We returned to The Gnashing Teeth in the afternoon after getting some lunch. I also managed to snag a couple of bags of Alvin’s roasted chestnuts thanks to my new status. While I didn’t agree to take them for free – Tizek went through the dance of paying for extras and not taking any – I had no problem in this instance leveraging my nobility to cut the line. Those chestnuts are too good to pass up and I haven’t had any in over 30 years.

  “I can’t believe you bought that thing,” Void groaned as we approached the pub.

  I was enjoying my new duds. Sure, I had to throw out my old clothing, but at least Honeywell was accommodating while I held an impromptu funeral to my chewed-up shorts.

  “Look,” I whispered, “This is probably going to be temporary. I’ll remember not to sit in the alley yuck next time around and I’ll be back in my comforting old clothes.”

  “I don’t want that to happen,” Lia said from behind her butterfly mask. The mask had orange-and-black open wings along with a hint of purple down the center by the eyes. It didn’t do much to cover the absence of hair along her muzzle or neck, but it did draw the eyes away from the bald spots.

  I ruffled Lia’s head. “I don’t, either. I’d rather lose my favorite britches than have you three loop again.”

  “We will be victorious,” Tizek announced. I gave him a shoulder pat.

  Before entering the Teeth, I glanced to the side alley. Thankfully, Hespeth and her crew had left, hopefully for good. Of course, knowing my luck, they were just off on their lunch break.

  We entered the Teeth and I saw Doun sitting at a table with a wolverine-clan woman in her early 20s. Doun was asking questions about server experience and the woman was answering them with a surprising degree of charisma. She had an electric smile and was personable.

  Doun saw us enter and nodded to the woman. “Meet Zelda. She’s interviewing to be a server in the evenings.”

  Zelda’s eyes widened when she saw me and stood so fast she kicked her chair over. She gave me a curtsey, which looked cute in her modest green townswoman dress. “Baron, I am humbled to make your acquaintance.”

  Oddly, even Doun stood and bowed. “Welcome home, Baron.” I felt briefly puzzled then I realized he was keeping up appearances in front of a stranger.

  “Pleased to meet you as well, as you were,” I said.

  The two bowed once more and sat down. Doun then stretched his hand out to Zelda. “You’re hired. Come by tomorrow afternoon and we’ll train you. You can get a serving uniform at Millie’s and tell them it’s for The Gnashing Teeth. Bring me the receipt and I’ll reimburse you.”

  “Thank you!” Zelda gripped Doun’s hand and shook it vigorously. Then, overwhelmed with emotion, she jumped up again and pulled Doun into a hug.

  Doun gently pried Zelda’s arms from his torso. “I appreciate the excitement, but hugging your boss isn’t acceptable.”

  Zelda released her grip on Doun and her hands rocketed up to her mouth. “My apologies! By the Grand Creator, I was just so happy I can tell my parents I found a job and can move out.”

  With one more hasty bow, Zelda rushed out of the Teeth and off into the city.

  “Dad?” Void asked once Zelda left, “What happened to Juliette? Did she get sick again?”

  A massive scowl formed on Doun’s face. “That little…she quit out of nowhere. Didn’t even have the graces to do it in person. I got a courier message this morning. Said she left the city this morning to move to her Uncle’s village. Didn’t even return the uniform.”

  I sympathized with him. Even in a fantasy world of magic and beast people, small businesses finding help was not easy. “I’m surprised you found someone so fast.”

  “It was providence. I had just hung up the help wanted sign when Zelda walked by,” Doun said. “Maybe the Grand Creator is looking out for us.”

  Before I could say anything in response to that, I heard a loud throat clearing from behind the bar. There, leaning out from the entry to the rear hall leading to the kitchen was Mira. She had a death glare plastered on her face. “Doun? Why were you hugging that young woman?”

  Doun’s mouth fell open and a look of terror crossed his face. “She hugged me! I didn’t do it.”

  Doun was too busy fumbling with his words to notice Mira’s expression. I caught the twinkle in her eye. She knew perfectly well Doun wasn’t getting handsy in the middle of the pub and was messing with him. I decided to help out.

  “Void? Do you have the sack from the apothecary?” I asked.

  She looked at me and then her mother. Void’s expression mirrored Mira’s and she untied the sack from her belt. As much as she didn’t like the idea of her parents bumping uglies, she was having too much fun watching her Dad squirm.

  Lia and Tizek, though, were lost as to what was going on.

