A Rafael Interlude

It took about another hour or so for the party to die after that, though at least it wasn't obvious that Maria had plotted to kill the party like it had murdered her mother and had kidnapped her as a replacement for the party's dead child. Everyone left in good spirits and with inquiries as to how to make the wonderful dessert Maria had served, which was all deflected to Katarina as the inventor of the treat.

Hopefully the name of 'Katarina's Cold Custard' didn't catch on. It was too long and sounded vaguely obscene.

Or maybe the obscenity was just all in Rafael's head, as he'd basically promised his fiancée that after the party they'd… um…

Well, Sophia probably had a euphemism for it. She'd probably had several. She probably made them up on the spot.

Not everyone left, of course. The usual suspects stayed to flirt with Katarina, and so her cousin stayed to parry the Third Prince in particular… did she forget that everyone else was in lust with Katarina, or did she just dislike him in particular? Lady Cavendish stayed a while too, talking to Maria, but they both seemed to be enjoying that, so that wasn't a problem…

A part of Rafael, a cowardly part of the sort to just run past his problems instead of facing them head on and getting horribly killed, wanted to encourage them to stay, maybe have over for dinner and use their desires for his own ends…

But that meant Katarina at the dinner table with them. Katarina, who had come dangerously close to seducing away his fiancée without even trying, as she always did. And his fear of losing the woman he loved outweighed his fear of loving his woman…? No, no, that was completely awkwardly phrased. Besides, he wasn't really afraid, it was more of feelings of inadequacy and… all right, fear of potentially being murdered.

But he'd promised, and she was expecting him, and to be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure what she'd do if he reneged, but it probably wouldn't be good.

And then the guests were leaving, with Maria speaking quietly to Sophia before she left. The discussion ended with the scaleless young woman nodding with at Maria with a slightly annoyed look. What was that about?

"What was that about?" he asked as they waved goodbye to the last carriage leaving the estate.

"I told Sophia I was taking time off tomorrow, and possibly the next day as well," Maria said serenely.

"Ah…" Rafael contributed intelligently.

"Shall we go up to our room, then?" Maria said. Off to the side, servants where clearing up where the party happened, packing away tables and treating the new ice-cream maker magic tool with care. "I asked Sadako to bring dinner up to us. Shall we get changed?" Why was her smile so serene but her eyes…

Well, they weren't actually glowing red, but they were a bit hard to see through the thick, flame-like haze of Dark Magic surrounding her. Thankfully Lady Dahl had left before Maria started doing that. Should he be proud or disturbed Maria was feeling so intensely her Dark Magic was flaring? The last time she'd lost control like this, her mother had been kidnapped…

And now they were climbing up the stairs, heading to their rooms, and… was Rafael ready for this? How could he want something so much but not want to go through with it at the same time?-!-?-! Umbasa, was this why it took he didn't ever manage to kill that woman even though he lived in her house for eight years? Was he twisted or was he just cowardly? What did it say about him, that he kept putting off things he really wanted to do? He'd really wanted to kill that woman, but he hadn't because… because…

Because why?

He tried to remember why. He'd been… well, he'd been just a child at the time. Even with his memories twisted to think his mother's last words had been asking for revenge, he'd been able to recognize that trying to kill that woman right away wouldn't work. He'd been small and weak, and being small and weak and letting him think he was her son reborn had been the only defense he'd had to keep from getting killed. So he'd bided his time… and kept biding and biding, for years. All the time telling himself he wasn't strong enough, not yet.

But… he hadn't needed to get strong enough to kill her himself, hadn't he? He'd just needed to decide it was time and ask help from his friends…

…

All right, that was a bad comparison, as this was definitely not something he could just ask help for.

Rafael looked into his Dark Soul and asked himself one more time: why was he delaying? Trying to be 'worthy'? Trying to prove that he had something to offer her?

Hadn't she asked to marry him? Didn't that mean… he was enough?

Huh.

He looked to the side, towards his fiancée… towards Maria. Then he coughed. "Um, Maria?"

"Yes, Rafael?" she said. While she tried to keep her voice even, there was an undercurrent of eagerness to it, a dark, consuming abyss just under the surface…

"You're… flaring," he said lamely.

