Novel Lived
Chapter 348 Love-nest in the making
"Oh my…"
Fay's steps slowed down before grinding to a complete hall when we passed by the massive frame of a half-finished warehouse and finally got to look at the headquarters project.
It was as busy as it was when I visited it a few hours prior… But by now, rather than pouring concrete into the holes created by the specially formed edges of the prefabricated parts of the build, the imperial workers were all inside the already finished layout, moving around to clean the entire thing from the dust and rubble.
"Did they really build it in less than a day?" Fay whispered, far more amazed than I expected her to be.
And upon a momentary reflection, I couldn't really fault her for it.
The new headquarters was a sizeable, five-story building consisting of three main towers and connected by two bulky yet narrow wings. It was as long as fifteen to twenty of the barrack-tents constructed within the housing project and as wide as three of those tents would be long.
This building was far, far bigger than what the camp needed at the moment. It could house more offices and quarters for the high-ranking personnel than there would be any demand for in the next year or two…
But this was also the very first building that was constructed not with just the immediate future in mind, but the actual, long-term development at its core.
"Now that I see it in its entirety, it kinda looks like a fortress," I muttered to myself, before shaking my head and reaching out to grab Fay's hand, forcing her out of her daze as I pulled her ahead.
With my duty of relocating the stable gate once the old one would live up to its use, I didn't really have all that much time to waste playing around with Fay, so I was determined to make every minute count.
"Where do you want our quarters to be?" I asked as we followed the path created by hundreds of feet stomping all the grass tightly into the ground.
"Which parts of the building do we get to choose from?"
I squinted my eyes for a moment, trying to recall the usage plan of the building for when it would be fully finished.
"The left core is going to be an administrative department, the middle one is going to be the communications and the right core is going to serve as general quarters. To top it all off, the topmost level is fully designated for the VIP lodgings," I listed out the general plan for using the building. "So, unless you want to live close to everyone else, I would suggest the left core."
Fay followed my example and squinted her eyes before turning her face to look me in the eyes.
"Aren't the administrative workers going to work far into the night?" Fay asked. "And if so, wouldn't that force us to keep quiet even after we are done with the work for the day?"
It didn't take a genius to picture out the situation Fay was worried about. Late in the evening, long after the last of day workers would conclude their shifts, we would likely try to get busy with each other…n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Only to be constantly reminded of the presence of the people on the level below. And as we were likely to end up managing parts of the administrative department later on if we were to be too loud when it came to our nightly activities…
'Our own subordinates would come to hate us for forcing them to listen to it while they toil away into the night…'
It didn't take a genius to figure it out… And yet, without Fay pointing this problem out, I would likely never notice it.
"The situation would be far worse at the communication core," I muttered, looking over to the very part of the massive building we were heading for right now. "While I can imagine the administrative workers actually finishing up for the day, it's never going to happen within the communication department. And lastly, living along with everyone in the right-most core…"
If it was the sound that we would make that we were worried about, then living close to the living quarters of the others was going to be pretty much the worst choice of all.
"Well, no one says this is going to be the only house we are going to have," Fay spoke with a huge grin, ignoring the curious stares of the few workers who came out from the building to haul some of the resources from the nearby pile.
"Administrative core, then?" I asked, just to make sure I got Fay's intentions right.
"Yeah," the girl nodded her head, "this way, we won't have to move far to get to work," she added with a shrug of her shoulders.
'To have her consider the home-work commute already…' I raised my eyebrows a bit as I gave Fay a long, slightly worried stare. 'Isn't she becoming a modern person a bit… too quickly?'
With this concern in mind, we finally entered the bare insides of the project. Experience new stories on empire
The frame of the building, consisting of walls, floors, roof and even stairs, has already been finished. Right now, the four hundred men from the four brigades assigned to the project were moving around to prepare the entire thing for the next phase of construction that would turn this skeleton of a building into an actual, modern piece of architecture.
"Oh, mister Peter!" Kash emerged from behind one of the many corners of the building.
By now, her loose, military attire has long since turned into a concrete-powder-cowered mess. There was no sign of her earlier clean elegance, now that it was replied by an overall look that no construction worker would be ashamed to bear.
Despite being the architect of the whole project, its highest charge with the exception of people like Makary and me who managed the entire camp, she didn't seem to mind getting herself down and dirty when it came to the job.
And from the looks the imperial workers gave her, they were more than happy to have a boss who didn't just tell everyone what to do, but went down and actively participated in the job herself as well.
"Kash," I nodded my head a bit. "Meet Fay, my fiancee," I turned to the side to introduce my girl, only to see Fay give out an elegant bow… before nearly jumping at the girl with her eyes filled with curiosity and awe.
"You are the one behind this building? How did you get it done so fast? What did you do to get yourself so dirty?! Gosh, your hair is going to get messy if you don't clean it! But wait that part," Fay pointed her hand towards a totally random part of the building insides, a chiseled rift that ran roughly half a meter above the floor across the entire length of the wall, "what is it for? Electricity?
Or maybe the piping?"
Overwhelmed by the flurry of questions, Kash retreated a step, pushed back by the sheer pressure of Fay's enthusiasm.
"Calm down, miss, please…" Thrown off her mental footing, Kash raised her hands as if to defend herself from the assault of the seemingly delicate girl. "That rift is indeed for all the cables that we will set up in the future. And you don't need to worry about my hair. Worst case, I will just cut them off and let them regrow later. As for your other questions…"
Troubled, likely unable to even recall what more Fay asked her about, Kash directed a desperate look toward me, silently pleading for my help.
"Fay, dearest, give her some space to think," I smiled while reaching out and grabbing Fay's waist before raising her up like some sort of cat and then hugging her into my chest while using my arms to lock her in place. "You will have all the chances you want to talk with her once she's free. Right now, though, she's working!"
The excitement on Fay's face turned into a sense of betrayal when I pulled her back, then into realization when she noticed how she acted, and then further into a look of enlightenment when she finally realized people here were still busy working despite the late hour.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Fay spoke, lowering her head in a slight apology. "I allowed my excitement to get the better of me. Again, I'm sorry," she apologized properly with her head lowered… Only to then raise her eyes right back up and look directly at Kash's face. "Still, could you answer just one more question?"
Kash silently breathed a sigh of relief while doing her absolute best to try to hide it from both my and Fay's eyes.
"Sure, go on."
"Would it be possible for us to take one of the rooms at the top level of the administrative core?" Fay asked, already making use of the scraps of information I'd happily fed her just moments earlier. "I think it would be lovely to have a place to sleep so close to where I'm going to be working later on."
Hearing the question, Kash no longer bothered to hide the relief and allowed it to paint itself all over her face.
"There shouldn't be any problems with it," Kash suddenly cut her voice short only to cast a short glance towards me, "that is, assuming you are going to live with mister Peter, for we only have one spare room in there."
Fay's lips curved up and turned into a bright smile right as she somehow freed herself from my grasp, rushed a few steps ahead, and then grabbed Kash's dust-covered and gloved hands before bringing them up to her chest and squeezing them between her own palms.
"Of course I will be living with him!" Fay announced with a bright smile and in a loud voice as if to let not only all the workers around but, more importantly, Kash herself know the state of her relationship with me. "And with that in mind," the smile on Fay's lips only intensified, "could I maybe count on you to help me design our love nest?"