(The most unpopular chapters are finally fixed. I like them better this way too.)
Once Romonu left the office Zekram fell limp on his chair as he wiped the blood from his face. His gambit had succeeded in a way but at the cost of his pride. He looked at the table where several broken teeth were on.
His brain was rattled and he felt like the bones in his skull were held together by luck.
'FUCKING BASTARD!'
He smashed his fists on the table, breaking it. If he showed that recording to the Clan Lords is revenge, it would just make him look weak while making Romonus strong. He had lost entirely and even Romonus had just used his skull.
'Was this all worth it?'
He did not think it was, but it was too late for regret. First, he used a Bottle of Phoenix tears to heal his damage before taking care to erase that this shameful event ever happened.
He may be willing to die, but not at the cost of his pride. He had lived too long to die now, but he would need to stay out of Romonus' way from here on. Though, he might as well enjoy the air he was breathing because he had just been marked for death. He was on borrowed time as Vespera wanted to get to him and now Romonus did too.
To Romonus, Zekram was just an old fossil of the past. As for Romonus himself, he teleported back to his room and when he did so, his face was barely concealed amusement. Kharn jumped off his shoulder as Romonus started to cackle like a madman.
Though, as he was laughing Miria rushed to his side as she grabbed his face.
"WHY THE FUCK IS YOUR FACE ALL RED!"
Romonus focused on the blood that was still on his face as he absorbed in into his body.
"It's not mine, it's Zekrams."
Miria sighed as she let go of his hands.
"Good, now explain. Did you kill him?"
Romonus just smiled.
"No, but he wishes he was."
Serafall got off the couch with a face that looked like she was worried.
"What did he do? What did you do? Don't tell me made you break off your engagement to Silvana."
Silvana herself looked scared at that so she looked at him with worry. Since her head was currently in her hands her Soul Fire was surging in fear.
"Did he?"
Romonus sat down on his bed next to her. He reached down and patted her head.
"No, we are still set to marry. He wanted to force me to end our engagement, but it pissed me off. So I may have grabbed him by the throat and headbutted him a bunch of times. All the blood on my face was because of the head butts.
He threatened to disown me from the Bael clan too, so I showed him who is boss. Though, I am now engaged again. He wanted to force it, I accepted because I didn't have anything against the girl."
Roygun frowned as Romonus truly lost out in this exchange.
"To whom?"
Romonus turned to her with a smirk expression.
"Seekvaira Agares, while this is sudden, if she rejects me that is fine with me. If she doesn't that would be fine too. From what Latia tells me, she is a great person."
Serafall walked over to him and held his shoulders.
"But she is the heir? Any groom she takes will join House Agares, not the other way around."
Romonus knew that, but Zekram was a conniving weasel. No offense to weasels.
"I said that myself. However, Zekram was going to call up every favor he could to force her Father to accept. Now, I think he is going to be more careful. At first, he thought he was winning, but when I revealed just how powerful I was, he wasn't so tough."
Miria began to ruffle his hair as while he didn't try to expand his harem actively, others added to it.
"Call her. You got Seekvaira's number from Latia right? Tell her ahead of time and tell Latia too. I am sure they won't mind."
Shirone nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. She could tell he was still amped up on bloodlust so she used her Senjutsu to calm him down.
"Feel better."
He smiled as her Senjutsu always made him feel like everything was better.
"Thank you all of you, now to let them now."
Romonus pulled out his phone and called Latia first and foremost.
---
When Latia said she would make Romonus a gift she meant it. Her Uncle was helping her craft something she knew Romonus would love. A Living Metal Wolverine, as Romonus loved all members of the Mustelid family.
Ajuka was enchanting the metal while she programmed the AI. All the while he used his Kankra Formula to grant it an Artificial Soul with Soul Stones made of criminals. Ajuka was more than happy to help as Latia explained what she wanted to gift Romonus.
The creation of Archaon had inspired Ajuka and now he wanted to test out his theories. As they worked on the Sentient Robot, Latia's phone began to ring with Romonus' ringtone.
"Romonus?"
Latia pulled her phone out and answered the call with a smile.
"Romonus, your gift is coming along nicely."
"I can't wait to see it, but I need to tell you something. Zekram kinda pulled his political bullshit and engaged me to Seekvaira. I was calling you to let you know since she is your cousin and that would be a bit weird."
Instantly Latia's face fell to pure shock before turning to her Uncle.
"Are you hearing this?"
Ajuka nodded with a serious expression. He was already going to be busy because of the fixing of the Rating Games Serafall revealed, but not this.
"I am. Romonus, explain how this happened?"
"Simply put, he wanted me to break my engagement with Silvana. When I refused, he tried to coerce me into my position as heir, so I kinda nearly beat him to death with many headbutts. The engagement will proceed since I made the deal.
