AN: There is no flat out smut or really graphic descriptions in this chapter, but if you're put off by more intimate content then maybe skip this chapter, or at least stop reading when you find a part you're not comfortable with.
I was originally going to have smut in this, but I didn't think it was the right time or place, and I also wanted this chapter to focus more on the emotional side and I think having full on smut would ruin that.
That doesn't mean I'm foregoing having smut altogether, but this chapter just isn't the time. I also want to work on that actual quality of my smut writing before releasing it to the public (because I suck at it.)
Leave your questions in the comments, and enjoy the chapter.
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(Third Person)
"I'll probably have to read each of these out to him since he won't be able to read them on his own," Zekram thought aloud, currently sitting down in the same room with a piano she and Avalon had first met in.
There were a multitude of trays laid across her desk, each of them labeled differently with stacks of books resting inside each of them.
"I'll also need to tutor him in between deployments as well, so it's probably best to start with these first," she put the tray labeled 'Strategy' at the front of the lot.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The corners of her mouth curled up into a faint leer as she set the trays aside and sat down on her chair, folding one leg over the other.
"Come in," she instructed.
The door opened, the figure of whom she had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of stepping through the frame.
"I hope I wasn't gone too long," Avalon hadn't told her why he was leaving nor where he was going to before he departed to talk with Ajuka.
"It's only just turned night, as long as you aren't tardy on the day of the ceremony all is well." As per usual, her voice was mollifying enough to even put a hardened veteran to sleep.
The door closed on its own after he entered, one of the many silencing barriers within her castle activating shortly after.
"Is there something you'd like to talk to me about?" She asked, gesturing for him to sit down in front of her.
"There is, there actually might be two things but that's more dependent on you than it is me."
He sat down, allowing himself to get comfortable before an either very lengthy, or very short conversation ensued.
"Oh? In that case you can consider my curiosity piqued, but before we start— would it be safe to assume you had something to do with Misla suddenly departing for Lilith?"
Avalon raised his hands in a playful manner, "You caught me red-handed, has she told you why?"
"No, as a matter of fact I got the impression that she herself didn't know why she was leaving."
'He didn't tell her? No, it's possible that he just didn't want to worry her while she was still around Sairaorg. Whatever the case, she'll have to face the music once she's there.'
"Misla has Sleep Disease."
Zekram's smile faded a little, but it wasn't a result of concern, but rather mere surprise.
"You're certain?"
"She wouldn't be going to Lilith if I weren't," or more accurately, if Ajuka wasn't.
"That's a shame, she's been acting as an exceptional lifeline for Sairaorg against all the scrutiny he's been under."
'Neither of whom you care even a little about, to you they're just convenient chains you can use to bind me through my empathy with.'
"You mean the scrutiny you created?"
Zekram chuckled softly, "You should think twice before making such a bold accusation, contrary to what you believe I have nothing against my own clan's Heir. I simply believe that assuming the mantle of Great King might be— challenging, for someone of his birth. Of course, I'm sure your capable teaching will do much to combat that."
'When you say stuff like that, all it does is make me want to see him grow even stronger. I wouldn't be so close minded if I were in your position Zekram, maybe one day he'll surpass you and me both.'
"He's the capable one between us, but the fruits of his training will do his resolve far more justice than my words ever could."
Zekram breathed a faint, disappointed sigh, as if Avalon was under a grave misconception.
"You seem to have misunderstood me, it's not low-birth I despise Avalon. It's lowliness in of itself, if one is weak then they deserve to be trampled on. If one is strong, they deserve to take whatever their power can grant them. It doesn't matter whether the origin of their strength is from their title or fist, strength is strength."
"Sairaorg has a title as well doesn't he? Why not extend that philosophy to him as well?"
"Because he has not yet earned his title, if he can stand tall against the rest of his generation as befitting a Bael, I will happily treat him with whatever respect his achievements earn him."
"So until then, he deserves to be treated like trash?"
"That phrase would suggest that he isn't trash as of now, how can treating someone for what they are be considered an err? If the positions were reserved, I would expect the same."
He heavily doubted her claim, but he wasn't deluded enough to think fighting her in a contest of verbal warfare was a good idea.
