Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 854: Back Home One Last Time

The first step back into the mansion ’Phordite reminded Raven of its grim past. A horror of living flesh walls where the sounds of the dead wailed every night–so much so that, despite being horror hunters for a while at that point, the experience had left the party’s mind crippled for a while. Camping in the garden until every brick and pillar was replaced by the workers, they stayed the hell out of that place.

And yet now that he was back, he felt a sense of nostalgia hugging the mansion air. The orphanage was replaced in his mind by the comfort of the last few years spent in the mansion. Home–that’s what it was, despite everything. No place better than home to stretch the limbs and lie back and relax. With that in his mind, Raven stepped further in.

The very first face that greeted him was that of the head maid–a woman who’d been around even longer than Tan and served the previous owners of the mansion before him. Noticing her master walking into his house, a bright smile took over her lips, and she rushed right over to him. Her hands reached outward for a hug, but bound by duty to appear formal, she put them down and bowed her head.

“Welcome home, master.” Lifting her head again, she tried to hide her smile but failed. “Sir Darius and Aelin have just arrived a few minutes ago. Would you like to meet them, or should I have the girls prepare a bath first?”

Growing curious about his friend’s visit, Raven raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Did he say why he was here?”

“I assume you’re aware that Aelin’s pregnant?” Giving her a nod, he cycled his wrist. “They wanted to talk to you about some details of the matter. I wasn’t made aware as to what those details are, but leadership Tan showed them to a room for them to stay in until you arrive.”

Motioning to the steps, she offered to be his guide to their room. Taking her up on the offer, Raven quietly followed, but one question eventually broke his silence as soon as they got on the upper floor.

“Where’s everyone else? I thought I would be the last to arrive.”

Glancing back at him over her shoulder, the headmaid gave him an acknowledging nod before answering.

“A quick trip to Eclanor, they said, to get some items that they’d forgotten in the city.” Though he had no idea what type of items she was talking about, Raven assumed that they must have been important if the girls went together to get them back. In reality, it was the red devil potion and the intimate wear bought from the crimson witch that the girls were trying to recover. “Master Amedith and Liliyana are still around, though they spend most of their day out and about. As all lovers do, ahaha~.”

Covering her mouth, she fixed her head back to the front. An imitation of a cough followed soon after, and as soon as the two arrived at Darius’s room, the maid decided to take her leave with yet another bow and a few words.

“Us girls have been working long,” looking into Raven’s eyes, she smirked and turned around. “We wouldn’t mind a reward from you, master. An intimate and private one if you will~.”

Walking away with her wishes to lie with her master again, the headmaid disappeared, having given Raven another thing to mull over. The maids had been neglected for a while, so it was only natural for them to expect some intimacy, after all, through body he had conquered them from the clenched fist of their fat master, and ever since that feeling of ecstasy had etched itself onto their bodies, nothing else could satisfy them–not toys or dreams, only his body and heat could sate their lust.

Making a mental note of it as well as to visit the rest of his women scattered throughout Athenia, Raven knocked on Darius’s door, and after a few seconds of scrambling from the inside, his wizard friend opened it. Wearing a look of shock as he hadn’t expected Raven to arrive just yet, Darius landed a light punch on his shoulder and said in a playful tone.

“You real, dude?” Snickering at his remark, the hero heaved a sigh and brushed Darius’s hand off.

“Yeah, why? What happened? Saw a ghost or something? I’m not dead yet, so don’t get too excited, you’re gonna have to deal with me for a long time.”

Smiling back at him, Darius moved aside and invited Raven into their room. Once inside, he noticed Aelin lying in bed with her left hand on her belly, which appeared slightly outstretched. The hero knew that she was pregnant, but after what happened with June and her daughter, it was a struggle to get excited over pregnancies and children.

’It is important to have kids now more than ever, but…’ Unable to shake the uneasy feeling, Raven lifted his head and waved at Aelin. The succubus waved right back and quickly covered her legs with the blanket. Unlike the hero and those around, she and Darius were quite secretive about their intimacy, and so even when she covered herself as soon as she noticed the hero, Raven didn’t take it personally.

“You wanted to talk about something, right?” He asked, turning to face Darius again.

“Yeah,” placing a hand on his shoulder, Darius explained the situation between his family and the deal made with the mistress.

The woman was helping them with the unusual pregnancy, but of course, in return, she wanted Darius to do something in return. And now that they’d been set with everything that they would need throughout the remainder of the pregnancy, she wanted him to hold her side of the deal, which is to say.

“She wants a meeting with you, I don’t know why, and for what. But she asked, and I’m relaying the message to you.” A tad dejected, Darius lowered his head and sighed. “Sorry for using your name as a bargaining chip, but Linkle wasn’t here to help, and you guys were off somewhere as well.”

“It’s alright,” Raven responded, smiling still.

Seeing him being okay with what he did, Darius felt a hefty load being lifted off his shoulders.

“I will go talk to her. Probably some deal here and there, that woman still has a lot of power in the kingdom, so best to try not to get on her bad side for when I’m gone.” Thinking to himself how the Mistress could be their last line of defense in case another strike was made by the enemies on Athenia while they were gone, Raven had at last come to terms with the woman’s perverse and manipulative way of handling such things. After all, in some way–having come this far–he felt no different than the evil primordial succubus.

’This might be my chance to finally get her completely on board with our plans anyway. So it works out in our favor… well, it has potential to work out that way at the very least.’ And with that, Raven decided to take a seat in the room and chat up his friend. The two talked about what they’d been up to, and the mere sight of seeing them laughing and enjoying themselves was enough to put Aelin’s heart at ease.

’Thank you for being with us.’ She thought, looking at the two, and then with a smile resting on her face, she slipped into her first peaceful sleep in months.