I reached over and placed Becca's plate of food on her lap. The pancakes were not as piping hot as when I first entered the room, but they were still warm.
"Try my pancakes, I think you will like them. By the way Becca, are there pancakes in this world?"
"Yes, there are shops that make them. I eat them once in a while.
Nick, thanks for taking the time to make these for me, I appreciate the effort."
I waved my hand, "don't thank me until you try them! I am confident in their taste!"
Becca rolled her eyes with a grin, "ok mister pro chef, I'll dig in."
I watched as she carefully cut a bite for herself and placed it in her mouth. She chewed the food in her mouth a few times and suddenly her eyes widened.
She took a few seconds to finish the food in her mouth and then shouted,
"This is so good!! They are the best pancakes I have ever had!"
I had a satisfied grin. "I'm glad that you like them."
Becca started looking at me suspiciously, "did you really make this all by yourself? Did you work at a restaurant in your past life?"
I laughed out loud. "I wouldn't lie to you Becca, I made these all by myself. I never worked in a restaurant, I just had a lot of practice perfecting the recipe. Next time, you should get up early and we can cook them together."
Becca looked conflicted.
"I think it would be nice to try cooking together, but I don't want to wake up too earlier…I'll end up being tired all day…"
"Haha, ok. I know that you are not a morning person and it is important for you to get your beauty sleep. I'll wait for you to wake up next time."
Becca started panicking, "I have never cooked before…I always had a chef for my meals. Don't expect too much from me!"
"Don't worry, I can teach you. But if you think that cooking is beneath you because you are a noble, then you don't have to force yourself."
Becca lowered her head with a slight blush on her face. She muttered just loud enough for me to hear, "no…I want to…I think it will be fun."
I nudged her arm playfully with my elbow, "ok, then it is a plan. Now let's both eat up this delicious food."
We both started to eat happily. We were sitting there with the only sound coming from the clicking of utensils as we focused on our food. I was soaking in the peaceful atmosphere.
From now on, we will be busy with ours goals. It was important to take a moment to savor any calm times we get.
I turned to look at Becca. She was in her own world enjoying the food. We were both about half way finished eating. I am glad that she was happy, but sadly we had things to talk about.
"Hey Becca."
She came back to reality and turned to look at me.
"Hmm."
"I want to fill you in on my plan for today. I think we should both go to the training grounds with James and work on our magic.
That way, James can confirm you are ready to join the Royal mages right away. We can also work on our combination attack to see how powerful we can be together."
Becca's eyes lit up, "yes! Let's do it! I have never been able to use my magic out in the open before. I also need some help with getting control over my basic spell."
"Oh really? I was able to control my basic lightning spell on my second try yesterday. Hopefully James will know what to do for people that struggle with it."
Becca looked dejected, "I hope so…"
I reassured her, "if James can't help, I'll bring in the best magic teacher in the Duchy for you."
"Thanks Nick."
"Let me know if there is anything else that you need. Any power I now have as a Duke is also your power as my Duchess."
My statement made Becca's eyes sparkle. "Ok, I'll let you know if I think of something that I need."
"Good, it is okay for you to be greedy now that you are a Duchess.
Today, when we are with James, it is important to remember that he thinks I lost my memories. We should act like I told you I lost my memories last night and you accepted that my personality is different now, but with everyone else we can't let them know that I have no memories. It is a fine tightrope we will have to walk."
"Yeah, I'll try my best to keep up the act."
"Also, I would like to let James know the truth about me some time in the future, since it would help our plans if we had a knowledgeable administrator like him on our side. You should let me know what you think about him once you interact with him a little.
If we decide at some point that we 100% trust him, then we can have him join the fold.
I also want to you to help me out with keeping my cover as the original Nicolas with everyone other than James. Let me know if you see me doing something that would be suspicious to someone in this world.
Of course my change in personality will be suspicious. My plan for that is to explain it as me turning over a new leaf after falling in love with my wife after getting married."
Becca looked determined as she made a fist.
"You are giving me a lot of responsibility, I will make sure to live up to your expectations!"
"Try your best, but even if you make a mistake, I will understand. I will probably make a bunch of mistakes too, so let's cover for each other."
"Ok!"
By the time we finished our conversation, we had both eaten all the food on our plates. There was one more thing still on the mostly empty tray.
"Becca, I also brought some of the anti-pain ointment I gave you last time. Is your neck stiff like last time or is it fine since you didn't sleep on the sofa last night?"
Becca thought about it for a moment as she rubbed her neck softly.
Then, she said with downturned eyes,
"Actually…my neck does hurt a little. Could you massage it for me today?"
She had said no yesterday, so I didn't even suggest a massage today. But now that I think about it, we have already had more physical contact last night then I simple massage would have.
I guess this is her way of letting me know that she enjoys the physical contact we have with each other. Her straight forwardness made my heart race.
"Of course I can do that for you!"
I quickly got up with the ointment and stood behind her and the sofa.
"It is going to be a little cold at first. Let me know if you ever feel uncomfortable."
"Ok, be gentle with me." Becca put her hair to the side to reveal her small pale neck. It was intoxicating.
I spread the ointment on my palms. My hands were shaking slightly from excitement.
I took a deep breath to calm myself and then placed my hands on Becca's neck.
"Hmmm."
She had closed her eyes and was making erotic moans that I tried my best to ignore.
Her neck was soft and warm. As I started to rub up and down her neck, I could tell she was starting to really enjoy it.
"Ahh…that feels sooooo good."
I might get addicted to this…
"I will give you a massage any time you ask, so feel free. But I don't want your neck to be hurting every morning…would you be willing to sleep in the bed with me from now on?"
"Now that we are a couple, I think it is okay, but I demand that nothing will be done on the bed except for sleeping until we redo our marriage ceremony."
"Ok, I promise not to make a move until we redo the marriage ceremony, but if you ever feel an urge, you can pounce on me any time you want."
"What kind of woman do you think I am?"
"Ummm…the type to beg me to hold them to sleep?"
"You are too much…that was the first time I ever said anything like that to anyone! I was just emotional."
"Haha, yes I know Becca. I am only giving you a hard time. I just want you to know that we keep talking about what we will do after we redo the marriage ceremony, but we should stay in the moment and let our relationship grow naturally.
We don't have to push everything back to after that time. Let's just do what feels right in the moment."
"Ok, I understand your logic, but just know that doing things in the bed is still a long ways to go."
"Of course, the best should be saved for last."
I patted her neck, "ok the massage is all done."
Becca got up and hugged me, "thanks Nick. Your massage felt really nice. Next time, I'll give you a massage instead."
I could tell she was trying to explicitly show her appreciation. It was a little over the top, but I enjoyed the effort.
"Thanks Becca, I'll make sure to take you up on that offer in the future. Now go get changed into something for training and we can head out for the day."
"Gotcha, I'll be right back." Becca was smiling from ear to ear as she scurried away.