"My Ancestor's wisdom truly is profound, you have my reverence," he faked an expression of sheer awe.
"I suppose we ought to put an end to this back and forth," Zekram's demeanor hardened. "Will you or will you not become Great King?"
The walls around Avalon felt like they were closing in, the pressure from her intent hitting him in full force.
"I'm not going to answer that," he raised his hand before she could interject. "Until you tell me about the other condition."
"Other condition?"
"Senjutsu can read the auras of other people, it's not hard for me to decipher when you're withholding something. Something which I have a feeling you only plan on telling me if my answer is to your satisfaction."
Being able to access Ajuka's advice really was a boon like no other, his perception far exceeded what one would expect of a lab hermit.
She rhythmically started to tap her fingers across the surface of her table, resting her cheek against her palm as she observed him.
"I had a feeling you went out to seek advice on how to approach the offer I made you, but I wasn't expecting Ajuka to actually take any interest in it. Maybe he is really your father after all."
The last part of her sentence earned a lip-quiver from him.
"It's true that I went out to get advice, but what makes you think it was from Ajuka?"
"If Misla really has Sleep Disease as you say, he would be the most logical person to approach out of your connections since you don't have any within the Sitri Clan. Granted, I doubt he's the only one you approached."
Even if Zekram wasn't the most amiable person out there, her intellect was more than deserving of utmost respect.
"You saw right through me," he exhaled. "I also sat down with my Mother, Father, and Brother."
This time what Zekram let out was more akin to proper laughter, "I can already visualise their reaction as if I was there, but for the sake of it, I'll go ahead and ask you how it went."
"Let's just say— they aren't all that fond of you," he didn't think it was a good idea to reveal that his brother and his wife had thought about assassinating her on the spot. "I had to strong-arm them a bit, but I at least got them to understand that I was making a choice out of my own volition."
"So you're accepting?"
"Not quite," he shook his head. "I can't accept it until you tell me what you need to tell me."
As he and Ajuka had presumed, Avalon was on the exact same page as Zekram. The latter of which being disappointed that the Satan had already spelled everything out to Avalon, denying her the natural reaction she wanted.
Still, it wasn't as if his current attitude told her nothing.
"In order to strengthen your claim as Great King since you weren't raised in your maternal house, and to reintroduce worthwhile talent into my clan. You will have to marry me if you want to be Great King," the cat had finally been pulled out of the bag.
It was now Avalon's turn to meet Zekram with a laugh of his own, "You really have no reservations about that at all? I'm not even a 100th of your age, yet I can't even sense a hint of shame on you when you bring up the notion of bedding me."
Seeing as Zekram was in basically every history book published in the Underworld ever, finding her age out wasn't an especially difficult task.
"Age doesn't have as big an impact on us as you think, most of the aged people I know have remained stagnant and not in a good way. Moreover, I don't have any reason to feel reserved about it, it's for the benefit of my clan after all. You're the one who should be reserved if anything," she simpered. "Yet— that doesn't seem to be the case."
Unless Zekram was secretly a Senjutsu master, then the lack of care he was sensing from her was without a doubt genuine.
"Then maybe our lack of reservation is something we share in common."
'I knew we were similar long before you did, Avalon.'
She smiled, "Maybe, I presume I can take this as you accepting the offer?"
"You mean engagement?"
"Either description is fine with me."
"Then I guess you're my fiance from now on Zekram, or would you rather I call you Honey?" He teased.
"That can wait until after the wedding, which I'll announce after you've finished your tutelage under me and have been appointed Great King. Speaking of which, I'll be expecting you here every morning from now on— I don't take kindly to slackers."
"Don't worry, I don't plan on disappointing my betrothed so early on in our relationship. Although, I would like to ask about when I'll be next deployed, I'd hate to miss out on all the fun Wilbert's going to have over in Krovos."
"A year from now."
Avalon's jaw nearly hit the floor, wondering if he had heard her correctly.
"What?"
"I said, you'll be deployed a year from now."
Silence loomed over the room, Avalon's mind on the brink of short circuiting.
"A year is way too long! Krovos will probably already be conquered by then! No, the war itself might even be over!" He stood up, planting both of his hands on the table and leaning towards his fiance.
