Chapter 774: Elizabeth. 3
Leona narrowed her eyes as she spotted a man staring at Anna and Kaguya.
"We are guests," Anna declared coldly, behaving like a noble vampire from an ancient lineage. If Hilda witnessed this scene, she would be filled with pride for her disciple, as all her efforts would have paid off!
"Vampires being invited to a Clan of werewolves...?" His tone conveyed how ridiculous he found this situation.
"Who is he...?" Leona asked Bella.
"Connor Lykos, my brother and the next candidate for Clan leader," Bella explained.
"Hmm..." Leona observed the man for a few seconds, and for a moment, Connor's eyes shifted from Anna to gaze at her. In that brief instant, she noticed his eyes shimmering in a celestial blue.
It was just when the man displayed his interest that something happened. Kaguya made a gesture, and Bruna appeared in front of Connor. Before he could say anything, Bruna delivered a punch to his stomach, causing a resounding impact. Strangely, the man was not thrown away.
"Ooof." Connor immediately felt his legs lose all strength. He never imagined that a vampire could have such a powerful punch.
"What..." The women tried to react, but they were quickly subdued by blood-red strands.
"One wrong move and you become pieces of meat," Maria smiled faintly.
Connor narrowed his eyes and tried to act, but a cold sensation ran through his body as snakes slithered over him.
He immediately ceased resistance.
"Good boy," Bruna smiled.
"...Hmm," Roberta looked at Connor with a predatory gaze, like a snake about to devour its next meal. "I wonder if I can turn him into a statue. It would be a beautiful addition to my collection."
"You can't, Roberta."
"What a shame," Roberta grumbled.
Bella watched the situation with wide eyes. In a matter of seconds, those women completely subdued her brother. Connor was not weak; in fact, he was among the strongest siblings, second only to Adam. Yet, he couldn't even react.
"I suggest you don't move, Wolf. You don't want to experience the feeling of having your spine ripped out, do you?" Bruna smiled gently as she made some gestures with her fingers. With that simple movement, Connor felt something pulling at his spine.
And that sensation made him immediately go quiet.
'What kind of power is this?' Connor narrowed his eyes, trying to comprehend what had just happened to him.
"So, can I turn them into Ghouls?" Maria asked excitedly, caressing the faces of the two women, who were visibly horrified upon understanding the vampire's words.
The Ghoul infection is highly contagious, and although they have some resistance to the bite of noble vampires, it is unknown if they have the same resistance against Ghouls, capable of infecting everything and everyone.
"No, you can't, Maria," Kaguya denied.
"Tsk, Big Boss is being a meanie," Maria grumbled.
Kaguya felt an immense urge to sigh at that moment.
Leona huffed when she witnessed the whole situation. "I don't like him."
"I share the same opinion as you," Bella smiled, but deep down, she wondered what game Connor was playing. He surely knew that Leona was there, and considering her relationship with the Demon King, it was obvious to assume that Leona would have bodyguards by her side.
'Why did he pretend not to be aware of the situation?' Bella never understood her brother's thought process.
Looking at Connor again, she realized that regardless of his plan, he had left a bad impression on Leona. And that alone was enough for Bella to gain an advantage in the power struggle.
Eve, who had been hiding in the shadows in case the initial ambush failed, emerged from her hiding place and landed next to Kaguya.
"What should we do, Kaguya?" she asked.
"Just drive them away," Kaguya ordered.
Anna nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's the right approach. We cannot resort to excessive violence or bloodshed without a valid justification. It would harm the relationship between Victor and the Lykos Clan."
"Just tell Victor that he tried to dominate me," Leona casually stated.
The Maids, Anna, Natalia, and the Big Guy looked at Leona disapprovingly.
"What?" Leona asked, noticing the looks around her.
"If you speak like that, the planet will be blown up... Literally."
"Hehehe, Darling can be quite dramatic at times," Leona smiled gently.
Everyone rolled their eyes at that.
"Yes, that's it," Natalia declared, making a decision. "When we return, you will undergo therapy with a professional psychiatrist."
"Huh...? A psychiatrist? Why? I'm not crazy! I'm not, Violet!" Leona questioned, confused.
"Yes, you're becoming worse than her, so we need to nip it in the bud before the problem escalates," Natalia pointed out.
"I refuse!" exclaimed Leona.
"Unfortunately, you don't have a say in the matter," said Natalia gently.
"Why not?"
Natalia smiled maternally, sending a chill down the spines of those around her.
"...Because I decided so. Or would you like to find out if you can breathe in space for a few seconds?" A small blue circle spun in Natalia's hand.
"..." Leona swallowed hard, wondering if Natalia had always been this terrifying.
"Don't worry, it won't kill you. It's just three seconds, and I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
"...Fine, I'll do it, but only if Violet goes with me." If she falls, she won't fall alone!
"If she refuses, then I won't do it." Leona was certain that Violet would refuse.
"Don't worry. She's already seeing a psychiatrist along with some of the other girls."
"...Huh? This is the first time I've heard about it!"
"If you stopped exploring the cultural space, you would know," Natalia scoffed.
