The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 59

POV: Lyra

Orion, Christian and I skipped lunch in the station's main dining hall for lunch at Christian's residence quarters. Annie had wanted to meet me ever since Orion first told Christian about finding his match at the annual meet-and-greet.

The cousins and I really wanted to start analyzing the audits—the real ones—so lunch at the Duke and Duchess's residence seemed like the perfect plan. I was also concerned with how Ellia, Ben and the other two families were holding up after the recent evacuation, so when Orion asked if I wanted to go, I didn't hesitate to say yes.

Christian's residence module was about the same size as Orion's but the interior had more holo-portraits displayed on the walls. Orion explained that Christian had been fascinated with art for as long as he could remember. His wife, Annie, loved botanical specimens, which explained the colorful hydroponic gardens around the residence and the many, many tall bio-containers and small cultivation pods at every corner of the rooms in their home.

I was quite nervous about meeting Annie. Orion told me she was nice, but I wasn't sure if we'd click as friends. Things would get rather awkward if we had no common interest to hold a simple conversation. That was the reason why I could never get close to females who only talked about cosmetic modifications, latest fashion protocols or celebrity holo-feeds. I never kept up with those things. I mentally planned to just get Annie to talk about her botanical specimens as a last resort to avoid any awkwardness.

Christian strode quicker than usual after entering through the front portal of his residence, making his way to the guest lounge where Annie was waiting. It was the first time I saw Christian walking ahead of Orion. The Duke didn't look back as he made speedy steps to his wife of seventeen cycles.

Orion and I made it to the lounge just in time to see Annie in Christian's embrace as the Duke pressed a sweet kiss on the Duchess's cheek before muttering an affectionate "Hey" to his wife, looking deeply into her eyes. Her eyes matched his affection as she kissed his jaw.

I took in the lounge with light-colored panels against the polished metal flooring. A crystal light fixture hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room, its illumination bringing out the colors of the luxurious seating modules and imported furnishings. Exquisite was the only way to describe the lounge.

Orion was only looking at me the entire time my eyes studied our surroundings, and he couldn't help but press a kiss on my temple because of how cute I looked when being a curious cat. I was so caught up with the sophisticated lounge that I merely offered my match a shy smile as my hand reached out to touch his arm in tenderness. My small hand on his muscled arm was enough to make his Lyrokan consciousness purr internally with pride and ecstasy.

Christian interrupted his consciousness's happy moment when he brought Annie to his cousin and the newly-found Empress. Annie was only a little shorter than Christian. Her violet eyes shone beautifully against her tanned skin, suggesting mixed heritage. Her shoulder-length hair was straight and brown. She wore a simple pink bio-suit top and white lower garments. Even so, she was anything but plain-looking because her facial features made everything she wore stand out in her own way. With a warm smile, she reached out to give Orion a brief hug before turning to look at me with my friendly smile.

Annie smiled graciously as she offered a bow. "My Empress, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

I bowed back and Annie stood with me. The Duchess had clearly been briefed by Christian about the new bowing formality. When our eyes met again, the first thing I said to the Duchess was, "Can we not do that the next time we meet, Annie?"

Annie chuckled lightly, and to my surprise, pulled me into a brief hug like she did with Orion. After letting me go, Annie said, "Christian did say you weren't very comfortable with formalities."

"I'm still not, actually," I admitted sheepishly. "And I prefer if you could just call me Lyra."

"What?! That's not fair!" Orion exclaimed, his pathways flashing with mock indignation. "Babe, you only let me call you 'Lyra' days after we met! You met Annie less than a minute ago."

I narrowed my eyes at my sometimes-childish match. "Orion, I let you call me your sweetheart in less than 24 hours after we first met. Don't you think that beats calling my shortened name?"

Orion's pathways shifted to thoughtful amber for a moment before he said, "It's debatable." Christian chuckled from the side at his cousin's seriousness.

"Lyra it is then," Annie gladly obliged.

"Thank you. Do you think you could convince Christian to do the same?" I asked, despite knowing the Duke was right there in front of me.

Annie groaned playfully. "Oh, that's a stubborn one. I have to tell you. Do you know he called me 'My Duchess' for the entire first year and a half after our marriage, and even before we were engaged? I mean, seriously, what is it with this man and his love for addressing people by their titles?"

It was Orion's turn to chuckle at his cousin. Christian's smile was broadening by the second, and he walked to his match before holding her close to the side of his body and pressing a kiss on her cheek as he muttered "My Duchess" into her ear. Annie's mock look of annoyance was quickly replaced with beautiful shyness. The pink flush to her skin made her look more beautiful than she already was. No one could guess this couple had been bonded for seventeen cycles. They behaved like newly-matched!

"Aww, you guys are so sweet. This is a whole new side of Christian that I've never seen before and it looks really good on him," I said like an excited youngling. By my side, Orion's thumb started stroking my waist, and he kissed my temple again because I looked absolutely adorable saying what I just did.

I then looked at Orion, whose pathways glowed soft purple with affection until I asked, "Should we start analyzing the audits? There's probably a lot to go through. We don't want to be here for too long if we want to keep suspicions at bay."

Orion groaned as everyone felt the romantic atmosphere around them break with my words. The Emperor then mocked annoyance and complained, "Lyra, first you let a person you met for less than a minute call you how I wanted to call you since the first night we met. Now, you can't even give me a moment to revel in your being without you talking about Empress duties! Do I even matter to you?!"

My cheeky mood was activated. "Oh, I'm sorry for upsetting you, Your Eminence. But if I remember correctly, you said you merely needed me as your Empress to help you with your very taxing job as Emperor. So I naturally obliged and asked about the issue I came to help with."

Orion suppressed a grin as his hands started caressing my shoulders. After a brief kiss on my hairline, he said in a husky voice, "Careful now, my love. We both know how that conversation ended last time."

Annie then asked Christian out loud, "This was the one with Orion's neural pathways spiraling out of control among the Kaelari in the dining hall, right?" Christian tried to suppress a laugh and nodded in response to his match's question.

Despite the strong wave of neural sparks I felt from Orion's hands on my shoulders, I looked at the Duchess with as much irritation as I could muster. "Annie, you heard me. Did any part of what I just said sound arousing to you?"

Christian couldn't help it this time, and was chuckling uncontrollably by Annie's side. Orion himself was still trying his best to suppress a grin, and he continued to caress my shoulders in adoration as he pressed a sweet kiss on my temple again while waiting for his cousin-in-law's answer.

Annie narrowed her eyes at Orion and began, "My Emperor, you should be ashamed of yourself. Your thoughts are as inappropriate as they are unprofessional. It's no wonder the Empress showed you no mercy in combat this morning."

I burst into laughter, and Christian laughed even louder. The sound of his chuckles filled the large lounge. In between laughing, I exclaimed, "Oh, stars! She knows!" I was already holding Orion's shoulder for support, and it didn't help that Orion was squeezing the flesh on my waist playfully to make me laugh even more. When my laughter subsided, Orion pressed butterfly kisses on my cheek, sending visible color to my features as he inhaled my scent.

When Christian had finally calmed down as well, he told Annie with a broad smile, "If only I had made a holo-recording of that spar, my Duchess. We could've shown it to the families to keep them entertained too!"

At the mention of the three families that the Duke and Duchess were housing, I grew concerned. My humor died down instantly, and I asked Annie in a serious tone, "The families who relocated here, how are they holding up?"

The shift from playfulness to concern was immediate. These were the families we'd evacuated from compromised sectors—the ones caught in the crossfire of political games. Their safety was my responsibility now.