"In the same way, some people are naturally dominant and others are submissive. In my old world there was an entire sub-culture built around it. That included people being on leashes. It doesn't even have to be sexual, it is about submitting to someone."

Lin says "Oh, I guess that makes sense. Although, I admit that it doesn't really appeal to me."

"You never know until you try it. I even tried it in my old life, it was quite fun. I let one of my female friends lead me around on a leash through a mall a couple of times. I didn't expect to, but I had a lot of fun."

Lin says "What is a mall? And what was so fun about it?"

"A mall is like a street of shops except it is inside a building and sometimes has multiple floors. It is packed with as many shops as possible and almost always has a lot of people visiting."

Lin says "That sounds really nice! I wish I could visit a mall sometime."

"I can create one in the soulscape, but that is the best I can do. Even if I could take you back to my world, I wouldn't want to go."

Lin says "In the soulscape will be just fine. It will be fun just to wander around and have a look. Speaking of fun, you didn't answer my question. What was so fun about being led around a mall on a leash like a pet?"

"It was the people's reactions. In my first life I was a fairly big and intimidating guy. Having one of my smaller female friends lead me around the mall shocked people. It was seeing their shocked or outraged expressions that was fun. In fact, it was really, really fun."

Lin says "Well, I can't say I entirely understand, it does sound interesting though. So, does this mean you are going to let me lead you around a town on a leash?"

"I am fairly confident that you can convince me to do that."

Lin says "Oh, I have to convince you? You won't do it just because I ask?"

"What fun would that be?"

Lin says "Oh, so that's what you meant. I thought you wanted me to talk you into it. That is much easier!"

My only response is a smile, we can continue that line of conversation later. For now, I take the leftover materials and use them to make some other jewelry. I make some simple pieces that will go well with the choker, but I only put basic enchantments on them.

Just enchantments to keep them clean and in good repair, nothing more than that. The reason is that Lin will already have the choker and that is enough magic for anyone. In fact, I have to admit that I am a little worried that she will have too much magic around her neck.

This being my first magical artifact, I am not sure how an item this powerful might affect her. As I am making jewelry, I am keeping my magical sense focused on Lin. I want to make sure everything works as I intended and that nothing goes wrong.

So far, the formations are working properly, gathering mana to feed the enchantments and store for later. The part I am worried about is what will happen when the mana storage is full. If it works properly, the gathering formations should ramp down to just what the enchantments need.

However, if something goes wrong and the formations don't ramp down, it could get dangerous. If the mana storage overfills, it could possibly explode, that is my biggest worry. There is no way Lin could survive the choker exploding, but I don't want to worry her.

If I told her my fears, she would probably throw the choker as far away as she could. Not that I would blame her, but I am around ninety-five percent sure that it will work as planned. It will take a few hours to fill the mana storage, there is nothing to do until then.

Once I use up the last of the materials for jewelry, I don't have anything left to do. I can't work on the castle yet because I still haven't figured out what I am going to do. I could work on my core, but that would make it hard to keep an eye on the choker.

Just as I am thinking about shrinking and going to play with the kids, Lin sits next to me. She hugs and kisses me to thank me for the jewelry, then starts taking out materials. She is preparing to work on outfits and that reminds me that I need to make things for her.

When she hands me some bone, I smile and start carving it into buttons for her. When I finish the buttons, she hands me some iron and a list of what she needs. As I work on the list of items, I realize that I am feeling unusually happy.

It is not the simple crafting, it is Lin sitting beside me that is making me happy. Yet, she is not doing anything special, she is just sitting next to me working on her crafting. I always enjoy Lin's presence, but the feeling has never been like this before.

'Wait, is this love? Have I fallen in love with Lin? I mean I expected that I would, but not this fast. What should I do? Do I tell her? Or is it too soon? Will she just think I am saying it and don't really mean it? This is so confusing. Should I just tell her and see what happens?'

Lin says "Ash, is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking about something."

Lin says "Well, whatever it is you looked like you were thinking really hard about it. Anything I can help with?"

"Um, I don't think so. I just realized that while I know how a zipper works, I never paid attention to how they are made."

Lin says "Oh, is that all? It's okay if you can't make them. I will figure out something else."

"No. I can probably figure it out, it will just take a few tries."

Lin says "Okay. Are you sure nothing else is bothering you? Your voice seems a little weird."

"No. I'm fine."

'I am just a coward!'

Lin probably doesn't believe me, but she lets it slide and goes back to her work. I wasn't lying about not knowing how to make a zipper, I just know how it should work. After a few tries, I still haven't figured it out, but the kids stop playing and let us know they are hungry.

Lin puts away the crafting materials and I lay out another buffet spread, including desserts. For once, we let the kids take whatever they want, meaning they mostly take desserts. However, one bad meal won't really hurt them since they get plenty of exercise.

Lin and I eat normally, but Athena tries to have a little bit of everything. Her reactions, especially to the desserts, are absolutely adorable and highly entertaining. Lin and I are laughing so much that it takes twice as long as normal for us to eat.