Chapter 28: Invite

*step, step, step* Immediately after Arthur's signal, hurried steps could be heard from the other side of the monolithic object that grew ever closer with each second that passed in the broken silence until eventually, *creak* The gigantic door swung open revealing the beautiful figure of Vienna, her rosy red lips releasing a dazzling smile upon seeing the supposedly perfect visage of Arthur. However, this smile faded as soon as it came, replaced by a frown of absolute hatred.

"What happened to you, Arthur?" The mother softly spoke, hunching over the beaten boy with her busty frame. Her hands softly trailed the boy's fragmented lip caking the foreign objects in a mix of the boy's crimson bile and saliva. Not even sparing him a moment to speak his answer, she dragged the child into her gargantuan space and sat him down on her almost ornamental monster hide sofa, where she proceeded to stare at his broken body with a copied expression from Charlotte.

'Is she going to let me speak?' Arthur inwardly commented, glaring at the seemingly obsessed mother. She, in turn, matched his glare with her clouded gaze, a trail of saliva absentmindedly spilling forth from her open mouth. "Spar," Arthur matter of factly responded, his answer leaving no room for opposition.

"Yes, I could have gathered as much. What I mean is, why are you still injured? I thought that Rono was giving you potions after every spar?" Vienna quickly interjected, wiping the drool from her beautiful lips. 'That's what I'm paying him for,' The mother inwardly thought, a growing rage spilling forth from her unknowingly infatuated heart that only proceeded to expand with every second she was forced to stare at her bloodied "Mate".

"Not anymore," Arthur shakily said, his head apathetically shaking like a broken doll, his childish innocence no longer present. Arthur went to "subconsciously" touch his lip only to release a low murmured grunt while his body winced in pain, further selling the act to the already infuriated mother.

"WHAT!" Vienna screeched, her face now an almost volcanic shade of red. Her blood boiled as her bottled rage exploded in full force. "What do you mean not anymore, Arthur? He can't just stop giving you the potions that I've already paid for," The mother continued, not even bothering to hide the fact that she had been the one paying for all of Arthur's expenses since the boy's abrupt arrival in her household despite her "husband's" staunch opposition.

"Eh, but they said I'm not allowed to have them anymore?" Arthur lied as easily as he breathed.

"They?" Vienna murmured quickly, picking up on Arthur's "accidental" slip of the tongue. "Whose they, Arthur~?" The mother sweetly whispered, though her palpable bloodlust betrayed her perfect image as she stared at the child with eager anticipation, her mind already drawing a hasty yet correct conclusion as to the main perpetrators of this supposed crime.

"Mister Rono and master William, why?" Arthur continued, massaging his aching body as he dropped the bombshell of a reveal on the aggravated mother. Her anger only proceeded to flare to even greater heights. Her previously raging gaze turned murderous while Arthur could faintly observe an abnormal growth in her nails, making them look more like claws than the refined hooks they usually were. Though this change was fleeting at best, they soon returned to their usual appearance, leaving only a faint memory of the occurrence behind in Arthur's already rattled brain.

'Got them'

'That's it, I'm going to kill him!' Vienna inwardly fumed, her power unintentionally leaking from her seductive body in the form of an almost suffocating killing intent that immediately filled the spacious room. Her mind was in chaos. An insecable pool of darkness that only wished for the destruction of those that dared harm the child she had grown so fond of…even if that called for the decimation of the man she had so reluctantly labelled husband.

Still, even in this absolute void of chaos, one thing remained clear to the bloodthirsty marquis, one image, one person that remained ever present in her mind, the child that had so effortlessly snuck his way into her previously decayed heart and given it a new meaning.

'Arthur~' The mother heard a seductive giggle erupt from the well of darkness. The voice sounded familiar, too familiar for her taste. After all, she had heard that voice every day since she had formed her consciousness, whether in the form of her stray thoughts or every spoken word that flowed from the mother's cherry-red lips. It was her's. But at the same time, it wasn't. Sure the voice sounded like an exact replica of Vienna's tone, but the way it moaned, the way it whispered Arthur's name as though it was the most pleasurable activity in which it had ever partook in, it all just sounded off to the delirious marquis whose rage seemed to instantaneously cool in the face of her illusory tormentor replaced by the sole primal feeling of curiosity. She wanted to know what was going on. What this voice was? And more importantly, why it spoke that boy's name?

'What are you??' Vienna inquisitively questioned her mind shutting out the view of the beaten peasant and dragging her into the void of absolute darkness. She felt alone. She felt isolated despite still technically being in the presence of the oh-so-charming Arthur.

'Arthur~' The voice whispered once again though this time its tone had changed, no longer a sultry whisper, it spoke with a voice that dripped with absolute lust. If Vienna could work out one thing, one personality trait, if it could even be labelled as such that fit the disembodied voice, it would be its almost obsessive lust for the heroic child, a quality that weirdly upset the previously passive mother yet at the same time subconsciously resonated with her.

