Now that Romonus was awake he got out of bed before walking over to his mirror. Today was going to be one of the last peaceful days he would have. He had 1 year until the start of the Evil Fiends Incident meaning he was free until then.
After that, he would spend the next 4 years sowing chaos wherever he went. However, his plans could only flourish if he had Valerie Tepes and the Holy Grail. Taking her would stop the Evil Dragon War and the return of Trihexa.
More importantly, it would delay the invasion of the Evie into Dragon Deus giving him more time to prepare against their overwhelming power. With the Holy Grail itself, he could learn the secrets of Life and Souls. That was the ability of Sephiroth Graal as Valerie could grant vampires truly immortal bodies as long as they kept the shape of their souls.
It was exactly like Mahito, but unlike Rias who could not affect the soul with the Power of Destruction, he could. He cleared his head as he could get lost in his plots from time to time. Instead, he focused on something else and telepathically communicated with his maids.
"Ladies. I will be requiring your help."
The 10 maids who had never been called by him all dropped what they were doing to rush to his side. It was their job as maids and ever since they had given to him he hadn't even made a move on them.
Each one was expected to please their Master, but thus far he hadn't even called them at all. As they moved to his side he turned to the three sleeping girls in his bed. They had been sleeping in his room all this time since he allowed it.
"Akeno, Shirone, Itsuki wake up. Today is a wonderful day."
Akeno sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"You're meeting the blue headless girl right?"
Romonus corrected her.
"Yes, and she isn't headless. She can just detach her head. Nothing wrong with that. I could do the same I think. Now that I think about it. what would happen if I cut off my head?"
Itsuki shot up out of bed as she did not like the sound of that.
"DON'T CUT OFF YOUR HEAD!"
Shirone nodded a few times as she jumped off the bed and turned back into her Nekomata form. She rushed to his side and grabbed his arm with her tails sticking straight up.
"Keep it on."
Romonus shook his head as he did not want to test it out. The thing was that he could keep the shape of his soul as his memories were all in his soul. As long as his mighty Cambion Soul kept its shape he might as well be immortal.
Mostly though, he learned this not from Mahito, but from Vandalie from Death Mage Doesn't Want a 4th Time. The kid made Mahito look like a baby when it came to souls. He could learn a lot from him which cemented that world as a future destination.
"I am not going to cut it off girls."
He saw all of them sigh in relief. As they calmed down, he turned to the door as the 10 maids one by one entered his room. They lined up in a row and lowered their heads before speaking in unison. They had time to practice this.
"How can we be of assistance Master?"
Romonus started to give them their assignment.
"Today is going to be my last social event for a few years so I want to shock the crowd. I will be showing up in my soul armor, but it lacks a cape. I want you to prepare a suitable cape to show my heraldry as the heir of House Bael.
I also want you to help my peerage members to look their best. Give them some makeup, and new hairstyles and this includes my familiar Kharn."
Romonus pointed to Kharn in his tree.
"One of you will find my cousin Magdaran and ask him if he can produce a tree I can take with me. I want to give Kharn a real tree to climb. Preferably with fruits or flowers for him to snack on. He will need to have his claws and teeth cleaned. His fur combed to look his best."
Every one of his requests had been fine, but once he mentioned Kharn the maids all looked up at Kharn in his tree. The Badger grinned showing off his shiny red teeth to the poor women. The maids instantly moved away to get to their positions.
Most of the maids went to help his peerage which was only three girls at the moment. The others all rushed out of the room to gather the materials to prepare his cape as even these maids could use magic to speed up the process.
However, this left the youngest who was a mere 29 with Kharn. She looked ready to cry as she gazed up at the Badger. He was still lying down, but from the look of it, he was enjoying her torment.
His head was held high as he made her stare up at his glorious form. As Kharn had his fun Romonus summoned Archaon over his body the helmet before the helmet began to disassemble to expose his face. Archaon himself instantly began to ponder on things.
"We shall show these inferior Nobles the superiority of our power."
Romonus grinned as the face of Archaon appeared on the chest plate. The Demonic Armor was simply the greatest thing he could have made.
"That we shall."
Just as Romonus was looking himself in the mirror he heard the pleading voice of his maid.
"Master. Please don't make me do this. Your familiar will tear me apart. Look at him."
Romonus looked over to Kharn who was still up in his tree teasing the girl.
"Give her some slack won't you?"
Kharn snorted before jumping down into the maid's arms. He chittered and made a few noises making Romonus laugh.
"He said he will allow you the honor of helping him look more magnificent. Go on, make him dazzle."
The maid walked off with Kharn who from the look of it considered this Maid nothing more than a servant for his amusement. Kharn was by no means a good-natured Honey Badger as even compared to his kind he was especially nasty and prideful.
