Chapter 174
[Even if young Indra had not accepted the title, just having someone else of decent strength would've been enough for my lord. Perhaps…the son of Dimori might be able to take up that role and if possible, the mantle of my lord. However, the current him does not have the disposition necessary to fulfil the role of a god of destruction.]
Smiling lightly, he flew after Shiva and caught up with him.
[Whether young Dimori will be the replacement my lord desires, only time will tell.]
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|DxD|
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The sixteenth of August was a day Igor would remember as a very good day. No fights to the death. No troublesome politics. No time chamber suddenly whisking him away. Everything was normal. Everything was perfect. Well…almost.
If Baraquiel was here and not hurt, then this would've been a perfect day. But he wasn't naive enough to believe that the old man's presence would've made everything better. In fact, the opposite may have probably happened.
Lying in bed alone, the blonde temporarily put aside the old fallen's rather recent poor life choices.
[Maybe if old man Strada was here, things would've been nice. It would be funny seeing Akeno get scared again by his scars.]
But he didn't want to bother Vasco. He was pretty sure the old man was doing cleanup in the Vatican. He could only hope that he was successful. Gradually, his mind shifted to the events of today.
After returning back home with Asia, he passed the hours by subtly training his sister through playing. It had been something he'd been doing for years whenever he wasn't held up by certain reasons.
Disguising those excercises as ridiculous playful competitions, he continued to be impressed by Asia's physical capabilities.
One massive help today was Aurelia's knowledge. With her experience in mana, she was able to teach Asia about utilising her mana for more than just powering her sacred gear. She had even gone on to teach the little blonde how to fly.
Contrary to belief, the session didn't even last a full hour. For Asia who had been continuously using her mana to power her sacred gear for years, her mana reserves were deep enough that she could quickly learn how to fly using magic.
The excited smile on her face brought a smile to his own as he relieved the memory. Looking at the ceiling, he could still see Asia excitedly flying around in the skies with a bright smile on her face. She wasn't fast by any means, but her ability to adapt was praiseworthy.
[Heh~. Unlike me, she didn't fumble out and fly upside down.]
The events only spiralled upwards from there when Shuri returned with Akeno from school. To say that the little brunette was just as excited was an understatement. Unfurling her own wings, the two girls had proceeded to fly around the forest in a sort of silent competition.
With no agreed-upon finish line, the two of them had weaved through the trees in a bid to outdo the other. While Asia had become a somewhat competent flyer from a few hours of practice, she couldn't compete with Akeno's years of experience and familiarity with the forest.
Once Asia gave up, the sunset was nearing when everyone went back for dinner. With his older sister and his aunt being the chefs, the amount of food was nearly stupendous, especially the meat.
This time, dinner wasn't silent and everyone was excitable. Apart from Asia and Akeno, Shuri seemed to have gotten a huge weight off her shoulders. With her directing the flow of the conversation, the little girls excitedly contributed.
Surprisingly, even Aurelia spoke a lot more during the meal. With the conversation topic being Asia's ability to fly, she interjected with a few words of advice every once in a while.
Even Triny, though no one else could hear her, excitedly chammered. Though, her focus was more on the taste of the food. Atleast she was sensible enough not to blow out his ears.
Eventually, dinner ended and people had their showers. Igor being Igor, stated that he didn't need to shower often. His passive Kaioken did a great job at killing any germs, burning dead skin, and eliminating any other factors like bacteria that would cause him to smell bad. The only time he would need to wash himself was when his hair got too dry.
Lying in bed while everyone had flocked to the bathrooms, he sat up when he saw the door to his room open.
Dakaang~
"..."
Sometimes, Igor hated these annoying feelings he got that always temporarily clouded his thoughts ever since he 'grew'. When Aurelia walked in, she was clad in a white towel that did little to hide her natural beauty.
She was beautiful. A fact, not an opinion. But, he was her brother. Despite her being his elder, it was his job to "bring her down to earth" every once in a while.
"You sure took your time in the shower, sister. Any longer and I might've grown a beard."
Closing the door behind her, the silverette gracefully walked towards the counter, her lips slightly twitching upward as she posted a remark.
"Perhaps you were anxious for my warmth, my lord?"
"Not if you're going to fart again."
"..."
His grin grew at her silence. With her just standing there in surprise, his stifled laughter escaped.
"Pfft. What does that make it now? 51-48? Step your game up, sister. I'm already widening the lead."
"..."
Aurelia continued her walk to the counter in silence. Stopping in front of it, she looked at herself in the mirror before her gaze moved over to Igor's, the smallest of smirks on her face.
"I know you looked at my legs last night."
"..."
For what it's worth, the blonde didn't flinch.
[Maybe she's just guess-]
"To want someone as old as me, I must certainly question your fetishes, my lord."
"..."
Now, Igor had two avenues he could choose from. One, he could admit defeat and let her gain a point. Two, he could really comment on her age and deliver a comeback that may give him another point. While Aurelia would laugh it off, it would hurt her deep inside because of the insecurities he noticed on her.
Making up his mind, he decided to forfeit this little bout.
"I blame you for that, sister. You have some of the best legs I've seen."
Grinning at how she tried to hide the small smile on her face, he continued.
"I do admit though, sister. You certainly are pretty. You could stand side to side with a graduate and you'd be the younger one."
Her smile grew longer, making his own grin stretch wryly.
