"You are upset because you fell for her."
He heard his mother's voice as soon as he entered the throne room, and his brows furrowed in agitation.
"I didn't."
"Oh, my child. You did." She mischievously giggled, and he could only sigh at her words.
The truth was that he was, indeed, feeling agitated because of Cleria, and he was getting mad at her for no reason whatsoever.
She was of no concern to him, but he still went out of his way to save her.
"You planned on killing her that night along with all those Exorcists, but you saved her," Pandora spoke again as if reading his thoughts. "You wanted her. You have her now. Why are you still upset?"
"How could she fall in love with a human and forget who she is?" He subconsciously voiced out his thoughts. "She was going to dishonour her Blood for a human?"
Raizel walked over to the throne, and then slowly started climbing the stairs up to it.
"Mother." He bowed to her as soon as he reached her, and then straightened his back but did not raise his head to look at her.
"We are curious creatures, Raizel. We do a lot of things out of curiosity. Every one of us tries to find a way to do things a little differently than the rest, a subconscious attempt to feel special and come out as unique. But as you know, if you abuse anything, it is never going to benefit you. Some people are just not smart enough to keep their sanity above their curiosities, and that is what leads to their downfall. It's a tragedy, but a part of nature's cycle. It is from these tragedies that other people take lessons, learn and benefit, become wiser, smarter, and cautious. These lessons make us grateful and show us how to appreciate our lives and the blessings we have. Of course, the fools never learn. But they are fools, and fools are insignificant."
Raizel listened to his mother's words, pondering over them, and nodded his head in the end.
"You will ruin her if you don't forgive her for her mistakes." She warned, and he furrowed his brows. "Remember, you don't have to keep her."
"I won't harm her."
Pandora smiled at his words.
"But will you be able to give her your love and care the same way you would to the rest?" She asked. "She will know, and she will be able to sense it. Your hesitation around her, it will eat her alive, and it will ruin her."
"What would you have done if you were in my shoes?" He asked, finally raising his head to meet her eyes.
"I would have killed her that night." She kept the smile on her lips as she said those words.
"Even if you felt the same way towards her like I do?"
"Yes."
"I don't want to kill her." He answered, shaking his head and clearing up his mind.
"I know. And since you have decided to keep her, possess her, then you should not hesitate around her. If you ruin her, you will lose your peace of mind." She warned and then stood up to plant a kiss on his forehead. "She's beautiful."
He smiled at her words and nodded his head.
"She is. And she will become a beautiful Devil."
"We will see." Pandora giggled at his words and then grabbed his hand, taking him away with her.
Had there been someone in the Throne Room, they would have noticed that the Darcaedes Queen did not use a Magical Circle to teleport away, and she was no longer in the Palace, not even in the Devildom.
Raizel curiously looked around the place he was very familiar with. He had been here before.
It was the Temple of Hestia, and he silently followed his mother as she led him into the room where the Goddess of Hearth was sleeping.
Hestia seemed to pick up on their footsteps and opened her eyes before sitting up.
She cutely yawned and then smiled at the two of them.
"Pandora."
"Hestia."
The two of them hugged each other, and then the Darcaedes Queen amusedly watched as the Goddess of Fertility showered her motherly love on Raizel.
"You have grown taller, and become more handsome." She commented. "And seriously, you are the spitting image of Morningstar, except for these Darcaedes hair and eyes."
There was a hint of curiosity in her voice, and then she glanced at Pandora.
"If I had not known better, I would have assumed that you were both their reincarnation." She smiled.
"How many times are you going to say this to me?" Pandora rolled her eyes. "Let's make some dinner. It is Raizel's fifteenth birthday."
"Of course!" Hestia brightly smiled and then led them to her kitchen.
For the next good hour, Raizel just sat on top of a wooden stool, watching his mother preparing a feast with her friend, and honestly, he was not bored in the least.
It was the first time he was watching his mother cook, and since the ladies were using magic to cook the meal, it was quite a learning experience.
And sure enough, when they sat down to finally eat, it was just as delicious as he remembered it from his last visit.
Hestia then started telling him about the first time she had met Lucifer Morningstar and Amilith Eveningshade.
They had come to Olympus, and they had stayed at her temple for several years.
The two of them were her first Devil Friends, and Hestia's voice held a lot of excitement when she talked about their Powers in great wonderment.
"Even my brothers were scared of them." She giggled.
"I have always wondered who is the strongest between Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades." He voiced his curiosity, but it was not Hestia who answered him.
"None of them," Pandora smirked.
"Of course, you would say that." She rolled her eyes at those words. "Hades has grown crazy since the last time you humiliated him."
"He's weak but ambitious. Two traits that don't go along very well." The Darcaedes Queen said. "It's a shame that he is the strongest of you all siblings, but Zeus is only slightly weaker. In a deathmatch, they would both kill each other." She commented and then met her friend's eyes. "You know you can surpass them if you seek Power."
"I don't want it." Hestia immediately shook her head. "I have seen what Power leads to, and I hate Wars."
There was a hint of sadness in her voice.
"You won't have a choice." Pandora suddenly said, and the Goddess of Hearth furrowed her brows at those words. "You should grow stronger. Olympus will need you."
"What happened?" She pensively asked.
Raizel did not know what happened between them after she raised that question.
One moment, Pandora and Hestia were looking into each other's eyes, and the next moment, the Olympian Goddess' face paled in horror. And the rest of the meal turned into a silent affair.
No one spoke, and Raizel observed that Hestia's body was slightly trembling from time to time.
Whatever his mother had shown her or told her, had traumatised her, and he was wise enough to not speak or ask anything about it.
He was not strong enough to get involved in these matters. Had that been the case, Pandora would not have hidden the information from him.
"How is Erza doing?" Hestia eventually got hold of herself and asked towards the end of the meal.
"Oh, she's doing great. She has become obsessed with defeating Tiamat, and to achieve this goal, she has been training relentlessly under her father's tutelage and even sought guidance from the Youkai Deities. Right now, she is on Arz, in the Eastern Youkai Territory."
"The Chaos Karma Dragon?" Hestia giggled when Raizel nodded to her. "Do you know that Bahamut once tried to court her? And Tiamet hates him to the core of her being?"
"That's news to me." He laughed and then helplessly shook her head. "I see. So, this is the reason why Bahamut is so invested in helping Erza grow strong enough to defeat Tiamet."
"Maybe." She giggled some more. "By the way, Serafall likes you a lot."
The words made Raizel freeze and he surprisedly looked at her.
"What?"
"She's a friend, and nowadays, whenever she comes to see me, she does not forget to talk about you. You are her favourite subject."
He rolled his eyes at those words, and sure enough, Hestia laughed at his reaction, proving his guess.
"You are the most well-mannered Devil in the Devildom. Her words, not mine."
"Of course." He smiled and then curiously looked at the Goddess. "How many Devils are you friends with?"
"Quite a few." She did not give him a number and just smiled. "I am the Emissary of Olympus, and Serafall is in charge of the Foreign Affairs of Devildom." She reminded him, and he smiled at her and nodded his head.
"So, that's how you met."
"Yes. And you know her, it isn't hard for anyone to take a liking to her."
"That's true." He chuckled.
The dinner ended on a happy note, and Hestia then enthusiastically grabbed their hands and led them to her Hearth, which was also her bedroom.
"Did she tell you why she brought you here?" She asked and was quite amused at his confusion.
"No."
"Well, you are getting married tonight so that you can start making a baby." She playfully said, much to his shock, and Pandora giggled by his side as she squeezed his hand.
"What? You don't want to marry me?" His mother playfully asked, and he could not help the blush that crept on his cheeks.
"I do."