I awoke to the sound of…. What WAS that woman's name? She snored, that's what I knew for now. I sat up slowly, head still spinning a bit as I looked at her. Yesterday evening I hadn't managed to get a proper look at her with the pinning and the moonlight and all that. Seeing her like this, even laying down I noticed how tall she was. If I had to estimate she was between seven and eight feet tall, including her- I found myself staring for a few moments as I noticed ears extending from the top of her skull, like a husky's or a wolf's in the same black color as her hair. I remembered her eyes, a striking blue.

  My eyes trailed down her body, across her shoulders and waist, taking in the scarred, toned muscle that belied the life of someone who fought for a living. I barely noticed the fact that she had a tail as her general body made me wonder what she had meant last night about needing me to be an adventurer. Clearly she had experienced combat in some form so what was that about?

  I looked up, scanning the room for any clue where I was. The walls were stark white, made up of a mixture of trims and golden inlay. The room was mostly empty apart from the bed, a large fireplace at the foot end of the bed, a cream colored nightstand on each side of the bed and a small red flower on a table feeling completely unfit for the entirety of the room. I suppressed a yawn as I turned to leave bed, but my feet hadn't touched the ground yet as I felt a hand grab my arm. “Where are you going, dear husband?” The wolf woman′s voice felt like a serrated blade on my skin.

  “Im trying to get up.”

  “Trying to run?”, she asked. I could hear her shift her weight behind me. “I could outrun you even if you have a headstart.”, her voice came from higher up now, she had sat up and moved close enough that I could almost feel her body heat on my skin.

  “No.” I said. “You gave me a week so I'd like to be prepared.” Her grip on my arm tightened for a couple seconds.

  “Prepared?”, her voice was unbelieving, like I had just told her I intended to extinguish the sun and she let go of my arm.

  I stood up and turned to her. “Yeah.” I say. “You made it clear that you need me for some reason and that you′re gonna take me with you so I should be somewhat prepared, right?”

  She sat on the bed. “Who are you?”, she asked. “You′re not Henry, are you?” I thought for a few seconds. Of course I wasn't, I just had woken up as him.a couple hours ago, I still had no idea where I even was and what this all had in store for me.

  How did she feel about Henry? Should I pretend to be him or not?

  On the one hand she had pinned him to a wall and talked to him like he knew and shared her wishes. She had referred to him as “dear husband”. She also had not even hesitated to lay in one bed with him.

  On the other side this could mean she didn't take him seriously, especially since she sounded like she barely knew him. What with asking about his ability to perform his bloodline abilities or magic in general, something I'd have expected her to know before the marriage if she really needed either.

  “How′d you come to that conclusion?”, I asked as I walked to the door.

  She had called him a noble so chances were that this was a political marriage? No, she had talked about finally becoming an adventurer, something a noble should be possibly able to accomplish themselves. So she either hadn't been a noble before or it required something else that Henry could provide in some form.

  "You're acting very different from yesterday.”, she said as she slowly left the bed.

  No, she most definitely wasn't a noble herself, not with the way she had talked about them yesterday.

  “Yesterday was a bit much for me. I- can think a bit clearer now.”, I lied. “No need to worry.”

  She was about to open her mouth as the door opened and a young redheaded woman in a simple brown dress with a white apron stepped into the room. Her eyes, framed by thin glasses, widened.

  “Master Henry, you are already up. I came to wake you and Lady Rebecca.”

  “Also already up.”, Rebecca said, her voice scrubbing over me like sandpaper.

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  “I see.”, the Maid said curtly, the liveliness in her tone dropping by a few dozen degrees. “Is there anything you need, milord?”, she asked in a semi chipper tone. “Or you, Milady?”, she asked, turning to Rebecca, her tone freezing once more. Even without seeing her, I could feel Rebecca tense up behind me with murderous intent. How could a maid so openly disrespect the lady of the house? There was something else here that I didn't know yet.

  I clapped my hands together. “Let's get washed up and have breakfast.”, I said and the tension stagnated for a few more moments. “Yeah, let's.”, Rebecca scoffed. The maid nodded. “Of course milord.”

  Going by context I learned a few things during breakfast. The Maids name was Louise, the mansion had a butler named Leopold and a cook whose name nobody had ever bothered to learn. I had six older brothers and none of them or my father had bothered showing up for my wedding, sending their butlers and gifts instead which made this whole thing feel like Henry was more sold off then married.

