Chapter 40: Violet arrived, and two wives meet their father-in-law.
Victor's house.
"So..." Leon puts his hand on his head as if he has a bad headache:
"Are you telling me my son has two more wives, and you are them?"
"Y-Yes"
"...Yes"
Sasha stuttered a little when she spoke, she was very embarrassed. Ruby managed to respond in a more neutral tone and keep her face cool.
"..." Even though Leon had heard the confirmation from the two women, he still couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"…And do you agree with that? I mean, aren't you guys jealous or something?" he asked again.
"..." Ruby and Sasha look at each other, then the two women look at Leon.
"I feel jealous, but since Ruby and Violet are my childhood friends, I don't really care that much? I feel like a lot hasn't changed, and that Victor has just joined the group?" Sasha spoke with a confused expression on her face.
It was her honest feelings, and even though she didn't understand that feeling completely, being with Victor soothed her a lot, she felt very comfortable; it was the same feeling as when she was with Julia…
"Indeed… I feel the same. I'm sure if we weren't childhood friends, this situation would be much more problematic." Ruby spoke as she thought; 'if they were other women, I would never have let them get close to my Darling.'
"..." Leon just looked at the two women with a shocked expression.
"So jealous...-" Leon suddenly felt a shiver in his body; he looked at his wife, and seeing the glow in her eyes, he pretended to cough, "Cough! I mean, I feel jealous of how you three get together well with my son; I hope you can take care of him!"
"Oh! Thank you." Ruby spoke.
"Thanks?" Sasha thanked him, a little confused.
"...Leon?"
"Y-Yes, honey?" He spoke with a strained smile on his face.
"How was your work?" Anna asked with a small smile on her face.
"Huh…? Oh! The work was good, I had little problems, but it's the usual."
"Anyway, I'm glad my son has two more lovely wives like you to look after him." He smiled at Ruby and Sasha.
Sasha and Ruby's faces lit up, and they smiled happily.
"Thanks, Father," Sasha said.
"Thanks..." Ruby said.
Leon couldn't help but be enchanted by the two women's smiles, but when he felt his wife's gaze intensify as if she were stabbing him in every inch of his body, he made the wisest decision he could make in this kind of situation. :
"I have something to solve, you know, work calls!" He got up from the couch and calmly walked up the stairs, "I'll see you guys another day."
He ran-away...
"Nice job, Father. Don't work too hard, or you might get sick." Sasha was kind.
Leon stopped walking, and replied looking at Sasha, "I'm not going to, and thanks for your concern, Sasha."
Leon went upstairs, and the moment he didn't feel his wife's gaze anymore, he crouched down on the stairs and put his ear to the wall, then he thought; 'when did my son become a chad? I know he inherited my bricklayer genes, but even I can't do something like that! A woman is already a big problem, imagine having two more!? Hell no!'
After the initial problems and Anna's shock to learn that her son has two more wives, she accepted this situation more easily when she found that the two personalities of the women were quite agreeable.
Ruby was very quiet and had a cold expression on her face all the time, but she could see that there was a very kind woman behind that cold face.
Sasha was more talkative than Ruby, but she was more easily embarrassed by heartfelt compliments, and, when she called Sasha her daughter, Anna thinks she's found a new hobby of teasing Sasha. However, she will try very hard not to go overboard.
That was Anna's initial impression of Sasha and Ruby.
What about Leon's opinion on this subject...? It doesn't matter, and Anna planned to talk to him later...
Leon felt his body shiver again...
Anna was a little upset with Leon, but she wasn't angry with him or anything... She was just a little frustrated with her son's sudden change, and she knew exactly how to resolve that frustration, she was thinking it would be an excellent time to give Victor a brother or sister.
Leon was a very simple man; he lives life simply, and if he likes something, he accepts it; if he doesn't like something, he shows his middle finger and says, "Fuck you."
Leon is not very good with words like his wife; he prefers to work things out with his fist. But, he's sensitive enough to see when his son is in trouble, and help him whenever possible; he'd rather act than talk, an honest man.
And, from past experience, Leon could see from the moment he looked at Ruby and Sasha that the two were very nice women and had good personalities; they weren't women who would cause trouble for his son. Besides that, he didn't care too much.
His thinking was simple; My son is an adult, and I trust him. But if I see he is going down a wrong path, I will advise him.
And that same thought was shared by Anna, Victor's mother.
...
Basement of Victor's house.
"...Somehow it worked out," Sasha sat on the couch, she was mentally drained:
"I never want to do this again… I never thought it would be so tiring…" She seemed to be melting on the couch.
