Selene…
A strange smell found its way to her nose and roused her awake. As her eyes slowly opened, she turned her head slowly to the right as her arm slid against the sheets and felt the slight warmth left from Marcus after he had woken up and left the room.
Something about sharing a bed with him made her smile and feel giddy as she rolled over to his side and laid on her belly so that she could feel the warmth on her cheek.
Barely a month has passed since the end of the Contest of Champions and since Marcus confessed to her.
She could still hardly believe that she had someone that she could share her life with. Every time she went to sleep, she dreaded that when she woke up again that all of it would disappear like the end of a pleasant dream.
She then heard Marcus’s footsteps grow louder as he was getting near their bedroom so she quickly got off the bed out of embarrassment that he was going to see her hugging his side.
As she let out a deep yawn, she stepped into the bathroom and looked into the mirror.
Her hair was a mess, she had crust in her eyes from sleeping too soundly, and her mouth was dry.
She dreaded walking out looking like this and letting Marcus see her so she quickly got to work sorting herself out.
While she was brushing her teeth, she looked at her white and pink striped pajama shirt and pants as she thought to herself, Did I ever used to wear stuff like this before?
When she was still a part of the Brotherhood, she would often come home dead tired and end up stripping her pants off and going to bed in her shirt and underwear rather than change into something.
She never bothered getting pajamas because she felt that it was a waste of time.
But when Marcus bought some for her, she quickly got used to wearing them.
While they were also very comfortable, she mainly liked them because he asked her to wear them.
Another thing that changed about her since she left the Brotherhood is that the pattern of her hair shifted again.
She was certain that it had something to do with the nature of her magic, but she didn’t understand how or why.
For most of her life her hair had been almost entirely red with small white streaks. As soon as she met her mother and was able to use the moonlight half of her magic, her hair changed. Her left side became almost fully red with white streaks, while her right side was partly white with red streaks.
But now, the entire top half was almost entirely white while the bottom half was red and in the middle, streaks of both colors cut through each other as if they were trying to blend together.
Hmm…
She hoped that the white and red in her hair didn’t blend too well otherwise it would turn pink and that would just look ridiculous.
Once she was satisfied that she was finished with cleaning herself up, she left to join Marcus in the dining room as he had left bacon, eggs, toast, and fresh hot coffee out for breakfast.
As soon as she entered the room, Marcus turned to look at her and his eyes lit up as he noticed the change in her hair instantly.
“Whoa...what’s going on here?” he asked as he got up from his seat and walked towards her.
“Ah...well...I don’t know. I just noticed it when I woke up,” she said as she felt her face warm up when he stood right up against her to get a better look at it.
He then raised his hand to sift her hair through his fingers as he said, “That’s kind of strange how it changes on its own.”
But then he smiled and said, “It looks nice.”
“I wish I could figure out how to control it. Imagine if I could make different patterns out of it,” she said half-jokingly.
“Wouldn’t that be a neat party trick,” Marcus laughed as he sat back down.
As she sat down to join him with a plate already made for her, she took in the smell of the food he had cooked up and wondered if maybe she should start cooking too.
He cooked every morning for the two of them and she felt like she wasn’t doing enough for him.
She hasn’t gotten a job since the two of them moved to Alken since he assured her that he made more than enough money to provide for them both.
If she wasn’t working a job, and she wasn’t cooking at home, what was she really contributing?
She did help do some chores around the house, but she already did that when she was living on her own, so what did that matter?
While she was eating the food he made, she couldn’t help but feel like she needed to find some way to make herself useful. Otherwise she would feel like she’s just taking up space.
“Can I ask you something?”
Marcus looked up from his plate and said, “What’s on your mind?”
“I’m...a little stressed out. We have this nice house, plenty of money, and I don’t really need to work...but I’m not doing anything. I don’t know what to do to occupy my time since I don’t really have any responsibilities anymore,” she said and his mouth hung open as he seemed to understand.
“I hadn’t thought about that...I guess things must be kind of boring being stuck at home?” he asked.