He took after his Master Romonus well which might have been destiny that they met. Regardless as Romonus waited for his cape to be made, the maids got to work on Itsuki, Akeno, and Shirone.
While the girls themselves did not enjoy the attention, they knew it was for his sake. Their Victorian Bloodborne suits which were made for efficiency were removed in favor of dresses.
They received light makeup and their hair was restyled. They received jewelry which Romonus conjured up on the spot from his Demonic Mana as he would call it. He purposely made the jewelry dark purple as it was his favorite color.
As he waited for the maids to finish getting the girls ready in an hour the ones who had run off to get his cape ready returned. With them, they brought a pitch-black Demon Silk Moth cape with the Bael Clan Symbol etched in Magic Gold on the back.
Romonus felt it was missing one thing so he surged power into the cape causing the fabric to glow with energy. He etched into it a Honey Badger and Wolverine roaring at each other from conjured purple gold.
Once it was ready, Archaon drew it to himself and perfectly bonded it to his shoulders. Thanks to this the cape could sway in the 'wind' if Romonus wanted to be edgy or just show off.
Once everything was ready, Romonus took in the three girls who looked amazing. Each one was sparkled with purple jewelry. Despite their ages, each girl made the dresses dazzle.
"Let's go."
Itsuki, Akeno, and Shirone smiled as they walked next to him. Before they left for the Ball Room, the maid with Kharn returned in 1 piece. His claws had been waxed, his teeth flossed, his fur combed and he was even wearing a little Victorian hat.
"Here he is."
"Thank you. He looks great, don't you buddy?"
Kharn grinned as he lept out of her arms onto his shoulder. He reached up with a paw and tipped his hat. Akeno giggled.
"He is precious."
Romonus agreed as Kharn was his pride.
"I know."
They were ready to go so Romonus and the three girls left his room to show up. At the same time, Venelana came out of her room. She had dressed up in a flashy gold and black dress with Rias at her side with her beautiful Crimson Hair undyed. Venalan walked up to him as she looked him up and down.
"So this is your Profane Gear?"
Archaon's Demonic visage on the chest began to glow.
"That I am. A pleasure."
Venelana and Rias jumped back a little as Romonus chuckled at their reaction.
"Mother, Rias, I would like you to meet Archaon. My Living Soul Armor."
Archaon being influenced by Romonus politely introduced himself.
"I greet the family of my Armored and wish to offer my salutations."
Venelana smiled a little.
"How charming. Nice to meet you Archaon. Look after Romonus please."
"Of course, for that is my purpose in life."
Rias started to walk around Romonus as they all walked through the halls. While he was walking with ease, Archaon weighed over 8 tons.
"Brother, will I get my own armor?"
Romonus shook his head.
"No. You need to prove to me you will master something like this because you do not fight with a weapon or armor. Shirone here would benefit from some gauntlets while Akeno could make do with a blade whip.
You just don't use gear like this at all so no."
Venelana could already see how Rias was getting down so she placed her hand on her shoulder.
"He is right Rias. Having a weapon or armor you can't make use of won't do you any good. Just burden you."
Akeno looked up at Romonus as they walked now curious of something.
"A Blade Whip?"
He nodded.
"An Urumi would be good because you can fight at a distance or use your racial strength to get in close. Being a mid-ranger with a Blade Whip like the Urumi would be a good use. As for you Shirone, I got an idea for a pair of gauntlets and boots for you."
The small white-haired Nekushou was curious about what he would make for her.
"What?"
He smiled down at her and patted her shoulder to not mess up her new hair.
"I won't ruin the surprise. Itsuki you got your necklace already and you got the Boosted Gear."
She shrugged with a smirk.
"That is fair."
Regardless, all together they arrived at the main Ballroom of the Bael Clan. Romonus remembered the one in the Gremory Clan and it was tiny compared to the Bael. As the highest-ranked Clan, the Bael Clan would splurge on wealth when it needed to show off.
Already, The Great King Faction Nobles were starting to arrive. When Romonus walked in in glowing armor all eyes shot to him. He had chosen to not wear his helmet which caused all the attention to be placed on him.
Here he could already see his two cousins Magdaran and Sairaorg with their Peerages. The two Half Brothers seemed to be having a good time together. When he showed up both of them walked over to his side.
Romonus grinned as Sairaorg extended a clenched fist. Romonus did the same and with a simple thought, Archaon exposed his bare arm. Both men placed their fists against each other before clashing with their Touki.
White and Purple Life Force Aura clashed, but Romonus prevailed with ease. Sairaorg was pushed back a bit which did not remove his grin.
"You are still as powerful as always Romonus."
"You are not too shabby yourself Sairaorg. Remind me to show you a way to train your Touki later ok? As for you Magdaran, my alchemy could not have progressed this far without your botany. How is our Honey Business?"