"Not necessarily, our advancement through their territory isn't going to be as rushed as before, for starters we're spending more time fortifying Mortis into a temporary forward operating base as well as laying the groundwork for it to be converted into one of our cities."
"That's stupid, we have an insane amount of momentum to work with now that they've lost three Cadres alongside Mortis— now is the perfect time to put the final nail in their coffin!"
"I'll be sure to take your keen strategic advice into account, after you've actually learned about strategy from me, that is." She calmly replied, completely unphased by his outburst.
"I don't need to have studied strategy to understand that they'll use this opportunity to recuperate as much as possible," he frowned.
"Good."
"Pardon?"
"Let them recuperate, let them get as strong as they possibly can. That way you'll have more of a challenge when you're deployed, it'll lay a solid foundation for you to become a worthy Great King."
Noticing that Avalon still hadn't snapped out of his bewilderment, she continued.
"Tell me Avalon, how much of our strength do you believe we've actually exerted on them as of now?"
"I'm not sure."
"Hardly even a fraction of it, is the answer you're looking for. If we really wanted the war to be over, we'd just get Ajuka or your brother to storm over there and snap Grigori out of existence. But we haven't done that, would you like to make a guess as to why?"
"Enlighten me," Avalon scoffed as he sat back down in his chair.
"We're putting the long term over the short term, take you and your peerage for example, even if you don't know it there are more people other than me that have taken an interest in your explosive growth. Not to mention that you two aren't the only prodigies being looked at, Ruval Phenex for example is going to be deployed alongside Wilbert."
Avalon was shocked to hear the mention of his close friend's name out of her mouth.
'Speaking of Ruval, it's been some time since we last caught up hasn't it?'
"The Fallen Angels are not a threat, a faction is only as powerful as their strongest member. It'd do you good to remember that, they could have a thousand Cadres for all I care, it wouldn't make a difference."
Hearing her speak with such conviction caused Avalon's perspective to shift.
"The Fallen Angels aren't weaker than us because their population is lower, and we aren't stronger than them because ours is higher. We're stronger because we have better talent, that's all."
"So this entire war— is just a training ground?"
"That wouldn't be inaccurate," she shrugged. "Very valuable training, but training nonetheless."
"What about Heaven? Isn't there a chance they'll try to aid them out of mutual fear of us?"
"No, there isn't. Heaven has to maintain its reputation with the Church to keep a tight grip on the Human World which we'd need to pass through in order to attack them in any capacity. How do you think the Church would react if they knew their benefactors were cooperating with those considered to have betrayed the Biblical God's grace?"
Avalon pondered, "I see your point, but is the Human World that important? It's the Holy Power of the Angels that's the real threat isn't it?"
"Don't underestimate humanity, one of their kind single-handedly fought off a Cadre, and they're the ones who received the blessing of the Sacred Gear System that the Biblical God created. It took me a while to understand, but they're stronger than most of our kind would like to believe."
"Don't Grigori have Sacred Gears as well?"
"You're referring to the Longinus Institute?"
Avalon nodded.
"It's possible that Girogori has managed to recruit Sacred Gear users to their side, but they're not the only ones keeping watch over the Longinus."
As a species capable of reincarnating other races, it was only natural that Devils also kept watch for Sacred Gear wielders to recruit to their side.
"Unless another Belzard appears out of the blue, there's nothing to worry about. We still haven't even called on our Top 10 Rankers, our position is more than comfortable."
"Belzard?"
"A story for another time," she disregarded.
"I see— I understand that our position is exceedingly powerful in contrast to them, but I still can't help but feel like we're being a little overconfident here."
Once again, his mind brought himself back to his battle against Armaros.
"If you have an issue with it, you can bring it up when you're Great King. But until then, I, and everyone else, will only acknowledge you as a talented youngster and nothing more."
Avalon heaved a deep groan, still very perturbed about having to spend a whole year away from the action.
"What about my training?"
"I'll handle it alongside your studying."
"And my peerage?"
"Your Bishop and Pawn will be allowed to join the initial stage of the Krovos Campaign, but your Sister will remain in the Underworld to continue training under your brother's Bishop. I'll also have Albedo take over her political training, which she'll need if she is to be a suitable Queen."
