After deciding to hang out together, Zanis and Lisa left the Royal District and went to the Commercial District.
They walked at their own leisure and chatted away happily.
“To think that you were the adopted son of an emperor, doesn't mean that you're a prince?”
“No, nothing like that. I may be his son, but I'm still an outsider.”
“Hmph. Being a prince can't compare to being my Proxy.”
Said Ouroboros who was doing an excellent job of being a third wheel.
Lisa turned to her side and stared at him. He realized her stare and looked back at her.
“What?”
“Ah, no. It's just that I still can't believe that you're a Higher Being from the legends. It feels unreal.”
“You don't need to mind me, I'm no one special.”
Ouroboros wrapped his arm around Zanis’ shoulder.
“You should give this guy all of your attention instead. I mean look at him, he's lovestruck. If it wasn't for the fact that I can't be away too far from him, I would've left you two alone.”
Ouroboros then moved beside Lisa and began whispering in her ear.
“I mean look at him. He's like puppy. If he had tail he would be wagging it like crazy. You like him too don't you?”
Lisa nodded with a blushing face.
“Then you shouldn't waste your time, and go for it. Life is short, and a handsome rich man is head over heels for you, so don't miss this opportunity. Look, he's glaring at me because I'm so close to you. Don't women found a possessive man cute?”
Ouroboros was trying to speed up the two’s relationship even if it was little.
He grabbed Lisa and Zanis by the shoulder and pushed them closer together. He then grabbed both their hands and made them hold hands. He then stepped back gave them a thumbs up, and with a smile before disappearing somewhere. However Zanis knew that he was still near by, since he didn't go back to the Summit Of The Gods.
While he was thinking that, Zanis felt Lisa entangle her fingers with his.
He looked at her and saw that she shyly looked away. That gesture was enough to make his heart skip a beat.
He opened his mouth say something when-
“Get away of the way.”
A group of teenagers walked between them and rudely forced their hands apart.
“Hey!”
Zanis shouted.
One of the teens looked back at them with disdain.
“You were blocking the road. If you want to show off do it somewhere else.”
The other teens started laughing while they continued to walk away.
“If it wasn't for Lisa I would've slaughtered every one of you.”
Zanis mumbled.
“Lisa, don't mind them….Eh?”
When he turned his attention back to Lisa, he could she her holding down her head with her shoulder trembling.
“I've waited for so long.”
She spoke softly.
“I've been waiting for this for years, and you bastards!”
Before Zanis knew it Lisa shot towards the teens like a bullet.
“How dare you interrupt our date!”
Lisa grabbed the boy who mocked them, and slammed his head into the ground.
*Boom!*
She then glared at the confused teens around her.
“Do you know how much I've been looking forward to this day?! I've dreamt of my date with him almost every night for seven years!”
Her body trembled violently like was going to blow.
“And yet you!”
What happened next was brutal.
Lisa angrily broke the teens’ bones and stomped them into the ground, before throwing them into a near by dumpster.
She then kicked that dumpster with everything she had, and blew it away into the distance.
Even after that, it took a while before she calmed down.
After a few minutes Lisa smiled and walked up Zanis took his hand with a shy expression.
It was like her destroying the teens never happened.
‘Women are scary. But she did look pretty hot when she was angry. So it's all good.’
Thought Zanis.
“Well, let's go enjoy the rest of our day.”
Lisa nodded, and with a smile the two of them continued their date like previous incident never happened.
A dozen meters away Ouroboros stood on a rooftop where he watched the entire situation.
“Whew~. That girl is feisty.”
He turned to the person next him.
“Don't you agree.”
“…….”
Celina said nothing in reply and just continued observing Zanis and Lisa.
After a while she finally opened her mouth.
“Why did you come here?”
“Zanis finally found a girl he liked, so I can't allow someone to interrupt his date. I mean the guy is over a century old but never seem to be interested in anything other than completely the tasks Zara handed to him. I was starting to worry.”
“Nonsense. Isn't serving your master the only thing that matters?”
“Don't compare my son to your fetish, Robo-Woman. Besides, Zanis already gave Zara and Zebul Empire 100 years of his life, he should start enjoying his life now.”
“….I don't understand.”
“Of course, you wouldn't. Rouge has always been your entire world so you've never even thought of what it means to live for yourself.”
Ouroboros looked at Celina’s deadpan face and frown at the lack of reaction she gave him. It was then she spoke.
“This relationship is doom to fail.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Oh? And why is that?”
She finally looked at Ouroboros and smiled, which caught him off guard.
“That girl already belongs to the Dragna Clan.”
Ouroboros frowned because he immediately knew what she meant. He looked back at Lisa and Zanis and said-
“I see. That will be a problem.”
Two months after Zanis arrived in Dragna Kingdom.
