Arc 4.24 Queen Mother

The following day, in order to make up for their loss during the funeral, the Rigel house tried to persist in their engagement with the Betelgeuse family. Nile was called to attend the meeting since it did directly involve him, after all.

In the first place, the Rigels no longer had as much qualifications to demand that the tradition of keeping relations between the two families be followed through. After all, while the Rigels would be regaining face, the Betelgeuse families would reap no real profit.

After such a scandal, those who hated the Rigels or just the four families in general didn't hesitate to kick them while they were down. For business families like the Rigels, their reputation was the most important, unlike with the other three families who relied on results and skill to boost their names. With the fall of their reputation with Lily's antics revealed at large the previous night during her funeral, people couldn't help but to remember the video and the pictures whenever they were faced with products that the Rigel household sold.

Angry parents refused to associate with any of the Rigels companies and markets, since even if it wasn't their fault that the video was broadcasted galaxy-wide, it was their daughter that ultimately ruined the innocence of their precious children. In some radical cases, they were even blamed for a number of divorce cases, as some wives were not pleased at how their husbands reacted to the unexpected show. All in all, the capital that the Rigels were so proud of went largely down the drain to make up for the lawsuits and losses in the market. Of course, they still had a lot of money but a good portion of it was lost, and that was only in the last twelve hours since Nile and Alex's little broadcast!

That's why Nile was not reserved when he dragged Alex along with him to the meeting early that morning. She was still half asleep, especially after being tossed around all night.

When they arrived at the Betelgeuse family manor, the two soldiers guarding the door immediately saluted and allowed them entry. Since they were house guards, they weren't completely aware of Alex's identity like the rest of their peers in the barracks were, but as their young master was the one bringing her in it wasn't their place to ask questions or bar her entry.

Actually, seeing as Nile hadn't left even a centimeter of space between the two of them as they walked in, the two guards already had a feeling that the engagement talk was a worthless endeavor on the Rigels' part.

Before they even got to the conference room that the Betelgeuse head set aside specially to host business partners and other guests, the shrill voice of a woman could already be heard echoing through the hall.

"HE BELONGS TO ME NOW!"

To which Nile snorted disdainfully before propping the door open with the packet of papers in his right hand while his left remained at Alex's waist.

Looking in, Alex could see that Lily's little sister (presumably) was heatedly standing from her seat glaring at the Betelgeuse mother and father. Apparently things weren't faring so well for the Rigels as John and his wife's faces were black and they didn't bother to hold their disrespectful daughter back at all.

On the other hand, Nile's parents were the perfect picture of calmness and serenity. Nile was the splitting image of his father, except the latter's eyes were glazed over and almost white--and Alex could tell immediately that the man was blind. But that didn't retract one bit from his cold aura that was all too similar with his "son's." He seemed completely indifferent to the family of three before him.

Nile's mother was the previous Rigel daughter that was engaged to his father many years back. But contrary to expectations she also didn't seem to regard her so-called ancestral family in high esteem as she similarly held her own chin up and remained impassive throughout their exchange of glares. She possessed the general characteristics of the women of the Rigel household--long and straight blonde hair accentuated by a pair of deep ocean-blue eyes.

Lily was the anomaly with pinkish-red eyes.

At the sound of the door opening, the occupants of the room immediately glanced over. Isabelle, Lily's little sister, collected herself almost instantaneously at the sight of the handsome man standing by the door. When her eyes drifted to the woman in his arms, a ruthless light flashed through her cyan eyes before quickly disappearing but of course it didn't go unnoticed by all but two people in the room. The two being her own parents who never really cared for her even now--the only reason she was there at all was due to the fact that she was the only other daughter they had to offer.

"I belong to Alex, and no one else."

Nile proudly declared with his deep voice, the corners of his lips uplifted ever so slightly as he tossed the bundle of papers in his hand casually onto the long table in front of everyone.

Ignoring his son's nonsense, father Betelgeuse lifted his right brow and focused his blind gaze onto the packet on the table, "These are...?"

Even though he couldn't see, he could clearly hear where the papers were thrown. It was also not hard to tell that it was a packet of papers that was thrown in the first place because of how distinct the sound of rustling sheets was.

Chuckling darkly, Nile patiently answered, "My marriage certificate. I mean," he tugged Alex closer into his embrace causing her to frown slightly, "our, marriage certificate. Along with many other documents."

The "many other documents" consisted of legal documents formally annulling his prior engagement with Lily. The most surprising thing to everyone in the room was that all of the documents were dated a few months before the Starship 549 even set off. This meant that he wasn't even Lily's fiancé for the past four or so months, and even more of a jaw dropper was that he was already married to Alex for a full three months!

Before father Betelgeuse could reprove his rebellious son for marrying the daughter of their enemy household, he heard a small gasp from mother Betelgeuse beside him.

"What's wrong?" He turned to ask her, unsure of what it was in her hands that made her so discomposed.

As he was blind, he couldn't see that mother Betelgeuse's hands were trembling, but they were as she held...Alex's one-month ultrasound pictures.

With a shaky voice, she questioned no one in particular, "She's pregnant?"

Nile's formally fierce and cold eyes softened when he looked down at his sleepy wife in his arms as his left hand traveled from her waist to her abdomen, caressing it softly, "Yes."

The only reason he revealed it that day was because he and Zero's investigations to find any other hosts or anomalies in the world turned out quite fruitful. During the past month, they had found two other hosts and he promptly and mercilessly got rid of them so as to guarantee his wife and child's safety. He didn't want a repeat of the last world, and the only other host he trusted was Alex, and Alex was actually already extremely questionable in her own right. But, he knew from how she smiled every so often that she wouldn't endanger the child in her womb.

