I walked a blushing Laura back to the ship. She had claimed that she wouldn't normally do that on a date. She just couldn't help herself with my magic flowing through her and me making her feel so good. I understood and told her that I hadn't planned on bedding her on our first date, either. She smiled warmly at me and her blush didn't lessen, even when I kissed her goodnight at her door.

“Goodnight, David.” Laura said. “And... thank you. I enjoyed our first date.”

“Do you want me to wait the two days to ask for another date or can I ask now and set it for two days?”

Laura softly laughed and kissed me again. “Another date in a couple of days sounds perfect.”

“Goodnight.” I said and left.

It was still fairly early in the evening, despite the sex and the long walk to the top of the Sanctuary and back down. With nothing else to do, I went back to the potions lab and chose several experiments that would only take several hours to complete. When they were done, I cleaned up and went down to my room.

When I entered, I was surprised when there was another bed set in the room for the women's closets, dressers, and clothing. It was occupied by Gella and Farra while the second bed in the main bedroom had Jill and Hanna in it. None of them said anything to me and pretended to be asleep while I entered the bathroom and stripped off and bathed myself.

I put on a pair of loose underwear before climbing into bed. Alone.

I didn't bother trying to stop my magic from flowing out and swirling around. I ignored the sounds from Hanna, Gella and Farra, just like they were ignoring me. I closed my eyes and maintained my vigilance technique as I also rested and got some much needed sleep. I wasn't surprised that no one joined me in bed to share my magic, after the old man warned them.

I woke up in the morning and climbed out of bed, put on a working outfit, and left the room. I went to the cafeteria to eat and had breakfast with a group of workers that were building a large woodworking shop behind the Sanctuary. We talked about it and I told them a few things that Gary had at the barracks in the maintenance department, then a few things that the Sellwafers had at the docks.

They agreed they were great ideas and changed a few things they planned and adjusted the size of the available space and where things would go. It would be more efficient and give them more room to work. I also suggested that I would need some room for some experiments. The workers smiled knowingly and agreed that I would have full command of the workers when I was there.

I tried to protest that and they informed me that whatever I was doing, would change their lives. They would be stopping their work and would watch me anyways. I couldn't argue that, so I didn't.

I went to work back in the potions lab and spent nearly all day and the evening working. I couldn't leave in the middle of my tests and brewing parts, or re-brewing as required. A nice woman, the server from my date the day before, brought me meals without being asked.

“Thank you.” I said when she put supper on the side of my workbench.

“You're welcome, my lord.” The woman said. “We all know your work is more important than eating with the rest of us.”

I turned away from the bubbling skin of my latest test on the enchanted wildwood and looked at her. “You're wrong. I just can't leave the room unattended at critical stages.”

The woman blushed and ducked her head slightly. “I'm sorry, my lord. I misunderstood. I'll spread the truth when I go back downstairs.”

I gave her a pointed look and her blush intensified. A hissing sound came from behind me and I leapt at her and brought her down to the floor, rolled over as not to squish her, and took her out of the blast zone. The pop was quite loud as my experiment exploded and threw little bits of skin all over the place.

“As you just experienced, even a moment of inattention can be disastrous.” I said.

“I'm... I'm so sorry, my lord!” The woman said and huddled in on herself, as if waiting to be punished.

“No, this wasn't your fault.” I said and rubbed her back. “Even if I was watching it, I couldn't reach the reactive agent to cancel it before it exploded, anyway.”

The woman was silently crying and I didn't try to get up off of the floor with her acting like this. We laid there for several minutes as I held and comforted her. She eventually calmed down and then she realized where she was and who she was doing it with.

“M-m-my l-lord! I... I... I...”

I looked into her startled eyes and leaned in and lightly kissed her. Her startled expression disappeared and her lips moved with mine. She didn't try to go any further than that, though. She broke the kiss and looked into my eyes for several moments before she spoke.

“My lord, thank you for...” She smiled and blushed a little. “...calming me down.”

“I would like to say the same.” I said as I let her go and then stood up.

Her eyes immediately went to my crotch and she blushed deeply.

I helped her stand up and she met my eyes again.

“My lord...”

“I've only been on one date so far. What are the rules for others?”

The woman seemed to shiver slightly. “I want to lie and say that you can date as many women as you like at the same time.”

I gave her a happy smile and she caught her breath. “What is the truth?”

“Unless the woman agrees beforehand to see other people, she believes that she is the only one that you are dating.” She admitted.

I thought about that and nodded. “That seems a fair exchange.”

“You can also stop dating at any time if either of you are unhappy with the other, or if you just don't like spending time with them, or even if you're bored or like someone else. It's a little complicated.”

I nodded again. “Thank you for telling me.”

“You're welcome.” She said and looked at the plate of food she had brought to me. “Your food is getting cold... and it has some of that stuff in it.”

I looked myself and saw that she was right. “I don't feel like dying today.” I said and disposed of it and the failed experiment. I set things aside for cleaning and then waved at the door. “Shall we go? I need to eat and I suddenly have the spare time to do so safely.”

The woman laughed softly and nodded as she led me out of the room. Not surprisingly, my appearance made a slight stir in the conversations of the other cafeteria patrons. She served me another plate and I ate at another table, this one filled with women workers that were part of the field tenders for both vegetables and potions ingredients.

“You have done wonderful work, my lord.” One of them said as she ate. “I've never had plants grow so well. I even enjoy being wet by unnatural rains!”

That made the other women laugh and agree.

“Do you wear white blouses and let others see?” I asked, curious if Victoria's ways were common.

“Oh, goodness no! That's shameful to do in public.” One of the others said. “Unless... you know...”

