48 New Beginnings

Count Agist rolled out of bed for the third time today, or was it the fourth? He couldn't remember. All he could think about was how amazing Lillica felt and that he couldn't help but crave her. Reminiscing once again, he felt his body heat up, and he reached over to throw the sheets off of Lillica again.

A purple arm shot out from under the covers and grabbed his wrist before he could throw the sheets off of her. "Now, Agi, I think I've rewarded you enough. Don't you have other things to do?" Lillica said seductively.

Count Agist grinned and said, "You're the only thing I can think of doing."

Lillica rolled her eyes at his horrible pun, slid out from the bed, and then blushed when she saw Count Agist already 'ready' for more. She looked up at him, kissed his cheek, then flicked him on the forehead hard enough that he staggered back slightly.

"Hey! What was that for?" Count Agist yelled in surprise.

"Just a warning that I'm not going to give in to you like the others," Lillica said with a playful smile.

Count Agist rubbed his forehead, then looked at her curiously, "The others? I don't know what you mean."

Lillica folded her arms across her chest after her black dress materialized on her body like a thick fog and said, "Seriously? I understand that you are a little naïve, but I didn't think you were dense, Agi! Isadora loves you, Sylvia is at the very least attracted to you, and I can tell that Lorraina is starting to become fond of you as well. You mean to tell me you haven't noticed?"

Count Agist looked down sheepishly. He had noticed, but he honestly wasn't used to the attention. When it was just Isadora, he thought her feelings came from wanting to repay his family. Now that he has more women around, he's noticed the difference in how they treat him.

"Am I being a womanizer?"

"Only if you claim to be loyal to each of them. How many wives did your father, Duke Agist, have?"

"Just one, my mother."

Lillica stared at Count Agist sternly.

Count Agist breathed out in defeat and said, "He really only had one, but I suspect he had at least two mistresses. My mother didn't seem to mind, which I found odd."

"That is because it is perfectly normal for high nobility to have a harem in your human cultures. Kings, Queens, Dukes, Duchesses... They always have a harem under the excuse of ensuring the bloodline."

"How do you know so much about human culture?" Count Agist said, a little surprised by Lillica's knowledge of human civilization.

"I read a lot, obviously… I think you should too. In fact…" Lillica's face lit up with excitement, and she reached over to a dresser to open it. She pulled out an old journal and passed it to Count Agist. "This is your grandfather's journal. Have you been reading it? He was quite… active."

"No, I've been busy with other things. Does it mention anything that can help us?"

"Read it for yourself," Lillica said teasingly.

Count Agist flipped it open randomly and read the first paragraph to himself.

"Need to hire another maid or maybe another mistress. Moira can't keep up with everything anymore. Last night when Moira, Lizzy, and I tried-"

Count Agist had to stop reading since he felt his whole body start to blush. He flipped through a few more pages and found several sketches of beautiful women, naked, of course. "He was quite a good artist," Count Agist said to himself.

Lillica watched Count Agist lose focus as he flipped through each page, stopping at the ones with drawings more so than the others, "I'll save you the trouble; go to the last page."

Before Count Agist could read it, several knocks sounded from the door to Count Agist's bedroom, followed by Isadora's voice, "My Lord! We have a messenger from the King and require your presence!"

"Coming!" Count Agist was about to apologize to Lillica, but she had disappeared when he was looking away, so all he could do was shake his head.

A slight scuffling could be heard outside Count Agist's bedroom with a combination of Isadora's and Lorraina's voices.

"N-No Lorraina! Stop it! They're-"

"No time like the present!"

Suddenly Count Agist's door burst open with Lorraina's foot protruding through the frame.

"Good morning Agi! Just wanted to see how you were doing!" Lorraina said in her carefree way that made it really hard to dislike her.

Lorraina walked in casually while Isadora followed closely behind her, saying, "I'm so sorry, my Lord, I couldn't stop her! Wait, is that..."

"Looks like you're already up... and awake, Agi," Lorraina said while looking at Agi's naked body.

Isadora covered her face with her hands, but she was stealing glances through the gaps in her fingers.

Count Agist probably would've been shy had it been a while ago, but now he felt more self-confident. He casually reached down, picked up the clothes he dropped, and then walked over to his closet while Lorraina and Isadora were still in the room. When he came close to Isadora, he put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Thank you, Isa. You can tell them I'll be in the great hall as soon as I get ready. Lorraina, the door wasn't locked. Open it like normal next time."

Lorraina grinned and said, "Is that an invitation to visit whenever I want?"

Count Agist flicked Lorraina's forehead and said, "Behave!". He walked over to his dresser to grab some clothes, then realized that Isadora and Lorraina were still in the room.

Lorraina muttered to herself, "You didn't say no..."

Count Agist grinned at her remark, then said, "Give me a minute to get dressed. I'll see the messenger shortly."

Isadora and Lorraina both nodded. Isadora turned to leave the room and pulled Lorraina out when she noticed that Lorraina wasn't planning on leaving.

"Awww, but I wanted to watch!" Lorraina whined as Isadora dragged her away.

Once the door shut, Lillica appeared next to his wardrobe like a cloud of smoke materializing into her form. Count Agist found this fascinating but dangerous since Lillica could be next to him, and he wouldn't know it. Her clothes would appear similarly, but this was the first time he saw her whole body materialize.

Lillica noticed Count Agist's stare and said, "Before you ask, no, I can't teach you to do it, nor anyone else since it's a demon thing."

"I assumed as much, but I was hoping that I could be an exception given my condition."

Lillica tapped her finger on her lips in thought. "No, you still can't since that demonic power isn't your own. It does make me glad to see you're considering how to use it, though!"

Count Agist managed to slip into his underwear and slacks while they were talking, then approached the wardrobe for a shirt.

Lillica peeked inside the wardrobe, pulled out a white shirt, then tossed the shirt to Count Agist.

"White? I was going to go with black."

"You look better in white," Lillica said plainly.

Count Agist smiled and then declared, "You do care!"

"Shut up!" Lillica said in surprise as she blushed.

Count Agist was about to say more, but Lillica disappeared again.

__________

Count Agist assumed he would get a messenger from the King after taking control of Flint and Farmington. The King may have even wondered where Farmington came from since it used to be called Farmville by the original owner, Lord Hawthorne.

Count Agist reached the main hall through the side door, casually walked up to the throne, then sat down. He motioned with his hand to the attendant near the main entrance.

The attendant bowed slightly and then opened the door for the messenger waiting outside.

The messenger helped himself inside, walked up to the throne, then knelt at the first step of the dais while holding out a sealed parchment.

One of Count Agist's attendants picked up the sealed parchment and brought it to Count Agist.

Count Agist examined the seal and verified that it was indeed the royal seal. He used a knife to quickly cut the seal away and unfurled the parchment. Count Agist furrowed his brow in concentration as he read, then opened his eyes wide in shock.

Count Agist looked up from the scroll suddenly and asked the messenger, "How long did it take you to get here?"

The messenger meekly replied, "J-Just three days, milord."

Three days? Considering the distance to the capital, that's not a terribly long time, but his messenger made it in a day. A message like this shouldn't be delayed!

"What's the matter, milord?" Thomas said with concern.

"Call everyone! The King has declared we will fight for control of Agistania!"