Ruby sat on the couch and crossed her legs elegantly, "Y-Yes, everything went according to plan," She stuttered a little.
Sasha looked at Ruby out of the corner of her eye, she didn't even feel like pointing it out to Ruby right now.
Natalia suddenly appears and brings a cup of tea that contains a red liquid inside.
"Thanks, but I don't want-..." Ruby was going to refuse the tea, she didn't want to drink someone else's blood, but she stopped talking when she smelled the blood.
"...This is my Darling's blood." She swallowed hard.
Sasha opens her eyes and looks into her cup of tea, her face suddenly twisting in disgust.
"When did you get this?" Ruby asked curiously.
"When Lord Victor was sleeping, I collected some of his blood," Natalia smiled gently.
Ruby looked at Natalia with a cold face; 'That's impossible. No one enters my Darling's room without me or Sasha and Violet noticing... Oh, she used her powers.'
"Is it okay to use your powers for something so...insignificant?" She asked, a little unsure...
"I have power; why shouldn't I use it any way I want?" Natalia replied.
"..." Ruby agreed with Natalia's reasoning.
"Are you going to take this? I wouldn't recommend it," Sasha suddenly spoke up.
"Why...?" Ruby asked, confused.
Sasha explains, "Although it's my husband's blood, for some reason the blood tastes really bad, it felt like I was eating spoiled food, it's better to drink straight from the source."
"Oh…? You have tried?" Ruby asked and complained a little, "Don't treat our husband like he's a blood factory."
"…I'm kidding, you need to relax more, Ruby," Sasha said.
"Humpf," Ruby snorted, and for a few seconds, the two mounds swayed in a way that could mesmerize any straight man.
Sasha rolled her eyes again, "Answering your question... Yes, I took the blood, and to this day, I regret drinking that blood." She had never felt so much like vomiting in her life.
Natalia looks at Ruby with a gentle smile on her face, "Will Lady Ruby want tea?"
"...." Ruby looks at Natalia with a blank expression.
"No... I don't want to," She refused; although the smell was appealing, she decided to trust Sasha.
"...Oh, that's too bad," Natalia commented as she removed her tea and walked towards the kitchen. For a moment, she looked at Maria and thought; 'this maid... She's just not doing anything, right? And she doesn't even say anything either... Should I put her to work?
"Let's go back home?" Ruby asked Sasha.
"Yes, let's go back," Sasha agreed and got up from the couch, but soon Sasha, Maria, Ruby, and Natalia looked to the middle of the room.
A magic circle suddenly appears in the middle of the room:
"Hey! Hey! Hey! I came back with shocking information!" The witch June appeared with a smile on her face.
...
Current location: North in the territory of Countess Scathach Scarlett.
Front of the Scathach mansion,
"Finally, I arrived!" Violet squealed in frustration as she looked at the mansion entrance that was a grand old-looking gate. "Because of Natalia, I had to run from the South to the North! Damn, why didn't Natalia open the portal to Ruby's house!?" She was angry again, but then she sighs:
"As usual, this place is quite desolate." She looks around and sees only forests and snow-covered mountains, "I never understood why that old hag chose her personal home in such a secluded place."
"Tsk, Tsk," Violet heard a woman's voice, "You never learn, brat."
Violet looks up and sees Scathach standing horizontally against her gate wall.
"Where's Victor!?" Violet asked impatiently.
Scathach drops to the ground and responds, "He's training with Pepper."
"What!?" Violet screamed in horror, she remembers Pepper's appearance; 'That bitch is going to seduce my Darling! I will kill her!'
Violet's eyes started to change to red, and her teeth began to get sharp.
Seeing Violet's face, Scathach approaches Violet and hits her on the head.
"Ouch!" Violet puts her hand on her head and glares at Scathach angrily, "What was that-"
"Stop your paranoia, brat. Don't you trust your husband?"
"Of course I trust him! I don't trust your daughter!" Violet yelled, she points a finger at Scathach and continues, "Your daughters were raised by you! They can at any time kidnap my husband and do this and that to him!"
"...Makes sense." Scathach has always raised her daughters to be strong and independent women; of course, her upbringing is quite questionable these days...
Scathach turned around and entered her house, "He's in the forest."
Violet's eyes flashed red, and then she was gone.
Chapter 41: The greedy witch.
"If you came back, then you must have found something, correct?" Natalia asked the witch June.
"Yes~," June laughed, she looked very pleased.
"Did you hire her?" Ruby asked Natalia.