  Void handed me the sack and I extracted a vial with clinking pills. I pulled in next to Doun and slipped the vial in his hand. “Here, from one man to another. I think this will help.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “You, too? You saw the whole thing,” Doun protested before looking at the bottle in his hand. He was holding 30 individual doses of Philo’s Potency in embernut flavor. He squinted at the bottle then at me. “What in the Grand Creator are you giving me this for?”

  “I figure you two were working hard and deserved to have some fun tonight. Tomorrow’s Danesday and you don’t need to get up early,” I said with a grin.

  Doun’s left lip raised and his eye’s furrowed at my words. I knew what I was looking at. The man was wondering why I just suggested he get it on with his wife tonight.

  Before Doun could say anything, Mira virtually teleported across the room and drew me into a big embrace. “We have such a thoughtful son-in-law!”

  Doun frowned. “Why are you hugging another man in the pub?”

  Mira gave me a big kiss on the cheek. “Because he’s wonderful.” She followed it up by letting me go and pulling Doun into a big sloppy kiss of his own.

  When she pulled away, she winked at Doun. “I can’t wait until tonight.”

  Mira sashayed away as she returned to the kitchen. She made it a point to sway her hips and swish her tail as she walked.

  Doun swallowed and looked at me. “I have no idea how you knew.”

  I discretely nodded toward Void. “She let your favorite flavor slip.”

  Doun squinted at Void before quietly leaving to work on tidying up the pub in preparation for opening.

  Void, meanwhile, had instantly shifted from enjoying her Dad’s embarrassment to having some shame thrust her way. “We need to go upstairs and talk,” she said. “All of us.”

  As the four of us moved toward the stairs, I paused at the bar. “Hey, Doun? I got a uniform and I’m ready to help out.”

  Doun paused wiping a table and looked at me. “I’d rather you not.”

  “Uh,” I stammered, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

  “Dad!” Void snapped. “Don’t make Oliver feel bad!”

  Doun quickly put his hands up defensively. “I’m not trying to! I’m worried about what the kingdom will think if they see a noble waiting tables.”

  I saw his point. One more thing changing around me that I didn’t like. I’d wanted to have a quiet life with Void, Lia and Tizek and the situation was taking this away from me. Thanks, Prince Johann.

  Doun recognized my expression. “I’m not trying to exclude you. Maybe you can help out Mira if you head back before service starts.”

  “Thanks, Pops,” I replied, still feeling down. “I know you guys were excited for me, but I’m not liking being a noble that much.”

  “Come on,” Void said, “Let’s go upstairs.”

  I bid Doun goodbye and we went up to my old third floor bedroom. Before entering, Tizek poked his head in and looked around. “The spider did not return,” he announced helpfully.

  “Thanks, buddy,” I said. We entered and took our usual places.

  “I think we need to talk about what we’re going to do,” Void said.

  “Especially money. You spent most of it on your clothes and my mask,” Lia added. I saw her finger it and her eyes shift to the floor.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’ll gladly invest in your happiness.”

  Lia smiled at me and turned away.

  “Anyway, you suggested we talk about what to do? I thought we should just live our lives,” I said.

  “Yes,” Void replied. “But that doesn’t mean we meander around with no goals.”

  “Is hunting and fishing meandering?” I asked.

  Void glared at me. “Yes. I think we should find a way to heal your mana channels.”

  “How? My Lord has tried for centuries,” Tizek said. He may be intensely devoted and had a one-track mind, but he wasn’t stupid.

  “He’s never been a noble before,” Lia said. “Maybe he can get into the Royal Mage’s College.”

  I blinked. Wow, Lia hit that one out of the park. I never was a noble before. I’d only gotten hints of black mana bars from smuggled texts when I spent two loops with Lisa – and half of that I was too terrified and abused to remember much – but the College did know about it.

  “Great idea!” Void exclaimed excitedly. “I think we should head there first thing in the morning.”

  “Nope,” I instantly replied. “I see what you’re trying to pull.”

  Void’s eyes widened briefly before she looked away from me. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “We have your doctor’s appointment in the morning. We aren’t skipping it. Finding out what’s making you sick is important,” I countered with a glare.

  Void continued looking away from me. “I feel better. The citrus tonic helped.”

  “That’s just symptom management,” I scolded. “We need to find out what’s wrong. I don’t want you neglecting something serious and have it get out of control. I just broke the last loop and I refuse to lose you again.”

  Void’s posture slumped. “Alright. I’ll go.”

  I had no idea why Void was so afraid of the doctor. That would be something we figured out in the morning.

  We decided to break for the afternoon and go down to help out Doun with the pub. I snuck into the kitchen to help with dishes before the evening patrons showed up.

