Dante spent several minutes with Aldria, simply enjoying the calm after finally wrapping up all his imminent plans.
He managed to finalize everything he wanted to do before his problems resurfaced. It had been a month of vacation, but he made the most of it. Some might question if this really was a vacation. Well, from Dante's perspective, yes. Vacation for him was being able to relax and handle his life at his own pace, without rushing and savoring the small moments... isn't that what a vacation is?
Enjoying the little moments with loved ones that can be truly memorable, and for him... well, it was very memorable.
He finally clarified his relationship with Valentina, which had previously been fraught with conflict, almost like a joke rather than a relationship. I don't need to say that Valentina's letter to him in Kryoris caused him some anxiety about his mother, but he overcame that barrier, marrying her for real, without the vampires' ridiculous formalities.
He captured the most dangerous woman alive for himself, or rather, forever, with an Eternal Soul Contract.
Not only did he resolve his issues with Valentina, but he also managed to put Sara in a place he should have many years ago. Due to his lack of consideration, he made this woman suffer a lot for him. Later he learned about the curse the celestial being behind the virtues placed on her, but it was already too late.
Fortunately, she continued to follow her heart and in the end, he managed to hold her back in his arms, and thus another regret passed. Despite still feeling guilty, he knew he would make it up to her again for everything he had caused her.
He spent some time with Velryna after her father's death. Despite not caring about Adam, he cared about Velryna and now Aldria, and he wanted these two women to be well.
Although he didn't spend much time with each of them individually, they knew he was there for everything. However, some, like Morgana, Nagasawa, and even Sara, gave him space to calmly resolve his matters... Why? Because, although they didn't know what might happen in the future, they knew his personality, and he was really grateful for that...
Besides these problems, he managed to finalize a few more things he wanted, like Voralith, who had been quite distant from him. Despite not showing it, her absence was driving him crazy. When she disappeared... Dante almost lost it. He thinks it was at that moment that he definitely wanted her to never leave his side again.
She was a very special woman, so special that currently, after Valentina and Morgana, who saw Dante grow up, she was the woman he had spent the most time with, talked to, kept company in the darkness of the Cocoon, and he finally reached the peak of at least being able to influence her feelings...
Believe it, when he kissed that woman, he felt as if half of his world made sense.
"Ah... it seems everything has finally settled," he murmured, with Aldria sleeping in his lap as he thought about everything happening in his life.
"There are still a few things to resolve, but I think that will come with time. Misty and Nafiri will be the next targets, but it will be complicated. At least I know that greedy one likes something other than money. Misty will be easy, at least I think so," he debated his next steps with himself while his eyes closed, still stroking Aldria's black hair and continuing to think.
"Misty, Nafiri, Kaalindra, and Mercedes," he thought. "I still don't know about them... I still have feelings for Misty and Nafiri. They are important women who helped and trusted me, I can't discard that possibility. But Mercedes... she needs motivation beyond revenge; it will destroy her in the long run.
And Kaalindra... well, she will fall sooner or later. She seems interesting, and she saved Aaralyn."
Dante sat enjoying that calm moment for a long time... but on the other side of the castle...
"What's happening to her?" Aaralyn questioned Velryna, who was sitting beside a bed. On the bed... Vex was lying, gasping for breath.
"We don't know yet... I called several palace doctors, but they said there's nothing wrong with her body."
"Explain what happened..." Aaralyn murmured, and this time it was Sara who spoke, leaning against the door, head lowered and seeming somehow irritated. "I found her collapsed on the floor," she revealed and began to explain. "When I returned from our shopping trip, Elizabeth and I found her unconscious on the castle floor. Despite being there... none of the maids saw her.
I only found her because there was a tremor in the environment. For some reason, she had the invisibility spell activated." Sara said, and Velryna gave a crooked smile. "She's always invisible to play pranks on us..." she murmured, "Shouldn't the spell have ended?
We don't know how long she was on the ground, but she had been missing for a while since Dante went off to have fun with Valentina." Sara said, putting her hand on her head.
