"Keaton you said you would do me a favor, right? Were you being serious, when you said it could be anything?" Cal seemed nervous saying this. 

"Yeah, I meant it. I haven't forgotten either. You're here to ask for a favor?" I studied his face inquisitively.

The normally cool and collected playboy fidgeting anxiously. 

"You could say that. Look... Father is really upset about what Marcella did. Normally that would make me happy..."

I suppose that means he isn't happy. A little curious as to why, I willingly bit the hook. 

"And..?" I prompted him to continue.

"He wants to make amends..."

"Well, that much should be obvious." I said with a bit of ridicule, even if he was my friend I wouldn't let myself be shorted out of a fair deal. Their daughter tried to have me killed by her secret 'admirer'. 

As it stood, this marriage was a mess. Consummating the marriage had made things a little complicated from my end, but they'd done more than enough for me to justify walking away. I would have some bitterness, given I was planning to rely on their family for my introduction to high life in the capital, but if I needed to find backers on my own, I probably wouldn't have too much trouble.

"Marcella hasn't been the ideal wife, he can acknowledge that much, but this is too serious of an issue... even if she maintained her virginity for you, it's true that she wasn't entirely faithful either. Everyone saw how she reacted and we can acknowledge that much... but the issue about the attempt on your life is even more serious..."

Cal took a breath, leaning in to whisper in my ear. Seeming to be something sensitive that he didn't want any maids outside the door to hear, or even my girls, maybe thinking they would possibly gossip. 

"Under more normal circumstances, Marcella would be punished severely for this."

"I take it these aren't normal circumstances?" A little annoyed at the idea that nothing would happen to her for plotting to have me killed.

"We've already tried the normal approach. But things are rather complicated because she's a mage. I assume you've seen a demonstration of her power? She's a fire mage, so right now we've already pushed her as much as we're willing. To be honest any further and we'd have to seal her ability to use magic."

Seal her power? My ears rung at the words, that was even possible? Unfamiliar as I was with the world of mages. Meanwhile, Cal continued on.

"If we were to do that, we'd need your absolute commitment to the family. Father promised her to you with the expectation that she'd still be a resource for the family. If we need to cut off her contribution we're putting ourselves at far more risk in this marriage. A space mage is worth far more than a fire mage, that much is true, but a fire mage is worth far more to us than nothing." 

"You can't be serious, Cal. After all of that, it sounds like I'm the one being punished. You want me to make those kinds of promises... what if I just refuse? What benefit is there for me to go along with this, friendship alone is not going to cut it."

"I'm getting to that... the things that she's done has damaged our relationship, so we need another way to tie you in." he said rather annoyed.

"Father wants you to marry Kaya, you'll be taking her as a second wife."

My eyes lit up in surprise. 

"I'd have both of them?" A bit of greed showing in my tone of voice. 

This really seem to set him off. 

"No. And that reaction is precisely why I wanted to talk with you before father. You made a promise, and now I want to know how much your word is worth. Keaton, you can't marry Kaya... and I swear if you do." His vaguely threatening tone showing just how much he cared about his true sister. 

It wasn't particularly a big deal to me. Kaya was a pretty girl, but she didn't mean anything to me. Up until Marcella tried to sacrifice her as a replacement, the idea of having her as a spouse hadn't even crossed my mind.

"Fine, but I'm not making any promises about Marcella." I replied with ambivalence. I didn't care about Kaya, and dealing with Marcella had become something of a headache. Feeling a bit resentful about the attempted murder, but having half the mind to just walk away.

His face finally eased.

"I have to ask why you're asking me to refuse though? There's really not much to tie our families together now. Marcella made it clear she doesn't like me, her companion tried to kill me, you're unwilling to punish her anymore severely. This would normally annul the marriage. I suppose you could just hire me, but I doubt you could give a competitive rate."

"I'm going to be the one to marry Kaya." He said as a matter of fact.

Marry his own sister? Raising my eyes in surprise. It was a dying trend among nobility, but one that still existed for sure. Living proof in front of me. 

Trying to think of it from Cal's perspective, he's tasted countless women, but always seemed protective of Kaya, maybe he could only feel intimate with her?

Giving a shrug as I stopped thinking about it any further. Not my problem after all. 

Worse comes to worst, I could find some influential family in the capital to marry into. The main advantage from the Marcet family had been the easy access to hunting grounds, and perhaps my lingering sentimental attachments to the town that I had grown up in. With the loss of the troop's support during hunts there really was no real merit anymore for me, and my responsibilities towards the Marcets had become somewhat murky due to Marcella's actions. I had a choice to leave or stay laid out before me.

Deciding that I would play it by ear, extracting whatever benefits I could for the time being. I was Cal's friend, but it should always be a two way street between us. 

"If you accept these terms I can make a few promises. First, if it's to your liking, we can seal her magic. You need to keep the fact that we're even considering this quiet from Marcella for the time being, for obvious reasons." He kept mentioning this method, but I was honestly quite interested in how you could seal a magic users powers. 

"How on earth do you seal a magic user's powers? This is the first time I'm even hearing of it."

"Lazuli Stone. It disrupts magical source. Grind it up and feed it to them and it seals their powers for a few days. Make them wear the stone directly on their skin, it will seal their powers for as long as the contact remains. Graft the stone to their skin and practically speaking they'll never be free of it. A tattoo if you will."

Fascinated by what he was saying, I would need to experiment with this on my own. I was curious whether it was possible to use skills even when exposed to this stone. Maybe I could use this as something of a special weapon against mages.

"Second, I can make you those potions. Not just the poison elixirs, but even all of the ones you saw earlier. If you help me marry Kaya, I will dedicate myself to this task. Consider this me sweetening the pot. I think even the big families in the capital wouldn't offer something crazy like a dedicated personal alchemist. I swear I'll do this for a five year term, this should be worth at least a few thousands of gold to you, if not more."

Seeing my interest already hooked somewhat, he pressed on. A hint of desperation in his voice. 

Cal was really willing to do all of that just to be able to marry her? I thought it was a little much but he seemed extremely serious about it.

"Third... I won't say anything about whatever it is you're up to. You know what I mean." His voice becoming much more serious. 

I narrowed my eyes. That sounded an awful lot like a threat. 

Kaguro

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