A thousand candles to brighten the mansion

Morning.

Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.

*******************

Lydia stepped out of the bedroom close to an hour later, she'd been attacked by several emotions after letting herself think, she couldn't leave the room even after dressing up.

A new day as a new person she walked around the hallway carefully taking in the details she had so lazily missed the day before, the whole mansion was in one word 'dark'.

Nothing decorates the hallway, and the paints on the wall are new but without effort they are black, she frowned deeply, she couldn't discern why anybody would want such a gloomy eerie dark house, she glance around not letting her frown slip, as though the house felt her emotions it felt lighter suddenly.

Like the walls had a thousand fireflies nestled within them, they eliminated a soft light, she smiled blinking so fast, she thought she'd miss the strange happening and just like they came a moment later the light deemed and she found she'd already walked to the stair leading downstairs.

The mansion even with its eeriness was elegant and daunting, it had candle bars and fire holes in every corner and port necessary, the hall she had stood in the first day came into vision as she finished down the stairs, she knew the hall was big the last time but right now she realizes the word for it is enormous, this hall could comfortably accommodate hundreds of people, they were no decoration like the last time and now she wonders who decorated the hall as they are no single female in the mansion lest her now.

The mansion that she had read to have a life of its own, with feelings and reactions had proven right a bit too much for her to pretend otherwise, and it was so silent, you could hear a pin drop, she didn't know where to follow with her strolling so she listened properly and caught a sound coming from the far right of the mansion, she headed there.

Upon reaching her destination she became conscious of what she'd walked into, a half-naked hound attentively, stabbing, axing, cutting and washing a big very dead animal on a platform outside the kitchen, through the door that was left ajar. Hound did not seem to notice her or simply did not know how to meet her eyes, so he continued with his work as he felt her gaze travel his sweaty side view, his whole body was soaked with sweats he didn't appreciate.

Lydia, however, is rooted to her spot imagining that was Theodore, his shirts off as he uses energy to get this done, he could be all sweaty too and she wouldn't mind she thought

"Hound it has been to my understanding that you do not value living but I would hate to be the one to grant you death, you do not, in my mansion go around half naked in front of my wife" the rush of warm breath next to her ears startled her

"Lord Theodore" she gasped, he was right behind her and he had caught her staring gapingly at Hound, notwithstanding what or who she was daydreaming about, it looked scandalous, it didn't matter who she was thinking about, she just acted like an uncultured stray lady.

Humans were never a society to stay without rules and etiquettes and critic-Ishire is one of those empires with rules, and critic Arley's soil is engulfed with an extreme sense of perfection that if word of what just transpired spilt out, Lydia's already nothing reputation will plummet further.

"Gooseberry…" he growled, it sounded teasing and also like a warning

"Good morning Theodore" she greeted distractedly trying to steer the thoughts away from herself, her downfall.

"Beautiful morning wife" his response came with a pull of her waist inside the house.

"Good morning lady Theo…" Hound started only now that the lord is present.

"Go get dressed, Hound" he growled, interrupting any exchange they both could have had.

"Come along let me show you around the mansion before breakfast is ready" he turned around and headed back inside the mansion

"Okay" she nodded

"This is the parlour for guests, official, unofficial, teas, and gatherings which would be rare as now you will be associated with Lord Theodore" he bites out as he points his hands to whichever place he mentions, the whole house is easy to describe, and it's one word, 'empty'.

Lydia nodded as she followed behind for the tour her kind husband seemed to enjoy as much as she was enjoying it.

"There is another of this room upstairs where you can have your friends and family which would be almost rare too as you barely have both, I mean no offence dear wife" he commented

"I take no offence in your utterance" she cleared with a small smile because he was right, she barely had any.

"Good, now we move to the room assigned for our growing books, this room is located here, one because it is one of the many empty rooms in the mansion but also because it is closest to the guest parlour so you can easily sneak in here with wine to catch up with your books instead" he narrated, he didn't have many books, he was not a hoarder so most of his books went to donations after he reads them but he is married to a book hoarder now and he is trying to make her comfortable in his otherwise uncomfortable mansion.