  As usual, hanging out with Mira and working on dishes helped clear my mind. Mira was a wonderful mother-in-law and I always relaxed when we chatted. She even gave me lessons on how to cook the menu for that evening. Of course, I knew how to cook most of it already, but I patiently listened anyway.

  Lia and Tizek, after eating their evening meal, spent most of the time chatting with patrons at the bar. Lia was far more confident now that she had her butterfly mask on. Tizek was, well, Tizek. He kept bragging about how he was a knight in the service of a Baron then explaining what a knight was because no one heard the term before.

  During my time doing the dishes, I noticed a face peering at me through the rear window from the alley. It was Ivy. I could see his rabbit nose twitching as he smelled the bacon Mira was frying up for a plate of barley pasta and cheese.

  I managed to convince Mira to plate up four servings and I gave it out to Hespeth and her crew. After a few moments staring at the food like I’d poisoned it, and me promising if I wanted them gone I’d have done something more creative, they gave it a try.

  I don’t ever recall crooks being grateful before, but in the course of a single day, I’d seen five, including Kelly from earlier in the morning. Even though they were in the city’s top gang, they were still slums dwellers and didn’t get regular meals. It didn’t feel right to let them starve out there.

  After closing, all of us helped clean up the pub and we went to bed. Void and I stared at the ceiling in our bed for about an hour as we listened to Mira moan loudly and call out Doun’s name. It was so loud not even the noise-dampening vines installed in our room did anything. It was distracting but, hey, she was having a good evening. The woman was a miracle worker in the kitchen and always knew how to make me happy. Giving her something nice was worth the disrupted sleep.

  There was one more disturbance about 30 minutes after all the noise next door ended. I heard a gentle knock at the door.

  I flicked on the magical lights and, after dressing to go check it out, I saw Lia standing there in her sleep clothes. Her face was already showing some peach fuzz from the tonic, which showed signs of distress.

  I ushered her inside and closed the door. “Lia? What’s wrong?”

  I could see tears forming in her eyes and she held back a slight sob. “I had a bad dream.”

  Void sat up and patted the edge of the bed. “Sit down, you can talk to us.”

  Lia sat next to Void and I took up a position to Lia’s other side. “What was the dream about?” I asked.

  Lia fiddled her fingers together and took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves before responding. “I was at the funeral of the bear clan woman I shot with Flame Dart. She was burned in a casket and her children were there, glaring at me. They blamed me for ruining their lives. I then saw them in slave collars and sent to the Penal Brothels. The warden at the brothel thanked me for killing the woman because now they got more people for their clients.”

  I felt for Lia. Even though I was the one who finished off the bear-clan woman in the sun dress at the cistern battle, Lia still felt responsible. She also killed those two men who rushed us.

  Lia started sobbing and I pulled her head into my shoulder to let her release her emotions.

  “We’re here for you,” Void said as she pulled one of Lia’s hands into her own.

  We sat there and let Lia process her emotions. I knew first-hand words frequently failed at times like this. I had to let it out while someone I cared for was just there for me.

  After Lia composed herself somewhat, she looked at me. “Can I sleep in here tonight?”

  I felt a little off about that one. I glanced over at Void and she gave me a subtle head nod. I turned back to Lia. “Sure, I’ll head upstairs so you two can get some rest.”

  Lia’s hand gripped on my sleep shirt I’d picked up at the department store – it had little snakes in sleep caps embroidered on it – and she shook her head. “Can it be both of you?”

  I looked over at Void once more and got the OK. “Alright, just for tonight.”

  Void took her spot next to the wall and Lia slid in beside her. I turned off the light then took the spot between them and the door. I figured Lia wanted a little security tonight and, despite me being the weakest in the room, I’d grant Lia her comfort.

  When my head hit the pillow, I felt a tap on my back. I turned over and, before I could say anything, Lia buried her head into my chest and pulled her arms up under her chin.

  In the dim light of the moon streaming through the shutters, I looked over at Void. I gestured to her and pulled her into me. Void responded and wrapped her arm over Lia and onto me as well. Lia purred when she was encased between the two of us.

  “Enjoying your Lia sandwich?” I asked. Lia nodded her head into my chest.

  We lay there quiet for a while before I had a thought.

  “Lia?” I asked. “I need you to promise me one thing.”

  Lia nodded in my chest again.

  “Don’t tell Tizek,” I said. “I think he’d be upset he wasn’t invited in here, too.”

  Lia’s body started to convulse as she held in her laughter. When her body stopped, she sighed. “Thank you for being you.”

  “Any time,” I replied and closed my eyes to sleep.