After the whole tour, Aesterix was summoned by the king to talk about where the war was currently at, leaving Estella alone with Fenrir in a guest room.
Although Ivonne would of liked to continue to talk to her about her possible matriarchal rule, she was too busy playing with Leila, who was too young to understand anything like this, wanted her sister's attention.
It was also unfortunate Hyre wouldn't stay, and chose to run off somewhere with Kenneth, Estella thought as Fenrir felt a shiver run down his spine.
Looking side to side, he frantically slammed his hands on the table separating the two of them. "I swear that your bastard of a brother is saying things about me I just know it." he whined.
Rolling her eyes, she crossed one leg atop the other and leaned back into the sofa chair and stretched out an arm. "Am I doing a good job convincing you to make a contract with me yet?" Estella teasingly asked as she tried to use her umbrage magic.
Snapping out of his whine, Fenrir looked her up and down. "A little bit, but aren't you too comfortable?" He asked, noticing how unladylike she was being at the moment.
"Comfortable is the goal, is it not?" She responded, her magic disappearing as she coughed a bit, feeling fatigued. It was a good thing she sent the maids out if they saw her even the slightest bit tired who knows how much they'd panic about her health.
Sitting back down, he put a hand under his chin, leaning a little. "You get exhausted pretty quickly, are you just learning how to use it?" He asked, deciding to help her at least a little bit.
Shaking her head, she sighed a little. "No, but if you're pitying me right now we could sign a contract so I can actually use some magic." She responded, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
Brushing her off, he actually got to thinking, allowing Estella to gaze at his body as much as she wanted while he was distracted.
Now that he thought about it, if she had a new last name and became the matriarch, she would have to do a whole lot. Could she really handle it all despite being so lazy? She would have to create a new family crest, the responsibilities as the head, explore her territory, build it, attend social gatherings, and even more. Did she even have an attendant? Lady-in-waiting?
A part of him wanted to say there's no way she could do any of it, but another part of him wanted to believe in her. If she was crazy enough to create a plan for treason, summon a demon, and try to start her own duchy, then perhaps she was actually almost reliable? At the very least, he'd rather stay in her duchy than the other nobles, who mainly cared about showing off.
Tilting her head, Estella broke the silence. "You've been staring intently at me for awhile, did you fall in love?" She asked, causing him to redden a little and hiss out a no, he wasn't into sixteen year olds.
Before he could get her to focus, she continued her teasing. "Then, do you prefer older women? How old?" making him let out a hmpf and drink his already cold tea.
"Enough, human," he began, trying to sound cool, powerful, and in control. "You are aware you only asked me to boost your magic, right?" He said, thinking back about how she probably couldn't handle so much responsibility.
Humming, she nodded. As if reading his mind, she chuckled a little. "Don't worry, I'm aware. If I get the Northern Territory, I'll have to explore first before I can plan anything, which I'll start doing while Aesterix is at war." she began, telling him her plan.
"By the time I explore, you'll enter a contract with me. For now, I'll refrain from using magic in front of Aezirian royalty. Once my magic is boosted, I can easily sweep out any beasts in my path, right? You'll also help me map out the area, I don't plan on taking as long as the war since I want to build my estate by then, so I'll make it quick for the two of us." She explained, leaning back comfortably once more.
Before Fenrir could speak up, she added on. "The north is quite large, so it'll probably be a month of exploration, but I believe that the two of us would be able to do it, after all, you're incredibly strong, right? Exploring may not be fun, but as a thanks l'll let you design the knights uniform." She finished.
As if in awe, Fenrir's mouth open and closed repeatedly for a solid minute. For someone who preached about wanting to be lazy, her mind sure isn't. Not to mention, she'd be nice enough to let him have some fun even after the contract by designing the knights uniform? Is it because he was her personal knight?
Smiling, of course a human would praise him in the end! If only she was honest and said she knew he was the best of the best, he thought. On her end however, she pat herself on the back.
"If he designs the knights uniform, that's one less task for me to do. And if he joins me exploring, I won't waste so much energy." She thought, ignoring the arrogant smile plastered on his face.
