Chapter 430: Decision

[Battle for the Golden Throne...] Those are the last words Lucien thinks with Aylin before he realizes that he is in his body again while looking at Helena"s pleading expression.

Behind Helena, he can see more than four thousand angels trying to enter the barrier again. There is the portal that Agapius and many other Earth Realm angels are opening. Well, they are not creating a new portal but energizing the one that brought them to Argerim.

Lucien looks at the golden naginata in his hands and realizes that he doesn"t want to kill those angels, except for Agapius, of course. After reliving those memories of Aylin, he understood more about her intense desire to fight.

He understands her because he also thinks that fighting his enemies is simple and efficient. He also hates complicated things, especially now that he knows that he and his family are involved in complex manipulations. The worst part is not knowing who his enemies and allies really are.

Although he doesn"t understand why the golden naginata makes him feel more powerful and excited to fight, he understands that those desires are already within him. It is like l.u.s.t influencing him to be l.u.s.tful. He doesn"t do anything he doesn"t want to, but he ends up being influenced to be more intense in his true nature.

Another thing that Lucien can clearly see is that those visions are not only giving him answers but also helping him to understand his own feelings.

[It"s as if a part of Alyin is still alive inside the naginata and showing me what her desire for me to know how to differentiate it from what I really want...] He can"t help but be thankful for Aylin, even without knowing if a part of her is really still alive.

And in addition to wanting to know more about Aylin, Lucien also can"t help but hope for a day to talk to her. [If a sentient part of her still lives inside the naginata... maybe I could use Envy"s copy ability...]

While Lucien can"t stop thinking about Aylin, he doesn"t realize that Helena is waving her hand in front of his face. "Lucien? Lucien?? Are you listening to me??"

"Another vision with Aylin?" l.u.s.t asks in his mind.

"Yes... I"ll explain everything to you later." He responds while focusing on the current situation.

Regardless of what happened, those angels are not to blame. Maybe all or most of them hate demons, but they didn"t attack Lucien"s family by own. They were ordered by Agapius, and they definitely didn"t seem to agree with that.

Lucien wouldn"t mind killing them all personally, and his girls would obey him regardless of what they think about that. Still, because Helena seems so concerned about those angels, he wants to understand more about the situation.

"What do they mean to you?" He asks Helena.

She feels that there is hope, so she quickly explains. "They are of the Corvus House, a clan of angels that was previously led by my best friend. He was a good man and acted with honor and dignity in any situation. He also saved my life and was severely punished for what."

Lucien does not doubt Helena"s words but points the golden naginata at Agapius, hidden behind other angels behind the barrier. "And who is he?"

"I don"t know..." Helena makes a thoughtful expression. "My friend, the old Lord Corvus had no children. He said he would never marry another woman besides... well, I don"t know what happened after I left Qia. Maybe he is really my friend"s son or just his heir..."

He also makes a thoughtful expression and then looks at the sky and shouts. "Genevieve!"

*Whoosh*

In a second, Genevieve lands in front of Lucien and bows her head. "I"m here."

Lucien and everyone else is surprised by her behavior. It is obvious that she is a smart woman and knows how to survive.

He strokes her chin, messing her face with angel"s blood while making her look him in the eye. "Who is the angel in s.h.i.+ning armor, and what is his relations.h.i.+p to the Lord Corvus?"

Genevieve knows that she has to cooperate with Lucien until Alexa arrives, so she quickly answers his question. "He is Agapius, a member of the family of the former Lord Corvus, precisely the son of his brother."

"Brother?" Helena thinks out loud. "I don"t remember... oh, yes. He said he left his homeland because he didn"t agree with his family, and he didn"t want to be part of that clan anymore..."

"Yea," Genevieve speaks as she continues to look at Lucien. "It seems that the former Lord Corvus did not like those people, but when he died without heirs, Agapius" father appeared to steal his inheritance. He had the support of someone influential, and now Agapius is the new Lord Corvus."

Helena makes a sad expression. "So he really died..."

Lucien lets go of Genevieve"s chin, and she looks back, curious as to see who that woman is. When she sees the dark wings, she gets surprised, but the real shock only comes when she sees Helena"s face.

"LADY CAUDINUS!!" Genevieve exclaims in shock and quickly kneels on the ground in front of Helena.

"???" While Helena makes a strange expression, everyone else is confused.

She quickly tries to help Genevieve to get up. "Don"t make a scene! I am no longer who I was before; I was banished, do you remember? I am not even an angel anymore."

Genevieve remains kneeling on the ground while looking at Helena"s feet. "I never agreed with what they did to you, my Lady. Our people didn"t want that either. Lady Cra.s.sus hates the Emperor for that, and we never stop trying to find you..."

"Really? Is Alexa..." Helena"s lips begin to curve in an adorable smile, but she quickly shakes her head. "Don"t say that!! Disobeying the Emperor is betrayal!!"

[Alexa??] Lucien now knows why Helena"s reaction was strange when they talked about her before. He also remembers the story that Helena spoke about her past. Her daughter, son-in-law, and husband died, so he wonders what her relations.h.i.+p with Alexa is.