He pursed his lips, "You planned all this out in advance didn't you?"
"Only the best for my fiance," she returned some of his playfulness. "Hold on, did Venelana give you proper antiquarian-training like I asked her to?"
"Antiquarian? Why would she do that?"
Zekram facepalmed, "Of course she didn't, she just has to be as rebellious as possible when it comes to me doesn't she? Nevermind, you'll be staying for an additional year."
"That's overkill!" He stood up again. "I want a divorce!"
"We're not even married yet, and if you're diligent enough I might let you go visit the battlefield for a bit should a strong enough opponent appear." She said while keeping one eye closed.
"That had better be a promise," he leaned in close enough to the point where their noses almost touched.
"Rest assured, I'm a woman of my word."
'Somehow I doubt that.'
"Good, and if you don't mind humoring me, what would happen if Heaven were to hypothetically get involved?"
"The only situation in which they'd do that even with the risk of losing the Church's support, was if they had something strong enough to counter Ajuka and your brother."
"Wouldn't the Biblical God himself be a threat?"
"I wouldn't be too sure of that."
"Why not?"
She smiled, "You'll have to earn the answer to that one, I'll consider it depending on how exceptional of a student you prove to be."
"Fine, keep your secrets— I just have one more question I'd like to ask."
"I can't guarantee an answer, but you might as well lay it on me."
"When I was fighting Armaros, he used a piece resembling one of our Evil Pieces in the shape of a King to increase his strength tenfold. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
She pursed her lips, tapping her lower lip with her finger. "No, I can't say that I do."
Avalon paused, looking at her intently. "Ajuka's estate was quite pleasant this time of year," he said for no apparent reason.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"I don't know, I just felt like saying it. Am I not entitled to free speech now that I've become your fiance?"
She exhaled, "Quit spouting nonsense and go get some rest, remember, I expect you here bright and early in the morning."
"Then I'll go do just that."
Zekram carefully observed his departing figure, proceeding to lean back into her seat and fold her arms upon hearing the sound of the door shut.
"You can look the person you know is responsible in the face and agree to marry them for the sake of your objective," her smile widened, a vehement sense of satisfaction welling within her. "You're going to be a splendid Great King."
---
(Third Person)
Avalon stretched his arms behind his head, letting out a deep yawn as he strolled back to his room, taking some time to observe the Bael Clan's bountiful courtyard through the windows spanning across the hallway.
'I wonder what my old self would have to say about all this if I had a chance to speak to him? To think I just went ahead and got engaged like that— I've changed quite a bit since arriving in this world haven't I?'
His footsteps continued to echo, his mind allowing itself to reflect.
'I don't think it's a bad change, that constant state of fear I found myself has dissipated by a significant amount.'
He finally arrived at his door, to which he was greeted with the sight of an all too familiar figure standing outside it, apparently waiting for him to arrive.
'But until I get over my fear of you, I'll never be able to consider myself better than I was back then.'
"How long have you been waiting there for?" The figure was none other than Adaloth.
"Since Avalanche picked up on your scent returning to the estate, which you so gracefully neglected to inform me about."
He still didn't understand how Adaloth was able to comprehend Avalanche, even though they had the power of translation, it couldn't translate something that stemmed from a creature with no concept of language.
Maybe she secretly had a Demonic Beast whispering ability?
"I was talking with Zekram."
"I figured, but before you tell me how that went, I want to know how Venelana, Zeoticus, and Sirzechs reacted."
"You know you can just call them Mother, Father, and Brother right? They get worried when they hear you refer to them by name all the time."
He knew how Adaloth viewed everyone around her, so he never tried to push her to actually feel anything for them. However, it would be nice if she could just be a little more courteous.
"Don't change the subject, just tell me how it went."
She opened the door, motioning for him to go inside.
'This is supposed to be my room, why are you acting like you're inviting me into your office?'
They both sat down next to one another, this time without a bottle of wine to go with their conversation since Avalon wasn't a fan of the beverage.
"Their reaction— wasn't exactly what I'd call positive," he hesitated.
"You've decided to accept her offer?"