“It’s not like I don’t have things to do here. I can still watch all the movies and shows, and read all sorts of books. I just don’t feel right lazing around all the time like this,” she said.
“Maybe you aren’t used to having so much free time,” he said helpfully.
“Maybe…,” she muttered as she finished her food.
“You do help a lot around the house by keeping the place clean, which I’m thankful for,” he said.
She frowned as she accidentally let out an irritated tone and said, “But that doesn’t really count. I was already doing that in my apartment when I was on my own. Keeping our home clean just comes with being an adult.”
Marcus was drinking his coffee when she said that and nearly choked on it as he laughed.
“I don’t understand. What’s so funny?”
He smiled as if it was the funniest thing he heard all morning as he said, “Selene, you have no idea just how ironic that is to a man like me from Terra.”
“Why is that?” she asked as she tilted her head in confusion.
He shook his head and said, “It’s not important, but look. If you really feel like you aren’t doing enough then why don’t I give you a suggestion. Why not try and pick up a hobby? I didn’t start working with the king only because I needed money. I also work with him because I wanted access to his resources so I can explore the limits of merging this world’s magic and my world’s technology to see how far I could take it. I’m doing it because I find it interesting. Try looking for something similar that you find interest in and then work on monetizing it. That way you can do something you enjoy while earning money so you have some peace of mind.”
She then stared at him as he had managed to solve her dilemma so effortlessly that she was at a loss for words.
He then noticed her staring and asked, “What? What’s wrong?”
“How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“This has been bothering me for a few weeks now and I haven’t been able to figure out what to do about it, yet you helped me in just a short conversation,” she said.
He nodded as he said, “I am pretty amazing, aren’t I?”
She snorted a laugh as she said, “Oh come on!”
“You don’t have to solve everything on your own Selene. If you’re having trouble with something, just talk to me and let me know. Alright?”
“Okay…,” she said with a smile.
As soon as he finished his plate, he walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek.
As grateful as she was, she pulled away with a laugh as she said, “Ah, gross! There’s bacon grease all over my face now!”
After she stood up and put her plate in the sink, she walked up at him, wrapped her arms around him from behind, and said, “Thank you.”
“Any time.”
Over the next few days, Selene went across Alken’s marketplace district to look for things that might catch her attention and be a nice hobby to start, but nothing seemed to interest her.
When looking for hobbies that might interest women, all she found was make up, dresses, cooking, and other more girly things that she wasn’t really used to.
She watched some of the other women who were really into those kinds of things come and go from these stores looking happy with all the different kinds of clothes they bought and wondered what was the appeal of it all.
Selene was raised on the stories her father told her about the adventures he used to go on and always wanted to go on some of her own. Exploring new lands, taking in the scenery, and fighting through dungeons always seemed so much more exciting to her.
But then she wondered if maybe there was something wrong with her.
What she was interested in and enjoyed, and what most of the women she’s seen around town liked, were very very different. They were more into the girly feminine things, while Selene had always gravitated more towards what a lot of men also happened to like.
While Marcus had never outright asked her to change or act a certain way and genuinely seemed to like her the way she was, she couldn’t help but feel inadequate compared to the other women around her.
While she was lost in her own thoughts, she failed to notice someone calling her name until they stepped right in front of her.
“Hey! Selene, right?” an unfamiliar Forrosan woman said as they greeted her.
“Huh? Do I know you?”
“You might have heard of me, but I doubt that you know me. I saw you during the contest last month when Marcus was fighting Layla. You took his shirt and sword for some reason,” she said.
“Oh. Yeah, I guess I did. I still wonder what he was trying to prove by doing that and fighting without magic until the very end of it. He never told me why he did that,” Selene replied.
The woman then reached out her hand with a kindly smile and said, “Its nice to properly meet you! My name is Sarah Loux Aldia.”
Just as Selene was about to reciprocate the greeting and shake her hand, her eyes widened as she recognized the name as one of the seven Nøkkran Assassins of legend.