With any possible threat out of the way, he could finally use the fact that Alex was already carrying his child to force his parents to accept them. What was more important to the Betelgeuse family was not money, business, or the military but grandchildren.

Sure enough, mother Betelgeuse turned to Alex with hungry eyes like a hawk eyeing its prey.

Isabelle thought that Alex was going to be reprimanded for getting pregnant out of wedlock, but she unfortunately forgot that Alex and Nile were already married for three months--and even if she wasn't the Betelgeuse duo would force her to marry their son in order to keep the child.

Waiting for a good show to start, she wasn't expecting the previously bitchy and cold mother Betelgeuse to break out in a friendly and heartwarming smile as she ran up to Alex and held her hands in a motherly gesture!

Even worse was her sickeningly sweet voice,

"My, my daughter-in-law, you should have come to me sooner! If I knew you were pregnant I would have accommodated you more!"

The Rigels wanted to cough blood at her fawning and biased statement. When they first arrived, they were forced to wait in that goddamn conference room for a full two hours before the Betelgeuse couple finally showed up and only remained silent throughout their entire exchange!

As if she had a few strings loose, however, Isabelle still hadn't registered that Nile was a married man for three months already and still failed to understand that the family engagement was impossible at this point,

"Abort it!"

Her high-pitched voice rang out in the room, instantly silencing everyone inside it.

The two Betelgeuse parents complexions did not look good and even the Rigel parents knew that their foolish and incompetent youngest daughter fucked up.

Unfortunately, before anyone else could act, with an audible whistle, a ballpoint pen was launched towards the unruly girl, grazing her ear slightly before engraving itself cleanly into the dyed irudisium wall behind her. It was such a powerful shot that not a single crack spread from the hole it was currently in, and less than two inches of the seven or so inch pen was sticking out.

Nile would have had no problems with killing that pest if he hadn't read up in a book informing him about pregnancies that pregnant women should not experience too much stimulation such as violence, gore, and the like. While he knew that Alex was different from other women in every way, he thought it was better to be safe than sorry. He didn't want to risk his first child dying in the womb, and even more importantly was that she was obviously looking forward to its birth so he wanted to make sure it happened in order to make her happy.

Alex, on the other hand, was in no better condition than Nile. Thinking about that cute little kid dying, all she could see was red. The unshed tears, cute soft voice, innocent wide eyes with so many different colors--Alex really wanted to hear that kid calling "mommy" again, and this time she would know that kid was talking about her.

Obviously aware of his wife's inner rage, Nile soothed her by rubbing her stomach extremely gently before bending down to kiss her ear as he whispered,

"Don't harm the baby, I'll take care of this." He turned her to face him, looking into her eyes, "Okay?"

Only after a long while did Alex reluctantly agree that it was probably better to keep her emotions in check for the sake of the child in her belly. Closing her eyes to calm herself, she really hated that such small things could affect her precious baby while it was still inside her. When she opened them again, she stared resolutely into Nile's pale cyan eyes as she ordered him,

"Fuck her up."

Nile froze, but then chuckled seductively before whispering in her ear,

"Baby, the only one I'll be fucking is you. As for her, my men have been getting really upset as of late because of all the dog food we've been providing them."

Taking care of things this way wouldn't be too bad. Like this, the Rigel household would be known for their two alluring daughters. It was even better because he was well aware of the type of fantasies that went on through those hormonal men's heads regarding Lily. While Lily was the valiant beauty of the military, Isabelle could be considered the gentle and delicate beauty in contrast which the soldiers would surely have fun breaking.

To Alex and Nile, this kind of punishment wasn't too cruel, because Isabelle was the one who had thoughts about killing their child in the first place. Even if she could never pull it off, it was enough for them that she had declared those two words. It was better to get rid of any potential threats than to leave them only to regret it later. For better or worse, the Rigels didn't place much importance on Isabelle, either, so they didn't really have to worry about retaliation and even if they did retaliate it wouldn't matter. Nothing they did could harm Alex or Nile.

That didn't stop the two from making sure the unfortunate family of the female lead couldn't get back up. The next day, Isabelle mysteriously disappeared and all of the businesses under the Rigels name collapsed overnight. Apparently a virus had infiltrated their security system and tapped all of their capital in one fell swoop. The money mysteriously disappeared without a trace and John was so devastated he didn't care about the tight leash his wife had on him anymore and played around at the bars and clubs like an addict. Angered at the fact that her husband was sleeping with three or four other sluts each night and even more during the day, she ran up to him furiously with a knife one morning and killed him, then herself right after.

While there were many suspicious areas about the whole play of events, nobody really cared aside from the other three families. For the common citizens, it was just another drama and gossip topic. However, for the three great families, it was the rise of a possible threat. Who could tell if one of them weren't going to fall next?

From the moment the Rigels lost face during Lily and Taina's funeral, someone was obviously out for the Rigels blood. The Fomalhaut family rejoiced in the Rigels fall but kept on the lookout for any potential threats, while the Betelgeuse parents didn't really care about the event as they had a feint feeling that their son had a role in it.

As for the news of Alex's pregnancy, it wasn't announced but it wasn't hidden either. As long as someone asked, Nile would proudly declare that she was indeed carrying his first ever child. Alex never denied it either. The Betelgeuse parents also did not hold back on bragging about their future grandchild to their friends.

On the other hand, about a week after the meeting between the Betelgeuse and fallen Rigel families, Alex's father called her and ordered her to go to the hospital as his secretary was going into labor.