'Where are you???' The mother furiously asked, having already given up on trying to work out what the foreign voice was, instead simply opting to find the unknown entity. Yet, once again, her plea was met with nothing but the heated breaths of the lusty visitor, who seemingly craved the boy's every touch, every word, everything. The voice wanted it all. It wanted Arthur, and with every second spent in this infinite void, so to did that urge begin to fester in the already infatuated heart of Vienna. The parallels between her and the disembodied were uncanny and only seemed to increase the longer Vienna spent in this mind palace of endless nothingness.

Was she dreaming, or was this reality? Vienna didn't know, and strangely she didn't care. Vienna enjoyed this sense of absolute depravity that only seemed to further the more her mind lingered on the almost godly visage of her unknowingly chosen partner, the apple of her eye and the only being that kept her company in this desolate place, Arthur, his radiant smile was her sole warmth in this soul chilling expanse while his caring gaze acted as the only form of social interaction the mother could have wished for.

Vienna remained motionless, petrified in this endless abyss for what seemed like hours to the aggrieved mother until eventually, something broke that silence, or rather something other than the image Arthur appeared in this destitute environment. Peering forth from infinite darkness was a pair of eyes, pink in colour. They shone like twin diamonds, their mere presence an image so captivating that Vienna even felt her breath slip away, yet the odd pigmentation wasn't the most soul-grabbing feature of the twin orbs. Far from it, as in the centre of the eyes, in place of an iris, were hearts, hearts that seemed to enchant the mind of all who beheld them. Their image resonated in the mind of the stunned marquis for what seemed like an eternity. A strange, almost instinctual connection could be felt between the mother and the pair of pupils. They seemed to call to her, wanting to be plucked from their sockets amidst the infinite void and placed atop the mother's emerald green pair.

Vienna's body moved, wading its way through the expansive space until she eventually stopped in front of the pair of gigantic orbs. Her breathing grew heavy while images of the perfect child reappeared amidst the forefront of her mind. Every action, every step that she took closer to the love-shaped pupils felt familiar. It felt right like this is how it was always meant to be. This was something she was always meant to experience, a turning point in her life, so to say, a turning point brought forth from her connection with the dirty brown-haired boy. Her hand absentmindedly reached towards the gigantic orbs as the lust-filled voice once again began to plague her mind, though this time, the voice didn't sound as foreign, as weird as it was before. It sounded, right, as odd as that was to think about, yes, all along, it had been her voice. Vienna realised that fact now. In fact, looking back at it, the young mother couldn't help but scoff at her own stupidity. This voice, as lusty and desperate as it was, had always been her's, and sure enough, the words it had spoken may have always belonged to her, buried deep within her cold heart.

'Arthur~' Vienna inwardly said, her tone a replica of the disembodied voice as her consciousness began to stir, the darkness around her began to fade, being replaced by the orange glow of her candlelit room and, more importantly, the now strangely healed figure of Arthur whose sole image captivated her intense gaze.

Arthur had been watching the mother, staring at the seemingly dazed figure for what seemed like minutes before she finally regained consciousness. She had stopped speaking mid-way through their conversation. Her eyes had been hollow while drool seemed to absentmindedly spill forth from her dazedly opened mouth. She was like a puppet that had her strings cut, or at least that's what the cautious boy compared her to. At the time, Arthur had felt genuinely worried for the well-being of the suddenly speechless mother, his mind a typhoon of thoughts and speculations, all of which revolved around the possible mental damage towards his target, had she been poisoned, had William really fallen so low as to mentally cripple his "wife", such ailments plagued the ferociously speculative brain of the poor peasant. But now, seeing the obsessive gaze of the demoness that stood before him, Arthur couldn't help but wish for the mother to return to her previously absent state of mind.

Vienna's eyes no longer sparkled with their emerald green brilliance. No, what they reflected was a pair of twin emerald hearts, both of which seemed to drain the rationality from the already panicking boy leaving him with nothing but thoughts that solely revolved around the primal sin of lust, flecks of her previously silky long brown hair now shimmered in a brilliant golden blonde hue, her body seemed more seductive, more tantalising to the previously hormonal teen if such a thing was even possible while unknown to the boy his invisible mark began to grow, no longer a minute heart shaped engraving it now stretched towards either side of the boy's slim hips ornate swirls adding themselves to the invisible collage along with the addition of tiny wing shaped marks that remained fixed above the original marking.

'Oh shit,' Arthur dazedly remarked, his gaze fixed upon the overwhelmingly sensual figure of Charlotte's mother, though this obsession with the lady was only temporary as seconds later, Arthur felt the almost spell-binding attraction that magnetised his focus towards the buxom woman's curvaceous body dissipate and sure enough so to did the changes that influenced the mother's figure.

