---
They stepped out of the cottage together.
The crowd murmured. Eyes shifted from Cassian to Liana to Kael to the prisoners visible through the broken door.
Aldric stepped forward.
"Cassian," he said. His voice was old but steady. "Son of Marius. What happened here st night?"
Cassian looked at the crowd. At the elder. At the tax collector, watching with sharp, calcuting eyes.
"Deserters," he said. "Five of them. They attacked my home. Threatened my wife. My man subdued them."
Aldric's eyes moved to Kael. "Your man. I've never seen him before."
"He's new. Arrived yesterday."
"From where?"
Cassian had anticipated this question.
"From the north. He was a soldier. Deserted his unit after they were ordered to burn a vilge full of women and children. He couldn't do it. He's been wandering since."
It was a lie. But it was a good lie—pusible, sympathetic, expining both Kael's fighting ability and his sudden appearance.
Aldric nodded slowly. "And he captured five men alone?"
"He's very good at what he does."
Varro stepped forward.
The tax collector was younger than Cassian had expected. Perhaps thirty, with sharp features and sharper eyes. His clothes were good quality but practical—he had clearly spent time on the road.
"Five deserters," he said. "There's a bounty on deserters. The imperial army pays two silver per head."
Cassian's heart skipped.
Two silver per head. Five heads. Ten silver.
In this world, ten silver could buy a plow, a goat, seeds for an entire season. Could fix the roof and the door and still have enough left over.
"I wasn't aware of that," he said carefully.
Varro smiled. It was not a warm smile. "Most peasants aren't. The army doesn't exactly advertise. They prefer to catch deserters themselves." He gnced at the prisoners. "But since you've already done the work... I could handle the transaction for you. Take them to the nearest garrison, collect the bounty, bring back your share."
Cassian's instincts screamed.
This man was offering to help. To handle everything. To bring back the money.
Which meant he would also take a cut. Probably a rge one.
"I appreciate the offer," Cassian said. "But Kael can take them."
Varro's smile flickered. "Your man? The deserter? You want a deserter to deliver deserters to the army that wants to hang them?"
Kael spoke for the first time.
"I deserted because I refused to murder innocents. The army's problem with deserters is that they run from battle. I never ran from battle. I walked away after it was over." His voice was calm, steady, utterly convincing. "They may not welcome me back, but they won't hang me. I'm too valuable."
Varro studied him.
Then he shrugged. "Suit yourself. But don't come crying to me if they decide to keep the bounty and hang you anyway."
He turned away, dismissing them.
But Cassian noticed that he didn't leave. He simply moved to the edge of the crowd, watching. Waiting.
---
Aldric stepped closer.
"Cassian," he said quietly. "These men. What will you do with them?"
Cassian looked at the prisoners.
Gren, with his broken wrist. Voss, still staring at nothing. The three young ones, shivering and afraid.
"The bounty," he said. "If there's really a bounty, Kael will take them to collect it. After that..." He shrugged. "That's the army's problem."
Aldric nodded. "And the girl?"
"What girl?"
Aldric gestured. Cassian followed his gaze.
Mira stood where she had been, watching. When she saw them looking, she ducked her head and tried to disappear into the crowd.
"She came to me this morning," Aldric said. "Said she saw everything st night. Saw your man appear. Saw him fight. Said she's never seen anything like it." He paused. "She asked if you were blessed by the gods."
Cassian's stomach tightened.
"She's young," he said carefully. "Young and scared. She probably imagined things."
Aldric looked at him with old, knowing eyes.
"Perhaps." He paused. "Or perhaps she saw exactly what she says she saw. The gods move in mysterious ways, Cassian. And sometimes they choose the most unlikely vessels."
He turned and walked back toward the crowd.
Cassian watched him go.
Then he looked at Mira again.
She was watching him.
Their eyes met.
[Mira Affection: 6/100 - Curious]
Affection increased: Mutual acknowledgment.
Cassian looked away first.
---
The morning passed in a blur of activity.
