect body imaginable, right? Before he could voice that question, however, the maid made its way over to his side and revealed what was beneath the silver dome.

The first thing that hit Lumen was the intense smell. It was a predominantly sweet note mixed with a spice he couldn’t quite place. As the heir of a Duke, Lumen had enjoyed quite a few rare ingredients and recipes, but, even so, he couldn’t quite place this particular one. The closest thing that came to mind was cinnamon, though he could be wrong, as it had been a while since they last had access to it. Ignoring the almost too sugary smell for now, however, Lumen focussed on what exactly had been presented in front of him.

The main part of the dish was a small puffy pastry filled with a white paste and covered in equally white sauce. The sauce's consistency and colour reminded Lumen of sugary frosting that hadn't fully cooled down yet. There were also some spices or similar floating within the white liquid, and it did seem like quite the appetising dessert when mixed with the smell still rising from it.

A small voice of reason still resisted the temptation, though. If Alexia herself wasn’t eating it, then who knows what could be inside? It would certainly not be the first time a noble died from a poisoned meal, and though it was hard, Lumen held out against the assault on his nostrils.

His mother and Alyanna, on the other hand, didn’t seem to possess the same resilience as the young lord, as both had already broken off a piece of the pastry and guided their forks to their mouths. The faces of pure bliss Lumen saw on their first bite were almost enough for him to give in as well, but what finally broke his resistance was a soft appendage landing near his upper thigh, before it snaked its way upwards.

Looking down towards his crotch, Lumen saw that one of Alexia’s feet, freed from its sandal, had landed just below his genitals and the sensation it sent through his body, mixed with the heavenly smell and moans of his mother and sister was almost enough for him to climax on the spot.

“If you want me to finally relieve all that stress of yours, you have to take at least a bite, okay?”

Alexia’s mischievous smirk, with her beautiful foot still pressing against Lumen’s pants, was the highest form of torture imaginable for the young man’s mind, but like his nerves had been forged out of the strongest metal, he still didn’t give in.

“Oh well, if that is what you want.”

Or so he thought at least. As it turned out, feeling Alexia’s touch, only separated by his thin summer pants wasn’t really the worst teasing Lumen could be subjected to, as he suddenly felt the soft skin of her toes reversing its course, separating him further and further from the release his body was yearning for. Just as the last ever so smooth remnant of the woman threatened to leave him entirely, Lumen finally gave in.

“J-Just one bite?”

“If you want to stop after one.”

Alexia’s subdued laughs were almost impossible to make out over the cacophony of moans coming from the right side of the table, but Lumen could hear them clear as day as he grabbed his fork in one shaking hand and broke off a piece of the pastry. It would have been small enough to get mistaken for a speck of dust, but as soon as it had entered his mouth, Alexia pressed one of her toes against the outline in Lumen’s pants, though that added stimulation would most likely have been unnecessary.

The explosion of euphoria happening inside Lumen’s mouth was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was like the sweetness of the pastry had infiltrated his very core and was replacing anything even slightly unpleasant with pure bliss. It felt like that one bite went on forever, but all too soon, Lumen's consciousness restarted despite its pleasure-addled state.

In the wake of that sensation, however, nothing could compare, not even Alexia’s foot pressing against the sticky spot in his pants. Before he had even fully recovered, and still tasting the sauce’s weirdly salty aftertaste, Lumen already took a second and much bigger bite. The last thing he saw before his world turned white from pleasure overload was Alexia stroking herself as the tip of her penis peeked out from below while her enthralling violet eyes pierced into his very soul.