Chapter 743 742: Extended Family
"Is it true that the Marquess can last nearly a full minute against Lady Fenryas?!"
A red skinned boy leaned forwards and stared at me with wide eyes, his youth showing through as he almost fell out of his seat upon asking the question, causing most of us in the hall to snicker at his enthusiasm.
"Around that long, yes. Though it really depends on just how angry Lady Fenryas is at the time; if its just a spar, then yes, a minute is fine, but if my Mom did something that annoyed Lady Fenryas, or she was already annoyed beforehand, it usually barely lasts fifteen seconds..."
His eyes only widened further as he let out a low 'woah...' upon hearing that, making the rest of us chuckle once again.
"Have you really been able to learn from the Empress like everyone has been saying in the rumors? I can't imagine what that would be like... let alone being related to her, like you are Lady Leone!"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThis time a yellow skinned woman gave us a wistful smile, making Leone blush slightly as the Princess just nodded her head, still getting used to dealing with the relaxed attitude around us; it was moments like this where I realized that - outside of a few events here and there - none of us really had many 'Noble obligations' to fulfill, so all of the practice Leone had done as a child was now being forgotten...
Though it was honestly for the better, since I never wanted to deal with that stuffy, annoying atmosphere ever again; another thing that Mom and I share, I guess, with yet another thing being the blessing of having a wife who would be able to handle that side of our responsibilities easily enough.
Mother was excellent in social settings, while Kat was... adept at donning a mask, which she had shown from our childhood until now.
Leone as well, though the Vampire was - at heart - shy and rather reluctant to speak to new people openly, so... and we couldn't rely on myself or Anput for those events, since neither of us cared too much about being 'Nobles' and having 'grace' and 'class'.
My 'class' was that I was stronger than you - and if I wasn't currently stronger than you, I will eventually be stronger than you, and that's all that matters; who cares about flowery words and being overly kind to those that don't deserve it when you can just be yourself and not face any repercussions so long as you aren't an idiot?
That was something that my Mother was likely still trying to teach me to not do, but sadly for her stubbornness runs in my veins, and that stubbornness makes me not want to change unless it is absolutely necessary.
More and more questions were asked of me, and I answered each to the best of my ability while also soothing the irritated Kat, who sat firmly on my lap and refused to look away from my face as she made it clear she was rather annoyed at both myself and at Satanya; I could feel her emotions bubbling beneath her icy exterior as she itched to hurt the red skinned Demoness back, and while I would have agreed with her when we first met the woman, now that we had brawled it out...
Well, so long as she learned her lesson, that slate was wiped clean, and until she did something to dirty it again with her words, there was no need to seek out trouble with a woman who was - hopefully - reforming herself and reevaluating her position.
Perhaps the simplemindedness of Ammit will convince her to look at things at face value instead of trying to scheme something out of myself or my women... or perhaps she is just as stubborn as I am, and won't change because she sees no reason to change.
Eventually though, the constant stare from Kat became far too much for me as I sat there, so I stood up and smiled at the various Demons around myself, saying "I've enjoyed this immensely, and it's been nice meeting all of you, but I have a few things I need to take care of... though I think afterwards I will definitely be taking a tour of the Aedis and some of Arx Impius, just to assuage my curiosity."
They all nodded, a few wearing knowing smirks as they stared at Kat, who's eyes were still that crystalline blue that send shivers down their spines, so they got up as well and began to put the hall back to its previous position, with Nakith and Luci standing up to guide us towards our room, the two Demonesses also understanding just what things I needed to 'take care of'.
Anput and Leone walked behind me as I followed the two Demonesses, taking the time to view more of the sprawling Aedis that we found ourselves in, the various artifacts around catching my eyes as we walked.
A shield with a large dent on its left side and a long, jagged scratch mark down its center hung on the wall, with the placard beneath it reading 'Shield of Beryllie Beliali, famed warrior and honored Centurion of the Flame Tongue Legion'
Beneath the name was a list of various battles and opponents the shield had witnessed, and it was an artifact displaying the devotion and bravery of one of the many members of the Beliali Clan over the years, something that I could appreciate.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmNearby was a pen, the placard beneath that describing the accomplishments of the peacemaker who had 'wielded' it, the various laws, treaties and negotiations that it had ben used in listed just like the battles and opponents beneath the shield.
Each thing that rested inside these walls held history that meant something more to me, each piece of art, each item and each list of deeds painting a larger picture of the extended family I had never been able to meet, and each of those things that I saw made me seriously think about how to go about this deployment with Satanya and Ammit; how should I act and how should I react to them going forwards?
Did I want to rejoin these 'long lost cousins' of mine and learn more about them and ingratiate myself to them so that I could... eventually, maybe come back to be with my own people?
To reignite the spark of the Asmodeucian Clan, perhaps?
I wasn't entirely sure just yet, and each second spent inside the Aedis made that decision just that much harder...
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Didn't plan on being here for long, but here we are lol; shouldn't be much longer till we go to the Tragon Kingdom though, so don't worry~!
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