Chapter 81: Pain To Heal.
As Romonus and Rias walked toward their Father's bedroom, they would pass the house's maids. Despite not learning their names aside from the few he interacted with daily, Romonus remembered how they looked.
He had an incredible memory and he could never forget anything he did not want to. Most of these women, when he had been a kid, had been part of Zeoticus' harem, which he had prided himself on. Zeoticus had a type; most were tall, with long hair and ample breasts, hips, and ass.
As the ladies of his harem, these maids took pride in their position because they received great benefits from being the mistress of a Duke. However, while they got to keep their jobs as maids, after his divorce, Zeoticus dismissed all but 20 of them, including Marcina.
As they passed them, Romonus and Rias could see these women all seemed like their worlds had come crashing down. Some of them had been in the harem for centuries and had come to love Zeoticus, even if one-sidedly. Suddenly, being dismissed after all that time caused several of them to feel like their lives were meaningless.
Most had lost their virginities to Zeoticus, and to realize they meant nothing to him broke some of them. One even walked while looking at the ground when she bumped into Romonus. When she crashed into him, she fell to the ground with a thump. She chastised herself in her head before she looked up to apologize.
"Forgive me, I-"
Romonus reached down and grabbed her hand to pick her up.
"Don't worry about it, Thea. How are you holding up?"
Thea was one of the maids chosen to act as his wet nurse, so he remembered her name. She always tied her hair in a long, natural blue hair in a ponytail. When she got to her feet, she recognized him instantly.
"Young Master Romonus? You grew a beard. My Lady Rias, you two look extraordinary."
Rias smiled as, unlike her mean brother, she knew all her maid's names by heart. She rushed forward and hugged Thea tightly.
"Thea, I am glad you are still here."
Thea hugged Rias back with a smile. Even when she had been depressed from the divorce, Rias was always friendly to them.
"I couldn't leave even if I wanted. Being a maid here pays well, enough to support my family. But being dismissed from the harem is painful. I was 25 when I joined, and now I am 198. I can't get married because no man will accept the former mistress of a Noble."
Rias' face became bitter because most harem maids were out of options. They could keep their jobs, but their chances of marriage were practically null.
"I can talk to him. Get him to change his mind."
Thea shook her head.
"Zeoticus' isn't the same man anymore. After Venelana leaves him, he is like a dead man walking. Even Marcina can barely get him to eat. I don't even know when was the last time Zeoticus spent time with his son."
Romonus sighed.
"So, he got Marcina pregnant and made Asterion, and he won't even spend time with him? Honestly, no wonder Mom left him."
Rias felt terrible about it though, not enough to help him though.
"While I feel bad for him, he did have it coming. He ignored her for decades at a time."
Thea looked down at Romonus' boots rather than the ground.
"Guess he needed her more than he realized. I better get back to work. I already got kicked out of the harem; I don't need to lose my job, too."
As she walked off, Rias scowled and looked up at Romonus. It was good that Rias was tall, as she was 6 feet tall. He was only 10 inches taller than her because Venelana was also tall. When Rias got that look, it meant she wanted something.
"Set him straight, even if you got to beat the depression out of him."
Romonus grinned as he locked his fingers together before he popped all of them.
"If that is what my beautiful sister wants."
She crossed her arms as she looked up at him.
"Your beautiful sister does want that. Drag him out of his room, take him to the training field, and beat some life back into him if you have to."
Romonus and Rias continued through the mansion until they reached the Master Bedroom. The entrance to the room was made out of expensive Dark Steel Oak from the Underworld. Trees that were nearly black with wood as durable as steel.
The double doors were also covered in gold, silver, and other precious metals, showing the riches of house Gremory. Before they went in, Rias pulled her hand back and gave him a firm slap on the back.
"Get him."
One of his Azi Dahaka's heads turned to look at her with a smirk.
"I can see why you are related to my Master. Both of you can be mean."
Romonus opened the double doors and flung the door open. When he did so, he saw the master bedroom, which, as expected, showed more riches of the Gremory Clan. The room was not as large as expected because it was where Zeoticus and Venelana slept long ago.
She had told Romonus she and Zeoticus had been sleeping in separate rooms for over two centuries, and the way that Rias and Romonus were conceived was when Venelana and Zeoticus got drunk and drunkenly slept together.
When she said that, she laughed that the only way they had sex was by accident. However, she didn't regret her first marriage because she had three amazing children. The fact that one of them was her new lover meant that her marriage was worth it.
When Romonus focused, he saw his Father sitting in a chair by the window. He was dressed in a more comfortable outfit but held Venelana's former wedding ring and a picture of their wedding day.
When he heard the door open, he sighed but didn't look away.
"Marcina, I am not hungry."
Romonus squinted his eyes as he walked forward. The sound his heavy boots made registered in Zeoticus' ears. He was thrown for a loop when he looked at who it was for a moment. It had been a year since he had seen any of his kids besides Asterion, but Romonus looked very different compared to the last time he visited.
"Romonus? Is that you?"
Romonus nodded.
"Yes, it's me. Hi, Dad."
Rias waved at him in the doorway.
"I am here too, by the way. We were going to check up on you. How are you holding up?"
Zeoticus' face went from a depressed look to a happy one. His twins were here to see him after a year of ignoring him. He stood up over the moon.
"I am so glad to see you two. You have no idea what it is like to be away from my family."
He hugged Romonus, which looked funny because Zeoticus was only 5'8 while Romonus was 6'10. Romonus patted him on the shoulders before Zeoticus released him to walk toward Rias.
"My little girl, give me a hug."
Rias sighed as she walked over to her father and hugged him.
"Hi, Dad."
He felt a little better once he got a hug from his twins.
