Chapter 2: Phenex Clan

"Can't you inform us first before you visit Lucias-san?"

Lord Phenex said in an irritated voice while looking at Lucias who was comfortably sitting at their sofa while the maids brought tea to their table as they talk.

"Hahaha, you do know I wouldn't do that right?"

Lucias said with a large smirk on his face as he took the tea cup placed on the table.

"*Sigh*... So why did you suddenly visited?"

Lord Phenex asked in a tired voice while massaging his temples from the stress piled up on his shoulder, adding the sudden visit of the monster in front of him.

"Can't I visit an old friend?"

"... A friend of mine wouldn't seduce my wife in front of me"

Lord Phenex said in an irritated voice while glancing at the door where both his wife and daughter were peaking at Lucias with extremely flushed faces.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Phenex?"

Lucias asked, confused about his words as he never remembered seducing anyone outside of his harem.

"... Nevermind"

Lord Phenex shook his head to the sides, trying to control himself from punching the teenage man in front of him.

"Jokes aside, I came here for another purpose"

Lucias said while crossing his legs, staring at Phenex with a serious expression on his face.

"What is it?"

Lord Phenex asked in a serious tone from seeing his expression, thinking that the situation is much more serious than he thought for this monster to worry about it.

"... I need 50 bottles of Phoenix Tears"

Lucias asked causing Lord Phenex to look at him in shock from the incredible amount of Phoenix Tears he is requesting.

"Why do you need that many?"

"... It's a gift for my daughter, Phenex"

Lucias answered with a straight face while staring directly at his eyes.

"... Daughter?"

Lord Phenex asked while looking at the boy in front of him, thinking that he is just messing around again.

"Yes, my daughters"

Lucias confirmed causing a certain girl standing behind the door to fall down on the ground, running away in tears from what he revealed.

"... How old are you?"

Lord Phenex asked after a long silence with a weird expression on his face.

"18, Why?"

Lucias honestly answered causing Lord Phenex to stare at him with a frown.

"How old are your daughters?"

"My oldest is about to turn 7 this year, and my youngest just turned 6"

"... You... has a child when you're 11?"

Lord Phenex asked, staring at him weirdly while holding his tea cup with trembling fingers.

"What's wrong with that?"

"... A lot of things is wrong Lucias... How old is the mother of your child anyway?"

"Uh... Both of them are above 100, I guess?"

Lucias honestly answered causing Lord Phenex to spray the tea in his mouth towards Lucias who was casually drinking his tea.

"I must've heard it wrong, tell me how old are they again?"

"... Above 100"

"... You need to... stay away from my wife from now on"

Timeskip

"What in the world is wrong with him?"

Lucias asked himself as he walked through the long corridors of the Phenex Clan mansion.

"Do I look like a person that seduces every girl around him?"

Lucias muttered before arriving in front of the room of Riser, the main reason why he decided to visit the Phenex Clan mansion in the middle of the night.

"Riser, I'm coming in"

Lucias said without asking for his permission before opening the door of the room causing Riser to jolt in surprise from his bold actions.

"What are you doing at Riser's room, Lucias-sama?"

"How respectful... That is very unlike you, Riser"

Lucias says in a calm voice before entering his room and sitting down on the large and soft bed in the middle of his room.

"Riser respect those who deserves them"

Riser said like it's an undeniable fact as he stood in front of him inside his own room.

"... You seemed stress, Riser, care to tell me about your problems?"

"So it was obvious, huh?"

Riser sighed as he scratched his head in annoyance from remembering his own fiancée arranged to him by his parents.

"Is it related to your fiancée, Rias Gremory?"

Lucias asked with a large grin on his face while casually sitting at his large bed.

"... You're as sharp as ever, but yes it involves Riser's Fiancée"

Riser said as he sat down on the bed next to him with an irritated expression on his face.

"Riser can't believe she just ran away from her family just because she was engaged to Riser. It's a big disgrace to the name of both Riser's and that girl's family... Riser is having a hard time trying to fix the rumours roaming around the underworld because of her actions"

Riser revealed while clenching his fist in anger while Lucias listened to him attentively without a single change of expression on his face because he already heard a glimpse of it directly from Nia's mouth, he just wanted to hear it directly from his mouth to confirm that rumor he heard before.

"Pfft- quite a handful fiancée you have there, Riser"

Lucias chuckled at his misfortune causing Riser to awkwardly scratch his head in annoyance.

"Riser is getting tired cleaning up her mess, Riser doesn't want to think about what would happened when Riser is married to her"

"Honestly, if you dislike her, why won't you just break the engagement just like what she wanted?"

Lucias asked as she leaned on the rails of the bed to sit in a much comfortable position.

"Riser cannot for Riser's parents has worked hard to arrange Riser to marry the only princess of the Gremory. Riser must fulfill his family's will and responsibilities as the only heir of the Phenex Clan"

Riser answered with a resolution written in his eyes as he looked at Lucias, remembering how responsible most of his fiancées are with their duties, causing him to look at him with envy in his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that. You make it look like I just stole your harem"

Lucias laughed but awkwardly stopped when he saw the serious expression on his face.