"Especially if you smile juuust like that."
Watching her through the mirror, their eyes met for just a brief moment before she shyly looked away. With a triumphant grin on his face, Igor inwardly praised himself
[Can't catch me offguard, sister.]
With his hands behind his head, he watched as Aurelia slowly regained her composure. With her smile now gone, she spoke with a composed voice.
"Thank you for your compliment, my lord. I believe the score is now 52-49?"
"I'll let it be 52-50 if you call me by my name."
"I-"
"When we're alone."
"..."
Properly sitting up, he could see her hesitance. With his smile falling, he was not going to let up. Not this time.
"Listen to me, sister. I get that you're trying to portray me as some sort of important figure for politics and stuff. I don't like it, but I get why you're doing it. It's helpful in the long run and stuff. But, it's just the two of us here."
Locking her gaze to his throught the mirror, he continued.
"We're alone. There's no need for you to keep up that act. Treat me like Igor, your little brother. Not Igor, the patriarch or some other fancy title you have in your head."
"..."
She held his gaze for a moment longer, her eyes wavering in front of his.
"I see…"
She wanted to deny him, but there was no hope when his eyes were firm like they were.
"Alright…Igor."
And just like that, his eyes lightened up again.
"See? That wasn't so hard, right?"
Smiling lightly at his teasing jab, she went back to focusing on herself. And it seemed the blonde wasn't going to pursue the topic. Though, he did notice that she wasn't comfortable with the conclusion. Regardless, he wouldn't question it…yet.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Aurelia slowly removed the towel covering her hair and neatly rolled it up. Gathering up her hair that had fallen over her shoulders, she slowly tied it in a bun.
Watching her now grab a bottle of lotion, Igor frowned slightly when he recognised the brand from one of the advertisements he saw in town.
"I still don't get it, sister. Why do you apply these skincare things when they're useless? Our heritage makes it so that you'll never need to waste time in front of a mirror."
The silverette looked at him through the mirror while she applied her arms with lotion.
"Because, before everything else, I am a woman. To you, this may appear useless. But to me, it is a…ritual of sorts. A necessity."
Smiling wryly, she continued.
"In the future, even Akeno-sama and Asia-sama will use these products."
His brows scrunched up as he tried to argue.
"They woul…"
However, his mind drifted back to yesterday's shopping spree. Asia, Akeno, and Lina had been far too enthusiastic about something as pointless as shopping. Whereas he would be out in fifteen minutes maximum, they stretched a simple task to biblical proportions.
Sigh…
Knowing Aurelia was right, he flopped back onto his pillow.
"Women. I'll never understand them."
He spent ten years with Aurelia and he still didn't understand some of the things she did. He figured it was best to give up at this point.
"Fufufu~."
Finding Igor's response to the inevitable future, she suppressed the urge to tease him in favour of bringing another situation to light.
"Tomorrow we must go and meet with Baraquiel-sama."
"Yes. I know. He probably should've woken up by now."
"..."
Following his words, there was a brief silence until he felt the bed covers being pulled open. Opening his eyes, he was subjected to the sight of Aurelia in her nightdress. Once again, he was briefly enraptured by her figure. She entered the bed with her face towards him, the scent of her skin clouding his nose.
Pulling the covers over them out of habit, she laid her head against his chest.
"No matter what in the Underworld, I will always be beside you…Igor."
"I know."
Nuzzling his chin on her head, he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"You made it clear way too many times for me to not know. Though…I'm curious about something, sister."
Aurelia tilted her head to look at him, her chin brushing against his chest.
"What might it be, my-Igor?"
"Heh~. That. That right there is what I want to know about. When you brought about this idea to call me your lord, you were way too adamant on it, sister."
"..."
She was silent, her thoughts whirling as she tried to-
"Aurelia. I may not share blood with you, but I have known you for a long time now. I know when you are hiding something from me. Your idea to refer to me as 'Lord Dimori' was something you discussed with me over the months before we left. In that time, you still called me by my name. It was only when we left the time chamber that you suddenly changed your way of calling me. I understand if it's in public. I don't like it, but I understand. You wish for my name to have prestige and I accept that."
He then pushed Aurelia away from him slightly, just enough that he could properly look her in the eye.
"But look at where we are, sister. We are in our room. We're completely alone. The bathroom separates us from Akeno's room and aunty's room after it. Our perception is powerful enough that we can sense if someone is watching us even in our sleep. So tell me, sister. Why is it that you insist on calling me like that all the time? It doesn't make sense to me. You're supposed to be my sister, but you seem too adamant in playing the part of my attendant."
He knew he was talking too much for his liking, but he was getting tired of this.
"Atleast when we're alone, I want to hear my name from you, sister."
It sounded whiny. It sounded pathetic. A part of him cringed at what he was doing, but it was too much.
"Hearing 'my lord' this or 'Lord Dimori' that is too much, sister. So tell me honestly. Why do you keep calling me like that? And don't tell me it's for politics. I know you better than that, sister."
"..."
Aurelia didn't have the will to meet his gaze. A part of her just wanted to dodge the question by leaving, but the firm hold on her waist proved otherwise. And it was this exact situation that had her answering unwillingly.
"The…reason."
She began silently.
"The reason I do all of this, is because we're too close, Igor."
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AN
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Things are getting hectic. Things are getting tense. Things are getting spicy.