He nodded, "I have, they're not happy about it nor do I expect them to be. However, they at least understand that I'm doing this because I want to, and not because I'm being forced to."
"That's a start, how long do you think it'll take her to make it official?"
"I don't know, whenever she's satisfied with my progress I guess, I'm not really as proficient with all that political stuff as you are. So it could take some time, fortunately time is something I have a lot of."
"You'll get the hang of it eventually, was there anything else of note she brought up?"
"There was— have you ever had children before?"
That question understandably caught her off guard.
"Children? No, why on earth would you even ask me that?"
"It's nothing, well, it is something actually. What about younger siblings?"
"No, there were some younger people I needed to take care of, but none of them were related." Adaloth really didn't like where the conversation was going, not one bit.
"Then I guess you better study up as well, since you're going to be an aunt at some point in the future."
Adaloth fell silent.
"...What?" For the first time, Adaloth's unbreakable composure had faltered.
"Zekram wanted me to marry her in exchange for becoming Great King, which won't happen until after I've been appointed of course."
Adaloth blinked.
She blinked twice.
And then she blinked one more time.
"..."
"Adaloth?"
"What are you talking about? You obviously forced her to renegotiate after she tried to impose such a condition."
"I didn't though? Ajuka's the one who helped me figure out she was going to ask me that, and as you can imagine Mother, Father, and Brother weren't all too happy about the possibility. But as per usual, Ajuka's assumption was right."
Her knuckles creaked as her arm jolted forward to grab him by the collar, pulling his face closer to her.
"This joke is in bad taste, Avalon."
"Why would I joke about something like this? This shouldn't be that big of a surprise to you, the both of us are going to have to get married to someone eventually. Your political mind should be able to easily grasp why she'd make that condition."
That seemed to be the final straw for her.
"Tell her you changed your mind."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, I said tell her you changed your mind. Refuse the offer, you're not accepting such an outlandish condition."
"Now who's the one joking in bad taste—!" She thrusted her palm against his chest, slamming him back-first into the mattress before toppling over him.
"Don't talk back to me, you're clearly not of sound enough mind to grasp the idiocy of this decision. So I'm making it for you," in spite of Mather's teaching, her Demonic Power had begun to leak out of her body once again.
Avalon scowled, "Get off me."
"Promise me first, then I'll consider it."
"I can tolerate your usual abrasiveness, but this is too much Adaloth. Either you get off me, or I'll make you."
"You might be capable of doing that at a distance," she clasped her fingers around his wrists, propping his arms up on the pillow. "But what do you plan on doing while I have you pinned?"
"You think I haven't accounted for such an obvious weakness?" He scoffed. "Besides, you're the one who told me becoming Great King was a good idea in the first place."
"Becoming Great King is, marrying Zekram isn't."
"Well I can't have one without the other, not that the other is really a big problem."
"It is a problem, and either you're going to be the one to solve it or I am."
"Alright, I've had enough of this— Mmmph!"
Right as he was about to act, Adaloth leaned in and boldly pressed her lips against his. Interlocking their legs in the process as her heart-rate started to accelerate, the pumping of which he could feel from her chest that was pushing against him.
"You've known, you've known for a while yet you still would say such a thing to my face."
She finally withdrew her mouth, a single string of saliva still bridging their mouths.
"Marrying Zekram? What a laugh, what could she possibly give you? A title? Some influence? That's not what you need, that's not something that'll satiate a singular square inch of your heart."
Like a switch had been flipped in the back of his head, Avalon's demeanor grew tame.
A smug grin slowly creeped up his face.
"I was right," he chuckled.
"What?"
"You're no different, you can't even bring yourself to say the words because you already know what the answer will be." His grin turned into a frown, his expression looking down on Adaloth in every way imaginable. "But in order to clear up whatever delusion you've put yourself under, I'll go ahead and humor you."
He raised his head, his mouth only a centimeter away from Adaloth's.
"Go on, say it. This won't go anywhere unless you do."
Her lip quivered, the conflict radiating off her being more evident than ever.
"Adrian, I—"
"Nope, that won't do," he intervened. "Adrian's dead, if you use that name you might as well just go talk to a wall."
