'Find yourself an obedient one,' the voice suggested.
'Mine is obedient when she wants to, Voice,' Lucian defended his little wife, 'I'm just too lenient on her.'
Lenient its non-existent ass. He was whipped.
'...' the voice gave up on the boy. At least his drive to live had returned to a certain extent, considering the state he had been in not even a day ago.
'Did that just happen?' Lucian asked himself over and over again. He had to pinch himself to confirm it was not a dream.
Instead of a slap, he got a kiss. A kiss that was better than the ones he imagined. A real one.
Sometimes, Celine would be too shy to even utter Lucian's name, but sometimes, she would pounce on him like a hungry wolf. It depended on how mean he had been to her.
He allowed it once when he tried to kick her out of his property, and now there was no stopping her.
Go away suddenly meant: come over and make yourself at home.
Leave me alone probably became: I'm lonely.
Celine somehow translated everything Lucian said into something else, and his reactions only fueled her confidence in her translations.
'Are we lovers now? I mean, we kissed and all,' Lucian said to himself, trying to figure out their relationship. 'You certainly don't kiss your friends like that. Only lovers do that, right?'
'...'
'Wait a moment… did I just take away her innocence?!' The realization hit Lucian like a ton of bricks. 'I need to take responsibility.'
'You haven't done the deed yet, you moron,' the voice said.
'But it will happen sooner or later. We are lovers after all. I can't have her run around and find someone else to do the deed with.'
'...' The voice was at a loss for words at the sudden turn of the situation.
'But we can't just rush it, can we? I need to make it special. Make her feel good,' Lucian continued, not paying attention to the voice, 'A ring. Yes, I need to buy her a ring first. A ring will make it official. And then, the deed…'
The boy had already moved to his dreamland, his body moving mechanically as he prepared for the departure. The egg should hatch in a few days, so he wrote down instructions and sent them to Celine on how to take care of it, with an apology that he was in a hurry.
He then traveled toward the plot of land he bought near the southern forest.
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Buying a few building supplies and equipment from the town nearby, Jax, Leaf, and Fishbone began to chop the wood necessary to build a small workshop, which would also serve as their new home.
They had some experience with building buildings and supports in the mines; Lucian only had to point out how big and wide the place had to be.
He left a few coins for the trio to resupply and feed themselves before departing with his wagon and Goblin.
In case he needed to send them some instructions, the kid would relay the messages between them.
They all knew the northern language due to living here before being dragged back, so communication shouldn't be an issue.
"Boss, are you okay?" Goblin asked, looking at Lucian's weirdly smiling face, "Is something good gonna happen?"
"..." Lucian looked at the boy with a smile, "You will soon inherit my greenhouse. You can call it Goblin's greenhouse from now on. How does that sound?"
"..." Goblin's expression was full of doubt. He didn't think he would ever inherit anything. The concept was so foreign to him that it was hard to wrap his head around it, "Why?"
"You are the most loyal out of the four," Lucian answered, "I trust you the most."
Goblin's expression turned from doubtful to proud, and then to determined. "I won't let you down, Boss! Goblin's greenhouse will be the best greenhouse!"
"Then let's make it happen," Lucian said, laughing.
The boy was easy to please and was the least likely to anger others with his presence. He was also the most sociable of the bunch and could even make friends with a tree if given the chance.
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For five years, Lucian had traveled, negotiated, and persuaded local artisans and craftsmen to design and build the idea in his head.
In the future, he planned to use prefabricated glass sheets and iron frames to build greenhouses of any shape and size by putting the pieces together in different ways. It would fasten production and simplify assembly.
The team solved a number of new technical problems along the way, like draining water off the roof down through hollow tubes inside the cast iron profiles.
"Woah!" Goblin's eyes widened at the sight of the glass structure, "This is the greenhouse?"
"Yes, it's a less grand version of what we will build for the nobles," Lucian said, leading him inside through the glass doors, "This one focuses mainly on producing more plants rather than being a showcase of the owner's wealth and power."
In case of Lucian's greenhouse, it measured around 20 m wide, 60 m long, and around 10 m high. For stability, it had to have two gabled roofs (10 m each).
He didn't have money to burn, so he had to keep the budget low and the return on investment high. He also traveled a lot, so the greenhouse had to survive for a while without needing constant maintenance.
The roof and walls facing the south, east, and west were made out of iron frames with double-layered glass sheets, while the wall facing the north was built out of stones, resembling a mountain hill covered in moss and ferns.
From the roof hung a few mirror panels that heated the stone paths.
Fake rainfall was achieved through a pipe network that blended with the metal skeleton of the greenhouse.
Fake rainfall, fake sunlight, fake spring... the greenhouse was a miniature world of its own, and it had to be run like one.