The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 49

POV: Lyra

"Yeah, come in!" Ellia called out.

Edward and Tim entered her office and bowed. When they stood with the royals, they went over to carry the two stacks of portable units waiting for them on Ellia's desk. Orion put Russell on the floor, and the little boy ran straight for my leg and hugged it while tugging my formal suit to get my attention.

When I felt warmth wrap around my leg, I looked down and saw Russell. I bent down with a smile, my skin shifting to warm gold, and the little boy said in a sad voice, "Are you leaving, Aunt Lyra?"

"I am, Russell. It was so nice to meet you. I hope we'll see each other again." I said in the same gentle tone I'd used with him earlier as I caressed his cheek with my thumb.

The little boy threw his small arms around my neck. "Be careful of bad guys, okay, Aunt Lyra?"

I was so touched by this child. I hugged him back before releasing him and said, "I will, Russell. You be good, okay? Be strong." He nodded and managed a meek smile. I got back up and looked at the Morgans as I said lightly, "Well, it was nice to see you, Ben. Ellia, thank you again for getting us the audits. You both have such beautiful younglings." I took one more look at the little boy and girl and said, "We'll take our leave now."

Christian and Orion were clearly in mind-touch again—their eyes glazed as they communicated telepathically.

Christian thrust his hand and Ellia shook it awkwardly. "Thank you, Mrs. Morgan." He then did the same for Ben. "Pleasure to have met you, Mr. Morgan." Orion went next, copying his cousin. I held the door open and said, "Edward, Tim, here. You both go first. Those look heavy."

"T—Thank you, my Empress," Tim said in slight shock, and they both walked through the door before the three of us left as well. But not before I gave a small wave to little Russell, who was waving back sadly. When Orion noticed a few personnel stopped their work to look at me as we walked past, he secured his arm around my waist, neural sparks flowing protectively. Judging by my lack of reaction, he knew I didn't notice how many eyes were skimming my body.

We waited for a gravity lift. When a door opened, Edward said, "Your Eminences, Your Grace, please take this one down. We'll wait for the next one. We won't be far behind."

"That won't be necessary, Edward," I said firmly as my hand blocked my side of the lift door and my head gestured to them. "Get in. There's enough room to fit fifteen people. We'll go down together."

They looked at each other before Tim stuttered again, "T-Thank you, Your Eminence." I smiled in return. They let the personnel enter before the three of us followed behind. Orion couldn't help but kiss my temple at my down-to-earth gesture for the two men carrying the data units. When we reached the ground level and exited through the entrance, Christian motioned to them, "Tim and Edward, follow me. The documents are going into my transport."

"Yes, Your Grace."

I said, "Christian, Orion is taking a stack. You can't expect to go through all of that by yourself."

Christian seemed to have suddenly recalled that we had to act like we were taking the actual audits. When in reality, he was going to dispose of all this in the recycling processor outside his residence as soon as he got home. When he snapped out of it, he managed to say, "R-right, of course."

Before he fumbled over any more words, I looked at Edward and said, "Edward, right this way. Orion parked on this side. Tim, you go with His Grace."

They nodded and uttered, "Yes, my Empress."

I thanked Edward after he'd unloaded the stack in Orion's transport. Edward then bowed and said, "It's an honor to be of service, my Empress."

When the transport doors sealed shut, I let out a sigh of exhaustion as I kicked off my formal footwear and slumped into the seat, my skin shifting to tired grey. But when I noticed Orion started the engine without making a move to engage the auto-pilot, I looked over at him in confusion. He was looking at me with a huge smile plastered on his face, his pathways glowing bright purple.

I sat up and asked, "What? Is there something on my face?" I was reaching for the reflective surface on the overhead panel but Orion caught my cheek and pulled me into a kiss. Neural sparks exploded between us. When he felt my lips move in response to his, he deepened the kiss and leaned in closer. When his lips released mine, he looked deep into my multifaceted eyes and said, "I love you."

Traces of discomfort entered my eyes as I tried to look away, my skin shifting to anxious blue, and whispered, "I know, Orion. B-but I mmph..." He stopped me with another short kiss and said, "It's okay. You don't have to say it now. I just want you to know that I love you, more than anything." He pecked my lips again before bringing his body back to the pilot's seat. I reached for his hand before he started navigating, and we locked our gaze as I said, "Thank you."

He smiled and kissed my hand before I retracted it when he engaged the transport. He then started our conversation, "I didn't know you could act so well. That moment when Tim and Edward came in. You thanked Benjamin and Ellia like nothing happened."

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Really, Orion? After everything that happened there with the fake audits, and how I was not acting up until that point, you chose to start this conversation with the what... seven minutes that I did put on an act?"

Orion chuckled, his pathways dancing with amusement. "I can't help it. I mean, it was so natural even I started to doubt if you were acting."

I shrugged as I looked out the viewport to enjoy the cityscape. "It just takes practice. Anyone can do it."

He chuckled at my humility. "And how did I do?"

"Not well," I said without hesitation.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Mm-hm."

"I was just copying Christian though."

"He was just as bad."

Orion burst into laughter before asking, "Okay, my dear. How would you have done it?"

I turned to him with a smirk. "You should have spoken first, not Christian. On any occasion I've seen you both in, it was always you to thank your guests before Christian followed suit, not the other way around. And the handshake was too much. Think about it, your style is only to end the conversation with a handshake when you started the conversation with a handshake. Christian's style is like that, too. Neither of you shook Ellia or Benjamin's hands when you first met them. It was unlikely that the exchange would end with it. And what you both said to Ben was 'Pleasure to have met you, Mr. Morgan.'"

I shook my head with a teasing smile. "Tell me, my Emperor. When have you ever said that in a normal acquaintance-like exchange, or any exchange?"

Orion burst into a second round of laughter. "So uh..." he chuckled, "How was it supposed to go?"

I shrugged simply. "Just say what you normally would say to an actual acquaintance, Orion. Yours could be 'Morgan, it's been a pleasure,' or a plain 'Morgan' with a slight head nod, or just 'Pleasure' and a slight head nod. Christian should just stick to a simple smile and a plain nod. He normally doesn't say anything to an acquaintance after you. When you both used the words 'pleasure to have met you,' a sharper listener would have been able to catch that something deeper went on. But I don't think Edward and Tim suspected anything."

He stole a glance at his beautiful match and said, "You're really good at this. How did you even learn all of that?"

"Oh, you pick it up as you go along." I flipped my hand in the air in front of me like it was no big deal.

"Go along what?"

"Life. You meet people. You speak to them. If you pay enough attention, you can easily see how their intonations change with what they're saying, how their eyes shift when they want to avoid something, how their demeanor alters when they're starting to lie." I shrugged. "It's no big deal. You'll pick these up."

We came to a stop at a transit control point that just turned red. Orion grabbed the opportunity to pull me into another kiss before uttering in awe, "You're amazing."

I had a small smile but my eyes showed disapproval as I said, "You are too, Orion. Now eyes on the navigation." I pushed his shoulder back and he took my hand and kissed it again before letting me take it back.

After we reached the dining hall in time for afternoon nutrition, Orion got a transmission from his medical officer about my bio-scan results. He insisted there were no traces of neurotoxin ever entering my system, but he would be interested to ask me a few questions if we could make the time. I agreed to meet with the medical officer. So we decided to skip the afternoon nutrition and head to the medical bay instead.

Whatever they found in my scan, I thought as we changed course, it can't be good if they want to see me immediately.