The wagon came to a halt and Sidastir stepped out, only to be pushed out of the way by Ardeo when he tried to help Akana out of the wagon.

“What’s wrong with these siblings? They show far too much open interest in a married couple,” though Sidastir and seriously considered drowning the boy in the impluvium in the atrium. The damn pool must have some other use than collect rain water after all. But where would he hide the body?

Akana thanked the beaming boy before he turned and inspected the villa. The house in Relevium was practically shaped, and Akana must have taken a liking to it for he nodded with a satisfied expression on his face. Though, his eyes lingered with a frown on the decorative column for a while before entering the villa.

The villa was not as large as the royal palace, just a stone throw away from the villa but it was far from low class. Entering a hallway leading to the atrium, they could see the pillars around the impluvium with the open ceiling to allow rain to fall into the pool. Marble walls were the norm here and the mosaic floor adorned the rooms with different patterns.

Walking into the atrium, Akana leaned out over the Impluvium watching the blue sky before he looked into the clear pool with a rather satisfied expression on his face. “Useful! You can collect rainwater and save it for dryer seasons.”

“True, but I’m fairly sure it's more for decoration,” chuckled Sidastir. He felt a chill rush through him when Akana had halted his inspection in front of the large marble statue he had glared at before.

Rattling over, Stella and Calda had arrived at the scene. They stared at Akana like he was directly sent from Lucis himself. Considering the strange appearance of the Auons it was no wonder that they gawked at him.

Pouring some wine for himself, since no one else seems to do it, he watched as Akana tilted his head as he started at the statue. He turned his gaze toward the alcove, that the Relevis called Alae, beyond it. Then turned back his gaze toward the statue.

“Remove the sculpture. It's blocking the Alae,” said Akana finally, and Sidastir smiled down into his cup without looking surprised.

“But Dominus, that is an antique statue of worship,” Exclaimed Calda, freezing up a bit when Akana turned his gaze towards her.

“Then it is worthless. It doesn’t even have a religious worth anymore.”

“The statue is too heavy to move,” said the old lady, seemingly thinking that this would end the discussion. Sidastir got a bad premonition when he watched his consort raise an eyebrow at the old lady.

“It is too heavy to move for one person. We have three strong men who can move it.”

“Three?”

“Young Ardeo, Magnus who should be around here somewhere, and my very capable husband who is healthy enough to move this object.”

Sidastir almost choked on the wine at the mention of his name. Akana didn’t even bother to look at him and continued briskly his inspection through the villa. Stella and Calda hurried after him as he started his traditional habit of moving objects to make the floor more practical. He removed several decorations and assigned quarters to different people as he inspected them.

Sidastir wasn’t really taking notice for he was staring at the damn statue, cursing its existence. He slowly started to back out of the hall, hoping to make a break for it but walked into a gigantic wall called Magnus.

“Have you little darling arrived yet?” asked Magnus with a clamorous voice. Sidastir grimaced when Akana arrived at the scene, preventing his escape.

“Magnus, help Sidastir and Ardeo carry the statue away,” said Akana without staying for long as he continued to pull things into his already full arms.

“Dominus, let the Calatorisat do that,” panted Stella, but Akana was already walking towards his next target.

“What statue?” asked Magnus and Sidastir nodded grimly towards the damn thing. Magnus glared at the statue for a moment before turning to Sidastir.

“Is he jesting? That’s marble,” Magnus was able to say, with an incredulous look on his face as he pointed toward the statue. Sidastir just grimaced, knowing that the rest of the day would be spent carrying the over 200 kg marble sculpture to the basement.

*****

Laying down into the plentiful furs in his new bed, Akana sighed. He would have enjoyed the rest if it wasn’t for his husband currently laying his entire weight on him, boring down his face into Akana’s neck.

As Sidastir grunted in satisfaction at his warmth, he started to usher kisses upon Akana’s neck and Akana had to marvel at his stamina considering the work he had to do all day. He could feel Sidastir’s manhood press, swollen against his own, making its presence and will known.

