Our second world- Book two: War is coming

Chapter 7

~Haren~

After lunch, he headed upstairs to check on Artemis, who hadn't come down. He found that she was soundly sleeping, so he let her be and headed down the hall to his study.

It was a medium sized room with about the same floor space as an office. There were two large bookshelves bordering a portrait on the far wall. It had been hanging for so long the paint had all but faded and all that was left was a faint outline on the yellowing canvas. He had been meaning to get it replaced, but hadn't yet found a painting to do so with, so it hung there.

In front of the bookcases was a large, oak desk with a small candle holder and a comfortable, black armchair. There were a couple small stacks of paperwork scattered across the surface of the desk, but not enough to make it completely cluttered.

Facing the desk in the center of the room were two black couches, which surrounded a glass coffee table. They were there so that the room could be used for meetings if needed, but his most common use for them was power naps during breaks.

Sitting down at the desk, he pulled out a pen and slid the chair up to the desk. In addition to paperwork for the house, bills, and paychecks for the maids and servants, he also had a growing stack of unfinished letters. A few were reports to the princess over the wyvern incident last week and some were for his mother. After deciding he didn't feel like doing bills yet, he retrieved one of the unfinished letters to his mom and started working on finally finishing it.

When he'd finished with a few of the letters, Artemis wandered into the room and walked around the desk to watch him work.

"You can sit down if you want," He said, gesturing to the arm of the chair. Both were flattened from the long periods of time where August had sat on them so they were perfect to sit on comfortably.

Reluctantly, Artemis sat down and he continued to work while she watched him. After a while, Marylyn came in with a plate of mini PB&J sandwiches. She set them down on the desk and crawled into Harens lap. Handing him a sandwich before taking one for herself. Recently, she'd started sitting in his lap whenever she had the chance, and if she wasn't, August usually was. He didn't mind them doing it so long as he could still do whatever it was he was doing and they took advantage of that.

"Artemis, are you going to eat? You can help yourself," Haren said, sliding the plate over to her.

"O-oh. Thank you," She answered, taking one of the sandwiches. She ate it quietly, but her face showed visible delight.

"Hey Daddy, what are you doing?" Mary asked when she'd finished her sandwich.

"I'm trying to come up with a budget for the wedding, but I'm having a bit of trouble since we haven't set a date for it yet," He replied, patting her head. He had a habit of doing it to his younger sisters and started doing it to Mary as well.

"Sir, may I ask whos' wedding?" Artemis asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"He and August are getting married," Mary said, looking up at Haren.

"Yeah. I understand if you think it's weird, but it's actually quite common in my home country." Haren explained.

"N-no. It's not strange. Just... different," She shook her head," I was wondering why he called you Darling."

Haren blushed," It was our compromise since his old pet name was a little embarrassing."

"I remember. He called you kitty, right?" Mary piped up.

"Mary!" Harens' face went even redder.

"Why kitty?" Artemis asked, her face full of confusion.

"Because I look like one." Haren replied, unraveling his tail from under his shirt to show her," I usually hide the tail since it's a bit bothersome to explain."

"Why? Are beastmen not common here?"

"No, they're not. Most live in the divided territory. Those who don't usually end up as slaves one way or another," Haren said.

"Darling~" The trio looked up when August entered the room," Oh, you two are in here too."

"Hey August, what's up?"

"Mary, no fair! You took my spot," August pouted, puffing his cheeks like a child," I came to ask if you've finished the paperwork from this morning."

"If you put it on my desk, then no." Haren replied, shuffling through a drawer for an envelope.

"I thought you'd see them if I put them on your desk," August said, finding the envelope Haren was looking for before sitting on the other arm of the chair.

"You of all people should know that's not the best place for them."

"Only because you let it get so messy," August teased.

"Hey. Some of this stuff is yours," Haren retorted, stuffing the letters into the envelope and sending them with his ring. A new skill he'd learned to use.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll clean it up tomorrow, ok?" August said, giving Haren and Mary a kiss on the cheek before returning to the tattoo on Harens neck.

After working for about another hour, Mary got bored and headed to her room. Haren told Artemis that she could go back to her own room, but she refused saying she wanted to stay until he was done.

He shrugged and went back to work. Not long after their short exchange, he felt a weight on his shoulder and looked up to see Artemis had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. Having been so focused on his work, he didn't realize the soft purring he didn't know he was doing had lulled her to sleep.

If it was anyone else he would have woken them up immediately. Artemis was different, and he thought of her almost like an older sister sometimes, though he had only really known her for a day, so he didn't mind it and went back to work.