Aftermath & Ghislaine POV.

{Part 1}

At night...

I finally came back on my senses and stopped my assault.

Although technically it wasn't my fault, as someone who is mentally older I felt a sense of guilt.

"Now I've done it..."

I remembered how Mom raised hell when Lilia's pregnancy was found out. I wouldn't want to do the same mistakes.

My father's blood is flowing in me, and I am proud of it. But it could also be a curse at the same time.

After done being sorry to myself, I decided to face it an move forward. I'm not a married man like that guy.

I looked on my side, and I saw the girl beside me. Her pretty face and her messy hair made her look even more erotic.

Somehow my sexual sense got confused. In the past I liked voluptuous women, but not a kid this young. Maybe my physical body is at work here? Being attracted to a girl my age, seem kinda... makes sense.

"Hm..." I noticed in the sheets, there is blood in it.

Normally I would have got angry and punch anyone in the face who dared dirty a bed I slept in, but I know better why it happened so I held myself back. I could just let the maidservants wash it.

I dressed up myself and got ready. It was already late at night, but I doubt her parents already got home since I could still hear Old Gramps Sauros laughing from the hall.

"Hey, wake up. We're out of here." I didn't wait for her to be fully awake and just dressed her up.

After that she woke up from her sleep, but it was clear she was exhausted from the earlier activity.

"It hurts..."

"Where?"

Her legs were sore and I used Healing Magic on her to eliminate the pain.

"Reinhard-sama... I'm sorry. I just wanted to pay you back. I never thought that Papa's magic water is that kind of thing..."

As a noble, parents educate their children sex education at a young age. For noble families, the worth of noblewomen is their ability to give birth on children and produce heirs. So even an innocent girl like him would at least know that kind of thing.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not mad." I reassured her.

We exited the room after I orderly and neatly arranged it. As much as I would like to clean up the blood stains in the sheets, I will let the maidservants do that.

I escorted her back to her parents. They got surprised that a Greyrat like me was close to their daughter. And she did it with me.

Apparently they knew the moment they saw us that we did it... That's Asuran nobles for you.

Her mother came at her caringly to make her rest.

His father on the other hand talked to me, "Young Master, can I ask what kind of relationship my daughter have with you?"

Looking at his poker face, I know he's plotting on setting me up with her to make connections with the Greyrats. Rumors had spread about me and Rudeus being Sauros' illegitimate child, and they're sending their daughters to us for a dance. Treating your daughters as political tool must be normal for nobles.

I'm not a prince charming or a hypocrite with a hero complex, so I just let it be.

"Her benefactor. She wanted to repay me so I indulged her request. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all! I just simply want to let the young master know, you are welcome to the Lione house."

Lione house, if I remember one of the local nobles with a land in some province of the Region.

"Alright. If you excuse me, I still have work to do."

"Of course."

I'm starving shit now. I wonder if there's still plenty of food left?

-*-*-*-

{Part 2}

6 months passed...

Rudeus had shut himself in his room. He was up to something again.

Reinhard had been going outside the City, from town to town, and when he got back he improved his swordplay once again.

They had a habit of surprising Ghislaine like that sometimes. When she first met them, she thought they were just a kid, and not at all dependable.

She thought Paul was being an over-confident, too-proud parent when he forced this kids on her.

Ghislaine owed Paul. She had no feelings for him other than a sense of obligation.

Ghislaine never thought the day would come when thinking about people from her village would make her feel triumphant. And all this, unprecedented, from a boy who would be the same age as her son if she'd had one.

Ghislaine never thought she would be able to learn reading, writing, arithmetic or receive a wand. She, the village nuisance, who had been entrusted to some wandering swordsman before she had even turned ten. She who had been turned away from adventuring parties despite becoming a Saint-tier swordswoman. When she finally managed to join one, she was continuously told by some not-too-bright, frivolous man that she had muscles for brains, so there was no point in wasting time thinking. What would those people say if she went home now? Just thinking about it brought her to the brink of a smile.

After her party disbanded, Ghislaine was swindled almost every day. The defrauding left her penniless, but the strict discipline her master instilled in her against touching the belongings of others meant she couldn't turn to thievery. She was on the brink of starvation.

That was when Sauros and Eris took her in.

Ghislaine paid Rudeus the same respect as she paid the two of them. If she went as far as calling him "master," her sword master would probably fume at her. "Don't you dare put me and that brat on the same level!" It was probably best to call him her teacher instead.

And Rudeus deserved respect for his skills as a teacher. He was truly patient when he taught her arithmetic and magic.

Ghislaine tried her best, but she wasn't good at picking up new things. She made the same mistakes over and over. Despite that, Rudeus never showed the least bit of annoyance as he carefully explained things to her. He would change his phrasing each time to help her understand better.

In the past, she thought magicians were completely useless in battle. But after seeing Rudeus fighting, Ghislaine had changed her mind. An opponent who moved swiftly while using offensive magic to restrict his opponent's movements would be a formidable enemy for any swordfighter.

On the other hand there is this monster... The one who made the biggest impression to her.

Reinhard Greyrat was another son of Paul. Although his looks very resembled Zenith, Ghislaine could sense Paul's silhouette in his charm.

As a beast folk, Ghislaine had a much sharper senses and instincts than any other person. She could gauge a person's danger levels through that instinct. And one thing she could say about him is "Dangerous".

One of the teachings of the Beast races [Wag your tails to the strong]. Of course he was not there yet, but his potential can't be measured.

The first time they exchanged blows, Ghislaine had to force herself to go all out. She used the Ultimate Technique of the Sword God Style [Longsword of Light].

