Thea and Apophis were currently sitting on the patio of a well known restaurant in Luxuria.
The food here rivaled the meals prepared by the triplet maids at home, so it wasn’t as though either of them were strangers here.
But despite that, the head chef still had to have someone hold him up whenever he heard that one of the royal family had arrived.
Except for little princess Mira, as she was a simple child who required only cookies to feel satisfied.
Jasmine and Claire were sitting side by side, with the Tathamet siblings sitting opposite them.
“So, what brings you lovely ladies to our home?” Thea asked warmly.
She posed her question to the two of them, but her eyes were firmly locked on Jasmine to indicate she wanted her to answer.
Once again the older of the phoenix sisters felt like she had been cornered by this overly friendly girl with no chance to escape.
“My sister begged me to come with her because she was interested in those communication magical devices and experiencing a bit of this city’s famous night life.”
It was a bit of an impromptu vacation per say, as Claire’s curiosity had reached the point of no return when she hadn’t been able to get the prince of Luxuria off of her mind for the better part of 3 weeks.
“Aww, so you didn’t come because you missed me?”
“Certainly not.”
“How cruel!” Thea said with fake tears.
Apophis always did find his sister to be slightly nauseating when she was like this, but he controlled his facial expression so as not to show his disgust. 𝑶𝓋𝗅xt.𝗰𝑂
“You um, seem to have changed quite a bit as well, Prince.” Claire said shyly.
Apophis’ red eyes carefully analyzed the girl sitting opposite him.
Due to the way he had lived until now, he had seen all types of beautiful women.
But there was something very different about Claire’s beauty, as it contained a sense of innocence that he wasn’t really used to.
“I’ve had something of a growth spurt.” He said calmly.
To someone who wasn’t used to speaking to him, Apophis’ naturally indifferent demeanor could make him seem like a cold and distant person.
Claire wasn’t sure if he was just like this because he had no interest in her, or because he was still upset about earlier.
“I know that things are already over but… I still would like to apologize once again.” She said sincerely. “I would also like to thank you for sparing their lives.”
Apophis glanced at Thea who was so deeply engrossed in conversation with Jasmine that she wasn’t even paying attention to the two of them, and he wondered about what the right thing to say was.
“… I did not do it for you, so your thanks are undeserved.”
For some reason, Claire smiled at his answer and a warm feeling fluttered in her heart.
“I know… you did it because you care about your family. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“…Indeed.”
The four of them continued to chat idly with their individual dates until Jasmine asked for a particular recommendation.
“Could you perhaps give my sister and I the name of a good inn? We’ll be staying for at least two weeks so comfortable beds are a necessity.”
Apophis and Thea both glanced at each other before shaking their heads.
“There aren’t any inns in Luxuria.” Thea said.
“What? But there are so many travelers coming here everyday, where are they resting??”
“Hotel.” Apophis answered.
“What did you call me?!” Jasmine growled.
Thea quickly took the hand of her date despite it’s rapidly increasing temperature.
“No sweetie, a hotel is the name of the accommodations for tourists. Father came up with them.”
“O-Oh, sorry… A-And I’m not your sweetie!”
“Not yet, but judging by the fact that you haven’t pulled away I think I’m getting closer~”
Jasmine looked down and realized that she had indeed still been holding Thea’s hand, but to make matters even worse she still hadn’t pulled away!
Thea’s skin was just so smooth and soft that it was as if she’d never worked a day in her life!
“I-If I pull away you’ll just grab me again later so there’s no point…” The phoenix said as she covered her face.
“My Jasmine is smart and gorgeous~”
“I’m not your Jasmine!”
“Do you want to be?”
“Gah!”
Claire could tell from her sister’s rapidly reddening cheeks that she actually liked Thea quite a bit, even if she didn’t want to admit it.
The two of them were already holding hands and seemed to be getting along well but in her heart she was becoming slightly jealous.
Apophis was nice to her, but it didn’t seem to go beyond simple friendship.
She silently wondered if it was because he found her unattractive, and her mood began to understandably plummet.
‘I wish… I could get a chance to know for su-‘
“But you know, paying for hotels is kind of expensive.” Thea said suddenly. “Why don’t you girls just stay with us?”
Claire/Jasmine: ” …Pardon?”
–
Abaddon was gently stirred awake by the feeling of something soft wrapped around his neck.