Natalia nodded in agreement.
"Oh, I vaguely remember she said that... But I was really busy at the time," Sasha said.
June rolled her eyes when she heard Sasha's words, she thought; 'of course, you were busy; you were sucking your husband's blood.'
"Lady Ruby, what are you doing here?" June asked.
"Can't I be at my Darling's house?" Ruby asked in a cold tone.
"Yes, you-...Huh?" June opened her mouth in shock as she looked at Ruby:
"W-What you said...? I think I heard wrong." June wiped her ear a little.
Ruby raised an eyebrow, "What? Is it so amazing, me being in a relationship?"
"I don't think she's talking about that," Sasha commented.
"Huh?" Ruby didn't understand, she looked at Sasha and only saw her friend's neutral face.
"..." June looked at Ruby, and then she looked at Sasha, she repeated this process a few times and thought; 'As expected! My intuition was correct! That man has a great future!'
Her eyes changed to the money symbol.
Seeing June's reaction, Natalia knew what the greedy witch was thinking, "June... What did you find out?"
"Huh…? Oh…Give me a sec," she made some gestures with her hand, and soon a big magic circle appeared in the middle of the room.
The magic circle began to grow, and slowly images began to be created.
"Oh?" Natalia looked at the magic circle with interest.
Soon the image of Lucy and Karen appeared in the magic circle.
June points to Lucy and starts giving her report:
"Lucy, a noble vampire sought out by The Inquisition, personality: Liar, cautious, cunning, proud and hardworking. He has a love affair with his partner Karen, a vampire who pretends to be Lucy's subordinate, but the woman's true identity is a noble talent scout."
The image shifted and focused only on Karen.
"Oh?" Ruby is interested, she looks at Karen, "Which clan does she serve?"
June looked at Ruby, "She serves Clan Horseman."
"Who? I've never heard of it," Ruby said.
"Neither have I," Sasha added.
"...Excuse my rude words, but... Are you living in a cave?" June commented in disbelief.
"… Well, we've been busy these days." Sasha didn't mind and replied.
"Yes. A lot happened in a short time," Ruby added.
June sighed. "This information will be free; consider it a kind gesture." She looked at Sasha:
"The Horseman Clan is the family that took the title vampire count from Lady Sasha's family."
"....!" Sasha opened her eyes wide.
Ruby's eyes cooled further, and she looked at June.
"How do you know that? That was supposed to be confidential information." Natalia asked curiously.
"Hah! There's no such thing as a 'confidential' subject when it comes to witches." June snorted.
"In the witch world, anything can be bought with money, even that kind of information." She smiled and continued, "It cost me a lot of money, but I managed to get in touch with the witch the Horseman Clan hired, and she sold all the details."
"..." Natalia just continued with the same gentle smile on her face and didn't answer anything.
"Witch... I have a question for you."
June felt her body shiver as she heard Ruby's words, "W-What?"
"Did you sell the information on my Darling?" The air around Ruby began to grow colder, and slowly her eyes began to change to blood-red:
"Answer me."
"… N-No! I didn't sell any information about Victor! I am not a fool! I don't want to provoke that crazy woman!" June quickly spoke.
"..." Ruby continued to stare at June, she was looking for some lie in the witch's face, but all she saw was genuine fear.
Sasha has woken up from her stupor and looks at June with neutral eyes. "...You also know about Scathach kidnapping my husband."
"Yes, I know. A few hours ago, I received a contact from an informant who spotted Countess Scathach carrying a man like a sack of potatoes to her residence, and, from the characteristics of the man the informant gave me, I could deduce that it was Victor... Although after that, I lost contact with this informant."
"..."
"Give up on this informant; he's probably buried seven feet under the earth now," Ruby spoke in the same tone of voice, she controlled her emotions, and soon the air around her started to return to normal.
"…." June nodded in agreement, she knew Scathach's personality, the crazy woman was just too famous; he probably died… Sigh, I need to find another informant in the vampire world…
"June is a talented witch~; few witches can do what she did now..." Natalia complimented her smiling gently.
Thank you." June flashed a satisfied smile.
"..." Ruby and Sasha just rolled their eyes when they saw June's smile.
"So? What did you find out about Lucy?" Natalia asked.
June makes a few gestures with her hand, and slowly the image of Lucy and Karen changes, and soon a huge coffin appears. The coffin was pure white, with a black crucifix symbol in the middle of the coffin.
"What is that...?" Sasha asked.