Two of the most powerful men in the kingdom sat face to face with each other. They were Darwin Flameheart and Marcel Dragna.
“I heard that your daughter returned to you recently.”
The first one to speak was Marcel.
“Yes. Two months now.”
“You must be extremely happy to regain your youngest child after all these years. But..”
Marcel stared at Darwin as if sizing him up.
“Why wasn't the Secundus Branch informed of her survival?"
“You speak as if we were obliged to report it to you. This was the Flameheart’s affair, I just didn't want to bother the Royal Family with something so trivial.”
Marcel glared at Darwin, who just shrugged it off.
“I see that you're still holding a grudge against our branch for not aiding you in your vendetta.”
“No. I understood quite well that Rouge ordered you to stand by. The enemy had the Asgard Empire behind them, so taking caution was the right thing to do.”
A mocking smile then appeared on Darwin face.
“You guys aren't [Tyrants] after all. It was stupid of me to think that you'd defy the heavens willingly.”
*Swoosh*
A red blade slashed towards Darwin and stopped at his neck. A small amount of blood flowed from a shallow cut.
“Don't bad mouth my Branch, Darwin. Or I'll personally cut your head off.”
Darwin smiled in response to Marcel’s threat.
“The day you cut his head off is the day I make your Secundus Branch disappear from this world.”
The space behind Darwin distorted and a man appeared out of thin air.
Seeing him, Marcel withdrew his sword and stood from his seat.
“Those are fighting words, Curse Brat.”
At this time the space behind Marcel darken like night, and Rouge appeared there.
Arsene smiled when he saw that.
“Yo, Old Fart! Long time no see! Undying as usual I see!”
“And you're as annoying as always I see.”
“It's kinda my thing. You know that and killing those believed to be unkillable.”
“Is that so? Then you threatening my branch is apart of your nature?”
“No, I'm just sticking up for a friend. However, I won't deny that I wouldn't enjoy ripping the head off that idiot son of yours.”
A cannon like gun appeared in Marcel’s right hand, and a large sword in his left.
“Try me, Cursed King.”
“Calm down, Marcel. Even he wouldn’t try anything as long as I'm here.”
A sinister green aura started leaking from Rouge’s body.
“Isn't that right, Curse Brat?”
Arsene smiled and replied with a carefree voice.
“Oh, you really are as strong as Nero. As expected from the Walking Apocalypse.”
He then narrowed his eyes and dangerous feeling filled the room.
“It just makes me want to kill you even more.”
Tension filled the room to point that even a pin falling could cause a fight to break out.
*Clap*
“I think it's best that we stop this. Are you planning to destroy the kingdom with your fight?”
Said Darwin.
“Rouge and Marcel you misunderstood my intentions. Even though I'm still upset about you abandoning me to my own devices when I needed you the most, I don't intend to break our agreement about Dario and Lisa's engagement.”
“Is that right?”
Said Marcel.
“Unfortunately, we made a [Soul Promise] so I can't break even if I wanted to.”
A Soul Promise is an agreement between two or more parties using their souls as payment if the promise is broken.
In simpler terms, if you break this kind of promise the other party will gain possession of your soul, and you'll be their slaves until one of you dies.
It goes without saying that this type of promise is rarely used.
“It was my stupidity to trust in our friendship, Marcel. And I can only live with it for the rest of my life.”
Marcel grimaced when he heard those words. Rouge on the other hand didn't seem to care.
“So you hate me that much.”
“I don't hate you. I've simply lost all faith in you.”
“I see.”
The two stared at each other silently until Rouge spoke.
“This was agreement between the two of you, so it normally wouldn't matter to me. However…”
A bunch of photos appeared in his hand out of nowhere. He threw them in the air.
“However, it's another issue if the Secundus Branch’s honor is on the line.”
Everyone looked at the pictures of Lisa and Zanis together.
They're was some of them walking hand in hand. There were others of them out eating together. There was even one with them embracing each other.
“Apparently our little princess fell in love with someone else.”
Said Rouge.
“This is one of the Beelzebub’s Black Scriptures.”
Said Darwin.
“The Seventh Scripture to be exact. His name is Zanis Zebul, he's Zara’s son.”
Arsene handed Darwin one of the pictures he caught.
“He's the one who saved your daughter. In other words, the person she fell in love with.”
Darwin grimaced and looked at Rouge.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Break them up.”
“That's impossible. A Flameheart’s affections can't be broken that easily. You should know that.”
“That's why it's a problem.”
Rouge face was serious.
“If news got out that Dario's fiancé was in love with a next man, it will disgrace him and the royal family. That can't happen.”
He then looked at Darwin and Marcel back to back.
“Since you two idiots agreed to an ancient custom like an arranged marriage, you deal with this mess. Just make sure that Lisa doesn't run off with that brat otherwise…”
He pointed at Darwin.
