After they all exchanged pleasantries, they all sat around the dinner table as an elderly House Elf called Kreacher started bringing dishes to the table while occasionally screaming something about the murder of muggles and similar creeds.
Apparently, the little thing was nicely indoctrinated, not like Vali himself minded him because it was maximally an annoying fly at worst.
Still, to him, the antics of the House Elf were pretty amusing to watch as it was annoying to hear for some others because the old House Elf was constantly repeating the same thing all over again.
"Will there be anyone else joining us at the dinner?"
Questioned Abraxas Malfoy when he saw that most of the table was left empty, to which Lord Arcturus Black shook his head in denial as the food was served and everyone started eating.
And before they started eating, suddenly Vali's senses perked up when he sensed somebody teleport to the place, or as the wizards called it, apparate.
"And yet, interestingly enough, somebody just arrived."
Vali stated from the side as Arcturus Black's eyes squinted before motioning with his hand and Kreacher appeared.
"What does Lord Black want from the poor Kreacher?"
The House Elf asked in that weird raspy voice.
"Yes, who came here? Didn't I order that I want to have a private dinner with the guests?"
Poor creature shivered in fear as Arcturus Black gazed at the House Elf before he started making some gestures with his hands.
"Young miss Bellatrix."
When Arcturus Black heard that, he dismissed the elf after ordering him to bring her here; now that one of their guests was already aware of her presence, it would be rude not to introduce her to the guests, even as if only formality.
After they continued eating, soon enough, not even three minutes later, another person entered the dining room, together with the House Elf Kreacher.
When Vali looked a the newcomer, it was a young woman, rather tall, considering that she was 17 years old. She was beautiful in terms of appearance, with her long, thick, shiny dark hair, strong jaw and thin mouth.
"This is my granddaughter Bellatrix, daughter of my son Cygnus and his wife, Druella."
Arcturus Black stated that when Vali looked at her, in her eyes, he saw the same thing that he saw in his aunt Hela.
Bloodthirst and immense lust for battle and power, even the way she carried out was most unusual for what he saw; contrary to most, she had the posture of a warrior.
"Greetings, My Lords."
She greeted them while sitting next to her grandparents as Kreacher brought her plate of food. Ironically though, the person who was sitting to her left side was Vali, who was looking at her with interest.
'Maybe...'
He thought as he cast a spell on her, scrying her Soul out just out of curiosity as he sensed something about her.
That weird feeling he got when he looked into her eyes now turned into the curiosity that he had met someone like him.
Soon enough, he found out something pretty much shocking... the female wizard had Level 8 Inferior Soul Aptitude.
Technically speaking, people with such Soul Aptitude could reach Tier 10 with enough resources rather easily... though there was something else in her Soul and it was like some kind of innate defect from inbreeding.
This is a common mistake among many magically powerful human lineages. Without enough preparation and some things to consider, inbreeding would have an entirely different effect, contrary to the wished one.
The general idea was to strengthen already existing genes by pairing them with genes of equal strength and potential, which should result in stronger genes in the progeny.
But... yeh, always a but; the thing was if the genes were too similar, the opposite effect and they would, in fact, degrade.
In the Chthonian Empire, incest wasn't anything new under the sun, as Vali himself wed his sister, technically speaking, even if she was only a half-blooded sister.
Yet, in the regard of Baatorians, they didn't have such problems because their Bloodlines were too strong and too stable for such a thing to occur.
That was why the Arcanists developed various rituals, potions and other methods to prevent gene degradation in incestual relationships and achieve the desired result.
Naturally, it was understandable that the backward magical civilization wouldn't have something like this, so that led to gene degradation and sometimes other diseases came up with it...
As he saw in the young woman's Soul that she was suffering from serious madness disease, though it didn't show itself in its full power yet.
'Contrary to Tom... she could be more useful if she is cured from her alignment. However, for this, I would need to take her back to the Empire for treatment. Who would have thought that I would find such rare talent here? Now I also need to meet that man who was called the greatest Dark Lord for past centuries.'
For Vali, Bellatrix Black was far more useful than Tom Riddle in the long run.
While Tom was undoubtedly more talented, not just the Soul Aptitude wise, but also mind-wise and had a great talent for researching Magic, he had great, untamable ambitions and he knew that even despite the strict Soul Geass, his loyalty would be only to himself.
She was one person whom he would certainly be taking with him, be it with her consent or not; that didn't matter because such potential was too rare just to pass on.
Even right now in the Empire, being born with natural Level 8 Soul Aptitude and higher was exceedingly rare, very, very rare.
The majority of people who achieved such Soul Aptitude did it through various rituals, potions, pills, treasures or any other means, but being naturally born with it?
There were only very few people who were born with such Soul Aptitude and all of them became extremely mighty figures in the Empire, like his elder brothers Sirzechs and Sigmar, who were both powerful Tier 11 beings.
Not even their father was born with such a high Soul Aptitude; on the contrary, he was born with a trashy one and rose to the current one through a combination of hard work, luck and sacrifices.