“You're in private or with someone you really like.” Another whispered. “Giving them a peek of what you have and to entice them to work harder at trying to see it for real.”

“Yes, they have to earn it.” The third woman said. “Laziness does not make me want to have them in my bed.”

The others nodded and kept eating. It was an interesting view and I learned a lot about how just little things could lead to much bigger things. It also explained how Victoria went from teasing to trying to fulfill her fantasy. She had so many men take only a subtle hint and assume she wanted sex and then I came along and didn't react at all.

I had pretty much driven her crazy with lust, because I wasn't reacting like I was supposed to, even if she said she didn't want me to act that way. It was like she needed me to and then she did what she did, as if to force me to act the way she wanted me to. I still didn't and fled, then I was taken away. When I returned, she understood why I was the way I was... and why she cried so much when I acted like a normal man around her.

“Thank you for letting me join you for supper.” I said and stood up. I reached for the closest woman's hand and stopped myself before I did and made her blush with embarrassment. “I'm sorry. I'm still trying to get myself to act normal.” I bent over to kiss her cheek.

She blushed even more after that and then all of them blushed as I walked around the table to kiss each of their cheeks and thanked them for their company. As I was walking away, they made a few comments that I would remember for quite some time.

“He isn't afraid to completely devote himself to whatever he does. I love that about him.” One of them whispered. “Our lord is definitely worth following, even if he doesn't want us to.”

“That's why we follow him.” Another of them responded. “If he was full of himself and actually wanted followers, we would probably run away from him, screaming.”

The others laughed.

I went back to work and did so into the late evening. I returned to my room and the sleeping situation hadn't changed, so I ignored them as well and bathed by myself and went to bed. I barely heard their whimpering as my magic swirled around us.

The next morning, I sat at the breakfast table in my room as I looked over the report card from the academy. It had been delivered by courier and I was surprised that I had at least 80% in everything, even with the couple of exams that I wrote ridiculous answers to. I also had several results of 100% with bonus marks.

“My lord.” Jill's voice said and I looked up from my papers. “I think... it's time for me to... move on.”

I folded up my marks and sat back in the chair to stare at her. She stood there like she was ready to be kicked or something, which made my anger flare. I held my magic in check, however. I wouldn't need it for this.

“So, after completely ignoring me and my needs for four days, denied me baths, food, and satisfaction, you have finally gathered up the courage to abandon me completely.” I said and she wilted under my completely normal tone of voice. “Why are you bothering to tell me?”

Jill looked stricken. “My lord, I... I was...”

“What? Letting me down easy while pretending that I don't exist? How would that help me get over you leaving?” I asked and she didn't answer. “I was actually expecting you to sneak off and never speak to me at all, considering the way you've been avoiding me.”

Jill started to have tears roll down her cheeks. “My lord...”

“Did you want to see how much you leaving would hurt me and decided to tell me on the day I successfully passed my exams? Why would you choose to ruin this day for me? Is my pain over everything else not enough anymore and you needed to hurt me even more and make it all worse?”

“N-n-no, my lord! I thought... I thought...”

“You couldn't have said it yesterday? Or waited until tomorrow? You just had to do it today?” I asked and she just stood there and cried. “I couldn't have just one day that wasn't filled with anguish?”

“My lord!” Several female voices said as one.

I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote on it before handing it to her. “Here is a withdrawal slip for five thousand gold crowns. Helena thanks you for your service and she hopes that you can find some other family to take care of.”

Jill looked at the paper in her hand and shook her head.

“Is it not enough?” I asked and took the paper back, then scratched out the five and changed it and signed the change as authorized. “There. Ten thousand should make you happy enough.”

Jill sobbed, clutched the paper in her hands, and ran from the room.

“My lord!” Hanna, Gella, and Farra gasped.

“Don't you dare tell me this is my fault.” I spat at them and they winced. “I warned you and warned you and warned you.”

“N-no, don't.” Hanna whispered. “Please don't.”

“Farra, I have found that you cannot follow my rules and act accordingly. I hereby dismiss you as my apprentice, as I have taught you all that you are willing to learn from me.”

“NO!” Farra gasped and clutched at her chest.

“Don't worry. I'll work on fixing and replacing that mechanical heart as soon as I can. The old man needs you more than you believed I did, anyway.” I said and looked at Hanna.

“No, my lord! I beg you!” Hanna pleaded and dropped to her knees, tears in her eyes.

“You started to show great promise and made strides to become your own person. I was proud of you for that.” I said and she cried. “I dismiss you as a personal slave and you will be assigned a new room. Work with everyone and see what jobs you might like. If you don't find anything, don't worry about it. We can always use watchers for the children and tenders for the flower gardens.”

Gella stood there, still as a statue.

“Gella, your skills are formidable. I promised to make you more powerful and I did so. No normal swordsman can stand up to your blade.” I said and walked over to her and handed her the results of her own exams. She had passed as well.

“My lord, I... I don't want...” She stammered and read the results.

I ignored her surprise, because I knew she would pass. “I promote you from my personal guard to Guard Captain of the Sanctuary. I can no longer keep you to myself and many others will benefit from your skills from now on.”

“No, please.” Gella whispered.

“New quarters will be assigned and an appropriate uniform constructed. Please report to the guard post and let them know you are reporting for duty early.”

Gella opened her mouth to speak, realized what I said, and she left without another word.

I stepped over to Hanna and Farra, whom were clutching onto each other. “Being abandoned by the people you care about isn't much better than being dead, is it?” I asked them and they cried harder. “Now you know how I feel. I hope you find someone to help you deal with it like I thought you were doing for me.”

They cried loudly as I walked away from them and left the room.