Chapter 5 – Mates Should Stay Close

During her first two days at House Edevane, Elaria learned that humans liked dividing space into far more separate rooms than dragons did.

The bedroom was one room.

The dressing room was another.

The bathroom was somewhere else entirely.

Breakfast was eaten in one room, dinner in another. There was a room for guests, a library for reading, a study for working, and even rooms that seemed to exist specifically for sitting around and doing nothing.

At first, Elaria had assumed the mansion was so large because Valerian held a high position.

After two days, she was beginning to suspect it was large because humans simply used too many rooms.

“This is the music room.”

Clara opened the door for her.

Elaria leaned in to look.

A piano stood beside the window. Two stringed instruments rested inside a glass cabinet, and several chairs were arranged nearby.

“Does Valerian play?”

“His Grace can play the piano, but he rarely has time.”

“Oh.”

Clara closed the door and continued down the corridor.

Today, she had been assigned to show Elaria the parts of the mansion she had not yet seen.

This had apparently become necessary after Elaria took the wrong turn while looking for the dining room yesterday and ended up at the servants’ staircase instead.

She had not been lost.

She had merely chosen the wrong direction once.

But Clara seemed to have decided it would be easier to show her the entire layout from the beginning.

“This is the smaller drawing room. The larger one is downstairs. Most of the west wing is made up of offices and rooms His Grace uses personally.”

Elaria stopped.

“Valerian’s rooms are in the west wing?”

“Yes.”

“His bedroom too?”

“Yes.”

Elaria turned to look back the way they had come.

Her own room was in the east wing.

The opposite side of the mansion.

That morning, it had taken her around five minutes to walk from her room to breakfast. Reaching the west wing would take even longer.

“That’s far.”

Clara followed her gaze.

“From your room?”

“Yes.”

“Well… fairly far.”

“Why did you put me so far away?”

Clara hesitated.

“Because it’s the guest room most suitable for you.”

“Is there another guest room closer?”

“There is, but…”

The young woman stopped.

Elaria waited.

“But?”

“It would be too close to His Grace’s private rooms.”

That confused Elaria even more.

“Wouldn’t that be better?”

Clara blinked.

“It wouldn’t be… appropriate.”

That word again.

Humans seemed to use inappropriate for a remarkable number of things.

Elaria did not immediately ask why.

First she considered whether there was some piece of information she had missed.

Safety?

No.

Being closer to Valerian would be safer.

Status?

She had already been introduced as his distant relative.

Privacy?

Possibly. But she had no intention of wandering in and out of his room without telling him.

“What exactly would be inappropriate about it?”

Clara looked as though she very much wished Beatrice were standing beside her.

“Because you are a young woman, miss.”

“Yes.”

“And His Grace is a man.”

“I know.”

“So your bedrooms should not be too close together.”

Elaria went quiet.

“Why?”

Clara took a small breath.

“Because people might misunderstand.”

That word again.

Humans seemed almost as concerned with what other people might think had happened as they were with what had actually happened.

“Misunderstand what?”

A faint flush appeared on Clara’s face.

“That… your relationship with His Grace might be something more than that of relatives.”

Elaria thought about it.

But her relationship with Valerian really was more than that of relatives.

She nearly said so before remembering the rule in time.

She was not supposed to talk about mates in front of other people.

Clara might be assigned to look after her, but Valerian had been very clear that if Elaria was not certain someone could be trusted with the subject, she should not mention it.

So she changed the question.

“People think that just because the rooms are close together?”

“Some people would.”

“Even if we aren’t sleeping in the same room?”

“Yes.”

Elaria nodded.

New information.

“What if we did sleep in the same room?”

Clara stopped walking.

Elaria stopped with her.

“Miss… you mean…”

“If we stayed in the same room, what would people think?”

Clara’s expression changed enough that Elaria immediately understood this case had a much clearer answer than neighboring rooms.

“If an unmarried man and woman slept in the same room, it would be considered highly improper.”

“Because people would assume they had a relationship?”

“Yes.”

“What if they already did have a relationship?”

Clara fell silent.

Elaria waited.

Apparently the question had wandered into another area the young woman did not want to explain.

“If they were husband and wife, that would be different.”

“Oh.”

At least the structure was becoming clearer.

An unmarried man and woman should not sleep in the same room.

A husband and wife could.

That rule was easy enough to remember.

There was still one part Elaria was uncertain about.

“What if they aren’t married, but they’re already partners?”

Clara looked at her for a little longer.

“If they aren’t married, society still considers them unmarried.”

“Even if both of them already know they belong together?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

Human society placed more importance on ceremonies and publicly recognized status than on the status the two people themselves understood.

Interesting.

Not particularly convenient, though.

Elaria looked back toward the west wing.

“Valerian’s room really is very far away.”

Clara gave her a strained smile.

“This room is more convenient for you.”

“For you.”

“Pardon?”

“It isn’t more convenient for me.”

Clara fell silent again.

Elaria did not explain further.

This was not Clara’s fault. She had only arranged things according to human customs.

If Elaria wanted the arrangement changed, it made more sense to ask the owner of the house directly.

That would be simpler.

That evening, Valerian was in his study.

Elaria knew because she had asked Cedric.

She knocked according to the custom she had learned and waited until a voice from inside answered before opening the door.