It can be broken if Seekvaira herself rejects it though."
Ajuka had known Zekram since he was young, and this was his specialty. It was why Sirzechs and Ajuka himself still had to play nice. Though, hearing that Romonus nearly killed him with headbutts did nearly make him chuckle.
"Yes. Zekram will now coerse Lord Agares to engage her with me. We can cancel it now if that is better."
Latia hearing that looked pissed.
"That asshole. Don't worry, I will let her know. If she decides to go through with it, I don't have an issue with it, but if she doesn't, don't get mad."
"Why would I get mad? It is her choice in the end."
Latia nodded.
"I will tell her myself. Uncle, what do you think?"
Ajuka sat down as he thought about it.
"Depends if you think Seekvaira and Romonus would make a good match. If not, you can just tell her to reject it, but maybe this is not so bad."
Latia nodded as she spoke to Romonus.
"You hear that?"
"I did, whatever she says goes."
She smiled.
"True"
Ajuka suddenly asked something.
"What if she accepts?"
Latia thought about it with a slight frown.
"She was determined to find her husband, but since she was the one who got me into my Artificer hobby that is a possibility. However, I don't want to force this on her. You understand don't you Romonus?"
"I understand perfectly. If something was to happen I wanted it to be natural, not forced."
Latia sighed as she looked at the half-built Wolverine robot.
'This can wait.'
"I am hanging up, I got to visit her."
"Got it."
She hung up the call which made Romonus feel better. Now though Latia was pissed that not only her Fiance got pulled along into a scheme, her best friend too.
"Uncle, I will be back."
Ajuka placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Go on."
Latia made a teleport circle and teleported to the Agares Castle. The Agares Clan was the second-ranked of the 32 Pillars ranked at Arch Duke. Since she and Seekvaira were very close she had been granted a ring that she wore around her neck as a necklace.
It let her teleport directly into the castle despite the wards. She did so inside Seekvaira's room which surprised the Agares heiress. She had been building a Gundam her Father bought for her from Japan.
When she saw Latia's teleport circle she was wondering what happened. As soon as Latia teleported inside, Seekvaira got up to give her a big hug. Both girls were the same age at the moment so neither looked older than the other.
"Latia, you rarely visit these days."
Latia hugged her cousin and best friend back first.
"I am glad to see you, I just wish it was in better circumstances."
That sounded serious so Seekvaira pulled away with a serious look on her face.
"What happened?"
Latia took a deep breath as she told her.
"Be ready because you will soon be engaged to Romonus?"
Seekvaira was confused.
"Why? He is your fiance and he never seemed to be interested in me."
Latia shook her head.
"Romonus isn't the one behind it. It is a political scheme by Zekram. Romonus accepted it, but he did leave a chance for you to reject it. What do you think?"
Seekvaira thought about it as this could be ended with a simple no on her part. Latia hugged her from behind and told her something.
"If you do accept it, just know I wouldn't mind being your harem sister. You were looking for a boyfriend, so why not Romonus? Isn't he like the best young man of our generation? Think about it."
Seekvaira truly did think about it as it was a serious decision. She started to remember some things about Romonus. She had treated him as just her friend's fiance, but wasn't he what she was looking for? He wasn't arrogant about blood purity, he was a huge nerd when it came to blacksmithing and alchemy.
He always helped Latia in her Artificer work which was a bitter pill to swallow. She was the Gundam nerd while Latia had just picked up on it from her. Now, Latia was making some serious tech that Seekvaira was trying to outdo with limited success.
The few times she had met him he had been nothing but polite and handsome. His dark purple eyes seemed to draw you in while his muscular body showed he was not a bookworm.
"Latia, don't get mad ok? Would you care if I got to know him more?"
Latia wrapped her arms around Seekvaira's neck hard. The Agares heiress held her friend's deceptively strong arms.
"UNCLE, UNCLE, UNCLE!"
Latia let go of her and let Seekvaira catch her breath. With a smile, Latia patted her head.
"Not at all, why would I get mad? Isn't it the first wife's job to help her husband find good matches?"
Latia pulled her phone out and called Romonus who picked up.
"Latia, how did it go?"
Latia was a little annoyed, but not too bothered.
"Better than I expected, you talk to her."
Latia passed her phone to Seekvaira who answered.
"Romounus, we saw each other yesterday at your engagement. You just greeted my Father and me."
"That I did, I wish I could have spoken to you on better terms. Though, I am sure you know about Zekram wanting to engage us. If you say no, that is that, but if you decide to consider it, I am willing to try to make it work."
Seekvaira shook her head.
"I was thinking about it, but will I still be the next Lord of Agares?"