“As customary, the Flamehearts will have to take responsibility and hunt her down to correct this blemish on our honor.”
He then pointed at Marcel.
“And you'll be stripped of your throne, as punishment for bringing this disgrace upon us.”
He then turned his back to the them.
“You brats dug your own graves, so either you lay in it or I kick you down in there myself.”
He then started walking while mumbling “Who does arrange marriages anymore anyway? Damn brats”, before disappearing.
The other three were left in the room in silence.
Only Arsene alone spoke.
“That Old Fart is as intimidating as always.”
Marcel and Darwin couldn't help but nod.
Later that night, Darwin sat inside his office with a tired expression.
*Knock*
It was at that moment he heard a knock on his door followed by a voice.
“Father, the maids said that you wanted to see.”
It was Lisa.
“Yes, come in.”
Lisa didn't waste anytime and opened the door. She entered the room and sat in front of him.
Darwin stared at silently for a while, and didn’t show any signs of talking. Seeing that Lisa took the initiative.
“What is it father?”
Darwin sighed and leaned back in his chair.
“Lisa you remember when I said that I wouldn't allow my arm to heal until I believe you've forgiven me?”
Lisa nodded.
“I do. Did you finally decided to let it heal?”
“No.”
A machete appeared in front of Darwin, he used his good hand and pushed in front of Lisa.
“You may use that to cut off a part of my body after you hear what I'm about to say.”
Lisa looked at her father confusingly.
He ignored that and spoke.
“I want you to stop seeing that Zebul boy, and marry Prince Dario.”
“Huh?!”
Lisa flew out her seat when she heard that.
“What do you mean, stop seeing Zanis?!”
“I mean just that.”
Darwin sighed again.
“You might not remember this, but when you were a child Marcel and I made an agreement to wed our youngest children in order to create a stronger bond between our clans.”
“I don't remember that!”
“I told you, it happened when you were young. So what are you going to do? This is my mistake, and it's your life.”
“I'm not getting married to Dario!”
“I knew you would say that. As a Flameheart myself, I know that it's impossible for you to betray your love.”
Darwin sighed again.
“You know, this wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I planned to make you and Dario interact with each other from you were kids, that way you'll develop feelings for him and would be eager to love him. But everything went to hell before the plan could show results.”
“Basically you planned on manipulating my feelings and make me devote myself to Dario.”
“Well if you put it bluntly, yes.”
“I'm leaving.”
Lisa stood up and turned to leave.
“Wait, Lisa. The situation is more complicated than you think.”
“I don't care! I'm not marrying Dario!”
“Even if I might turn into a mindless slave?”
Lisa halted her steps at this point, and looked back at Darwin.
“I made a [Soul Promise].”
“Are you out of your mind?! Why would you do that?!”
“That's because I feared for the future of Flameheart Clan. I feared for the future of my family.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know the identities of my enemies that caused our family to scatter and your mother's death?”
Lisa shook her head.
“They were all famous people, but the most famous of them all was called Liam. He was a disciple of the Minister Of War, Tyler Asgard.”
“Wait a minute! Isn't Tyler Asgard the Proxy of the War God Tyr?!”
“Yeah, I messed up big time. I was facing the longest standing empire in the world, with over a dozen [XXX Class] Proxies under their banner. You can't blame me for being a little desperate.”
“…Even so, to sell your daughter and your soul…”
“That's why I handed you that machete. You can take any part of my body as an minor apology. Of course you can take my head too if you want.”
Lisa couldn't help but shudder when she heard that, especially since she knew that he was serious.
This was a Flameheart. Their affections and loyalty towards others were dangerously high until the point it was terrifying. Lisa could suddenly see why people were afraid to be with them. They even harm themselves for love.
A dangerous blood trait.
“I-I can't take your head.”
“Then what about my arms? No? Then maybe my legs?
“I can't possibly do something that cruel to you! I'm a Flameheart too you know?! If I hurt you I'll definitely die from heartache!”
“Then what are you going to do?”
Lisa gritted her teeth and shouted.
“I'm not going to harm you, but I won't marry Dario either!”
“Then you're going to abandon your family.”
Darwin voice suddenly turned cold and he glared at Lisa.
Even though Lisa was a [S Class], a single glare from a member of the highest [Class] was enough to feel like death gripped her heart.
“You should know what happens to someone who breaks away from a marriage engagement between the Triad. You'll be treated as an enemy of the kingdom and will be hunted down like a wanted criminal.”
Darwin’s glare became even more intense.
“Do you still refuse this marriage? Even though you might never live a peaceful day again?”
Lisa's body trembled and cold sweat washed over her body. A simply glare from her father made her feel like she's experienced death countless times in the few moments she's been glared at.