The strongest, fastest, heaviest, and sharpest sword technique to ever exist in the world. And then he blocked such a blow with his feet planted firmly on the ground. If they were using real sword in that fight with the intent to kill the other party, even Ghislaine thinks she could be killed.

These duo of geniuses, Ghislaine wondered if Paul's seeds were that great. Or was it just Zenith's womb nurtured a good for nothing seed to what it was today?

Unkown to Ghislaine there was another genius coming from Paul's seed... And her name is Aisha Greyrat.

-*-*-*-

{Part 3}

Her thoughts had veered off-track. Ah, yes.

Ghislaine wondered what Rudeus was doing in that room. Unlike the Eris, who seemed overwhelmed with the free time her day off provided her, Rudeus was always sticking his fingers into something new. Most recently he came to Ghislaine's room after dinner with a book in one hand, telling her that he wanted to learn the Beast God tongue.

She wasn't sure what he planned to do with a language that was only used in a large forest village, but he spent the next six months learning it. The Beast God tongue didn't have any difficult expressions in it, so he could probably engage in a daily conversation fluently.

"Now I can go to the large forest village whenever I want," he said afterward, joy absent from his expression.

And what did he plan to do in such an isolated place? He became flustered when Ghislaine asked.

"Huh? Nothing in particular… Oh, there might be some cute girls there though. With cat ears."

That convinced her. He was definitely Paul's son and had most certainly inherited the Greyrat blood.

Her certainty came from the fact that everyone in the Greyrat household seemed to stare at her with an odd look in their eyes. If they were just ogling her because she was a woman, it wouldn't have bothered her as much. Their gazes were peculiar. Other men might look at her breasts. First her face, then pretending to look somewhere else while they ogled at her chest.

After that they would go lower, to her stomach, then her crotch, then her thighs. When they were behind her, she knew they were checking out her butt.

The Greyrat men, however, were different. At first Ghislaine thought they were the same, looking at her face and her butt. It was fine, so long as they weren't expecting anything more. Aside from Paul and his strange tastes.

But she realized their eyes focused on odd places. Not on her face, but just above it. It wasn't exactly her butt they were eyeing either. She discovered they were staring at her ears and tail. Eris, Sauros, and Philip were all the same in this. Before Ghislaine went to fetch Rudeus and Reinhard from their house, she asked, for the first time, why they kept staring at her ears.

When she did, Philip replied, not looking the least bit abashed by it, "Because the Boreas family likes beast people." He stared at her ears as he said it.

Rudeus, she was told, was a different case. While he had not inherited the noble name of Notos, he was still part of the family. "As Paul's son, I have no doubt he shares his father's fondness for women though," Philip added.

Ghislaine had little doubt about that at the time. When she actually met him, however, Rudeus was such a gentleman it was hard to believe he was Paul's son. Unlike his father, he worked extremely hard, was very serious about studying, and showed great self-control when it came to sex... Well, it might be too early to tell for that last part. But she did suspect he might not be Paul's child.

She had since revised that stance. There was no doubt about it: Rudeus Greyrat was Paul's biological son.

"So, you really are Paul's son. Can't be satisfied with women of the same race, eh?"

"I was only joking. Please don't put it like that." Rudeus said.

Lately, a sparkle had started to form in Lady Eris's eyes when she looked at Rudeus. Ghislaine may have been ignorant in the affairs of love, but even she could see it. Eris looked just like Zenith had when she began falling in love with Paul.

Rudeus had apparently begun learning the Demon God tongue lately. First the Beast God tongue, now the Demon God tongue. In the future, he seemed likely to set out on a quest to meet all the women in the world.

Paul once said something similar about traveling around the entire Central Continent so he could create a harem. He abandoned that on the Millis Continent when Zenith caught hold of him, but perhaps Rudeus had inherited that idea. Honestly, what a worthless father-son pair...

Speaking of women, there are rumors about Reinhard sleeping with the daughter of the Lionel house half a year ago.

That was the time Ghislaine was truly surprised how Asuran nobles could be so... Sexually active. They're still so young and yet, that happened.

Compared to Rudeus, Reinhard strongly inherited Paul's blood. Ghislaine totally didn't expect that a hard working and serious boy like him could do that. As far as she knew him, Reinhard's fondness of women are only below average by Greyrat standards.

"What's wrong, Ghislaine?" Eris appeared before her as she was lost in thought.

"I was thinking about Rudeus and Reinhard."

"Hmm, I understand about Reinhard... But Rudeus? how come?" Eris tilted her head, a shade of jealousy in her eyes.

Don't worry, Ghislaine thought, I'm not going to steal him from you.

"I was wondering, why is he trying to learn the language of the Demon Continent?"

"He's explained it before."

Did he? Ghislaine thought she paid attention to his lessons, but she had no idea what spurred his sudden interest in foreign languages. "What was it?"

"'It might be useful someday,' he said."

"Forget about Rudeus for now. You can think about him all you want and you won't understand him," Eris said. "More importantly, Ghislaine, if you're free, accompany me in sword practice. Reinhard is not in the City again so I want to surprise him when he gets back!"

She had really been devoting herself to the sword lately. Ghislaine wasn't sure why, but perhaps she was feeling some pressure.

Being surrounded by two geniuses, as a stubborn girl Eris hated to lose. At least she could beat Rudeus in swordplay, but there is nothing she could beat Reinhard with anything.

Unlike how Eris saw Rudeus as her person of romantic interest, Reinhard was the person she wanted to surpass. He was younger than her, and yet he was overwhelmingly stronger, smarter, though he seems rude he is well mannered.

"All right, Eris. To the courtyard."

"Okay!" She nodded enthusiastically.