Ch10. Lord and Lady Sitri

Tom did not appreciate Sarael's sentiment and instantly shot down any notion of him becoming a devil, saying that if he wished for it, he would not put such a strict secrecy clause in the contract in the first place.

Tom didn't have to fear only the unruly devils that would try to force him into their peerages but also the enemies of the devils that wouldn't like someone creating potions capable of healing them. Tom's safety hung on his involvement remaining secret.

Sarael wasn't offended by Tom's refusal. He expected it. But it was ever-so-obvious to Tom the man was not done trying to persuade him.

Well, he could try. Tom didn't intend to budge when it came to this.

They talked for two hours about the deal and in the end, Sarael finally accepted. There was no doubt in Tom's mind that the man would accept. He didn't offer anything that was majorly detrimental to Sarael and there were only benefits with small inconveniences that could be easily brushed off by the devil. There was literally no reason to say no and it was largely by Tom's design.

The only question was how many benefits would Tom reap after the deal was finalized and Tom can proudly say, he fought for every penny with the cheapskate Sitri.

When Sarael finally left, Tom tiredly leaned on his chair, and couldn't help but smile. Wasting all that money on the Phoenix Tears was totally worth it.

He bought multiple magical remedies, from potions to pills, and used his Vision to see how they were made and how exactly they worked. With Phoenix Tears, however, he wanted to know why they affected devils.

And once he had done all that research, all it took him was a copious amount of trials and errors to recreate a potion capable of affecting even devils in much the same way as Phoenix Tears, just with a much weaker effect.

Of course, Tom had stronger healing potions than what he offered to Sarael but he couldn't really reveal that. It wouldn't matter anyway. Anything with a serious healing effect would start to rival Phoenix Tears and displease the Phenex Clan, and that was something Tom couldn't afford right now.

He wasn't like Issei. Tom didn't have a Heavenly Dragon leeching off his soul in exchange for powering him up for free whenever he thought about breasts.

For Tom, the only way was to stay in the shadows while he worked on stacking the advantages in his favor and got stronger.

Just a few weeks and he will have the goodwill of House Sitri and then...

Well, it wasn't a coincidence that he already knew what his next request for Lord Sitri would be.

...

Sarael Sitri was in his study, trying to write a speech that will move the old shits on the council enough to stand on his side in case Phenexes wanted to boycott the new potions his family will be selling.

Of course, he could always bribe them but where is the fun in that?

Making them support him for free with just a speech was a much more enticing idea to Sarael. Just like when he decided to open the very first hospital in the Underworld. It took a lot of string-pulling but Sarael enjoyed it.

Making people willingly do things they usually wouldn't was one of his joys in life. That and being a doctor. Something about having the life and death of a sick person in his hands made him extremely gleeful.

Well, as far as sick hobbies went, his were quite mild considering some of the older residents of the Underworld. Why? Even his wife had a hobby he shuddered at!

She loved to... do paperwork.

Crazy woman.

Then again, it worked out for him. He definitely didn't mind being ordered to relinquish the majority of his paperwork to his wife.

At least Serafall didn't inherit his wife's prim and proper, strict personality, much to Sarael's relief. Having his daughter walking around, clad in a magical girl outfit might be embarrassing but knowing she was the third strongest devil and did that simply to mentally screw with others...

Yes, Serafall was his girl, alright!

Suddenly, Sarel heard a knock on his door and before he could respond, the door opened, and in walked a black-haired woman with pronounced aristocratic features, deep blue eyes, and clad in a black dress.

"Lareth." Sarael acknowledged her presence with a curt nod.

"You are working." Lareth dryly said as she sat in the chair in front of his desk, her back straight and her head held high as is proper.

Sarael's eye twitched at that. "I have just received a nice offer that could benefit our House. I am sorry for being unable to accompany you to the bed just yet." He genially spoke and slid the file with the information to her.

They might not have been an idyllic couple but they found a measure of peace within their marriage. Like so many of the noble devils, their marriage started with a contract and beating. He had to beat her to an inch of her life for the stubborn woman to finally acknowledge that she belonged to him.

Well, it was a different time then, and he was not interested in having an unruly wife and she was not interested in having him as a husband. Naturally, that led to a fight.

Not like he could have said no to the marriage either so he wasn't exactly the villain in that situation. He too didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

But their differences were dealt with during their first two centuries of living together. It was unbearable at times and Sarael hated his parents for putting him in contract with the frigid bitch but eventually, they got used to each other and Sarael dared to say, even fell in love.

That's how it usually went with these contract matches. It was why parents still matched their children like this. It worked out for them, so why not for their children? After a few decades, they will get used to each other so what was the big deal?

Utter fools...

Sarael already promised his wife he would not lock Sona in a marriage contract. That's why he was teaching her chess and already planned to offer her hand to the biggest idiot in her generation in the Underworld.

He was sure his youngest girl would put two and two together, and intellectually beat her fiance so hard he would need several centuries of crying in his bed to recover.

While Sarael started to daydream of the day when his Sona showed the world how badass she was... taking after daddy, of course... and put some uppity boy in his place through her sheer intellect, Lareth was reading the files about the potions and couldn't believe her eyes.

"T-This... is it true?" She looked at Sarael, looking for confirmation as her expression for the first time since she entered the room stopped being blank and showed a trace of disbelief and a bit of happiness at the implications.

After all, Lareth was also a healer. It was what brought Sarael and her closer.

"Yes. I have already finished a few small tests and the potions work." Sarael informed her, also excited.

"Fascinating." Lareth slightly smiled before asking the most important question... "Did you offer a place in Sona's peerage to the inventor?"

Sarael preened. "Of course, I did!" He exclaimed, his eyes twinkling as he paused in his speech...

"He refused." Sarael deflated and Lareth instantly created an ice spike next to her and hurled it at her husband, barely missing his head.

She didn't appreciate him using his word plays and mind-fuckery with her. Sometimes he had to be reminded of his limits otherwise he would forget his place.

"What did we say about playing your games with me?" She coldly asked, her eyes boring into Sarael.

"Yikes. Not to?" He unrepentantly shrugged, not bothered by the attack at all, causing Lareth to heavily sigh.

"So? Why are you leading the conversation away from the inventor?" Lareth evenly asked.

Of course, she would notice. She lived with this menace for most of her life. She knew how his mind worked inside and out.

"Secrecy clauses." Sarael pipped in and Lareth nodded in understanding.

Her lips suddenly curled in a cunning smirk "Well, that doesn't prevent you from inviting him to a family dinner, does it?"

When he heard her, Sarael's expression morphed... matching his wife perfectly.