Even so, Lisa bit her lip to null her fear with the pain. Once regained her composure, she stared Darwin back in the eyes and proudly declared.
“I will not marry anyone other than Zanis! No matter who comes after me, I'll stick to my words and wholeheartedly declare my love for Zanis!”
Darwin released a bloodlust so intense that several people in the mansion could feel like their hearts were being grabbed by an unknown source.
The entire area felt like it was being suppressed by a giant’s feet. There were even some people who fainted from fear.
Only Lisa stood solemnly face to face with the monster that released the bloodlust.
And then-
“I see.”
The bloodlust disappeared and everyone was freed from the ominous feeling.
“Looks like you're determined.”
Lisa nodded.
“I see. Then you're free to go.”
“Huh?”
“I said you're free to go. If you love the guy so much as a follow Flameheart I have no right to stop you.”
Lisa was visibly confused by her father's words.
“B-But what about the [Soul Promise]?”
“I promised that I'll do everything I can to make you wed Dario; and I just did. I asked you, I negotiated with you, and I tried to restrain you with fear. There's nothing else I can do, so I held my end of the bargain.”
“Father…”
“However, I can't help you escape and I'll have to send people to pursue you. Otherwise I'll lose my soul.”
“That's okay! Zanis is strong! So he can protect me!”
“Don't be naïve, Lisa.”
Darwin suddenly became serious again.
“The Flamehearts aren't the only ones who will come after you. Didn't you hear me, you're an enemy of the kingdom. The entire kingdom will hunt you down.”
“Either way I'll still do it.”
Darwin looked at Lisa's determined faced and sighed.
“Three days. That's all I can give. After that some really powerful people will come after you. Worst case scenario the elders might pressure me to hunt you down myself. At that time I won't be able to hold back because of the [Soul Promise].”
Lisa walked up to Darwin and hugged him.
“Thank you, father.”
Darwin hugged her back.
“Why are you thanking me? It's because of my stupid mistakes that your life has been a living hell.”
Lisa shook her head.
“That's not true. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have met Zanis. And for that, I'm forever grateful.”
She kissed him on the cheek and he kissed her on her forehead.
“I can't believe I'm going to lose you again, only after two months. I really am a worthless father.”
“But you're my worthless father, just like I'm your ungrateful daughter.”
She separated herself from him.
“Besides who knows. My child might come to visit you in the future.”
“If that happens, I promised you that I'll stand by them even against the worst of enemies.”
Lisa nodded with a smile.
“Good bye, Father. Until we meet again.”
“Goodbye, Lisa.”
Lisa's body faded away like smoke leaving Darwin alone.
He stared at the empty space for a while before sitting back down.
He opened a draw in his desk and took out a photo of him and a black-haired woman. The woman was a stunning beauty by any standards.
Darwin rubbed the woman’s face with his hand.
“Our daughter turned against her family for love. It looks like she took after you more than me.”
He laughed a bit before becoming serious again.
“I can already see how this will end, but I still couldn't stop her. If it wasn't for this stupid promise, I would've walked into the palace and kill Marcel myself.”
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
The space beside Darwin distorted and Arsene stepped out.
“If you're gonna kill Marcel then can I have Rouge?”
Darwin didn't replied and continued to stare at the picture.
“Hey, I know I'm joking but you could at least humor me.”
“Arsene, how do you think this will all end?”
“....Lisa and Zanis will probably die.”
Darwin said nothing but Arsene continued.
“The Black Scriptures are strong so I think they'll survive for a while, but that will force Rouge to get serious. And we both know that nothing good happens when that Old Fart gets serious.”
“Arsene will you protect my daughter for me?”
Arsene widen his eyes when he heard that.
“Hahahahaha!”
He then burst out laughing. Darwin didn't seem upset and waited until he's done.
“Are you stupid? You know what kind of person I am. I don't protect, I simply destroy.”
“Then is that a no?”
“I can't protect her, but I can kill those who tries to harm her to a certain extent.”
“Thank you, Old Friend.”
“No worries. I'm a [Tyrant], going against fate is what I'm suppose to do.”
Arsene then put on a serious face.
“Are you sure you don't want to destroy the Secundus Branch? I'm sure that we could recruit the Primus Clan if we offer them the right reward.”
Darwin shook his head.
“Nero and Rouge are cousins, they won't try to kill each other no matter what. The Primus Clan would more likely destroy my Clan than the royal family.”
“I see. What a shame. I really wanted to fight that Old Fart again.”
With a sigh, Arsene vanished without a trace.
Darwin looked up at the ceiling and spoke while petting the picture.
“Please protect our daughter from my foolishness.”
A tear fell from his eyes as he spoke the name that made him feel the most joy and the worst pain.
“Marian.”