What is the cultural space? It's the space that used to be Victor's room, which turned into a cinema, and later became a place where everyone gathered. Taking advantage of that space, Ruby completely renovated it to include various books, anime, and movies. She even expanded the place, creating a second and third floor and dividing each floor into different sections.
It was a place frequented by girls who loved this type of content, such as Leona, Ruby, Pepper, and Lacus, among others.
"Humph, you also go to that place to read books."
"Of course, the atmosphere is cozy." Natalia didn't deny it.
"Right? Which is why... Wait a second; I just realized that Violet would never go to a place without a good reward for her. What's the reward for going to the psychiatrist?"
"...You really understand Violet well, Leona," Natalia said.
"Answer my question!"
"Yes, you're correct," agreed Natalia.
"And then? What's the reward?"
"It's this." Natalia opened a portal, took out a photo, and showed it to Leona. In the photo, she saw Victor wearing a wine-red suit, with the top of the blazer open, revealing his sculpted body as he sat on the balcony, gazing at the horizon.
Leona and Bella's eyes widened.
"Bitch, don't look!" Leona angrily slammed the table.
"Eh? I-I'm not looking!" stuttered Bella.
Ignoring Bella, Leona looked at Natalia with a serious expression.
"How do you have this? I don't even have this rare photo!"
"Fufufu, there are many ways to enjoy your free time with Victor other than just having sex, my dear."
Somehow, Natalia seemed more mature now in Leona's eyes. And it was at that moment that she realized that the "psychiatrist" was just an excuse for the girls to meet and exchange photos. After all, why would they need psychiatrists if their whole family was crazy?
"Natalia, you cunning maid! You should have told me!"
"If you spent less time in the clouds, you would have noticed. After all, no one was hiding these meetings," Natalia said gently, insulting her in a passive-aggressive manner.
"Ugh, I've never been insulted so politely before."
"Hmm, girls?" Bella caught the attention of the women.
"What?" Leona and Natalia replied to Bella.
"...Can you give me a copy of that photo?" It was hard for Bella to admit, as she was praising a Noble Vampire, but that man was simply too handsome.
Even though he was handsome, she didn't want to have those kinds of thoughts about a Noble Vampire, but...
'Looking at a photo shouldn't be a problem, right?' Bella thought.
Natalia and Leona looked at each other and smiled mischievously. The heiress of the Alioth Clan put away the photo she had of Victor and took out other "common" photos, which were not as rare, photos distributed among the followers of the Blood God's religion.
"That photo was a rare edition exclusive to the Demon King's wives, but here we have a more accessible edition..." She began spreading the photos on the table.
"Ohh... Ohhh... OHHH! Fuck, Leona, you're so lucky!"
"I know," Leona laughed.
Anna, seeing the direction the conversation was taking, sighed. 'There goes another person to my son's religion.' Anna couldn't blame Bella. After all, she herself participated in the "psychiatric" sessions. Being Victor's mother, she had many exclusive photos that no one else had, and she could trade them for copies of the photos that only Victor's wives could access.
In fact, she attended almost every session of this group. After all, the group always found an excuse to meet and exchange any items among themselves. Only when she was busy did she not do it.
Eve and Anna approached the table where Leona was, starting to look at the scattered photos.
"Hmm, I don't have this copy... Can you give me one?" Eve asked Natalia.
"Do you really want it? It's a common edition, you know. As his wife, you have access to rarer photos," Natalia said.
"Mm, I know, but I want to complete the album," Eve said.
"...Mm, alright."
"Wait, I also want to complete my album!" Maria quickly let go of the wolf women and approached the group.
The same happened with Roberta, who simply ignored the wolves and went to the table.
Kaguya frowned as she sighed but didn't comment and just approached the table. She also wanted to see if there were any missing photos in her collection.
"..." Connor and his wives wondered if they had been forgotten.
"Hmm... Can you let me go?"
"Huh? You're still here?" Bruna asked, confused.
Veins pulsed in Connor's head. He had definitely been forgotten!
"Just leave and don't come back. Or our reception won't be so kind, and believe me, things can get much worse very quickly." Bruna made a hand gesture, and then Connor and the women were expelled from the library by an invisible force.
...
Walking through the corridors, Iona began to speak, "Connor, it was just as you said..."
"Yes, Iona. Every individual is exceptional," Connor nodded.
"I really felt like I would be minced meat if I pushed any further..." Daphne shuddered at the thought of the maids' glares.
"As long as we didn't provoke them too much, they wouldn't do anything, Daphne."
"Haaah... I can't believe you convinced me to do this. One wrong step and the relationship between the Demon King and our Clan would go down the drain," Daphne grumbled.
"It's necessary. Thanks to this encounter, I was able to realize several things," Connor said.
"The Demon King is very protective of his wife. He wouldn't send so many elites to protect her if it weren't the case."
"Every woman we saw is somehow related to the Demon King. They are not just servants; the casual way they act indicates a close relationship, like sisters. They are probably the Demon King's wives as well."
"Therefore, I judge that as long as we don't get on the wrong side of the Demon King, we will have an even more prosperous time than we have now."