"Oh? It seems that nothing can escape the manipulations of that woman..." l.u.s.t comments while she cannot help but think that is part of the plans of Lucien"s supposed mother.

Helena looks at Lucien with that imploring expression that makes him want to hug and pamper her. "I will explain everything to you as soon as possible, but now... Do not kill these angels, please! Look at them; they are no longer soldiers but terrified people who regret following a pathetic leader."

"What about Agapius?" Lucien asks. "I can"t let him alive because he will certainly continue to try to hurt my family and me."

"He..." Helena already hates Agapius. Yet, she can"t forget that he is the nephew of her best friend.

Everyone can see that Helena is about to ask Lucien to spare Agapius, which n.o.body there wants, especially Genevieve and the other angels.

"My lady..." Genevieve speaks to Helena. "Agapius is an infection that is destroying Corvus House. The former Lord Corvus did not like that part of his family because he knew how bad they are."

Helena understands that; after all, the former Lord Corvus was her best friend, and he had never talked about his family with her. And even though she doesn"t want to see his family being destroyed, she knows that Lucien will not forgive Agapius after he tried to mess up with his women.

"Alright..." Helena looks at Lucien with a sad expression. "You can do whatever you want with him, but spare the innocents, please."

"Innocent?!?" Pride can no longer hear that in silence. "The pathetic angels are slaves of the G.o.ds and do everything they order. They destroy worlds and exterminate races by the greed of others, so how can you say that any angel is innocent?!?"

"Not all angels are like that!!" Genevieve quickly speaks. "Many of us have been trying to free our people from the domain of the G.o.ds, and the Cra.s.sus House... My clan is honorable, and we just attack our enemies!"

"Lie!" Pride quickly responds. "Lucien had done nothing bad to your people, and yet you and your friends tried to attack him."

"That..." Genevieve bows her head while making a sorry expression. "That was a mistake. But Agapius ordered us... and Alexa told us to obey him... it is an important mission..."

Sloth materializes her body next to Pride and shakes her head with a disappointed expression. "It is very easy to start the battle when you are sure you can win that as it is easy to say that it was a mistake and to apologize when you realize that you have actually underestimated your opponent."

Genevieve cannot deny that is exactly what is happening. Then she kneels in front of Lucien. "She"s right, I attacked you for no reason, and that was my mistake. So you can kill me, but the other angels had no choice. They would be killed for desertion if they disobeyed Agapius."

Lucien sighs and strokes Genevieve"s blond hair before smiling at her. "I will not kill my new beautiful servant..."

He looks at Helena. "Just because none of my girls were hurt, I could spare them for you. However..."

Then he looks at his sisters and the Sins. "We are a group, and we decide such things together."

"Kill them, all of them!!" Pride speaks in an arrogant tone. "We don"t need prisoners or allies like them!"

"I understand how you feel." Lucien comments. "What about the others?"

"I support Lucien on everything he decides!" Sophia speaks while making her floating pillow stand above him.

l.u.s.t smiles as he embraces his arm, even though it also smears her with the blood of the angels. "I don"t need to say that I support my husband unconditionally, right?"

"The same goes for me." Amelia quickly speaks.

Envy makes a thoughtful expression. "I don"t like the angels... But those ones didn"t hurt me, so I prefer to guarantee the benefits that only my husband can give me."

Wrath makes an angry expression. "They are the f.u.c.king G.o.ds" dogs!! And they just attacked us, so we must kill them all as Pride said."

"They tried to hurt my little brother..." Donna does an upset expression, but then she notices Helena"s pleading look, and her heart goes limp. "But Helena is our friend, and n.o.body in our group got hurt... I don"t know what to think about that."

Lucien approaches Donna and hugs her. "It"s alright, sis. I"m fine, and you don"t have to decide such things if you don"t want to."

"This is weakness!" Wrath spits on the ground while Pride shakes her head.

"I haven"t put you in your place yet..." Lucien looks at Wrath with a sharp expression. "But now is not the time for that."

Helena looks at Donna with a kind expression. "Thank you for not agreeing to this ma.s.sacre."

"We have not yet decided what to do," Lucien comments as he looks at Sloth and Eve.

Sloth makes a thoughtful expression. "Angels serve the G.o.ds, who are our enemies... But these angels don"t seem to want that... However, we are only in a position to decide that because we are on the strongest side now. And there is no way of knowing what they would do with us if it was the contrary..."

"Decisions like that will always have consequences..." She looks at Pride and Lucien. "So, like Donna, I prefer to trust other people to make such decisions."

Lucien looks into Pride"s eyes. Everyone can see that even if Eve supports her, he will still have more votes. But he also understands that it is because his wives love him.

"To be fair, we should let Eve decide it, okay?" He asks.

Pride is happy that Lucien does not use the love of his wives to decide that. She admires him more and more, but she won"t show that, of course. She also likes the fact that he has his own thoughts about things and doesn"t change his mind just because others don"t agree with that.

"Seems fair." She talks in her usual arrogant tone.

"It doesn"t seem fair with me," Eve comments as she rolls her eyes.