He got the sense she blinked, before holding up her hands to look at them. "Oh! So I am." She actually sounded embarrassed at that even as the darkness thinned to dark smoke, then to mist, and it was gone, and there was only Maria, blushing in embarrassment at her loss of control. "Thank you for pointing it out. I hadn't realized…"

"You were using it all day," he said. He wasn't sure if Lady Dahl had seen—it had been subtle, just a slim smoke trail at her fingertips and head, and she'd already revealed that Light Magic wielders weaker than her couldn't see Dark Magic very well—but he really hoped she hadn't. "Is everything all right?"

If anything, her blush deepened. "Yes, I was just… trying to control my panic," she said. "I'd never thrown a party before… at least, not one under my own reputation. I was making myself remember passages from 'The Noble's Proper Etiquette Reference and Manual of Propriety and Action, seventh edition' to calm down."

He raised an eyebrow, and was unable to help himself. "Is this where your legendary propriety comes from?" he teased. "You've been using forbidden Dark Magic of the Dark Soul to remember an etiquette manual?"

"Only today!" she protested, and the look on her face made his heart clench. "I needed to distract myself from impending panic, only I kept forgetting what the books actually said, so I made myself remember…" She trailed off, looking away, then glanced back at him. She seemed almost… shy. "Do you… do you think my guests enjoyed themselves?"

"Given how many of them were standing around the buffet like… like Katarina around the buffet," Rafael said, "how happily everyone was asking when you would be throwing another party, and promising to invite you to theirs, I think you were successful."

Maria sighed. "Oh. Good." And if that wasn't an understatement…

"Don't worry, you did fine," Rafael said. "None of your guests hated each other, there were no sly insults, and they liked the food. Katarina didn't even complain that no one was eating and that she had to do it all herself so the food wouldn't go to waste."

Maria blinked. "She didn't, did she?"

Rafael nodded, smiling quietly. Hesitantly, he reached over and brushed his fingers against hers.

Her movements were almost as shy as her fingers intertwined between his.

They were standing in front of the door to their room now. They both pushed it open.

Late afternoon light shone through the windows, the clear light of day transitioning to the reddish tones of twilight. The bed was turned down and inviting as they stepped into the threshold. He turned towards Maria, doubts not so much swept away as rendered irrelevant—

Behind them, the door closed, clicking shut.

Rafael had to take a step back as, with a growl, Maria pressed against him hard, a hungry growl coming from her throat briefly, before her lips were on his, her other hand cupping the back of his neck, pulling him down towards her.

Her lips were soft and sweet and warm and tasted of ice-cream and he found himself pulling her towards him just as fiercely. He could feel the stack of paperwork growing higher, and for once he didn't feel inclined to hide it away or fill out forms to get the pile down to a manageable level.

Maria's arms were moving, and she finally let go of his hand as she started taking off his jacket, sending shivers down his back from the feel of her fingers. For a moment, an irrational part of him panicked, as he didn't know how to take a woman's dress off… but no. Maria wasn't wearing a dress. She was wearing a suit. He knew how to take those off. Jacket… cravat… vest… shirt… Dimly, he could feel someone taking the articles from his hands, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

And now she was down to her sleepwear, the one she wore every night unless they were reading to the children or had her wards over to help them deal with their nightmares. More, actually.

The fact she was still wearing socks should not have added that much paperwork to the pile. Maria stepped back, pulling him with her, and suddenly she was falling back, and he was falling with her…

Sadako dutifully put away their clothes so they wouldn't get wrinkled, then moved to assist.

They linked the flame. Took the Throne of Want. Bound themselves to the Nexus. Stuck the coiled sword in the bonfire and met with the firekeeper. Had the dragon set fire to the bridge, Jumped into the Old Chaos to meet with the Ivory King. Betrayed the black-clad goddess. Slew the Gaping Dragon. Descended into the Catacombs of Carthus. Praised the sun together.

VICTORY ACHIEVED

PREY SLAUGHTERED

New CGI Unlocked!
CGI Number 230 Unlocked!

Achievement Unlocked: Ravish Me!
Finally, Maria has been ravished!

Achievement Unlocked: Ah! Maria-dono!
Sadako has provided assistance