  The gifts of his family were lavish, a jewel encrusted two handed sword from his eldest brother, a shirt of chainmail that felt lighter in my hands than any cloth would. Yet something was off about them. Like holding them caused a sort of pain at the back of my head. Each time my fingers hovered over the gifts the pain skyrocketed for just a fraction of a second before my hand moved away again.

  Suddenly feeling Rebecca's presence behind me, I flinched and turned around. “Christ, you scared me there. Don't sneak up on me like that.”

  Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “Who′s that?”, but her interest was quickly gone, falling onto Henry's gifts instead. “What do we have here?” She picked up the chainmail, trailing her fingers along the material, letting out a satisfied hum. She pulled it closer and sniffed the material. “Smart.”, she whispered before pulling the gemstone off the collar with basically no resistance. “Ill be holding on to this.”, she said before handing the armor piece back to me. I was about to say something before I felt the difference. The distinct pain was gone, no matter where I had my hand on the shirt now , it didn't reappear.

  “This should do well for you now. It's quite a bit too small for me," she said, her tone almost friendly. I opened my mouth, and the question “What is that gem?”sat on my tongue but I decided against it, it might be more of a problem than good. “Thank you.”, I said instead. “Maybe I'll be able to take a punch with this one.”

  “Hardly.”, Rebecca answered. “Chainmail is good for slashes and with how well made this is, piercing, but it's basically useless against blunt force, this one more than most with how thin it is.”

  “I see.”

  “Not that you′ll be doing much fighting.”, she said, any friendliness in her tone vanishing again. “You′re just around cause I wont get taken seriously otherwise. And even with you-”, she sighed and her tail swished angrily behind her.

  My eyes fell onto one of the gifts, given to Henry by his fourth brother. It was a thick tome with an attached note.

  “Though I'm no longer of this family after joining the tower, I would still like to congratulate you on your wedding. You seemed jealous when I left for the Western Tower and as such I decided to attach a few basic spells curated specifically for you and 5 Moonstones. Use them as you please. If you ever come to the area, do not hesitate to visit, little brother. Love, Theodore.”

  This was the only attached message to any of the gifts. I weighed it in my hands thinking about it. Something about this filled me with a certain melancholy.. Not only was it the only gift with a note but also the only one that gave me, even the slightest, gaze into the life of Henry before I stepped into his body.

  Deep in thoughts, I almost jumped out of my own skin when the maid touched my shoulder. “Sir?”, she asked. “Is everything ok?”, I looked at her. How close had Henry been to her? Had he ever used her name? Had he- Overthinking would get me nowhere. “Im not sure.”, I said, turning over to her. “What can I help you with?”, I ask. “Rebe-”

  Rebecca snarled.

  “Lady Rebecca mentioned that you and her were… going to leave in a week's time?”, she asked, quite unsure. “Thats correct.” I answered. The maid's shoulders slumped slightly. “I see.” I looked between her and Rebecca who seemed like she hadn't quite expected me to answer as I did. “We n-need to make some… plans regarding the estate and the surrounding domain," she said.

  I spent the rest of the day listening to information on the land Henry owned now, as it had been his to use but not owned by him up until now. What had been done with it in the past, how it technically was no longer part of his fathers land. I was asked what needed to be done going forward, combined with more different details than anybody else, myself included, would care to know or discuss, despite the importance Louise the Maid and Leopold, the butler insisted it had and most likely actually held.

  That evening I sat in the study, flipping the pages of the book Henry′s fourth oldest brother had gifted him. Apart from his marriage and the threatening promise of future adventurers this was the most interesting thing that had happened to me since I had come here and as such I intended to make full use of it.

  Rebecca had meanwhile not left my side all day, for what reason I could not say, but she was at the very least always in the room with me. As I was flipping through the pages, she was laying on the sofa on the verge of dozing off. The silence was almost peaceful and I wondered why she had been close all day despite her demeanor, yet did not dare to ask.

  A small movement caught my attention. Her ears had perked up, twitching as if trying to find a source. Her entire body tensed. “What ar-”

  The window exploded into a shower of glass shards as someone, something landed heavily on the floor, immediately turned towards me and raised its arm, a red glow emanating from it.

  "Target found."