Chapter 567 The Proudest Mermaid Queen
"Now it seems everyone is in agreement about our plans, right?" Pride asks as she looks at Lucien and l.u.s.t.
"Yeah." l.u.s.t nods. "We"ve got a lot to work on, so we shouldn"t waste any more time; if we need to talk about something, we just need to come together again... although if we could all stay in Lucien"s soul realm, it would be so much easier. "
Everyone agrees that having a totally private place like the purple world, plus Its special time boost seems great. But it"s not easy for the Sins to accept a second soul contract after so many years of doing things the same way.
Envy and Sloth clearly don"t regret that, but her sisters are still a bit hesitant, mostly because of Pride but also because of their own selfish reasons.
The group doesn"t say anything about l.u.s.t"s comment, so Eve stands in front of Lucien. "Since you"re so confident in dealing with Maya and Nea, I won"t get in your way; when these issues are resolved, we"ll get back to talking about the Phoenix."
"Sounds good." He responds.
She smiles and then turns to the others. "Okay, so we"re done-"
"Wait!" But Claire still seems to want to say something and moves closer to Lucien. Golden sparkles appear in her eyes whenever she gazes at him, and it is evident to everyone that she is having greedy thoughts about her brother.
Amelia laughs as Eve rolls her eyes. But the one who is most upset with that is Naomi. [You brat! I won"t let you and that golden b.i.t.c.h have him to you alone!!]
The rivalry between the hosts of Greed and Gluttony has always been intense, and Envy loves adding fuel to the fire. But now, because of Lucien and his sisters, that rivalry is turning into something much bigger than the Sins could ever predict.
Claire tries to contain her jealousy of the women around Lucien and speaks in a serious tone. "I don"t know how you turned the Naga Queen into an obedient wife so quickly, but it"s not going to be that easy with Nea."
Lucien doesn"t like the way Claire says Myra is an "obedient wife." Of course, she"s been very cooperative with everything he says, but he"s very respectful of all his wives and sees their relations.h.i.+p as an equal partners.h.i.+p.
But he also understands that his sister didn"t want to offend his wife and just prepare him for how difficult it will be to deal with the great Mermaid Queen.
Then he puts his hand on her shoulder and smiles. "Is it a challenge?"
"Hahaha..." Before Claire can say anything, Greed starts to laugh. "What if that"s the case?"
"It"s just that I love challenges..." He responds in a fake humble tone that makes him look even more confident and arrogant, bringing a smile to Pride"s face.
A golden glow pa.s.ses through Greed"s eyes, and Lucien remembers the bet Envy had made Amelia suggest when they met in Argerim.
He can predict Greed"s following words, and she makes a provoking expression before speaking. "How about a bet then?"
"Come on, guys!" Eve steps in between them. "This is no time for games."
Lucien takes advantage when Eve turns her back to him and makes a quick "attack" by putting his hands on her shoulders and starting a nice ma.s.sage.
His touch is so pleasant that it pushes all the tension away from her shoulders, making her body feel so good. Then he whispers in her ears in a tone that the others can hear too. "It"s alright, sister... this kind of game can help us grow stronger."
Eve can"t even think straight when getting that ma.s.sage. She was so tense and now so relaxed with just the gentle movements of Lucien"s hands. Of course, his demonic energy turns a simple ma.s.sage into something perfect; yet, his hands have an exceptional warmth that no other has.
So Pride speaks in her mind. "Let Lucien bend Greed down; if he manages to seduce her, your sister will benefit from it without having to cross that line."
"Yes, yes..." Eve responds with words that sound like moans. "It sounds good..."
Everyone can"t help but laugh, including Lucien, who continues to ma.s.sage Eve"s shoulders as he looks at Greed. "What are the terms?"
"A thousand hours!" Greed gets right to the point. She can barely contain the urge to switch places with Eve and get that ma.s.sage from Lucien. "If you can"t turn Nea into one of your obedient wives in less than a month, you"re going to give me a thousand hours of your time just for me."
"For us, she means." Claire comments with an emphasis on "us."
She smiles. "Yeah, naturally."
"A thousand hours…" Lucien thinks aloud and then shakes his head. "Although I think I can do it, my wives would be disappointed in me if I risked that long without being able to be with them."