It was a pleasant sensation and one that would have lulled him into an even deeper sleep had he not felt it’s grip begin to get tighter.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he noticed was a large pair of breasts above his head, and Lillian looking at him with a cute yet frustrated expression.
“What are you doing…?”
“Strangling you with my tail.”
“How’s that working out for you?”
“Not good. Either your skin is too tough, or my tail is too soft.”
Abaddon chuckled lightly as his body floated up from the ground.
Lillian begrudgingly removed her furry appendage from Abaddon’s neck, and the two of them said nothing as they stood face to face.
“If you’re going to do it, you should do it properly you know?” Abaddon gently took both of Lillian’s hands and placed them around his neck.
“Want to try again?” He asked.
Unfortunately, Lillian’s scowl only became worse and her hands began to shake.
Before she’d even said anything, Abaddon knew that he’d made a mistake.
“Why do you do things like this…? You reject me so firmly, and now you’re just acting as if nothing has happened. You… are very hard to understand.”
Abaddon suddenly felt like he had been living under the most dreadful illusion.
He hadn’t intended to, but he had indeed been flirting with Lillian and showing her special treatment.
He who usually stepped over any woman that he met, was unconsciously drawing closer to her without even knowing why.
‘No… I know why, but it doesn’t matter…’
Abaddon suddenly released his grip on Lillian and backed away from her.
“My apologies… I suppose that I have been acting a bit irrationally, huh?”
He made a silent vow to put more distance between himself and his old nanny, both metaphorically and physically.
Abaddon moved past her and headed towards the door, only to raise a brow in surprise when the door didn’t budge.
“They barricaded us inside.”
Turing around, he found Lillian holding out a piece of paper with all of his wives’ signatures on it.
It read: We like this one. We know that you’ve given us your word but we want to make an exception for her…. and only her.
What followed were a few doodles and kiss marks that would have made him chuckle had he not currently been in a very high stress situation.
“Lady Yara told them about what happened… and they came up with this as a solution to our problem.”
For some reason, Abaddon could not bring himself to be the least bit surprised by that information.
“Are you going to make a portal out of here?” Lillian asked.
“I-“
“Do you truly despise me that much?”
“Lillian… I could never.”
“Then why do you treat me so wonderfully sometimes and then become distant with me in others…? It does not feel good…”
Abaddon tensed up as he felt the waves of anguish coming off Lillian.
“I do not have the right to love you… I have already failed you before, and you lost your life as a result. How can I hope to call myself your husband if I still feel responsible for-“
“Why…”
Lillian had finally broken-down crying, and the sight of such a thing tore Abaddon’s heart to shreds.
“Why does he still get to take things from me…? My purity, my pride, my sanity…. and now my chances of being with you? Have I not suffered enough? “
Lillian closed the distance between the two of them and leaned her body into Abaddon’s embrace.
“Please don’t use him as an excuse! I-If you don’t love me then that’s fine but don’t tell me that-“
Before she could finish, Abaddon placed his arms around Lillian’s waist and kissed her passionately.
Lillian’s emerald green eyes briefly glazed over before she relaxed in his embrace.
She briefly lost control of her body, and all she was aware of the pleasant sensation on her lips and Abaddon’s voice echoing inside of her head.
‘I have always loved you… before I was even aware of what love was… That’s why it hurt so much when I lost you, and I haven’t been able to forgive myself ever since…’
Subconsciously, Abaddon’s loss of Lillian caused him to have a new outlook on women in his life.
Before he was whole, it was part of the reason why he had avoided Lailah and Bekka, and after they deepened their relationship, he regarded the slightest insult, threat, or prejudice against them as a threat that must be neutralized.
And it was the same for all of his wives, from the weakest to the strongest.
So that he never had to feel that pain again, he would lay down his life to defend them.
‘You don’t need to carry the weight of something awful like that. If I can be beside you now, then does anything else matter…?’
‘…No…I guess it doesn’t.’
With his will finally worn down, Abaddon pulled Lillian further into his body and clung to her for dear life.
One would think he was afraid to let her go and risk something awful happening to her once again.
He completely missed the moment when a puddle of shadows rose up from the corner of the room, and all of his wives appeared next to each other.
A soft hand on his back earned a small jolt, and he was surprised to find Lailah wearing her usual warm and dangerous smile.
“Is your mind clearer now, my love? Do you know what you want to do?”
The rest of his wives seemed to be awaiting his answer as well, but they already knew his intention, they just wanted to hear him say it.
“It is… I want Lillian to be a part of us as well.”