The Seven Devils – Chapter 28

Fact was they all had loved Yuki Hoshi of the Kingdom Yamato once, not simply as someone who was dear to them, but as a woman they were willing to give their hearts, souls, and lives to. But, of course, Yuki’s own heart was taken by that narcissistic Prince Philip McFarland of the McFarland Kingdom. Before any of them could confess their love for her, she was announced engaged to the bastard. Then again, none of the seven lords had been confident in the fact that she’d ever return their love, due to numerous reasons. Aside from the fact that the seven lords had never gotten along until two thousand years ago, their physical appearances back then were anything but something to be admired. Well, they were demon lords, after all, and the mere sight of their tanned, bulky bodies, two prominent horns protruding from their foreheads, sharp fangs, and demonic tails sticking out of their backsides was enough to send most running in the opposite direction. Comparing them to what appeared to be the handsome, charming Prince Philip McFarland had been like comparing a pile of dirt with a polished diamond.

Despite having their hearts broken, the seven lords continued to treat Yuki with love and care. Of course, after her marriage to Philip, she had always come running back to them when she couldn’t bear the man’s overwhelming, arrogant behavior, and it’d be either Felix or Caleb who’d volunteer to beat the crap out of the prince to keep him in line.

When Yuki had sacrificed herself for the greater good, Philip had blamed the seven lords for using her as a pawn to gain world dominance, which was bullshit. Without the seven demon lords’ dark qi, along with King Aslan McTavish of the Forbidden Forest and Prince Maximus Kavanagh of Lyria, combined with the pure qi from the nine Great Ones, Yuki being one of them, who had volunteered to sacrifice themselves, Aurora Realm would have disappeared into nothing but dust and gas, floating in the cosmos. But, of course, Philip had refused to believe that their world was ending, despite the realm was breaking, collapsing, and exploding, killing hundreds and thousands of creatures right before their eyes. Now, what remained of the Aurora Realm was only one-fourth of its original size.

Ethan said from the screen, “Okay, let’s stop talking about ancient topics and that bastard Philip.”

The other six lords nodded in agreement. After all, discussions about Prince Philip always left a bad taste in their mouths.

Victor asked, “How are Aria and Brenna doing?”

Noah said, “They seem fine. They’ve been attending their therapy, as suggested, since arriving a week ago. Aria is strong mentally so there’s no sign of trauma, though Brenna is young and has never gone through something like that before. She’s still a little shocked from the experience.” He sighed and rubbed his temple. “It’s my fault. I asked her to join the team on the mission because I wanted her to gather the black widow herbs.”

Aaron said, “But she seems fine to me, especially when she’s with Alfie.”

Noah raised his head and look at Aaron. “Alfie? Oh, the boy with pure qi Felix and Caleb found in the woods? I have yet to meet him.”

From the screen, Victor asked, “Who’s Alfie? That name is not in the report.”

Everyone turned to Aaron, who was responsible for that particular task. Well, more specifically, he was responsible for dictating which part of the campaign was considered important and needed to be reported.

Aaron said logically, “Hey, I directed my staff to report the most important episodes, didn’t I?”

Caleb said, his hands folded across his chest, “And the fact that Philip tried to get his hands on Alfie, who has pure qi, isn’t important?”

With a deep sigh, Ethan said, “We’re back to bastard Philip again, I see.”

Felix said, “The bastard did seem to work very hard on it, going so far as to risk his own life going head-on against Caleb and me, which I must admit is rather unusual for him. He’s generally the first to bolt the moment he sees trouble. Why would he want Alfie, who has such a weak qi, that much? It’s rather suspicious to me.”

“Oh?” Noah pushed his glasses up the bridge of his masked nose. “Could he be up to something?” He clasped his hands together. “Right, that means I must meet this boy Alfie immediately. I need to study him and his qi. Hmm… I must ask him many questions, too.” He sounded excited at the prospect of a new subject he could lose himself in. Thus, he hastily stood up. “I believe this is it for me, gentlemen. I have work to do.” He was about to head over to the door when Aaron got out of his seat and rushed to block the man.

“You’re going to see Alfie, aren’t you?” Aaron asked. At Noah nodding his head, the younger demon lord said, “You can’t meet him yet. He’s busy recovering.”

Noah cocked his head to one side. “So?”

“What do you mean so?” Aaron muttered. “Like I said, the boy is still recovering from the trauma of the shit that happened to him during the Bandit Suppression Campaign and doesn’t need anyone bothering him right now.”