Kael gathered the prisoners, bound them more securely, and prepared to leave. Liana found rope and helped him fashion a line that would let him lead all five at once.
The vilgers slowly dispersed, returning to their huts, their fields, their endless work. But Cassian noticed that they looked at him differently now. With respect. With fear. With hope.
Varro lingered until Kael departed with the prisoners. Then he approached Cassian one st time.
"Ten silver," he said quietly. "That's what they're worth. If your man comes back with less, you'll know he's a thief as well as a deserter."
"He's not a thief."
Varro shrugged. "We'll see." He turned to leave, then paused. "One more thing. The girl—Mira. Her father died in the st famine. Her mother ran off with a trader years ago. She lives alone in a hut at the edge of the vilge. She's been surviving on charity and whatever she can scavenge."
He looked at Cassian.
"If you're looking for more household help, she'd work cheap. And she's pretty enough, if that matters to you."
Cassian said nothing.
Varro smiled that cold smile again and walked away.
---
By afternoon, the cottage was quiet.
Liana had found an old bnket in a corner and was using it to patch the worst of the gaps in the walls. Cassian was sorting through the few useful items they had—the cooking set, the healing kit, the rusted tools.
They worked in companionable silence.
Finally, Liana spoke.
"The girl. Mira."
Cassian looked up.
"She has no family. No one to protect her. She lives alone, scrounging for food, waiting for something bad to happen." Liana's voice was steady. "Something bad will happen. It always does to girls like her."
Cassian waited.
"You said the system identified her as a potential wife. What does that mean, exactly?"
Cassian accessed the panel.
[Mira]
· Age: 16
· Status: Orphan, lives alone
· Current Affection: 6/100 - Curious
· Notes: Witnessed Kael's arrival. Believes Cassian is divinely blessed. Vulnerability may accelerate bonding.
"She's curious about me," he said. "She thinks I'm blessed by the gods. And she's vulnerable. That might make her bond faster."
Liana nodded slowly. "Because she needs protection. Needs someone to keep her safe."
"Yes."
"And if she bonded with you—if she became your wife—she'd have that protection. She'd have Kael watching over her. She'd have us."
Cassian looked at her. "You're considering this?"
Liana met his eyes.
"I'm considering what you said. About the system. About how it rewards real bonds, not forced ones. If this girl comes to you—if she chooses you because she genuinely cares, not just because she's scared—then maybe that's not a bad thing."
She paused.
"And if she doesn't—if she's just looking for a safe pce to nd—then she's no different from me. I married you because the lottery chose your name. I stayed because you proved yourself. If she stays for the same reasons, what's the harm?"
Cassian had no answer.
Liana smiled. That almost-smile, but warmer now.
"Besides," she said, "another wife means more help with the work. More hands in the fields. More people to watch our backs." She picked up her bnket and resumed her patching. "And if she's pretty, well. That's not the worst thing either."
Cassian stared at her.
"You're remarkably calm about this."
Liana ughed. "Cassian, I just learned that my husband is from another world, has a magic voice in his head, and can summon warriors from thin air. Compared to that, sharing him with a vilge girl seems almost normal."
She gnced at him.
"Almost."
---
The sun was setting when Kael returned.
He walked out of the forest as silently as he had left, his clothes dusty from the road but otherwise unchanged. No prisoners followed him.
He approached Cassian and held out a small leather pouch.
"Ten silver," he said. "The garrison commander was... pleased. He said the bounty on deserters has increased. These five were worth two and a half each. Twelve and a half, total." He nodded at the pouch. "I kept two for myself, as is my right. The rest is there."
Cassian took the pouch. It was heavy.
"Two for yourself?"
"Summons have needs, Master. Food. Shelter. Equipment. The system provides nothing but loyalty and potential. The rest, I must earn."
Cassian nodded slowly. "That's fair."
He handed the pouch to Liana.
She blinked. "What—"
"You're the first wife. You manage the household. That includes the money."
Liana stared at the pouch in her hands. Ten and a half silver. More wealth than she had seen in her entire life.