"This day would have been better if Sirzechs and your Mother were here, but I am still happy you two came to see me. Speaking of which, it's been almost four years since she talked to me. Can you two please send me a message? I want to-"
Romonus held his hand out to stop him.
"I won't pass on your message. Mother will not take you back, ever. Accept that already and move on. You already blew it."
Zeoticus clenched his hands together as he looked up at his son with pure desperation written on his face.
"PLEASE, SON! I am sure she will understand me if I get one more chance to talk to her. We were together for most of our lives and lived through two wars together. We raised you three, so why-"
Romonus looked at Rias, who nodded at him.
'Do it.'
"Because Mother has found someone else."
Zeoticus suddenly froze in place at that knowledge. It seemed that all the progress in his recovery had been destroyed.
"To who? When? For how long?"
Azi Dahaka's three heads began to laugh simultaneously as he looked at the depressed Devil.
"I don't know, but I know the guy she found is incredible. He is bigger than you, for sure. In height, muscle, and where it counts."
Zeoticus looked at the dragon on Romonus' shoulder with a murderous look.
"SHUT UP! WHO?!"
Romonus lunged out and grabbed his Father by the shoulder. He teleported away with Rias, Zeoticus, and Azi down below in the same arena where Venelana had beaten him. He did so instantly and quickly that Zeoticus barely registered that they teleported.
Romonus released his grip on Zeoticus' shoulder and walked away.
"Azi, mind going to Rias?"
"Sure."
The Evil Dragon flew off and landed on Rias' shoulder. As for Romonus, he reached up and pulled off his black tie. Rias took it from him, and she began to help him remove his black trentchcoat.
Zeoticus watched, confused, as Romonus handed Rias his coat.
"What are you doing? Why are we here?"
As he began to unbutton his shirt, he turned to Zeoticus.
"I am going to tell you the terrible truth, and it will either break you or piss you off enough to attack me. When you do, I will either beat some heart into you or beat that stupidity out of you."
Zeoticus was shocked as Romonus removed his shirt, revealing his body. Romonus had an incredible physique because of his extreme training and bloodline advantages. However, glowing tattoos began to appear all over his skin.
Zeoticus could see runes in a language he didn't understand. Romonus had painstakingly placed tattoos in Enuncia over his skeleton and skin. They only appeared when he wanted them, but almost every inch of him was covered in these reality-warping words.
Rias smiled as she walked off with Azi Dahaka and Romonus's suit.
"Father, Venelana will never return to you because she has moved on. The man she moved on with is me. Mother and I have been in a relationship for over three years—the day after you divorced. Incest is even more common in the Bael clan than in others. Now you know."
Zeoticus froze in absolute shock at the words that he just heard. It was one thing if Venelana had moved on with someone he didn't know. That would have hurt him more than the divorce did, but hearing that she had replaced him with Romonus almost broke his sanity.
His head hung slack, but not for long because Romonus clenched his fist and threw a haymaker at him. When his fist connected with Zeoticus' face, it sent him flying across the coliseum.
"Ooof."
Rias looked away after that.
"You held back, right?"
Romonus nodded.
"Of course I did. I don't want to kill him. He is still my dad."
Rias was not so sure.
"Maybe not, but you did break his mind."
Zeoticus rolled onto his back in pain, but Romonus didn't let him stay hurt for long. With a thought, Romonus healed Zeoticus with a bit of Demonic Mana. As a Demon, Romonus' energy was the best Elixer, and his injuries were all fixed.
He forced himself off the floor, but Romonus was already in front of him when he did so.
"Come on, get mad at me. Attack me."
Romonus gave Zeoticus an uppercut and launched him flying into the air. Zeoticus felt his brain rattle under the blow as he hit the high ceiling. Romonus wasn't using 1% of his strength, and Zeoticus could barely handle it.
While he was still mid-air, Romonus grabbed him by the leg and healed him again.
"Come on, I am going easy on you."
Romonus threw Zeoticus using his leg; this time, Zeoticus took control of his Demonic Power. He reinforced his body and landed on his feet, which was hard on him. He forced himself off the ground, but when he looked up, his eyes were on the brink of tears.
"She was my everything. You took her from me."
Rias grits her teeth before she aims her hand at him and blasts him with a blast of Demonic Energy, sending him flying.
"LIES! If Mother meant anything to you, you wouldn't have replaced her. You had a harem of over 200, Dad. She told us everything. How you practically ignored her for decades at a time. Romonus and I were in a drunken accident. You only cared when she left you."
"That was harsh even by my standards, Sis."
Rias scoffed.
"You're the one fucking our Mom. So don't call me harsh."
Romonus chuckled as he walked toward Zeoticus, who was on the floor. He kneeled and stood over his Father.
"She is right, though? This whole, my life is over without her act is pointless. Once you got Marcina pregnant, the one thing she had over your maids was gone. You reduced her to nothing more than one of your mistresses, not your wife.
So, don't act like she mattered to yo-"
Zeoticus grit his teeth as he spun around and pulled his fist back. He threw all his strength into that punch and hit Romonus on the chin.
"SHUT UP!"
However, unlike what he expected, Zeoticus felt only pain in his hands as a loud snap was heard. He had broken his fingers, and hand in that punch. Romonus had not even moved his head. He smirked as he grabbed his Father's hand and healed him.
"Seems your rage is back; draw strength from it."
Romonus pulled Zeoticus up before he punched him in the gut. He launched him flying, but he used less strength than before. He would get Zeoticus worked up; if it went too far, he could wipe his memory.
He knew his father would hate him, which he didn't want. But he was willing to play the villain for his Father's sake.
"Come on, show me how strong your hate is."
(P-atreon.com/A_Real_Werewolf234)
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