Chương 18: Bonus Chapter - Bart and Cecilia Gryphonsmaw

The massive Count Gryphonsmaw carefully lowered himself into the chair at his desk with a heaving sigh, wincing as it creaked beneath his weight. Cecilia smiled as she slipped herself into his lap, resting a fond hand on his cheek.

"It hasn't broken on us yet, dear, despite the vigorous testing we've put it through. I don't think you need to treat it like those fragile tea cups you always end up smashing." Bart smiled broadly, not a hint of embarrassment as he placed a gigantic hand on the small of his wife's back, pulled her against him, and rubbed his cheek into her hand.

"Don't start that, love. Even if Sam's starting to behave herself since the Hollyhopes visited, I don't think this castle could handle another little one right now." The elf pouted, leaning forward to steal a kiss from him.

"But imagine - our little Sam, as confident as she is now, leading her little brother around and entertaining him with a magic show," she teased, breath whispering across his cheek, fingers tugging gently on his beard.

"Don't tempt me! You know I can't resist you," he growled playfully back at her, pulling her even tighter against him before shaking his head.

"Not until later, at least. I need to get through the last of these reports before we sneak off to our chambers." The Countess sighed dramatically, slipping out of her husband's grasp and pulling up her own chair to the desk they'd had designed specifically so they could work together at it.

"Fine. I will help so we can get this done swiftly. What's first?" She plucked the first letter from the desk and broke the Mayor of Greensheaf's wax seal. Skimming through the report, she tried to keep her eyes from rolling out of her head.

"How dense does this fool think we are? Twelve gold in tribute and four pages of flattering words? That's hardly two trolls worth of alchemical parts, even after the cost of processing and transport." Bart echoed her sigh as he took the report from her and read it for himself, head shaking slowly.

"Too dense. Harold reported that Bella and Gemma killed fourteen trolls, and said Bella explicitly told him the sale of parts was yours to manage as long as half was sent to the new orphanage." He crumpled up the letter and threw it across the room into the hearth burning in the wall, watching it go up in flames.

"If he's stupid enough to do this, he's stupid enough to do other things. We'll need to investigate those rumors of him embezzling funds."

"Why do we need to investigate? This alone proves he's guilty of stealing from us. Besides, he's spitting in the face of the literal world-saving heroines with this. The ones that, might I remind you, threatened to explode the castle over your little 'joke'. Either one on their own is enough to remove him from his position."

The Count pinched his fingers, thick as overstuffed sausages from years of hard fighting on the battlefield, against the bridge of his nose and stared into the crackling fire as the last of the letter burned away.

"You can't just remove him without proving he's committed a crime first, even if we know what he did ourselves. The courts require full proof." Stolen novel; please report. A wicked smile lit up Cecilia's face as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"I can't? And who is going to stop me, you?" He buried his face in his hands, shoulders slumping like mountains falling.

"I know nothing of your machinations, my love." She nipped at his ear, causing him to jolt.

"That's my boy. You've earned yourself that special something tonight." For the first time in their entire interaction Bart finally blushed, the crimson creeping up into his ears and matching the fiery red of his beard and hair.

"Go easy on me, Ceci. I can't be too sore when I go to train in the morning." With a snort she leaned back, fixing him with a devious grin.

"I win every single time we spar, and it's never because your backside is sore. And it's never stopped you from asking before." Coughing into the fist, the bear of a man turned away from his temptress of a wife and picked up the next - and final - of the letters demanding their attention. He could feel the headache forming as he saw it came from one of the local merchant syndicates, the one associated with the infamous 'Knitting Circle'.

His thumb tore the wax apart and he quickly skimmed the entire thing before grunting and handing it to his wife. … Who promptly crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the fire, just like the earlier letter.

"Why are there so many idiots? Ban the Hollyhopes from the city? They killed a goddess! As if we could do anything to stop them if they really wanted to come in!" Bart nodded, "And complaining they 'did not come pay due respect'? That the party celebrating the fall of the Exiled Moon was too loud? Drivel. At least that was the last of it." He shoved his chair back with a scrape, stretching and glancing down towards his wife. His hand reached out, offering support to help her up.

She took it gracefully, raising and linking her arms with his. The two of them crossed to the window looking into the courtyard below. Cecilia leaned her head onto Bart's arm and smiled warmly, eyes locked on the small figure below. Sam sat cross legged on a boulder alongside the pond that had only ever served as a fishing spot before, but now was largely reserved for her mana meditation practice.

The young girl was bedecked in a colorful flowing blouse and a long skirt, her sunset hair braided up in an imitation of Gemma.

"She seems so content. No more running and screaming through the halls refusing to go to her lessons, no more throwing food around, no more tantrums down the yard." The Count let out an agreeing chuckle.

"I'm glad she trusted us enough to talk about it. I will admit, the whole 'pretty lady' thing threw me off as much as the 'archmage' thing, but… they both made her happy, and that's what matters most." His arm snugged around Cecilia's waist and he beamed down at their daughter.

"Mmm. I'm so proud of her," she murmured, smiling when Bart nodded in agreement.

"I hope that her tutor is good. I know she was recommended by Bella, but someone from the capitol teaching our little baby…" Bart leaned down to kiss the top of his wife's head.

"It'll be fine. The credentials in the letter Bella sent from Cinder's Hollow was pretty impressive. Besides, even if Sam has calmed down a bit, she still asks just as many questions as before when something catches her interest." His wife's laugh was like the tinkling of bells to his ears.

"I should spend some more time with her before her tutor arrives. I think I'll go see if she wants to join me for tea. You'll just have to be patient and wait for tonight, big guy," she laughed, reaching over to squeeze his bottom and earning a little squeak and a jump.