To Take What Is Rightfully Ours

Chapter 52. On a Brink of Change

Otto worked while Diane enjoyed the bath in his bedchambers. Well, at least he pretended to work, alternating between staring at the papers and sneaking glances at Diane who left the door open just enough so she would be in his line of sight. She mostly didn't pay him any mind, enjoying her [are you sure it won't burn you alive?] hot bath, but she smiled every time she caught him looking in her direction. And Otto didn't know why he enjoyed it so much.

It was a weird sort of intimacy to have a woman naked in his bedchambers without trying to have sex with her. Don't get him wrong; he really wanted to, but it was not yet time. Diane was still Viserys' mistress and she made it very clear that she wouldn't share his bed as long as she shared the King's. Otto respected that. Moreover, he thought it might be for the best. Despite not being a jealous type [mostly], not over Viserys anyway, the last thing Otto wanted was to share Diane with him.

Otto flipped through his letters absent-mindedly. There was a letter from Lys that one of his men sent. It could be important but Otto would rather read it when he could actually focus on it and not have all his mind occupied by one particular woman. However... oh, who was he kidding? Diane was always on his mind these days and Otto would lie if he said that he did not enjoy it.

The relationship he shared with Diane was like no other he ever had in his life. His late wife and he were good companions. She was a dear friend and good for his image as a devoted "man of Faith". But there was never any real... intimacy, even when they had sex. Alyrie - as a good, God-fearing woman she was - treated sex as nothing but a chore. And even though at the start of their marriage Otto tried to show her that it could be more than that, that she could actually enjoy it... well, it fell on deaf ears. It was easier to give up on having sex with her altogether than try to prove her wrong.

Otto had been to brothels but could there really be any intimacy if you are paying them to fuck you? He didn't enjoy that much either.

There were also a few affairs he had through the years with noble married women but they were all short-lived because they were hard to maintain and not worth it in the end. It was easier to just jerk off once in a while than put so many thoughts and time into a secret relationship that wouldn't go anywhere.

And with Diane... well, that was different. Not like Otto knew where this relationship was going and whether or not it was going anywhere at all but he wished to risk it. To give it a shot. To enjoy the time he could spend with her, no matter how short- or long-lived it might turn out to be.

'You are thinking way too hard for a man who is just staring at unopened letters,' Diane teased, and Otto blinked, coming back from his thoughts.

He turned his head and saw her standing near his chair, her white hair looking wavy because of the dampness. She was wearing his robe that was loosely tied around her waist and was slipping off one of her shoulders. He didn't leave it for her to wear so she definitely helped herself to it but Otto had exactly zero objections.

'Staring at open letters might be a little bit more productive,' Diane added with a small smile.

'Surprisingly not always,' Otto said, moving his left hand away from the arm of his chair which Diane perceived as an invitation to prop herself on it. Otto put his hand on Diane's bare knee instead. 'Some of them are just... disappointing in their stupidity.'

'Like from Jason Lannister?'

Otto let out a laugh, 'Especially from Jason Lannister.'

'You know how I feel about Lannisters but, to be fair, I think Tyland would have been a better Lord than Jason is,' Diane said thoughtfully. 'I think he is way more...'

'Smart?'

'I wanted to say educated but I suppose?' Diane leaned down to put her arm on Otto's shoulder and make herself more comfortable.