157-158

Had a headache today, so here; can't write too well lol, dunno if I'll get anything else out today.

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Ria PoV

Getting up from my seat, I rolled out my aching shoulders before glancing over at the empty desk, sighing.

Where the hell was she..?

Moving over to the desk, I stared down at the empty chair with complicated feelings; I was happy for the break, but annoyed and worried that she was gone.

Ever since Jahi left, Chordeva and I had been much, much more active; both of us wanted another child, and while Julie having twins was something that overjoyed both of us…

I myself wanted another child; to raise a son or daughter that didn't need to worry about being a fighter or killer.

When I had been given the choice as a young girl about who I was to marry, I had chose House Asmodia with that in mind, but still…

Knowing my daughter would have to risk her life and stain her hands with blood…

It didn't sit right with me, not now.

Not after I myself had waded through scorched battlefields littered with hundreds of dead soldiers.

Not after I myself had reaped the lives of men and women fighting for a cause they themselves didn't believe in.

After that, I didn't want my child to have to experience that, but…

I married into House Asmodia.

As such, our eldest, Jahi Asmodia, would go through the same harsh training Chordeva did, forging her from that raw, yet deadly self into one of the most proficient killers this Empire had ever produced.

Jahi would eventually find herself under the tutelage of one of the Knights of Cinder, or even the Empress herself.

However, that isn't going to happen for a few years; she needs to graduate from the Academy first.

Sighing, I exited the office and walked through the large, yet empty estate.

It had been like this ever since I had visited the first time a decade and a half ago.

Asking a few of the maids and butlers about Chordeva, I frowned again when none of them gave me a straight answer; each one would look away and lie through their teeth to me.

Annoying…

Stalking through the halls, I searched every nook and cranny for my wife; leaving her alone for long never was a good idea.

My face darkened as I recalled how I had learned that lesson.

Back at the Academy, before the first dance of our first year, I had left Chordeva alone too often; I was worried about my studies more than her, even though my free time was dedicated to being near her…

However, after I had watched her invite a random bunny bitch to the dance alongside me…

Well, even now I felt like skinning the girl in front of Chordeva, letting her know that she was MINE and MINE alone…

Sure, we both loved Julie, but…

Chordeva belonged to me; I belonged to her.

Till death do us part, no?

However, back than, we had made no such vow; Chordeva had found herself inside the beds of many women, and that bunny was just one of a growing list.

After watching her invite her to the dance, my heart had felt like someone had sliced it to pieces and ground it to dust.

I just… couldn't understand what I was doing wrong.

I was strong.

I was, by the whispers and words of our classmates, beautiful.

I was loyal.

I was devoted.

So why..?

I was meant to be her wife, and yet she seemed to be reluctant to claim me.

And that dance had almost done it in completely for me; I was ready to go home and beg, plead to my mother to cancel the marriage.

Julie was the reason I hadn't; that was why I had accepted her offers years ago.

I let her believe it was of goodwill and for our past friendship, but…

It wasn't; it was settling a debt, one that I wanted gone.

Sure, I was glad that I had accepted her offer, as I found myself loving the Dogkin and her daughter quite a bit, but…

If it wasn't for that night, where she convinced me to go all out, to convince Chordeva that I was the one for her…

My life would be much, much different right now.

Continuing my rounds of the estate, I grew more frustrated at the lack of my tall Demoness.

"Where the hells…"

Finding myself on the roof, I stared over our rolling lands with a narrowed gaze, trying to spot her somewhere out in the fields or gardens.

Frowning more, I was tempted to go out to town and buy a custom set of chains, but I'll wait till after her explanation…

Hopping off the roof, I resumed my search of the estate, slowly falling back into my memories.

Before the Academy, I had, surprisingly, been a relatively normal girl.

I liked dressing up, I read romance novels, hell, I even tried my hand at writing one…

They were the stereotypical girly things, but…

"I like woman who stand up for themselves and take what they want."

That line that Chordeva had said to me while she was busy training had stuck with me.

I knew it was true; the women she showed an actual interest in, not just one of lust, had been more feisty or independent women.

So, when I had went home after that trip, I pleaded to my mother to teach me how to fight; how to make Chordeva look my way and pick ME.

Her response had been to toss a sword my way and mutter "About damn time…", instantly throwing me into a grueling regimen and shaping me from a normal noble girl into a fighter.

My Lightning Mana had been honed with help from my aunt, my swordplay and footwork had been been from my mother, and my father had taught me the finer things of nobility; etiquette, financing, organizing…

Yeah, my father had been a peace-loving, calm, laid back elf, while my mother had been a proficient assassin and warrior elf…

How the two managed to get together and have no troubles their entire marriage is still beyond me; Chordeva and I are similar enough in many aspects, and yet we're at one another's throats over some of the smallest things.

Reaching the large hall that we had used to host one dance, I opened the doors to find Chordeva waiting, a smirk on her lips as she adjusted her suit.

Stepping inside with a frown, I looked around at the clean hall in mild confusion, before returning my eyes to my wife.

"What is..?"