"...Couldn't you have done it in a normal way? You didn't have to act, right?" Iona questioned.
"You know Bella. She would be on guard around me, and the conversation wouldn't be natural... Besides, I don't fake my reactions."
Iona narrowed her eyes. "...Were you not acting?"
"I wasn't. I judged that the Demon King wouldn't send useless people to protect Leona. I also considered the possibility of one of these individuals being able to read my body language or sense when I'm lying."
"Demons and vampires have various strange abilities. As someone in a position to lead both races, it wouldn't be impossible for individuals like that to come to protect Leona."
"So...does that mean you honestly desired Leona for a few seconds?" Daphne said.
"Of course, she's an attractive woman."
"Hmm..."
Connor did his best to ignore the possessive glint in the eyes of his two wives. Even though he had subjugated them, they were still Lykos Clan women. Maya's blood ran in them, and just like their mother, they could be as intense as she was.
"...With Leona's appearance, does that mean you can stop pretending to want the leadership of the Clan?" Iona asked, setting that topic aside for now.
"Not yet. I need to know Leona's stance on that. Only when I know will I make my decision."
"I see... Well, I will continue playing this game with you, Connor," Daphne said.
"Thank you."
"Haaah, you're a complicated man. Why don't you help Bella directly?" Iona asked.
"Bella needs to learn to grow on her own, and only a rival can help her. If there are no rivals, I have to take on that role until she is qualified," Connor explained.
"Haaah... To this day, I curse the day you decided to talk about this to my grandmother," Iona complained. "If you could just keep quiet, we wouldn't have to participate in this stupid succession game."
"This game is necessary. Even if I don't take on the leadership, I will still have influence within the Clan. And in the case that Bella doesn't perform well as a leader in the future, I will have countermeasures to remove her from power."
Iona sighed. "I hate your obsession sometimes."
"...The Lykos Clan is my home; my family is here. I won't allow a mediocre person to take on the leadership," Connor's eyes gleamed slightly.
The two women smiled upon hearing what Connor said. Despite complaining a little about this obsession of his, this was the part they liked about him.
"...If you had just accepted my mother's suggestion and become the leader of the Clan, we wouldn't have to go through all of this," Daphne said.
"Taking on the leadership of the Clan is too troublesome. I don't want that," Connor said.
"..." The two women looked at Connor with a dry look and thought at the same time, 'What you're doing now is even more troublesome!'
But they didn't express those thoughts out loud.
"Anyway, what should we do now?" Daphne asked.
"Observe... and get in touch with my mother when she returns. I want to know her stance on this whole matter. Depending on her response, I will decide what to do," Connor explained.
As soon as Connor finished speaking, he spotted an adult man with black hair. He looked quite worn out.
"...Father?" Realizing it was his biological father, Connor approached him. For a moment, he almost didn't recognize him.
"...Oh, Connor. You're back, huh."
"Yes... What happened? Why do you look so...depleted?"
The girls approached behind Connor and looked at the man curiously.
The man looked at Connor for a long moment before sighing.
"...Haah... I saw your mother with another man today."
"And? That's not something new; we're going to have a new father after all this time," Connor asked nonchalantly.
"The man is not a werewolf... And this time, it may be different from what happened in the past." He murmured at the end, but everyone present heard what he said.
Connor narrowed his eyes. "...Be more specific, what are you talking about? And what do you mean by 'it may be different from the past'?"
"I found Maya showing the city to the Demon King, and she 'ordered' me to go back..."
The man shuddered a little. "That man, with just one look, I could tell he was of the same type as Maya... No, he is far superior to Maya. He is a true Alpha... Someone who can do what we never could, subjugate Maya."
"And you know the women of the Lykos Clan, all of them inherited Maya's tendencies, some more than others, but without exception, they all have a bit of Maya's tendencies..."
Despite his unclear speech, Connor understood what his father was talking about. What was the tendency of the Lykos Clan women? To seek a strong male Alpha, and if they don't find one, they will simply do what his mother did, subjugate those they are interested in.
The same situation happened in the past with Iona and Daphne. Fortunately, Connor was strong enough to assume the position of Alpha.
With just this half-hearted explanation, Connor could grasp the big picture.
'If the Demon King is all that they say he is... I can clearly see my mother's instincts acting crazy.' Connor sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"...Fuck." It seemed that he really needed to understand the situation of his Clan; the presence of the Demon King was causing ripples, and he wouldn't just stand still and be swept away by those waves. He would try to understand him and do what he always did... Prepare.
"Indeed, this is a fucked-up situation," the man muttered as he drank another bottle of alcohol.
"Hmm... Should I get a green hat for him?" Iona commented with a smile. She had no respect for an Alpha who failed to position himself against another Alpha.
"Iona!" Daphne exclaimed in admonishment, "What? It's a legitimate question."
"Just stop talking, you brat."
"Humph, you're just as much of a brat as I am, all thanks to the damn genes of our Clan! I envy the Queen and her bouncing boobs that go boing, boing."
"Iona!!"
Connor sighed again as he watched the banter between his two wives. For some reason, he thought today would be a long day.