Romonus was confused.
"Yes? I don't think Zekram wants to take that from you."
Seekvaira took a deep breath as she answered.
"I think I want to give it a try, Latia here is vouching for you and I am looking for a groom. You are the best of our generation by far, and I am sure by being with you I will be better for it. Does that sound too materialistic?"
Romonus hummed as he heard her.
"No, not really. You are a Devil and I am a Demon, we both strive for our desires. That is all that the supernatural community is. If you are too materialistic, I am even worse."
Seekvaira cleared her voice again as Latia was looking at her with squinted eyes. She leaned in to stare right at her face. With a whisper she warned her.
"Don't mess this up Seekvaira."
Seekvaira returned to the phone call and had an idea.
"If I talk to my Father before Zekram can pull his schemes, his control will be weakened right?"
Romounus thought about it.
'If her Father Lord Agares moves before Zekram, he will still be bound by our contract without being the one to move first.'
"That is true."
Seekvaira stood up.
"In that case, I will get my Father on this. We don't have to get married as soon as we turn 18 do we?"
"No, all that matters is that we wed before I am set to be Lord Bael at the turn of the Century."
"That works for me. We got time."
Romonus did warn her about his plans.
"As I said, I won't be sticking around for long. I leave in 6 days and I won't be back for a year at least."
Seekvaira understood that.
"That is fine. As long as Zekram isn't the one to initiate things."
Romonus did not question things as he did have the Sparda bloodline. If Dragons could draw in ladies with their aura, why wouldn't Demons do the same? He shook the thought from his head and spoke to Seekvaira.
"Well, here is for us to get to know each other better in the future. We can thank my lovely Latia for that.'
Latia smirked hearing that.
"You can always count on me. In the end, I think I am a good matchmaker. Just don't go having a harem like your Father or my Father."
"Hell no, I can't look after each woman like that. Seekvaira here is for the future. Welcome to the family?"
Seekvaira pushed her glasses up and nodded.
"I am honored."
When they cut the call Seekvaira handed Latia her phone back. She smiled at her friend which made Latia frown.
"Why are you smiling?"
"We are already cousins and best friends, now we will be sisters. How can I not be happy when your fiance is such a hottie? He is also super smart so I think this will be for the best."
Latia bonked her on the head.
"Ow."
Seekvaira held her head as Latia shook her head.
"What was that for?"
Latia just bonked her again.
"Not only did you make me and Romonus feel like crap for you, you just accept it? Where are the tears? The crying that this is not fair? That you will marry the man you find. You made it too easy."
Seekvaira just rubbed her sore head as she was more of a tactician and mage than anything. Latia despite having a thin frame was very strong because of the constant forging of her creations.
"I mean, what was the point? He was the best candidate? WAIT! NOT AGAIN!"
She covered her head as she saw Latia pulling her hand back for another one. Latia snorted as she turned around.
"I am leaving."
"Bye Latia."
Latia held her head high as she left. Seekvaira looked at her Gundam before standing up to go see her Father and inform him of things.
---
When Lord Agares heard of Zekram's scheme he was enraged as he had always been a supporter of Zekram. He tried to keep the peace between the factions, but this action was starting to push him in the direction of the Satan Faction.
However, when Seekvaira told him that she did not mind and would like him to push for it first he was confused. She explained the conversation she had with Latia and Romonus which made her realize a way out of Zekram's scheme was to get a drop on it.
Lord Agares was not so sure, but since his daughter herself was asking for it he went ahead with things. However, he did not push for it first and he waited for Zekram to 'cash in' his favors to get them out of the way. Zekram did not expect Lord Agares to not just accept, but push for the engagement himself.
That made Zekram realize that Romonus already told Seekvaira and had come to terms with something. Lord Agares waited for Zekram to cash in his favors to get that leash off of him.
Zekram was pissed, but he could do nothing about it. Those favors he had been hoarding were gone leaving Lord Agres free of him. However he would not mess with Romonus as he had mad it clear that he would kill Zekram if he bothered him again. As for Romonus, the next 6 days came by quickly as he made a few final preparations for his travels.
Itsuki, Shirone, Akeno, and Miria were going to leave with him for the Vampire attack. Serafall as standing Leviathan could not go and she was going to be busy dismantling the Rating Game fixing along with her fellow Satans.
Silvana and Roygun would be coming with him on his travels after his apprenticeship under Dormuteth The Abyss King. A Lich who had lived since the time of the Persian Empire when he had been a Death Mage.
Regardless, the day he would depart on his 5-year journey through the world was set to begin. His first action would be to invade Romania for Valerie and Gasper. Then use the Grail to make himself and his peers stronger.
The Chaos he promised was here and he would enjoy every second of it.
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