Trying not to rain on her parade, Fenrir went back to being serious. "Since the north is so vast and untouched so far, it would make sense that this wouldn't be a smooth journey, I hope you're prepared." He said, causing her to tilt her head.
"Just don't be surprised if we find some strong beasts or a tribe that can tolerate cold living somewhere up north hidden in the deep snow." Fenrir explained, causing her to understand and mentally cry.
She had totally forgot that species other than humans and demons existed in this world, and some that lived far from civilisation too, just how did she forget something so basic? Oh wait, now she knows why.
The game had actually mentioned beastmen existing, and other fantasy creatures, but there was only one nonhuman character in the entire game, a single capture target. That's it. He was so human like in appearance too, that she had forgot he was even a beastmen.
Scratching her head, she sighed. "Well, I can't just kick out a tribe because I gained the territory now can I? As long as they're not hostile, I suppose I can let them live there and keep their little territory." She said, finding a loophole.
If there were a tribe or perhaps some town in the north, she could allow those people to live there and not touch the place, creating less work for her! Fenrir on the other hand was surprised by her generosity.
She truly was different, he thought, severely misunderstanding her intention. A greedy noble with power of a high rank demon would probably kick out those people in their territory, or extort them mercilessly, but here she was allowing them to stay there unbothered.
Letting out a small yawn Estella stood up. "Of course the month long exploration is only if I get the north, the west wouldn't be too difficult. Either way, I'll let you design the knights uniform." She said, Fenrir quickly standing up and following her out of the room.
"Where are we going?" He asked, already coming up with a design in his head. Full offence to whoever created the knights uniform for the Von Blackwood knights, it was too casual and stuffy, oh how he couldn't wait to add gems to his boots, too.
Opening the door, Estella regained a cool, composed yet powerful aura as she looked at the two maids outside of her door. "I'll be going for a walk in the garden, prepare my bath for when I return." With that, she turned and walked down the long hallway with Fenrir, trying to remember her way from the tour.
"You could of answered me first." He whined as he followed her, admiring the garden when they finally ended up there. He was too busy hissing at Aesterix earlier to really look at the surroundings earlier, but looking at it up close it was quite beautiful.
There were many different types of flowers, but they all seemed to be separated into different sections. At the centre of the garden was a large gazebo, surrounded by water, and iris flowers.
Chrysanthemums, hydrangeas, amaranths, willows, forget-me-notes, vervains, orchids, and magnolias all arranged beautifully, with water flowing between certain parts which separated them, how oddly specific.
"The garden is pretty, but are you really going to stay here for long? I want to go back in." Fenrir said, reminding her a bit of a child.
Humming, she entered the gazebo and took a seat, patting the seat near her. "Well, I should start getting my inspiration now, right?" She asked, making him raise a brow.
"Pffft didn't think I had to tell you but I don't think you can have a garden in the north." He said, sitting down. Shaking her head, she sighed a bit.
"Do you not care about human history at all?" She asked, looking at the many different flowers while Fenrir looked confused. He was a demon, why would he care about humans or their gardens?
Sensing his mood, she explained. "I'll need to create a new family crest myself, and since every ducal family's crest in Aeziran has a flower, all of which are in the royal family's garden, maybe I'll think of a flower that seems pretty." She said, causing him to go oh.
"What's up with weird nobility rules?" He began, his eye twitching a little. "Like the stupid von name or matching crests." He finished, crossing his arms.
"I have no clue, honestly. It is kinda dumb." She said, closing her eyes trying to think, starting to wish she at least went outside and looked at flowers even once in her past life to know more than five flowers.
Turning to Fenrir, she swung her legs back and forth a little. "Between the earth and the water, which do you find better?" She asked, looking at him.
Without pausing, "Water." he responded without thinking. He'd much prefer looking at the sea than land if that's what she were asking, thinking about where she'd put her estate.
"Then, a lotus flower it is." She said enthusiastically, stopping her motions and jumping up, walking off back towards her room, leaving a stunned Fenrir.
Did she really make her decision for her family crest off that simple question? He thought, before quickly following the crazy villainess.