28: Rivenna (1)

"Rivenna..."

"Heh, heh" - Altia began to shake unconsciously as she felt something inside her begin to crack - "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"What's wrong?" - Artemis asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just happy" - replied Altia as she licked her lips - "Even without his memories, he still recognized me ~"

Artemis raised an eyebrow, confused by the words of her future master, who was simply laughing madly. Again, she understood the level of obsession the former demon queen had with the ancient hero.

"Can you be quiet? We're in a library" - Mark said with a frown, though his expression changed to one of terror when he felt a dark aura surround the black-haired girl - "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"Did you say something?" - Altia asked with a huge, sadistic smile.

"N-No, I didn't say anything" - Mark replied as he ran off.

"What was that?" - Artemis asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Hmph, I don't like being interrupted when I'm dreaming" - snorted Altia with a small smile - "Anyway, we'll go see Ren soon, I'm sure he'll be happy to have more allies ~"

"I hope nothing goes wrong" - sighed Artemis as she shook her head.

* * * * *

"Are they okay?" - Rea asked as she looked at Erika and Ren, who had awakened after being attacked by a strange shadowy creature.

"Yeah, it was just a psychological attack" - answered Ren while frowning slightly - "Leaving that aside... Did anything strange happen while I was unconscious?"

"Not really, everything was as usual, although three more people joined us" - replied Eric as he explained the situation.

Ren raised an eyebrow before frowning slightly - "I see..."

"What do you think, Ren?" - Elisabeth asked as she looked at her leader.

"Honestly, I have no problem with them being here, I just expect them to follow our rules and not do anything that is morally wrong" - replied Ren as he closed his eyes - "That aside, I'd like to talk to our guests."

"Understood" - nodded Eric, although inside he was a little worried, after all, Ren had just woken up, and he already wanted to get back to work.

A few minutes later, Eric walked in alongside Mark, who quickly knelt down.

"It's a pleasure to meet the heir of eternal knowledge" - Mark said as he bowed his head.

Cloud was not surprised to hear the title linking him to his unique ability - "I am happy to see a [pilgrim], although information has reached my ears about your... actions..."

"I know, my actions have not been the best, but that woman's words have made me react" - Mark answered honestly - "I will try to make amends for my actions, that's why I wish to stay in this city to gain more knowledge."

"Are you willing to make a [truth contract]?" - Ren asked seriously.

"Yes!" - Mark exclaimed firmly.

Ren looked the mage straight in the eyes before nodding - "I understand, the contract won't be necessary, I can see the truth in your eyes."

Mark again bowed his head before thanking the monarch's kindness.

Rea and Elisabeth simply kept silent, though inside they were a bit puzzled. Was Mark not as horrible a human as they thought? Or rather, Rea's words seemed to have made him react enough to see his past actions as horrible.

"I'm sure you have a lot of doubts, but we can talk about that later, I have one more meeting on my schedule now" - Ren said calmly.

"Understood, thank you very much, your royal majesty" - Mark replied as he gave a small bow before withdrawing from the room, though not before looking fearfully at the woman who had entered.

Elisabeth and Rhea, simply looked at the two women who entered, noticing that there was something odd about the black-haired woman.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, golden dragon" - Altia said with a huge smile.

Ren tried to return the greeting when he felt a sharp pain in his head.

"Ren!" - Erika exclaimed in terror at the sight of the black-haired young man's grimace of pain.

Rea and Elisabeth shot a glance at Altia, who simply looked worriedly at the young blond.

"What was it you said to him?" - Elisabeth asked as she prepared to fight.

"What are you talking about?" - Altia asked with a frown as she cocked her head to the side, confused with the overall situation - "I just greeted him... Did I say something weird?"

Erika looked at this woman with slight hostility, which was strange because it was her first time seeing her. She felt strange, as if she unconsciously felt that she was her enemy, her greatest enemy.

"Ok, enough" - Ren said as he frowned - "I welcome you to this nameless city, as you may know, my name is Ren D. Bahamut, ruler of this place."

"My name is Altia [Magistus] Lughcaster, granddaughter of the great sage Merlin, heiress of the Lughcaster clan" - Altia replied as she made a small bow - "It is a pleasure to stand before the heir of absolute knowledge [golden dragon]"

Ren frowned as he could have sworn he had heard something different from what the black haired girl had mentioned - "Why do you call me [golden dragon]?"

Altia looked at the young prince in confusion, after all, she hadn't "said" anything about this title.

Ren looked around, and noticed how his friends and even Erika, looking at him in surprise because she had not mentioned anything about a golden dragon. He frowned as he thought carefully - "And who is your companion?"

"Oh, this is Artemis from the ghost coven" - Altia answered honestly.

"It's a pleasure to talk to the knower of truth" - Artemis added with a seductive smile, which made the girls frown slightly. It was obvious that Artemis was interested in the young prince.

Ren for his part simply shrugged, after all, he understood how seductive knowledge was for a wizard or a witch - "The pleasure is mine."

"Oh, we can fix that" - Artemis purred, only to let out a cry of pain as she felt a foot stomp - "That hurts, Altia!"

"That's your punishment for acting like a slut" - replied Altia with a frown - "Seriously, I understand that you're excited to know more about the prince and ask him many things, but now is not the time"

"Tch" - Artemis clicked her tongue before crossing her arms - "Fine, I'll hold off for now, though don't expect me to endure for long, witches aren't known for holding back."

Ren frowned slightly before nodding.

Erika felt another shiver run down her back as she walked in front of her beloved and showed these women an annoyed expression.

Altia simply ignored her, while Artemis gave her a condescending smile, though even she had to admit that this girl was beautiful, even more so than Altia, who she had considered to be the perfect woman.

"As could be expected from the woman blessed by the goddess of love and beauty" - Altia said while appreciating Erika's face - [As disgusting as I remembered, seriously, you don't know how much I hate your damned clan].

Ren frowned as he again looked around, only to notice how no one had reacted to these words, which made him think he was starting to hear things.

"Is something wrong, prince?" - Altia asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Ren was silent as he tried to match this voice with that of the granddaughter of the great sage, though no matter when he tried, these were still extremely different - "No, it's nothing."

Altia cocked her head to the side as she decided not to probe the subject any further, not noticing how the mage smiled slightly.

"I think we'd better leave" - Artemis said as she listened to the sage's granddaughter's orders.

"I understand, you can make yourselves at home" - nodded Ren with a small smile - "If you need anything, you can talk to Eric, he will inform me as soon as possible, and I will try to solve your problems."

"Thank you very much" - nodded Altia as the two women left the room.

[Soon we will be together ~]

A shiver ran down his back as he felt his heart beating a thousand beats per hour, it was a strange feeling, but Ren felt that the connection with this voice, was no less than the one he had with Erika, which was bad because he loved the priestess of the gods.

"Am I going crazy after letting Ifrit take possession of my body?" - Ren asked himself as he frowned.

* * * * *

"Did you say something to him?" - Artemis asked as she looked at her future master.

"No, but it seems that the connection between our souls is greater than I thought, and I say this because it is obvious that he can read my thoughts" - replied Altia with a huge smile - "This is perfect"

"Doesn't it make it dangerous for us?" - Artemis asked with a frown - "Your connection could cause him to discover your true identity."

"No, that's not a problem, in fact, it would make my plan to corrupt him much easier" - replied Artemis as she let out a lunatic laugh - "For him to reveal my identity will only make my colors stain Draco's pure soul faster, because discovering me means he will also discover that he is not as good as he thinks he is"