Geoffrey couldn’t help himself at witnessing his younger brother’s unusual behavior and started chuckling. He said, “First you omitted Alfie’s name and his involvement in the Bandits Suppression Campaign’s report, and now you’re preventing Noah from meeting Alfie. Is something up, Aaron?” He cocked his head to one side. “Although, come to think of it, I haven’t seen Alfie since we arrived. I might personally go and visit him this afternoon to see how he’s settling into his new environment.”

Aaron fired a glare at his brother. “I told you he’s still recovering, and he’s busy studying our language, so don’t bother him.”

Felix and Caleb, who were observing Aaron’s strange behavior, became suspicious as well. They, too, hadn’t seen Alfie since they returned to the palace a week ago, due to work. Training their soldiers, protecting the kingdom, and dealing with the nation’s affairs as part of the seven rulers of Acaedien were their top priorities, after all. Thus, visiting a boy with pure qi they had fatefully encountered and ensnared in the woods would have to wait until they had a moment to spare.

Felix said, “Let’s end the meeting here.” After all, he personally had wanted to see Alfie since yesterday morning. If they could end the meeting early, he’d have a few stolen moments to demand a few owed kisses from the youth. Technically speaking, Alfie did owe him seven kisses, including today.

Oh yes, Felix had been keeping count. Furthermore, he had thought about adding an interest rate. Seven days of missed kisses would procure an extra kiss as interest. It sounded like music to his ears. He had decided that he’d declare that newly added clause to their contract when next he saw the boy.

Geoffrey said, “Then that’s all for today, gentlemen.” He waved his right hand, and the crystal sitting in the middle of the table, which documented their meeting, blacked out, indicating it had terminated the recording. He then looked up to the screen and said, “See you two soon, then.”

Ethan and Victor nodded. Both said, “Bye now,” and then the screen turned black.

At this point, Aaron was already at the door and was trying to escape when Felix asked, “By the way, Aaron, Alfie is still staying with the girls, right? You haven’t dragged him to live in your quarters just because you proclaimed that he’s your best buddy, have you?”

Aaron chuckled nervously. He said, “Of course not. Why would I do such a thing? They wanted him in their quarters, after all, and Alfie agreed.”

“That’s good to hear, then,” Caleb said. “Because who knows what you’d be up to if Alfie were to live with you in your quarters? Especially since the boy has pure qi.”

Aaron turned around and snapped in outrage, “How rude. I like Alfie because he’s Alfie, not because he has pure qi. I have no underlying agenda whatsoever. The boy is cute, and there’s just that something about him that draws me to him.” He narrowed his eyes and continued. “Aside from that, you all should just return to your duties now. I understand that you have a shitload to do before the international conference in Wulin next month, so there. Shoo.” He waved his hand for them to leave.

Felix said, “I can spare a couple of moments to visit Alfie. It’s no problem.”

Geoffrey said with a sigh, “Unfortunately, I can’t, and Aaron is right. I have a lot to do before the conference. Now if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.” With that, he gracefully headed out the door in a swirl of white.

Caleb said, “Me, too.” Then he was gone, following Geoffrey out the door in a whirl of black.

Noah said, “Meeting Alfie will have to wait, then. I have a shitload of reports to finish before the conference. I’m sure the other leaders would want to know the latest findings regarding the Aurora Barrier.” With that, he exited the room, his beloved magic tablet—loaded with endless important data and information—clutched against his chest.

Felix said, “Well, I suppose I can visit Alfie tomorrow morning.” With the extra kisses piling up on his mind and a grin on his face, he, too, headed out the door in a swirl of black smoke.

Alone, Aaron sighed in relief. Luckily for him, the other demon lords were busy and, therefore, didn’t have a moment to spare to relentlessly interrogate and grill him further as to why he wanted to keep the adorable Alfie to himself. Of course, the youngest demon lord had no plans of sharing the boy and the secret gifts he had been receiving with the others. After all, the time he spent with Alfie was precious and the gifts were wonderful, which he admitted went straight to his heart and, yes, his stomach.

A moment later, Aaron headed out the door of the boardroom, came out into a grand foyer, and then entered the elevator. After the sensor detected his dark qi, thus confirming his identity, a row of buttons for different floors appeared on the sidewall. He pushed the first-floor button, and within a split second, he arrived, and the door dinged open.

Whistling a happy tune, he strolled out into the foyer. There two maids who worked in the area curtsied low in respect when they saw him. “My lord,” they said in unison.

“Ladies,” Aaron said, waving for them to rise.

Once he was out of their sight, the maids rose and giggled in delight.

“He spoke to us today,” one said.

The other nodded. “As usual, he’s handsome and absolutely delightful.”