"Cassian..."
"We're partners. Remember?"
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she tucked the pouch into her bundle.
"Partners," she agreed.
---
That night, they ate well.
Liana made soup again, but this time with more salt, more greens, and a handful of dried beans she had found in a corner of the cottage—leftover from Cassian's father, somehow still edible.
Kael ate with them, sitting cross-legged by the hearth. He said little, but his presence was... comforting. Solid. Like a wall that would never fall.
After dinner, Liana pulled Cassian aside.
"The girl," she said. "Mira. I saw her watching again today. From the edge of the forest."
Cassian hadn't noticed. "What was she doing?"
"Watching. Waiting. She wants to approach but doesn't know how." Liana looked at him. "Tomorrow, I'll go to her. Talk to her. See what kind of person she is."
"You'd do that?"
"She's alone, Cassian. I know what that feels like." Liana's voice was quiet. "If she's a good person—if she's someone we can trust—then bringing her here might save her life. And if she's not..." She shrugged. "Then we'll know."
Cassian looked at his wife.
In the firelight, she was beautiful. Not in the way of noble dies or painted courtesans, but in the way of something real. Something that had survived and would keep surviving.
"Thank you," he said.
Liana smiled. A real smile this time.
"Don't thank me yet. She might be terrible."
"She might be."
"Or she might be wonderful. And then you'll have two wives, and I'll have someone to help with the cooking."
Cassian ughed.
It felt good. Strange, but good.
---
Late that night, with Liana asleep beside him and Kael standing guard at the repaired door, Cassian checked the system one st time.
[Liana Affection: 32/100 - Acquaintance]
Affection increased: Trust deepened. Partnership strengthened.
[Mira Affection: 8/100 - Curious]
Affection increased: Continued observation. Growing interest.
[Pocket Dimension Farm: LOCKED]
Progress to next milestone: 50 Affection with any wife.
[Inventory]
· 1x Basic Healing Kit
· [Empty] [Empty] [Empty]
He closed the panel.
Outside, the wind rustled through the trees. Somewhere in the vilge, a dog barked once and fell silent.
Cassian looked at Liana's sleeping face.
At Kael's broad back.
At the repaired door and the patched walls and the small pile of silver that meant they might actually survive the winter.
This world was harsh. Brutal. Unforgiving.
But for the first time, it felt like home.
---
END OF CHAPTER 4
---
NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW
Liana goes to meet Mira at dawn.
The girl is frightened, suspicious, desperate—but beneath the fear, something else glimmers. Intelligence. Resilience. A will to survive that matches Liana's own.
As the two women talk, Cassian works the fields with Kael, pnting the blight-resistant wheat that appeared in his inventory overnight—a random reward from the 25 milestone that he'd forgotten to check.
But the wheat isn't the only thing growing.
In the vilge, whispers spread. About Cassian. About his warrior. About the deserters who were captured and never seen again.
And in a keep far to the south, a corrupt official hears those whispers.
He remembers exiling a noblewoman to this region years ago. A woman with knowledge that could destroy him.
He wonders if she's still alive.
He decides to find out.
[New Wife Candidate Status: Mira - Affection 12/100 - Intrigued]
[System Notification: Random milestone reward (25) generated overnight: Blight-Resistant Wheat Seeds x10 bags - Stored in inventory]
[Distant Threat Detected: Lord Mach - Corruption Level: Extreme - Interest Level: Awakening]
---
Author's thought:-
This chapter was about truth and trust. Cassian finally reveals the system to Liana, and instead of breaking their bond, it strengthens it. Their retionship is no longer just a marriage of circumstance—it’s becoming a real partnership.
We also get the first glimpse of Mira, a quiet but important character whose story is only beginning.
Things in Oakhaven are slowly changing… and Cassian might be at the center of it all.
If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider following, favoriting, rating, and leaving a comment. It really helps the story grow and reach more readers.
Your support truly fuels me to keep writing and updating consistently.
Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in the next chapter!