"Didn't you?"

Riser looked at him like his an idiot for not noticing it up until now.

"Of course not, you're an idiot if you look at it that way"

Lucias smacked his head with his hand with a large grin on his face, due to his appearance their self-esteem has been downgrading ever since, so none of his brothers ever has the confidence to target any girls who laid their eyes on him even if it's just for a split second.

"All of you Phenex are overestimating my appearance far too much"

Lucias said causing Riser to look at him with a frown for underestimating his own appearance.

"Also, try and confess your love to your peerage members. I think they'll gladly accept your confession Riser. Even though the people see you using them like a tool, I know that how you treat them is far from what the rumors say"

Lucias grinned at him as he stood up from the bed, remembering how he personally took care of them when something troublesome comes up, an aspect that he really admired from Riser.

"Even though your arrogant and a pervert, I respect you because you know when and where to place such arrogance... well even though you messed up in our first meeting"

"...please don't remind Riser of that incident"

Riser shivered in fear from the merciless beating that he received from Lucias before for insulting one of his fiancées while they were in the underworld.

"If you try and insult one of my members again, I'll break every single bone in your body and make sure that they won't heal"

Riser remembered his words, as it was engraved in his heart from the terror that he felt from his presence.

"Well, I need to get home since I still have school tomorrow. I'll help you out as much as I can to break you free from this engagement"

Lucias said as he walked towards the open door of the room while waving his hand above to say goodbye to Riser.

"... You're going to Kuoh Academy?"

Riser asked out of curiosity as the picture of his little sister appeared inside of his head.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Hmm... Ravel will be transfering to your school tomorrow... so please take care of her, especially from 'them'"

Riser requested while grinning inside his head as this was a perfect chance to bring his sister Ravel closer to Lucias.

'I thought I told him before that I can read the emotions of other people'

Lucias silently chuckled while reading the window on top of his head for how predictable his thoughts are.

"Sure, I'll take care of your little sister"

Lucias assured with a smile before continuing his walk towards the door but was stopped again by Riser's Voice.

"... Riser has a question for you, Lucias-sama"

Lucias turned his head to look at him, signalling for him to continue his question.

"What do you think of Rias Gremory?"

Riser asked with a serious expression on his face while staring directly at his golden eyes.

"I have no interest in Rias Gremory. She is nothing more than a spoiled princess in my eyes, who ran away from home just because she couldn't get what she wanted"

Lucias said without turning his head, leaving Riser alone in his room before walking towards the room of a crying girl.

"... Ravel"

Lucias knocked at her door causing her to stop her cries from the other side of the door.

"What is it?"

She answered while wiping her tears from her eyes before leaning at the door of the room.

"Why are you crying?"

"... None of your business"

"Hmm..."

Lucias hummed before using teleportation inside the room, causing him to see a half naked little girl with puffy red eyes, sitting down on the floor next to the door.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"

Ravel screamed before slapping his face, which Lucias didn't dodge nor catched and just received with his face.

"H-How could you enter my room!?"

Ravel threw the pillow in her embrace at Lucias while trying to fix her clothes and cover her body.

"..."

Lucias stayed silent before pulling her in his embrace to try and calm her emotions down while caressing the back of her head with care.

'This is how I always calmed Hanna down when she's crying... Maybe it works on her too'

He though while hearing a sniff from Ravel, burying his face on his chest.

"...Is it true?"

She asked without looking up, tightly hugging his body with her petite arms.

"About what?"

"Having a daughter... Is it true?"

"...Yes, it's true"

Lucias answered honestly causing Ravel to tightly clench his shirt from the pain that she felt from hearing his words.

"..."

"Ravel, you're pretty cute and I'm sure that you'll find someone else that will love you"

Lucias comforted while patting her head with a gentle smile on his face.

"... I won't give up"

"Eh?"

Lucias muttered in surprise from her words as she raised his head up to look at him directly in his eyes.

"I won't give up no matter what... Just give me a chance to make you love me, Lucias"

"No-"

"Please?"

"... *Sigh*... Fine, but if you aren't able to do that by one year then... there are no more second chances, I'm sure you'll find someone better"

"Yes, thank you Lucias"

"... Don't mention it, I'll go back home now so can you let go of me?"

Lucias asked while pointing at her arms around his body.

"O-Of course"

Ravel answered as she removed her arms around him as he kissed her forehead before saying goodbye.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, Ravel"

Ravel nodded her head in response while holding her forehead with a tinge of pink visible in her cheeks.

"I-I'll see you at school, Lucias"

Lucias smiled at her before creating a magic circle back to his mansion while carrying a pile of Phoenix Tears in his inventory, preparing to visit his daughter Hanna, in the realm of creation.

"... I won't give up, Lucias"

Ravel whispered while watching his figure disappear inside her room.

"She will give up, eventually" (Creator)

"Mama! Papa is here!" (Hanna)

"What are you watching, 'creator'?" (Lucias)

"... Monitoring the current state of the dimension" (Creator)