Amelia, Sophia, Envy, and l.u.s.t are relieved by his response, but Greed and Claire are upset. Then the Sin makes an even more provocative expression. "Are you afraid? Don"t you trust your magic rod anymore??"
Everyone imagines that Pride would slap Greed hard in the face for talking that way to her. But Lucien remains calm and confident as ever.
"As I said, I think I can do it." He explains. "But out of respect for my wives, I"d like to make a change to the terms. Instead of a thousand hours straight, how about an hour per day until it completes a thousand hours?"
Share? Greed gets sick just thinking about having to do that. But having Lucien give her an hour of his day for a thousand days already sounds pretty good, and she can always manage to win other bets in that meantime until she has him all to herself, or rather, to her and Claire.
"But you"ll have to do whatever I say, right?" She asks and then quickly looks at Claire before changing her words. "I mean, whatever we want."
Now that the bet supposedly wouldn"t mess up his time with his other wives, Lucien nods and stops ma.s.saging Eve"s shoulders to go shake Greed"s hand. "Deal."
Eve nearly slips into depression from missing that good feeling and makes a mental note to ask for another ma.s.sage from Lucien when they"re alone. [A friendly message wouldn"t change anything about our relations.h.i.+p, and it wouldn"t be naughty at all, right?]
Their other sisters and the Sins are excited to see how Lucien will get Nea to become his wife.
But Envy and Amelia can"t contain their jealousy even though they"re sure he"s going to win the bet.
And Naomi would be fine to give Lucien many hours of all her days as long as he pays any attention to her.
"Alright, alright..." Pride can"t be silent for long without drawing attention. "Now we are done, or does anyone want to say something else?"
"..." Lucien"s sisters look at each other, at the Sins, and then at him again, but no one says anything even though they have a lot to say.
"Looks like it"s all right." Lucien comments. "You can put down the barrier, Pride."
Pride looks into Lucien"s eyes again and then nods before breaking the barrier. Then the group notices that Scarlett has already taken the Sea Devil to the side of Saria"s giant mystic turtle, in the middle of Mermaid camp.
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The beautiful Mermaid Princess is already hugging her mother while both hold the Ghost Lady, the cursed sword made from Kaisa"s soul.
It is evident that Saria wasted no time in taking her sister"s soul to their mother. And she can barely contain the emotion of being reunited with her two daughters again.
Of course, seeing Kaisa"s soul still trapped in the cursed sword reopens an old wound in Nea"s heart. But now, she has a chance to start looking for a way to free her daughter from that torment.
Yet, as Nea"s plan was to sacrifice her life to kill Tyrion, she is now divided between returning home with her daughters or moving on and leaving that task to Saria.
Also, she can feel strange and pleasant energy inside the sword, which vibrates with excitement in her hand. Nea has one of the strongest senses among her whole race and quickly recognizes that energy, which makes her very confused.
But that is a happy moment above all. Whatever she has to do, at least she has options and even possible powerful allies.
And, of course, the warmth scene of Nea and her daughters catches Lucien"s attention. Now that he stops to see the charming Mermaid Queen up close, he can"t help but be fascinated with her exotic look.
They notice his look, and Saria blushes as she remembers when she was kissed by him. But Nea holds back her emotions, returning to have that serene and majestic expression to deal with Lucien and his group.
In fact, Nea even leans her eyebrows, showing some indignation and disapproval. "Don"t look at me this way, kid; there are more than three thousand years separating our generations…"
"You may have brought my beloved Kaisa back to me and even comforted her with this strange energy, but you should still respect me because I could be your great-great-great... grandmother."
There is so much grat.i.tude in Nea"s voice, but she doesn"t let any emotion cloud her judgment and responsibility towards her people, which makes her not want to lose face in front of strangers, especially demons.
Lucien"s sisters, wives, and the Sins are a little upset that Nea seems not so grateful to him, but they understand that in her situation, they wouldn"t trust demons either. Maya should be that way too, but she"s very naive, something the Mermaids Queen definitely isn"t.
He"s also a little surprised that Nea talks to him like he"s a child, but he also maintains a calm, confident expression. "I"m sorry if I offended you with my look; in fact, I very much admire all kinds of motherly love."