"Don't put this on him again, it was enough with the problem with Eldrax. We can't assume it's because of his absence," Aaralyn said. She was right, but it was very convenient that every time Dante disappeared, problems like this happened.
"I think you're jumping to conclusions," they heard, seeing Voralith enter the room and look directly at Vex. "Ah~ as expected," she murmured, somewhat annoyed.
"What's that reaction?" Velryna questioned. Both Sara and Aaralyn wanted to know what was going on, they wanted to help Vex because... if something happened to Vex, Dante would lose it.
"This girl is suffering from a lack of demonic energy," Voralith said, and they were stunned. "Seriously? Just that?" Sara commented, not understanding how demonic energy worked.
"It's a normal reaction, but the fact is... this girl is a living demon, someone born between a human and a demon, but instead of taking after her human side, she took after her demonic side. Her mother was probably a succubus of a high level, very high indeed, for her to have survived this long." Voralith said, turning to Velryna, who seemed to have spent the most time with her.
"Has she always been this thin? I mean, has her body always been this lean?" Voralith asked, and Velryna nodded. Vex didn't have large breasts or an ample butt like women such as Aldria, Nagasawa, and Valentina. She resembled Sara, Velryna, and Mercedes, who had less development in their feminine features.
"Dante has returned and is in the Throne Room. I'll notify him... if he takes too long, she might die from the lack of energy." Voralith said. The women quickly became alarmed. "What do you mean, die?" Velryna spoke quickly, being the closest to Vex.
"A demon cannot produce demonic energy in the human world. They would have to kill beasts and absorb directly, but this girl can't do that now, and Dante absorbed all the demonic bodies we had, so he will have to replenish her or take her to Hell to do so since her reserve must be nearly depleted," Voralith explained. "But how did she live like this?" Sara questioned.
"Dante found her sealed," Aaralyn said, and Voralith nodded. "I didn't tell him anything, so he didn't know much. But this woman... has a larger reserve of demonic energy than a Superior Demon. At least, her body can handle the energy of a Low-Level Demon King," Voralith said. The women looked at Vex in disbelief.
"And what about you? Don't you need demonic energy? I mean, you're a demonic dragon, right?" Sara questioned. She really was a woman who liked to learn about other races. "Not exactly. I'm still a dragon, blessed by Mana.
I can convert mana into demonic energy and survive anywhere," Voralith said. They fell silent. These three women couldn't even compare to the trio of monsters, Valentina, Morgana, and Voralith, the three strongest women they knew.
"Now I'm going to talk to Dante." Voralith said and walked out, leaving the women behind. They watched Vex's unconscious body, still gasping, as if she had a high fever and was sweating coldly. "It'll be okay," Sara said. Velryna placed her hand on Vex's forehead and gently caressed her... "Stupid succubus..." Velryna murmured.
Voralith walked through the corridors, heading directly to the Throne Room. She walked quickly and fearlessly, her white and gold dress trailing on the floor like a true Empress. Finally, she reached the door, guarded by two guards.
"You can't go in..." one of them murmured. "The Empress requested not to be disturbed while she talks with the Demon King," the other said. Voralith looked at them without emotion. "Shut up." She said, and the two fainted from the sheer force of her presence.
*Kaboom!*
The door exploded with a kick. As the dust settled, she saw only Dante looking at her, with Aldria comfortably sitting on his lap, a bit surprised but still enjoying his warmth.
"Tsk, hey, you have work to do!" Voralith said, clearly envying Aldria's position for a few seconds. "While you're seducing this human, your sex demon is dying!" Voralith shouted... She was sly, using Dante's mental distraction to get Aldria off his lap as quickly as possible.
Aldria noticed this, seeing Voralith's crooked smile. "Damn you!" Aldria screamed internally as she felt Dante's entire body overflow with power...
"Where is she?" Dante said, appearing in front of Voralith in an instant. None of the women saw his movement. In fact... Aldria was still sitting on the throne, without Dante, and Voralith took a few steps back, startled by his speed...
"This man... irrational," she murmured before explaining what was happening.