"This is the finger of Saint Mary," June replied, then she continued:
"A sacred church artifact, that's all I know; I couldn't find anything else. For me to know the contents inside that coffin, I would need to take more risks…"
"I would also need more money and connections that I don't have right now; this job is way above what I'm able to offer."
'I don't want to risk my neck and provoke the Horseman Clan; the money offered is just too low for me to take that risk,' she thought.
"As Lady Natalia paid a high price, I compensated these services with all of Lucy's information and what he's planning to do." She took a flash drive from her pocket and threw it in Natalia's direction, "This is all I can do with my current abilities." She was surprisingly honest.
"... You did more than enough, June," Natalia spoke with a gentle smile on her face, she takes a cell phone from her pocket, types something on the cell phone, and says, "Done."
June feels her cell phone vibrating in her pocket, she quickly takes her cell phone, when she sees that the money has fallen into her account, she starts drooling while staring at the number on her cell phone screen.
"10 digits!! Holy fuck!" She cried out in emotion.
"June, you're drooling..." Natalia commented.
"Oh…" She quickly wipes her face and looks at Natalia suspiciously, "Why did you pay me more than agreed? I will not refund the money!"
With the same gentle smile on her face, Natalia said, "This money is for another job."
"Oh? What's the job!?" June was looking at Natalia as if she were a golden hen.
"I want you to investigate the Horseman Clan for Lady Sasha."
"Huh...?" June's face darkened in horror, suddenly the gentle smile on Natalia's face seemed to become an evil smile; 'That was a trap!! I will die! From the rumors I've heard from that clan, I'm 100% sure I'm going to die! They are crazy!'
"Natalia...?" Sasha didn't understand why she did it.
Natalia looked at Sasha, "I know Lady Sasha is curious about the matter, and with your family's current situation, you can't hire a witch for that kind of service."
"...Thank you, Natalia. I'll remember that," Sasha thanked.
"Hmm..." Ruby crosses her legs and looks at Natalia with curious eyes, she was thinking of doing this for Sasha; after all, Ruby doesn't lack money, but as Natalia took the initiative, she was silent... This maid seemed to have a plan too.
Natalia kept smiling, she looked at June, who had a face that looked like she made the biggest mistake of her life.
"You already received the money, right? And a witch who accepted the payment can't go back, right? Tell me... Are you going to break the rules?"
"...Ugh," June seemed to fade when she saw Natalia's 'gentle' smile.
"B-But, there's another witch in that place! Because of that, I can't do this job; after all, it would break rule number one about being a witch!"
With the same smile on her face, Natalia said, "Rule number 1: a witch must not come in conflict with another witch. If the witch's employer is an enemy of an individual who is hiring another witch, both witches must abandon their duty immediately."
"..." June's face just darkened, and it darkened more every time she heard Natalia's words.
"Strange..." She put on a confused face, "Did I ever tell you to come into conflict with Clan Horseman?"
She looked at June and smiled kindly, "I remember what I said; 'I want you to investigate the Horseman Clan for Lady Sasha.'"
"At no time did I tell you to attack them or something, did I?"
"N-No... You didn't say..."
"See? I expect good news from you~."
"Ugh," Seeing Natalia's gentle smile, June seemed to have received several damages to her body; not wanting to stay in this place anymore, she makes some gestures with her hands, and soon a magic circle appears at her feet.
"..." When June left, silence fell in the room.
"You're amazingly 'evil' for someone who always has a kind smile on their face," Maria, who was silent, said.
"Oh...?" Natalia looked at Maria.
"…I have to agree with Maria on this," Ruby said, "By asking her to investigate the Horseman Clan, conflict will eventually ensue… However, as I am not your master, I cannot order you; I hope that you know what you're doing."
Understanding the warning contained in Ruby's words, she spoke, "I know. Don't worry, Lady Ruby." Soon, she looks at Maria:
"What happened? I thought you were going to be silent forever?"
"Nothing happened," Maria said in a cold tone, then she continued, "I was just curious about the sacred artifact."
"I see," Natalia said and then walked towards a table and, when she got close to the table, saw a laptop she used when she was bored; she sits on the chair, "Let's see what's inside this flash drive."
Sasha looked at Maria. "I don't know what that artifact is, and I don't care either, but one thing I'm sure of..." Her smile widened in a distorted way, "Carlos is looking for this artifact."
Maria reacted a little when she heard Carlos' name, she looks at Sasha and seeing the look on her face, she sighed:
"... I don't regret setting a trap and killing that maid; after all, that was just work."
"..." Sasha looked at Maria neutrally, but pure hatred could be seen in her eyes.