The study suited Valerian better than any other room she had seen in the mansion.

Simple.

Slightly darker than the rest of the house.

More books and documents than decorations.

Valerian sat behind his desk with several reports spread out in front of him. A half-finished cup of tea rested near one hand.

He looked up.

“Is something wrong?”

“I have something I want to ask.”

Valerian studied her for a moment.

“Is it important?”

Elaria thought about that.

“To me.”

He set down his pen.

“Go ahead.”

Elaria walked in and sat in the chair across from him.

The distance between them was the same as always.

She was beginning to notice that humans liked putting desks between themselves whenever they discussed serious matters.

“My room is far away from yours.”

Valerian paused.

Apparently that was not what he had expected important to me to mean.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because the guest rooms in the east wing are more suitable for visitors.”

The same answer Clara had given her.

“But there are other rooms closer to yours.”

“There are.”

“Can I move to one of them?”

“Why do you want to move?”

“Because it’s far.”

“Far from what?”

“From you.”

Valerian went silent.

Elaria waited calmly.

After a moment, he leaned back slightly in his chair.

“Miss Elaria, I believe your current room is perfectly appropriate.”

“Clara said it was appropriate too.”

“Then what is the problem?”

“I want to be closer to you.”

The silence lasted longer this time.

Valerian looked at her as though trying to determine whether the sentence carried some hidden meaning he needed to be aware of.

It did not.

Elaria meant exactly what she had said.

“Why?”

That question actually made her think.

“Because you’re my mate.”

He closed his eyes briefly.

“I thought we agreed not to use that as the explanation for everything.”

“In front of other people.”

Valerian opened his eyes.

Elaria continued.

“There’s no one else here.”

He glanced toward the door as though briefly considering whether Cedric might be standing outside before looking back at her.

“Even so, I still don’t agree with your conclusion.”

“That’s all right.”

She did not need him to agree about the mate issue immediately.

“But among dragons, mates are supposed to stay close to each other.”

Valerian drew in a slow breath.

“I’m not a dragon.”

“I know you think that.”

He went still.

Elaria knew that sentence might send them back into the same old argument, so she quickly returned to the actual subject.

“Then I want to understand the human rule instead.”

His expression improved slightly.

“Go ahead.”

“When are a man and woman allowed to sleep in the same room?”

The improvement vanished immediately.

“Pardon?”

“Clara said an unmarried man and woman shouldn’t sleep in the same room because people would misunderstand. So I want to know what the conditions are.”

Valerian stared at her.

Elaria stared back.

“Why do you want to sleep in the same room as me?”

“Because mates should stay close.”

He closed his eyes again.

“Miss Elaria.”

“Yes?”

“From my perspective, we met two days ago.”

“Yes.”

“So for you to suggest moving into my room…”

He paused, searching for the right words.

“Would be unusual for humans?”

“Extremely.”

“Oh.”

Elaria accepted the information.

“Then if I don’t move into your room, can I move into the one next to it?”

“That would still be inappropriate.”

“How many rooms away would be appropriate?”

Valerian was silent.

There was probably no fixed number.

So Elaria changed the question.

“Or is distance not actually the problem?”

“Correct.”

“It’s because I’m a woman, you’re a man, and we aren’t married?”

“Exactly.”

Finally, a clear conclusion.

Elaria nodded.

“I understand.”

Valerian appeared relieved.

He picked up his pen again.

“If that’s all—”

“So we have to get married before we can sleep together?”

The pen stopped.

“At the very least, marriage is the basic social condition.”

“Oh.”

Elaria thought.

A basic condition.

Which meant there were others.

“Are there any other conditions?”

“Such as?”

“Once two people are married, is there still any reason they wouldn’t be allowed to sleep together?”

Valerian looked at her in silence for longer than usual.

“If they are husband and wife, that is a matter for the two of them.”

“So other people wouldn’t object?”

“Generally speaking, no.”

“And what do people have to do to get married?”

His expression became more cautious.

“Why are you asking this far?”

“Because I want to understand the system.”

That was true.

So Valerian gave her a very brief explanation.

The two people had to agree. Depending on their status, families or other relevant parties might need to be informed. There were documents, official recognition, and the customary ceremony.

Elaria listened until he finished.

It did not sound as difficult as she had expected.

“Does it take a long time?”

“That depends on the circumstances.”

“What if there’s no family to wait for?”

“There would still be documents to prepare.”

“You’re good at documents.”

Valerian stopped.

“I’m not sure what that compliment has to do with anything.”

“You work on documents all day.”

Elaria pointed toward his desk.

“So that part shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Miss Elaria.”

“Yes?”

His voice had taken on the tone of someone who could see something rapidly approaching but had not yet figured out how to stop it.

“The reason I explained marriage to you was not because I was proposing that we—”

Elaria understood now.

The main problem was that humans did not allow mates to sleep together unless they were married.

The simplest solution was therefore obvious.

“Then shall we get married now?”

Silence fell over the study.

Valerian still held the pen in his hand.

But he was no longer moving.

Elaria waited seriously for his answer.

To her, the matter was not complicated.

Her room was far away.

Mates should stay close.

Humans allowed husbands and wives to stay close.

So there was only one step left.

Valerian looked at her.

And appeared to realize, perhaps a little too late, that explaining human rules to her himself might not have been a good idea after all.