The next morning, Arthur woke up to the smell of something good.

  "Good morning, Arthur!" Cate's cheerful voice came from his side.

  "Good morning, Cate." He smiled at her as she was setting plates on the table.

  "There are one or two things I would like to know..." She blushed slightly as she put a portion of scrambled eggs on his plate.

  "Sure thing..." He reached for a freshly baked bread roll.

  "I don't exactly remember how I returned from the Centre..." She lowered her head with a cute blush adorning her cheeks..

  "Well... I brought you since you were so exhausted and had fallen asleep." He explained and took a spoonful of food. "Interesting flavour..."

  The taste was different from the food he remembered from home, but not in a bad way. It was a little more fatty if that even made sense for an egg, but overall it was good. Maybe it was because of how it was prepared? It was way creamier than the scrambled eggs he ate in Arcadia.

  "You carried me...?" She covered her face and let out a sound that was on the border of various emotions Arthur refused to identify. "Why did you sleep on the couch, SIR?!"

  "Because I put you to bed and didn't want you to feel awkward?" He risked an answer but had no courage to look her in her eyes.

  Their relationship was something he was afraid to discuss, but not to accidentally name his feelings. He was sure that he was infatuated, but if that was already love... He knew deep down that he wasn't doing anything to stop it. She fascinated him, and he wanted to support her in any way possible. But he would never do anything that might upset her in any serious way. A little bickering, or making her sleep in the bed to slightly shake her worldview, were harmless in his opinion. Even if someone learns about it, he would safely add his odd behaviour to the list of things done by the eccentric noble he played. Her prolonged silence made him finally look at her face and he almost gasped. She was flustered but a soft smile was playing on her lips.

  "You could always..." She closed her eyes as she leaned forward near his ear and whispered with a serious and sweet voice. The protective catbell on her necklace chimed with a single captivating note. "...sleep with me."

  He knew that he was turning red, because his face was burning hot. She looked at him with her incredibly blue feline eyes and slowly straightened with a very deliberate motion. Her much healthier body moved under her thin clothes, and he knew that she did it on purpose. He opened and closed his mouth, absolutely taken aback by her words. Arthur looked at her in stunned silence, but she had her gaze lowered and waited in nervous anticipation. He suddenly realised that he was happy.

  And he didn't want to lose her.

  "I respect you and I like you, Cate. More than just like you... But, I don't want to be selfish and impose anything on you." He said through a strangely tight throat. "I never expected to find someone like you in a place like this. I never expected to find love so far away from home... I hope you won't hate me for this, but I was afraid to admit that I might love you... I was. No more. I love you, Cate. I want you always by my side..."

  "I'm so happy, Arthur!" She smiled and sat closer to him.

  "Then..." He raised his hand towards her collar, but she swatted it away with a cute giggle.

  "From the moment you saved me, you proved to me time and time again that you came from a much better place." She said with a thoughtful smile, but it vanished and was replaced by an expression of pure dread and despair. "You saved me from a fate so horrible, so utterly unspeakable... Since the day I was enslaved, I knew what my fate would be. Griss told me about it. He made sure I would know. He even showed me some girls being ravaged and raped by his thugs and he ordered me to watch it. I had nightmares about it. I couldn't sleep, powerlessly counting days until I would be returned to him... And... be slowly broken. I tried to run at the beginning, but it was futile with that collar. That night, when the Steelfang Boar attacked us, I happily waited for my death. It would be so much better than the fate of a cheap plaything. But... You saved me..."

  Her voice was so full of emotions when she voiced what he had suspected. Arthur was silent and watched her play with the ring he had given her and never admitted to anyone that he wished it to be more important than a utility tool.

  "Cate..." His voice was tight with boiling fury, but she soothed his anger with a single gesture. She put her finger on his lips to hush him and he obeyed.

  "You saved me from a fate worse than death. You allowed me to avenge my father and the life I've lost." She looked at him with tears in her eyes and a soft smile on her lips as she touched her collar. "Right now, this collar is not active. Thanks to your order, I can do anything I want when we are alone. You could have done anything with me and I wouldn't… couldn't have opposed you. But you didn't. For that alone, my heart beats faster near you... But you did so much more for me. You called me your friend and wanted to set me free. You promised to take me to your homeland. And now... Now, you confessed your love to me. Your kindness healed my broken heart. I told you before... If I could love any man, it would be you. And I do love you. I tried not because I was afraid that you couldn't reciprocate the feeling, but I failed. I love you... It's no longer a slave collar for me, Arthur, but a symbol of my promised freedom. With you, in Arcadia. I want you to take it off only there."

  She tilted her head and leaned on his shoulder. He reached out behind her back and hugged her tighter to his side.

  "It's a promise then." He said softly and laid his head on top of hers.

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  "For everyone else, I will be your Maid and a slave. But when we are alone..." She trembled and patted his hand he had on her shoulder. "I will be your woman..."

  "I don't know how such things are dealt with here, but in Arcadia, I would call you my girlfriend. Maybe even a fiancée but, for that, I would have to buy you a very special ring..." He said with a smile.

  "You bought me one already..." She raised her hand with a happy giggle.

  "No..." He smiled to himself. All the nervousness and tension left him the moment he had confessed his feelings to Cate. "But I will do it... I want to do it."

  "I will wait with anticipation for it." She said softly and let out a sad sigh. "In Saftia, the woman was rarely asked about her opinion. If a man wanted a woman, they would usually bargain with her father and brothers..."