"Thank you" she expressed gratitude, not understanding that she didn't understand why he thought she'd need the escape or a save from their future guests.

"They're no shelves yet but it can all be arranged, I'd call in the best carpenter to work your bookshelf wishes in this room" Theodore promised as he led her out of the empty black painted room.

"I've learned of how women enjoy the process of decorating a house, so this I hope will be enjoyable for you too" Theodore supposed as they moved farther around the mansion, he got into a room that looked like a munitions store, but Lydia is distracted by what he'd uttered to look around

"I…I'm allowed to do that?" she asked, her eyes widening apprehension swirling in her expressive eyes

"What?"

"You will let me do that? Decorate the mansion?" she clarified, hoping fito filler eyes and it made him shake his head

"Without hesitance of course gooseberry, if you want I could always give you a hand" he offered dutifully

"The whole mansion?" she is persistent, his eyes narrowed to a slit as he regards her with caution

"Unless you're thinking of changing the painting of the mansion, yes you can redecorate the mansion" he confirmed after telling her where the line was drawn, he could not stand a house glowing in reds and blues.

Redecorate? There is no decoration here to change, it will simply be a decoration. The mansion needed every knick-knack it could get to look livable

"So I can reposition the bed, get a position of cushions, set up the library, stuck the kitchen, get a warmer…"

"Reposition the bed?" Theodore called out

"Yes, the position it takes is alarming, I wish to move it away from the front of the door" she explained as he tentatively backed her to a wall free of the array of ammunition neatly stored

"Mmm and why that?" a teasing smirk made its way to his lips

"Because…it's disturbingly alarming?" she rasped

"Alarming from what?" he cornered her against a wall and she turned bright red

"It's completely facing the door" Her voice has turned meek at this point

"And we wouldn't want others to barge in on us when we're tangled in the sheets now do we?" he pushed her further

"No…yes, I mean the bed…" she stumbled through words

"Gooseberry, you can do whatever you want to the mansion because it's also yours now, unless you paint it anything but black" he gave her a paper worth of space, his smile never leaving his face

He finds her adorable in every sense

"The windows…" she tested

"And also opening the windows is… I would appreciate it if you keep them closed" he tuned out of the intending warning, veiling it politely with a smirk that caught Lydia's eyes

"But why? I was going to offer that we open it in the morning and afternoon but it definitely is shut by evening and night" she reasoned

"It'll be too gloomy inside and also I'd require it, the light I mean" she continued as he simply frowned, deep in thought

"We could get candles, thousands of them, bottles of fireflies from Critic-Ishelm" People with shady habits dwell there, they can get fireflies that last a year

"Theodore…" she pleadingly whined

"Gooseberry" he blinked and her cheeks burned

What is he doing to her? A loud clearing of the throat interrupted their heated nothing

"Breakfast is ready lady Theodore" Hound addressed Lydia alone, making her wonder why, wouldn't Theodore eat too? She's been with her noble family all her life so she knew that even them eat too, only not your regular born meals or for the sake of hunger but only as fancy enjoyment

"I thought Blanc was the cook" she remembered, prompting the question that sounded more like an accusatory statement

"That one cannot cook to save his own life, just like his name offers 'he's blank" he deadpanned

"Why'd he offer yesterday then?" She asked in wonderment

"To save face, he felt useless and guilty for slightly stalking you" he sold out

"Slightly?" she cocked her head with a faintly raised eyebrow

"On the commands of the lord of critic Arley," he shrugged

"Let's go feed you up, you'll likely get too busy today" lord Theodore took her dainty wrist in his big long ones, and her heart skipped, then she remembered he is the dark lord whom the whole of critic-Ishire are wary of, so she should probably start to reign on her stupid reactions to him.

I just hope it's the sort of busy that I would like, she mused.