Back at Dante's Moon, aka Candace's First Moon, the newlyweds were huddled together inside his office which he had fitted with a new bed so Candace could be with him when he worked.
They had shared their first dinner in bed because they'd never left the bed. Since she didn't really leave her bed, neither did Dante.
Having left the Moon for so long, he had several stacks of documents waiting for him when he returned.
None of them could be postponed, but he didn't want to leave her side so he did what any man would have done under the circumstance.
He moved the office desk towards the bed.
While Candace hung out on the bed, he sat on the bed next to her, with the work desk pushed up next to him. As he sat there working, Candace curled her body around him for warmth and slept without a care in the world.
He reached out his hand and absently fondled her hair as he continued reading through the documents that needed his decisions and his attention.
As expected, Candace was tired.
The once bubbly, active, dancer cat burglar was now sleeping a large chunk of the day, only waking up to bathe and eat.
And tryst with him. Of course.
Dante took her every chance he got as soon as the urge hit him. He only had seven days, and already it was three days in.
He was already starting to feel deprived of her love and time, and he hadn't even reached the halfway point of the time that he was allowed with her.
It made him feel extremely selfish, especially since he knew that most of his brothers hadn't even had a chance to kiss her, let alone do anything further.
But he couldn't help it.
His possessiveness grew exponentially every time he emptied his love and longing and yearning into her body, and it was all he could do just to hold onto the understanding that she was his wife and the child that would be growing inside of her would also be his.
Thankfully, the initial pain of the Avgo exploding from his heart was only felt the first time. He had felt like some damned virgin who'd just had his cherry popped.
Luckily, once he had delivered his Avgo shard, it was only intense pleasure thereafter, and Candace was always willing to let him have his ways with her.
She was no less hungry than he was when it came to the ways of a man and a woman.
But at the moment, she was sleeping and he could not awaken her just to have another love session with her. And besides, Leonardo kept checking in with him about her health.
Yes, everything seemed normal. No, she was not having any issues other than her lethargy. Yes. The Avgo has been delivered. No, she wasn't more tired than before.
Partway through their conversation, Slate popped into the meeting.
"Do you guys know anything about Lkhagvasüren, the Crown Prince of Avalia?" Slate asked without preamble.
Leonardo shook his head. He'd never even heard of the guy.
"He's the firstborn son of King Batsaikhan. Quite an interesting fellow." Dante threw in.
"Well, that 'interesting fellow' just contacted Father and asked for Lyra's hand in marriage when she comes of age." Slate scrunched up his face like a prune.
Leonardo and Dante whistled. Lyra was no less their sister even though they had different mothers.
"Wait, how old is he?" Leonardo asked.
"He's twenty-five."
"Holy shit. He's my age!" Leonardo gasped. "Shouldn't she be dating seventeen-year-old guys?"
"Yeah well, he's not interested in dating her. He wants to marry her as soon as she's of legal age." Slate frowned.
Dante scratched his brow. "He's the Crown Prince of Avalia, right? Let me talk to King Batsaikhan. I have a resort that's being built within his jurisdiction so I've had some dealings with him."
"You have a resort in Avalia?"
Dante grinned. "It's my latest greatest thing. It's called CandyLand, and one of the first ones being built is in Avalia."
"We haven't had much dealings with them, and suddenly, you're building a resort and amusement park with our wife's name on it?" Slate's eyes popped with surprise.
"Haha," Dante chuckled softly so as to not awaken Candace sleeping next to him.
"Why not? The first CandyLand was very well-received. The Marsupials loved it."
Dante signed off with them, promising to get back to them with whatever he could wrestle from the Avalian King and took a deep breath.
The last time he talked to King Batsaikhan, it was in the vein of a business man sweet-talking a monarch to allow for his resort to be built.
Now, he was talking as a VERY concerned eldest brother of a Princess who was being pursued by the King's Crown Prince.
Technically, it would have been a good marriage arrangement. She would be going to a future King of a wide swath of galactic space and not just a second or third wife of a small monarchy.
But that wide swath of galactic space was at least three days of traveling away. In between them was a no-man's land that was sometimes dotted with space pirates.
To get there safely required traveling with a small armada of at least half a dozen warships.
Dante took a sip of his sangria and leaned over to kiss Candace's angelic sleeping face before turning back to his mountain of work and the marriage proposal that was on the desk in front of him.
Reluctantly, Dante placed a call out to the King of Avalia, Batsaikhan.
"Prince Dante, we meet again." The strong angled planes of King Batsaikhan appeared before Dante. "The plans for your CandyLand is moving along very well. We can begin to give you the visuals of its progress within the week."
Dante nodded. "I appreciate that, King Batsaikhan, but this call is not about that."
King Batsaikhan's eyebrows shot up.
"Pray tell, is there a problem with our deal?"
"No. I'm quite happy with it. I'm calling you about your son."
"My son? Which of my two-dozen sons are you referring to?"
"The Crown Prince, Lkhagvasüren."
King Batsaikhan's brows furrowed.
"I'm listening."
"He has asked for my sister's hand in marriage."
For a moment, the king's face was a blank. It was obviously quite far from what he was expecting to hear from Dante.
"But—but—" King Batsaikhan sputtered. "He's already engaged to be married to Lady Sharina. He can't just…but how could he have known that you have a sister?"
Dante sat back with a sigh.
This was obviously not a deep plot hatched up by the kingdom of Avalia to develop political connections. This was a one-off situation that was solely placed at the foot of the Crown Prince himself.
He pulled the marriage proposal up so the King could see it on visual.
"Pray tell. What should we do with this marriage proposal from the Crown Prince of Avalia to my sister, the Princess Lyra?"
King Batsaikhan snapped his jaw shut.
To refute the proposal that had been extended by his son to the Emperor of Erenveil was to slap in the face of the Emperor who ruled over the entire galaxy, including his rather large section of it.
But to ratify it would mean he would cause much internal strife with the royal family that had already betrothed their daughter to his son.
After a few minutes of hemming and hawing, the King finally asked the question that was of utmost importance.
"May I ask how old your sister is?"
"She just turned fifteen." Dante said drily.
The King sighed.
"That's a bit on the young side for my son. As you probably know, he is already twenty-five. He needs to get married soon and produce a few heirs within the next few years."
"That is your kingdom's issue and hardly my concern. I have here the proposal that has been sent to my father. What would you have us do with it?"
King Batsaikhan blanched. He had no words that he could say.
"But…they've never even met—"
"King Batsaikhan. Do you know where your children are?"
"What?"
"I'm trying to tell you that they've already met."