Gesturing around, I raised a brow as she just continued to smirk at me, before stepping forwards and kneeling in front of me.

"Ria Haniel, may I, Chordeva Asmodia, have the pleasure of a dance?"

She gently lifted my hand to her lips, and I stared at her in silence for a second.

If this had been the me of the past, I would be blushing and stuttering over myself, but now…

"You have three separate papers that required your immediate attention, you know that right?"

Sighing, Chordeva stood up and took a deep breath, closing her eyes before staring down at me.

"Ria… hah…"

Reaching forwards, she grabbed my hands and dragged me forwards, placing one of them on her shoulder while the other remained on hers.

"Just… dance."

Giving her a curt nod, I swiftly fell into the rhythm of a waltz, wondering what had come over her.

"So… you remember how I brought up that bunny girl?"

Glaring at her, I reminded silent, waiting for her to continue.

"Well…"

She bit her lip, a small smile on her lips as her ruby eyes grew soft.

"I still feel terrible for that night… I realize now how… badly I had treated you up to that point."

I nodded, still glaring at her.

She knew what she had done; how much she had hurt me, how close she had been to losing me.

I reminded her at every point of our marriage; whenever she irritated me, I reminded her.

Was it healthy?

Probably not.

However, it was my way of getting back at her; to let her taste an ounce of the pain I had felt during our early youth.

"And while I was thinking about it… I realized that we had never danced; just the two of us, with no need to change partners for etiquette, no drunkenness clouding our vision… just… us, in this moment."

Nodding again, I continued to stare at her, making the Demoness cough.

"So…"

Sighing, I leaned up and kissed her lips, before saying "So you decided that NOW would be the time to do this? When you have documents requiring your attention?"

She pouted at me, muttering "I thought women liked this sort of… spontaneous, romantic thing?"

Rolling my eyes, I said "Not when the entire motivation of it was 'I bedded some random woman when I was betrothed to you, and after recalling her I decided to do said romantic thing'…"

Seeing her freeze, I rolled my eyes again before grinning at her, releasing her before cupping her cheeks.

Pulling her down, I kissed her hard before saying "If you must know, I was preparing to go have custom chains forged…"

That made her smile, only to freeze as I continued, whispering "So that I could chain you up so I would always know where you were at…"

Keeping her face near mine, I kissed her again, only releasing her after I said "It's appreciated, Chordeva, and I can tell that, in a twisted way, this comes from your heart. I can, really."

Watching as she pursed her lips and nodded, I added "Really, I do appreciate it, but we have work we need to do; if we can keep a month to two in advance, we can create time to go visit Jahi or allow ourselves a week with the twins when they're born. That's why I'm adamant about getting this done…"

Seeing her face brighten, I turned and made my way to the door, glancing over my shoulder and smirking as I said "Besides… if you want to show your appreciation for me, you should get all that work done so we can retire early tonight, my love~!"

—

Jahi PoV

Groaning, I grabbed my head as I sat up, feeling like I had some fairy slamming a hammer against my skull.

Something that I forgot to do last night was hydrate myself, and well…

Glancing over at the beautiful sight of an exhausted, painted Leone, I groaned again as I felt the cause of my dehydration rise.

Sighing, I threw my legs off of the bed and stretched, closing my eyes as the world began to spin.

Stumbling over to the bathroom, I fumbled around for the sink and turned it on, leaning down to drink straight from the tap.

With a bellyful of water, I gasped as I stood back up, panting from the receding hangover.

Staring into the mirror, I took in my pale blue skin glistening with sweat and other fluids, while my hair clung to itself and my body.

My amethyst eyes were tired and slightly dull, and I reached up to splash my face with water, the freezing cold splash waking me up completely.

With a flick of my hand I cleaned myself off, my light magic 'purifying' everything off of my body, whilst the golden glow permeated my skin, healing my aches.

Looking myself over, I nodded before exiting the bath, returning to my bed.

Staring down at the unconscious Vampire, I smiled wryly as I reached down and stroked her cheek, tucking a strand of her plated ash gray hair behind her ear.

Reaching up, I briefly brushed my fingers over the area where she had bit me, my thoughts drifting to the words she spoke earlier.

Marking me…

I knew little about what a Vampire's Mark truly was, but from what I had read, it was something similar to Beastkin Marking; it just gave her a sixth sense revolving around me, like where I was or what I was feeling.

It was something that Beastkin and Vampire's did when they truly married someone, just like how the pure Mortal's tradition of a ring worked.

It was a display that you were entwined with another, and it helped create something between the two parties, strengthening the bond between them and amplifying the emotions.

Leone had first marked Kat, and now she had marked me; a Vampire was only meant to have one mark, so…

Smiling lovingly down at her, I chuckled softly as I placed a kiss on her brow, murmuring "I'm so happy that I decided to be greedy, Princess~"

Cleansing her dirtied skin, I chuckled again as she groaned slightly, her hands reaching around for me.

Avoiding her grasp, I pulled the blanket over her, watching on with a smile as she snuggled into the pillow, her face content as she warmed up under the sheets.