She started to loosen her grip on his wrists, but Avalon made no attempt to escape as she cupped the sides of his face.
"Avalon, I love you. You belong to me, not Zekram. That's why you can't marry her, because you're my husband, not Zekram's."
"Ah, there it is. It's been almost a decade so I nearly forgot what hearing that felt like," he stroked the side of her face as well, gently scooping her hair behind her ear. "I love you! You belong to me! What are you doing with that woman? Marry me! Haha, I've remembered enough phrases to make an entire dictionary at this point."
"...Stop that, don't trivialize my feelings!" Her heart-rate continued to accelerate, a flush appearing across her face.
"Why not? Isn't that exactly what you're doing to me? This one-sided obsessive love you're conveying to me with no regard for how I want to respond to it?"
"You're not thinking straight!" Her voice was no different from a desperate plea.
"OF COURSE I'M NOT THINKING STRAIGHT!" He roared, stabbing his temple with his thumb. "How the fuck am I supposed to think straight with people like you around? I lost my ability to think straight a long time ago, Adaloth!"
He greeted his teeth, a fury that had been bottled up for an entire lifetime starting to resurface.
"Do this! Get away from her! Come here! Stand there! Kiss me! Make love to me! Again and again and again and again and again and again and again! Over and over! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!"
His heart-rate also started to soar, but for a much different reason than Adaloth.
"For fuck sake! None of you even know what a relationship even is in the first place! Tell me, have you ever had a lover before? Huh? Have you ever sat down with someone you loved who loved you back?"
Her silence was answer enough.
"That's what I thought, you don't have the faintest clue what love is, yet you'll obsessively push it onto me without so much as a hint of remorse." He sighed, planting his palm against his forehead. "What am I saying? You probably didn't comprehend even a little bit of what I just said? Hah… No, of course you didn't."
Tears started to roll from Adaloth's eyes, the burning pain in her chest hitting her like nothing she had ever experienced before.
"You're… All I have."
"Why? Because we reincarnated together? Oh, I get it. You think that we're fated to be together or some nonsense because of that, how predictable."
"That's not it!"
"Then?"
"You're… The only one who can understand where I'm coming from. The only one who can love me the way I want to be loved…"
"On second thought, forget it. I don't want to hear your reasoning, it's not going to make a difference." All of a sudden, he threw his arms around her waist. "You want to do it don't you?"
Her body's temperature had increased drastically, and the heaving of her chest had grown to an alarming degree.
"I won't stop you, since I know you've already gone far past the point where you can be reasoned with. Not that I really mind, this isn't my first time you know?"
That statement caused her nails to dig into her palm.
"Frustrating isn't it? I already experienced it in my past life, but you didn't. No matter what you do you'll never get to share this experience with—"
She slammed her lips against his, aggressively pushing her tongue down his throat while her fingers clawed at his back.
"Just stop talking already, I don't care if this isn't your first. As long as you're not doing it with anyone else," she started to unbutton her shirt, revealing her soft supple skin to him with only her undergarments still covering her alluring figure. "You don't even love Zekram."
"Well duh, it's a political marriage. She doesn't love me either, but neither of us are attempting to lie to one another about it. You're the only one with raging emotions here," he lifted up his shirt, revealing the toned frame Souji had helped him attain as he threw his garment across the room.
"Having children with someone you don't love is something only weaklings have to subject themselves to in the Underworld."
"So it would be better to have them with you? Is that what you're saying?" He mused as he started to rub her hand against his thigh.
"I love you, Zekram doesn't. Our children would grow much happier, and more loved."
He reached around her back, swiftly unclipping her bra, "First pop your cherry, then you can go ahead and talk about children."
---
Adaloth is for real getting virgin-shamed while making a move on him, I lowkey kinda feel bad for her.
Then again, Makima was quite the diddler in her past life so maybe this is retribution? Poor Denji didn't deserve allat.
On a more serious note, the "romance" side of his story (which is probably what 99% of you came here for) has finally started to kick in. In a strange way it seems like Avalon is more partial to Zekram, and less to Adaloth for obvious reasons.
The question is how will Avalon manage Adaloth if he chooses to commit to Zekram, and how would Zekram react if she ever found out about Adaloth's feelings?
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