  "You don't give me any reason to like this country..." He closed his eyes.

  "Excellent." She giggled. "Hopefully, it will encourage you to find our way back to Arcadia much faster..."

  He laughed upon hearing it and hugged her even tighter. He was incredibly happy. They stayed like that for a long time, which wound up entirely too short for them. More precisely, until Catherine's growling stomach demanded scrambled eggs, long gone cold. They ate them nonetheless, and talked and laughed about nothing in particular until their happiness was interrupted by a polite knock on the door. Catherine stood up and kissed his cheek as she went to answer, already looking like a perfect Maid.

  "Baron Howthorns wants to see you, my Lord." She announced with a soft voice.

  "By the Gods, Sion! Come in! We are just guests at your house!" Arthur stood up, smiling.

  The Baron entered with a hard-to-read expression, but he looked a few decades younger. He was much better since the day Arthur had helped his son.

  "Guests or not, it would be impolite to encroach on your privacy, Arthur." The Baron smiled as they exchanged handshakes. "I heard that you hunted down the Armoured Lion. Is that true?"

  "Indeed!" Arthur summoned the body and ruffled Lion's mane. It nearly filled the empty space in the otherwise large room. "I would like to give it to you as a token of my gratitude, Sion. At least for offering me a place to stay. Without you, my life would be significantly harder."

  "I couldn't..." Sion gasped and put his hand on the massive beast as well. "You have done so much for me already!"

  "Oh... The other things? Noo..." Arthur laughed. "Crushing some bandits was something that brought us mutual profit. Lifting those curses? Well... That might be something I'd like to exchange for a similar favour."

  In the corner of his eye, he observed Catherine who cleaned the table after the meal and had already prepared two sets of cups. She wasn't concerned about the massive predator at all but used a moment to send Arthur a warm smile.

  "In that case, I can't complain." Sion nodded and smiled at the massive monster's body. "It will be magnificent when stuffed... You don't really need anything from it? Its body parts are very valuable!"

  "Not really..." Arthur shrugged and grinned at the local Noble. "If I need anything, then I will hunt down another one."

  "If anyone else had told me that I would call them boastful." Sion laughed and loudly snapped his fingers. "Anyway! I came to you to ask about that extermination we discussed a few days ago."

  "Of course! Please, take a seat." Arthur pointed to the couches. Once they were seated and Catherine poured them large servings of that sour-sweet juice, she waited behind Arthur. "I was under the impression that it wasn't a pressing matter. I hoped to check some things first… Something changed?"

  Arthur wasn't exactly thrilled because he wanted to investigate the ruins he was teleported to first, but perhaps waiting for the Scholars would yield better results.

  "I'm afraid, yes." Sion nodded. "As I told you previously, the guards noticed entire packs of Gnolls sniffing around the city. Fortunately, they are ferals, and they don't have Artificers, because they only have crude bows and stone weapons, but if we wait any longer, they might evolve."

  "I wanted to ask about it earlier because I'm not familiar with Gnolls. It's embarrassing for someone who calls himself a monster hunter but on the other hand, it's exciting to meet so many new monsters!" Arthur was rather proud of this particular excuse. "Are they perhaps similar to Goblins or Kobolds?"

  "You may say that..." Sion leaned back more comfortably and seemed to wonder how to describe the monsters to him.

  "Gnolls are very intelligent pack monsters, my Lord." Catherine interrupted the silence with a very respectful voice. "Similar to Goblins, Gnolls use tools and weapons, but unlike Kobolds, they very rarely use magic. They are much smarter than Goblins and capable of harassing even the large cities. Their baseline isn't particularly strong or massive, being the size of an adolescent child of most races like Humans or Elves. They are looking akin to Hyenas, dog-like beasts and they are slightly similar, but much smaller than Canids."

  "Canids?" Arthur looked at her with a smile he hoped wasn't too stupid.

  "You called them a few times a Dogmen already... I wanted to tell you about it but there wasn't a good moment for it, my Lord..." She smiled awkwardly.

  "Oh! Thank you, Catherine!" Arthur smiled at her. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

  "You are excellently educated, Miss Catherine." Sion looked at her honestly impressed.

  "Thank you, Lord Howthorns." She curtsied with a smile.

  "So the beasts like that are approaching the city." Arthur leaned back and slowly nodded. "What's about the Gnoll Artificers?"

  "Instead of magic, Gnolls use the Artificer's tools and forged weapons. Once their pack obtains such tools they become exponentially deadlier." Sion nervously put together his hands. "Lately, the packs of Gnolls were reported to have metal weapons, so their pack had evolved to have a Blacksmith. It won't take a long time before it evolves into the Artificer."

  "I see... It indeed sounds interesting. How many soldiers do you want to spare for this mission?" Arthur nodded.

  "At least a full company led by Amos." Sion shook his head. "I should probably post a quest at the association but I don't know if that's necessary with you."

  "Hmm... Perhaps one or two people might be helpful." Arthur rubbed his chin and smiled cheerfully. "I wanted to ask you for a little help. I don't want to impose on your hospitality for too long, and it looks like my stay in your town might extend far longer than I anticipated. I would like to rent a place for my base of operations, if I can call it that."

  "I'm glad to hear you will stay longer, Arthur, and I would be honoured if you could remain my guest, but I understood." Sion smiled back at him and Catherine. "By the time you return, I will have prepared a few options for you, my friend."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!