Watching over her for a few more moments, I eventually stepped out into the dark living room, wandering over to the pantry and scrounging around for a few seconds, sighing as I realized that my lack of skill in cooking made these late night excursions rather boring.

Kat didn't make extras for later; her meals were surprisingly accurate to the amount needed per person, so we had no leftovers.

Sadly.

Feeling peckish I sighed, grabbing an orange and an apple before filling a cup with water and making my way to the couch.

Peeling the orange, I started picking it apart, enjoying the citrus explosions on my tongue, which redirected my thoughts to Anput.

Seeing the normally cocky, confident, and proud Jackalkin so crestfallen and depressed was rather… jarring, and I could only hope that the moans that had echoed out of her room were because Kat had set her straight.

When we had returned home from our impromptu date, I was surprised when I laid eyes on Anput, her quivering form and almost childlike actions making my heart ache.

She had taken Kat's decision the worst, but that was because she honestly was the one who wanted Kat to be displayed to the public the most.

Anput was so proud, but not only of herself; the Jackalkin was proud of each of us, and she wanted to display each of us to the world, to show that she was so lucky.

She wanted to have Kat in the spotlight even more than I did, as I had grown to, albeit reluctantly, accept the idea that Kat would only ever be on the fringes of our spotlight.

However, Anput desperately wanted to thrust Kat into that light, both because its what she believed was best and because she wanted to show the world the woman she was most proud of.

But, Kat had other ideas, and until I heard from the two women themselves, I don't want to just assume that everything's alright now.

I had dealt with a shaky heart before, and I knew how terrible it could be.

Not only for myself, but for those around me.

I wanted Anput to be sure of her emotions and love, and sure that that love was being reciprocated.

The idea of a meeker, reserved Anput walking around our house was…

An odd thought, and one that I don't know if I would truly be able to stomach; I had fallen in love with the cocky Jackalkin because of her arrogance.

Finishing the orange, I started munching on the apple next, leaning into the couch as I stared into nothing, enjoying the darkness around me.

Letting my mind clear out, I eventually tossed the apple core and orange skin into the trash, downed the glass of water, and crept over towards Anput's room.

Quietly opening the door, I peered inside to find Anput laying beside Kat, the Jackalkin clinging closely to the curvaceous Dogkin, her face buried between Kat's large breasts.

The two were breathing deeply and evenly, their arms wrapped securely around the other as they embraced.

Leaning against the doorframe, I stared at their sleeping figures, smiling warmly down at them.

Anput was no longer trembling, and Kat had a tired, yet content expression on her sleeping face, suggesting the time they spent together over the night was pleasurable and worthwhile.

As I stared at Kat, my smile turned into a wry one as I realized that the woman's words were starting to make more and more sense; her idea of hiding so that she could support us to the best of her abilities was demonstrated this night.

The Dogkin had a way with words, her actions were meaningful, and she was both accepting and hard on all of us; she didn't let us do as we pleased, instead guiding and taking care of us, much like a mother hen overlooking her chicks.

A hard word here was softened out by a warm smile there, while her sweet whispers could soothe any of us in mere moments.

Her incredible poise inside our home as she cooked, cleaned, and took care of the other miscellaneous chores only added to her charm, and we were all thankful that this beautiful woman had no problems keeping the home in order.

I can only imagine how much more that will mean when times passes by, with Anput and Leone finding professions of their own to pursue.

Having a warm, home cooked meal everyday, a clean room to sleep in, and no worrying about whether or not your clothes are properly cared for is reassuring…

Then there's the side of Kat that we all partake in equal amounts of.

Her seductive, sinful side, the side where she pulls us into her bed and ensnares us with her body, accepting whatever it is that we wish to do to her with open arms.

She has yet to refuse an act with any of us, her openness to try everything and do whatever gets all of us going helping to wash away any stress that had started to pile up during the day.

Especially now, when we have to deal with Jillian and her idiocy; being able to let my mind focus on something besides that bitch of an Elf is more important than I had realized.

Without it, I think I would have gone crazy by now, but with Kat here…

She calmed us down and redirected any of our negativity into something else, and I let out a soft chuckle as I grew to realize just how important the woman was.

How no one else would see her and know that, without her, Anput, Leone and I would be different people; very, very different people.

I would need to make sure she knows just how much I appreciate her eventually…

Though, I think doing so after Jillian is out of the picture would be the most ideal; to not have to worry while I privately shower her with my undivided attention and affection.

Maybe I could even pull that out…

Smirking, I stared at the two puppies that snuggled together, their ears twitching slightly as I shut the door.

Stretching out my broad shoulders again, I sighed as I slipped back into my own room, crawling under the covers and pulling the Vampire into my arms, enjoying her warmth on my skin.

I was more lucky than I had previously realized, and now…

Now I knew what exactly I needed to get stronger to protect; not the individual women, but the harmonious family that we created together.

I wanted to guarantee that nothing in this world would ever step between us and attempt to shatter this harmony, and the first one to do so needed to be killed.

—

Still feel a little off, felt like getting a more laid back, thought process chapter out, letting everyone see Jahi's mental space as of now.

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