Magdaran smiled as he looked at Kharn. Magdaran was one of the very few people Kharn liked because he was the reason behind the existence of his Honey. Without Magdaran, no purple Bael Flowers, and no magic honey.
The tragedy that was life before him consuming Magic Honey.
"The business is going excellent. Kharn here is our taste tester and if it does not pass his stamp of approval it won't be sold. Still, great idea for the bees."
"Thank Kharn, his species as Honey Badger made me think about it. On a bitter note, how is my uncle?"
Venelana and Rias both recoiled as he had gotten worse since Romonus came to the Bael Clan. The 'care' he had shown Romonus had died when he proved to be against what he believed in. His Father, Demaenetus was once again taking control since Azland had proven to be incompetent.
Magdaran raised a hand and covered his face in shame.
"He gets more resentful by the day. Seeing me work on our crops pisses him off despite me making more than I spend."
Shirone who had no filter said something she shouldn't have.
"He is stupid then."
This was a mistake because it was in earshot of Azland himself. Lord Bael despite his arrogance was still a powerful Devil so his head shot in her direction with barely concealed wrath.
"What did you say!"
The few guests that had arrived already went quiet as Azland pointed at Shirone. The young Nekushou looked at him with a confused expression. She looked around before pointing at herself.
"Me?"
That seemed to set him off.
"Yes, you. What did you say to me?"
"You are stupid."
Azland's second wife the Mother of Magdaran grabbed his arm.
"Relax for a-"
He pulled his arm out of her hold and began to walk over.
"How dare you insult me you cat? You and the rest of your breed are the same. You should have had your head cut off."
Shirone's two tails began to twitch as she started to get mad. Before Azland came closer, Magdaran got in the way.
"Father, calm yourself down. You are embarrassing yourself by letting the words of a child get you this worked up."
Seeing that one of his sons who he considered waste was standing up to him he got pissed. Months of resentment boiled over and he pulled his fist back and punched Magdaran across the face.
"WHO ARE YOU TO TALK TO ME YOU FAILURE!"
Due to not being too strong Magdaran was thrown across the room. He crashed straight into a table holding wine which caused it to spill everywhere. The room went silent as Demaenetus grit his teeth almost to powder.
Sairaorg rushed to his brother's side while Demaenetus' wife and Palaestra let him go. They did not bother to stop him as when he got mad it was best to get out of his way.
"AZLAND!"
If the room was quiet before, it got deadly silent now. Azland froze and turned to gaze at his Father who began to move toward him. His fist was still extended and bloody which made him realize what he had done.
He saw how Sairaorg picked up Magdaran who seemed to be healing already. Thanks to all the herbs and potions he had eaten and drank ate body healed from damage faster than normal.
"Father I-"
Before he could finish Demaenetus punched his only son across the face. He held back and didn't send him flying, but that was the first time his Father had laid a hand on him. Much less now that he was Lord Bael.
"You are a fucking joke Azland. You have disgraced House Bael with your actions. You have disgraced me by making me strike you. I want to spit at the sight of you. More than anything I regret ever making you the heir."
Before he could say more Zekram Bael who was in the room stood up from his throne. Once the Ancestor of House Bael stood everyone could see his displeased expression.
Romonus crossed his arms as he was not going to make Shirone apologize. When Zekram spoke everyone listened.
"Azland, you have shamed yourself. Magdaran's Botany has made House Bael a massive fortune much less the potions made by Romonus. They have contributed more than you have in your time as Lord Bael.
May I remind everyone that I stepped down as Lord Bael willingly? If I wanted to keep ruling the Clan I would have done so. Not only have you not made a single choice without asking me, but you can't even appreciate your son and you struck him. You have proven to not be worthy of your status.
I, Zekram Bael progenitor of House Bael remove your status as Lord Bael. Demaenetus, you shall take up the mantle until Romonus is of age."
Demaenetus placed a hand over his chest and bowed ever so slightly.
"Of course."
Zekram turned to Azland who seemed in shock.
"You are to be confined to House Arrest until you can learn to behave as a proper noble. Take him away."
Azland nashed his teeth almost to powder.
"NO! I WON'T BE-"
Before he could finish, Demaenetus clenched his fist and punched him in the chest dropping him on the spot. When his son fell, the Mother of Azland looked away in embarrassment. Palaestra consoled her as they were close.
As for Venelana, she seemed almost happy that her shit brother got his just deserves. The guards moved over and picked up the limp Azland off the ground. They would be locking him up since he proved to not know how to act at an event.
Now House Bael looked weak and that could not be allowed. This day was already going terribly and it was going to get worse from here for Zekram and The Great King Faction in general.
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