Akana’s hands started to move under the blanket, searching for the aching part of his husband, knowing when he had reached it as Sidastir let out a gasp. Stroking his Rial’s need, being rewarded with something between a groan and a growl.

“Sidastir?”Akana whispered, letting his hands go down Sidastir’s pants. Sidastir only replied with a distracted grunt as he was trying to remove Akana’s clothes. “We need to choose guards for the villa tomorrow, but I need to meet the Phoenix princess… Can you handle the guards with Magnus while I meet the princess?”

Akana started to stroke his husband’s manhood more fiercely, ensuring that he could not focus properly. Sidastir just groaned and promised for his dear life to do anything Akana wanted, without even considering what Akana just had asked of him. Akana gave him a contented smile before helping his loving husband with his needs.

*****

Year 783 Octavus, Day 13 on the seventh month of Domorus

Laying down I a relevian sofa called kline, Akana watched over his grumpy husband who flinched every time Akana cracked a nut. Peeling them to put them in a tray beside them on the table. Akana was even washing some fruit while keeping a watchful eye on Calda who was pouring Sidastir something to drink. She leaned purposely forward to let Sidastir get a better look at her breasts, an act much needed since she didn’t have any, only to look disappointed when Sidastir didn’t seem to notice.

He just pouted, and Akana leaned in pressing a grape into his mouth to interrupt Calda who was trying to lean in again with a determined look on her face. She wavered and spilled some of the drink on the floor, giving Akana a nasty glare.

“Be so kind and swab up the mess you have made.”

The girl just grimaced at him before turning to Sidastir with a shy smile on her face like she was waiting for him to intervene on her behalf. Sidastir hadn’t even noticed the girl and just continued to glare at his plate even though Akana could see that he eagerly leaned closer to him in the hope of being once again fed some fruit. Akana just rolled his eyes and fed him another drape.

Calda glared coldly at Akana as she swabbed the floor before she rose, raising a new vessel with water. She leaned in with the intention of “accidentally” pouring some water at him, but Akana had enough of the girl’s mischief.

His eyes flashed, turning from pitch black to white in an instant as he focused on the vessel. Feeling a rush of jealous emotions as he allowed the fire magic to flow in his veins. With a shriek, Calda dropped the vessel. Now too hot to hold with her bare hands. Akana quickly closed her eyes, opening them again when he could feel them returning to normal. He could hear his brother Sen chuckling approvingly from the depth of his mind.

The sound of the vessel break into thousands of shards did finally catch Sidastir’s attention though,” Amadan! Have the royal family sent their most incompetent servant to my household? You could have harmed the Rial Caraid!”

“But dominus…” the girl sent Akana a bitter glare before turning her now water-filled eyes toward Sidastir’s callous ones. The ipsimus, Stella, had arrived at the sound of the crash and Akana turned toward the old woman still inspecting the scene.

As their eyes met, she understood what had just happened as she knew the girl enough to know what this whole incident was about. “Go into the culinaris and don’t you dare exit until I give you permission. Ardeo! clean up after you sister,” Stella said respectfully before angrily limping after Calda into the kitchen.

Coming briskly to clean the place up, Ardeo gave Akana a bright smile. Sidastir once again returned to his gloomy state. Akana could only try to keep his face neutral, but this pair of siblings was too much trouble for his taste. At least Ardeo worked hard despite being disrespectful towards Sidastir but ever since Akana’s arrival, Calda has spent most of her time refusing to follow Akana’s instructions. She ignored him and acted shamelessly toward Sidastir who spent a large amount of time avoiding the girl.

He peered at Sidastir who sullenly avoided his gaze. Releasing a heavy sigh, Akana started to rub Sidastir’s cheeks. “Don’t look so sullen, gaolan! We need to hire trustworthy guards for the villa but I have no time to do so. I need to rely on my beloved husband to keep me safe so can’t you do this one task for me with joy in your heart?”

Sidastir’s expression soften before he leaned back in his kline like a content cat with a smirk on his face. Ardeo rolled his eyes behind his back, and Akana was just thankful he hadn’t said anything to interrupt Sidastir’s elevated mood.