"Teddy... tell me exactly what happened."
I told her everything I had left out of the story I had told in front of Bridgid and Guard. Except for the I love you exchange between me and Bridgid.
I mentioned how he looked, his white mane of hair, and how he had said that we only think he is dead, or maybe he really is dead, but nevertheless alive in an entirely different way? I mentioned that he had bragged about building the Kiss Kiss Hotel and the Mana Care Wings, and how he needed someone to inherit it.
She closed her eyes. "Yes, that... that sounds all like him. And it would be unlikely that you are lying to me about never meeting him before. It would be unusual if you had."
"But... what's the problem?" I asked. "You sound concerned. Isn't it good? I mean, he was impressed with me, and he thinks I have the stuff. Isn't that the point of me coming here?"
She gave me a steely glare. "I've never said you're here to become the next Sugar Patriarch. I have only promised that we will train you in the ways of the Sugar Daddy."
I blushed. "I'm sorry," I said. "I think I just got wrapped up in all the hype."
Elaine crossed her legs, the dress riding up dangerously high. "The old Sugar Patriarch... his real name was Hjalmar Bjornsson. Many people during the nineteen years of his peak influence ended up forgetting this in favor of lofty titles."
She leaned her head on my shoulder with her eyes closed as she continued. Her breasts were full against the purple straps that angled down in a V over her chest, revealing ample side and underboob.
"He was murdered. By the Board. By us. By me."
Elaine's confession hung in the dim candlelight like smoke that refused to dissipate.
"You... killed him?"
Would she kill me?
A part of me wanted to run. A different, stranger part of me was turned on.
She didn't flinch. She didn't even open her eyes.
"Not personally. Not with my own hands." She grabbed my hands with hers and held them there. They were soft and smooth as if just recently lotioned. "But I voted yes. I helped plan the trap. I hid and cried in this very bridge car afterward while the body was disposed of. So yes, Teddy. I killed the Sugar Patriarch."
My mouth went dry.
"Why?"
Elaine finally lifted her head. When her green eyes met mine, they were calm but wetting.
"Because he became a monster."
She shifted, uncrossing her logs and turning to face me fully. She placed a hand on my thigh.
"Hjalmar started with good intentions," Elaine began. "Mana was new. Mana was dangerous. It still is dangerous. Back then, corporations and governments got into the business of harvesting it to weaponize and control it. You remember Mr. Cook?"
I nodded.
"When things began spinning out of control," she continued, "like when people like Mr. Cook became addicted to Spice and became simps who stole Sugar from others, and when the number and variety of mutations related to Mana experimentation exploded, and when powerful Mana sensitives grew in power...."
The bridge car dinged, and a green light appeared above the door.
"What'd he do, Elaine?"
"He became the undisputed master of Mana and smoothed out the Mana development of the world," Elaine said plainly. "Mutations became rarer, and powerful rivals were put down. In the lore of the Hotel this is called the Seduction of Gaia."
"Is that what made him a monster?" I asked.
"It played a part, but I'll have to continue the story another time. We're here."
"Where?"
She pointed up at the floor number. It was a letter. P.
We were finally at the Penthouse, the HQ of Elaine's network and leadership of the Hotel. This must be the Board. It was going to be weird looking at them now knowing that, along with Elaine, they were responsible for the death of the old Sugar Patriarch. Especially when I still had hope to become the next one.
"Please don't mention this to anyone else yet," Elaine said. "I mean, about what you saw when you almost died. And to be safe, don't mention anything related to the Sugar Patriarch at all. You don't know yet who knows what."
I nodded my head. "Understood."
I stood up and started to head for the door, but stopped as I felt Elaine grab my arm.
"Hmm?" I asked.
"You're a Sugar Well," she said. "Same as he was. But you don't have to end up the same way he did, okay? And no matter what he says, nobody can force you to take his place if that's not what you want. Don't be afraid."
Before I could respond she leaned in and kissed me, deep and slow. Her tongue slid against mine while my hand instinctively crawled up her thigh to under the slight in her dress.
She grabbed my hand to stop me, and then I felt a sudden sting on my tongue. She backed away slowly as my hand raced toward my mouth.
"I'm sorry!" I said, slightly muffled. Something felt off. I reached over my tongue and felt over it and found there was a bead of metal sitting on the top. "What's that for?"
"Just a little Spice trick of mine," she said, smiling. "I can't trust you not to cause another situation like you caused earlier. You are powerful, and you have proven you can wield it, but there are too many variables at play." She looked down at the bulge of my robe that covered my cock. "Too many impressionable candidates with self-control issues themselves. That tongue piercing will store any Sugar build-up. If you start to use any of your abilities that depend on Sugar, however, you'll find your reserves go down because it will stop you from replenishing."
"How long do I have to have this on!?"
Elaine shrugged. "Beats me. I'll have to rely on the expert opinions of the Hotel staff, especially Dr. Ryebald."
I groaned.
"But hey, don't worry," she said. "It won't stop you from having fun." She winked.
I smiled. I wasn't about to start complaining again.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Ready."
We walked together the short rest of the way to the door to what would now be the Penthouse.
"We've been waiting a long time to bring you up here."
The doors opened.