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“Absolutely, please follow me,” Margot insists. As she shows us the rooms, I find myself nodding. It’s more than enough space for the seven of us to sprawl out in, and much larger than the apartment we were in.

“I would love to convert these into our new home,” I decide, sighing happily. “We’ll sleep in another room in the meantime, maybe with several beds pushed together?” I shrug, I don’t care as long as we’re together.

“Done,” she agrees. “Do you know what you’d like to do with Cinder’s old room? It’s a large area of the castle. Do you want it locked up?”

“No,” I immediately respond, surprising myself. “There’s really great light in there. Sidney, what do you think about using this area as your office with the twins?”

Sidney grins. “You, my dear, are a genius. I love that idea. We’re away from the rest of the castle as we conduct experiments and work on things.”

“Take it easy on taking over the world, Love,” I tease him. The most adorable blush rises in his cheeks, making me giggle. Ayden’s roses and the funds raised by this may be able to help in some way as well. I’ll make sure to talk to him. “Gods, there’s so much to do!”

“One thing at a time,” Margot reminds me, bustling us out of the rooms. “Have you all eaten dinner yet?”

“No,” Kenzo speaks up, shaking his head. “I don’t think I could eat in the dining room though.”

Margot takes it in stride, walking down the hall, expecting us to follow. “There are three dining rooms in the castle. Would you like to repurpose that room?”

“We may need to,” I tell her. “I don’t think I’ll be able to eat there either. I’ll have to decide. We don’t have a proper conference room in the castle, maybe we can redecorate it for that purpose.”

Margot makes another note, and soon we’re sitting down to dinner with everyone. I explain what we’ve been doing, and Grayson smirks.

“So you are thinking about babies?” he teases me. I bite my lip and shrug, and growls fill the room. I’m in love with cavemen. Andrya’s giggles fill the room, making me smile.

I love her laugh so much.

“I’m thinking about our future,” I admit. “I need to make sure anyone who’s a threat to us is taken out, and that we’re safe. You’re welcome to practice as often as you’d like though.”

“It’s nice to hear laughter in the castle again,” Kinsley says, walking into the room. “Are you settling all right?”

I stand, inclining my head out of habit. “We are, thank you. Join us?”

Kinsley sits at the table, and the waitstaff bustles in with trays of food. Sidney and Ayden check over the food, sniffing and giving small tastes. I suppose this is my life now after having killed my enemies in exactly this way.

“All safe,” Ayden concludes. “It’s also delicious.”

Grinning, I serve myself some food, turning to Kinsley. “I got some things done, planned our new living quarters out, and my mind is whirling with a million different things.”

“Tell me all about it,” Kinsley says, taking a bite of the chicken.

“Ayden, how is your rose business doing?” I ask, turning to him.

“They’re well taken care of and business is booming. Why, Kitten?” he asks.

I’m not going to stand on ceremony with them, so Kinsley will have to deal.

“I want to do something good with the money you’re making from this, if you agree,” I tell him.

“Alright. You wanted to do something for the orphans. You also want to help those living on the streets, so where are we allocating to?” Ayden asks, beginning to eat.

“Can we allocate to our orphans, reform the homes they’re going to? I want there to be a therapist in each orphanage for counseling, with someone regularly checking in,” I explain.

“A series of checks and balances,” Kenzo agrees.

“Yes! I want to do better for them, offer them a good education as well once they leave the orphanage. If they want to follow a trade, that’s fine as well,” I tell them.

Together, we make a plan for reform that actually works in that area.

“Ayden, Sidney, and Andrya, is there anything you can do to help our crops? Apparently they’ve been failing recently, but there’s no reason why,” I say.