"I bet you do..." Her words make him wonder if she heard what they said inside Pride"s barrier.
But then she makes a thoughtful look as she rubs her nose in Saria"s hair and caresses the Ghost Lady"s hilt before gazing at Lucien with an inquisitive and even a little hostile expression. "Why is your scent all over my daughter"s hair?!"
Saria gets even more embarra.s.sed to the point of wanting to dig a hole in the world to hide. She tried to keep that secret, but even Lucien had already noticed that she hadn"t washed her hair after their innocent compet.i.tion to keep his scent on it.
"We fought some days ago..." He starts to explain.
"Yeah, that was a mistake!!" Saria panics, afraid he"ll talk about the kisses, and then interrupts him. "I didn"t know he was Claire"s brother, and I thought-"
Nea can"t help but laugh when she sees Saria getting redder and redder like a red shrimp. She already thought that Claire did her daughter very well, but now she thinks that is a quality of Lucien too.
And despite wanting the best for her daughter, Nea still knows very little about Lucien and his family, so she tries to be careful. "Okay, okay, I understand why you guys fought, but why is his scent still in your hair? Haven"t you had a decent bath since the fight or what?"
Saria is very nervous and embarra.s.sed, but due to her incredible emotional sense, she notices that her mother is just making fun of her.
She is even more embarra.s.sed and hides her face between Nea"s big b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "Mom!!!"
Nea strokes Saria"s hair as she whispers in her ear. "Come on, my daughter... you"re already a grown woman of a thousand years old; you can"t let that pretty-faced boy mess with you that much."
"Pretty-faced boy?" Saria asks sarcastically. "Don"t you see what he is, mom? He"s the most handsome and hottest devil ever!!"
"Hmm..." Nae looks at Lucien again and tries to find any flaw in his body, a task she doesn"t succeed in doing. "Well, maybe he really is the most attractive devil ever..."
But then she smiles. "Yet, he"s just a young kid partnered with the l.u.s.t Sin; you shouldn"t overestimate his capabilities..."
Saria actually feels ashamed for letting a guy nearly a thousand years younger than her mess up with her feelings that much. But as soon as she looks at his teasing smile and remembers how good it feels to kiss him, she gets h.o.r.n.y and panics again.
Nea realizes she can no longer save Saria from falling in love with Lucien. But since all she feels coming from him are good intentions, she doesn"t get pessimistic, although dealing with demons seems scary to her.
"So boy..." She speaks in a tone that is both proud and respectful. "You seem to have a lot to tell me, don"t you?"
"I do." Lucien nods. "I have a proposal that can be as good for you as for your whole race."
"Straight to the point, huh?" Nea"s eyes sparkle as she looks at Lucien. "I like your frankness, but I"m not willing to sell the souls of my people to demons; though I will certainly give you a reward for helping my Kaisa."
"Who talked about selling souls?" He asks sarcastically. "All I offer is power... even accepting it is a very pleasurable process… And about Kaisa… well, I think you"ve already noticed our connection."
Nea feels a bad feeling because of Lucien"s words. One of the things she fears most is that demons will steal Mermaids" souls, and that seems to have happened to Kaisa already.
"What have you done to my daughter?? And you expect me to believe in your immense and infinite generosity!?" She asks. "What do you want in exchange for the supposed power you offer?"
"It was Kaisa who tried to connect to my soul in the first place." Lucien quickly responds. "And what I want is... Loyalty. I just want the Mermaids to be as loyal to me as they will be grateful for my help."
Nea is well aware that demons can trick almost everyone into getting what they want. So even though she feels his good intentions, she can"t be sure of anything.
"Loyalty? That seems very dangerous to me..." She comments. "You know what? My people are doing fine without your help; we better continue on a path that we know for sure where it will take us."ReadNovelFull.com
"So that"s your answer? You don"t even want to know how much power I offer you or how I can give it to you?" He asks.
Nea makes a sorry expression. "I"m sorry to destroy your expectations, but yes, my answer is no. And I"ll find a way to unlink Kaisa"s soul from yours."
"I will not accept that answer." Lucien smiles confidently.