Though the memories or more over specific natures that relate to such a change remained in the overly excited boy's brain, Arthur wasn't an idiot, nor was he one to escape from the truth that stood so blatantly before him, every change, from the almost clawlike talons to Vienna's enchanting heart shaped pupils all correlated to one race, one bloodline, and one possible answer to the mystery that had plagued Arthur's overly curious mind ever since his arrival in this dog eat dog world.

'Vienna's a succubus!' Arthur inwardly screamed. Though he could piece together that her transformation and awakening still hadn't fully occurred, mainly because the change was only temporary but also because Vienna, even in that form, lacked many of the signature traits that could be found even among the most lacklustre of succubi. 'Does that mean I'm an incubus? It definitely means I have an incubus bloodline, right system?! I mean, how else would I share a bloodline attraction with Vienna if I don't have an incubus bloodline?' Arthur furiously screamed, his heart set ablaze by his recent discovery, though not because of the reasons one would expect.

Sure he may enjoy the idea of being a rampant sex demon, draining girl's mana reserves left, right and centre, but that wasn't the main appeal that pushed itself to the forefront of the ecstatic boy's mind. No, Arthur was happy because now he was like them, like the protagonists he so wished to be. Sure his bloodline may be generic or overused, but that didn't matter to the inwardly beaming boy. He now had someone to relate to (even if that someone was multiple fictional characters crafted up from the hormonal minds of many sex-starved teens), and just this one aspect gave the boy meaning.

However, no matter how much the boy begged for the system's affirmation, no such response came, leaving his hypothesis at just that, a theory, no matter how accurate it may be.

{+5 Love (Vienna Zeapr)}

{+1000 Affection points}

And along with Arthur's abrupt discovery came the addition of more affection points, raising the borderline single mother's love for the child slightly past the one-hundred-per cent mark. Arthur had done it. He had brought his second target past the previous limit imposed by the game, an odd accomplishment considering the fact that the mother still remained partially unaware of the true feelings she held for the boy but a grand achievement nonetheless.

Name: Vienna Zepar

Age:38

Sex: Female

Race: Human

Rank: Advanced Mage Stage 2 (Average life expectancy 750 years)

Titles: Martyr, Prodigy, Beauty of the battlefield, The teasing Marquis, … (View More)

Bloodline: ???????? ????? (Unawakened, Requirements partially fulfilled )

Charm: 10/10 The pinnacle of human beauty (Are you charmed yet?)

Talent: 9/10 Prodigious by any standard

Love: 102% (Arthur~)

Description: Arthur, Arthur, Arthur

Difficulty: A (She was forced into her marriage by her parents, play your cards right, and she's yours)

The system displayed the newly updated status of Vienna, filling in Arthur on the momentous achievement, all the while enthralling the boy with the additional question marks present in the mother's bloodline section, though as much as he wished to speculate on the true nature of Vienna's bloodline he was quickly brought out of his thoughts by the ragged breathing of the emerald-eyed woman, her gaze locked on the boy's unblemished body with eyes that closely resembled that of a predator lusting after their next meal. In contrast, her steamy breath filled the room with a tantalising aroma.

'Oh,' Arthur dumbly muttered, his body releasing an involuntary shiver of fright while his instincts screamed at him to run. In this brief moment, he indeed was prey before the ultimate predator that was Vienna, 'I need to do something about her before I end up being raped,' Arthur quickly snapped, sure he was OK with the prospect. Still, the possible repercussions of such an act…well, that Arthur wasn't comfortable with, especially when he considered who would be handing out his deserved death.

'What got her to snap out of her trance-like state last time?' Arthur hurriedly thought, reminiscing on his first lesson with the woman. The only class in which he had been able to be physically intimate with the marquis through the use of a massage, an act that was quickly banned once the mother came to, yet one Arthur still thoroughly enjoyed performing. 'Think Arthur think!' The boy inwardly screamed, his gaze locked on the steadily approaching figure of the salivating mother whose body inched closer with every second spent in silence.

'Ah, that's it,' "Vienna!" The child heartily screamed, his face a forced flushed hue. Like clockwork, Vienna's steps immediately stopped, clarity returned to her clouded eyes while her previously agape mouth slammed shut, and sense returned to her lust-driven mind. All these changes occurred simply because the boy called her by her name without any honorifics making her heart skip a beat. She enjoyed this informality. She derived pleasure from Arthur's dominant voice as he ordered her to snap back to reality, the extreme dampness that trailed down her thighs and its essence that filled the heavily breathing boy's sinuses remaining as the only indicator of her instinct-driven rampage.

"Mistress Vienna," Arthur panted, heavy relief lacing his tone as he peered at the furiously blushing mother. He didn't know it, but Vienna wasn't in a trance, nor was she driven by her poorly hidden desire towards the boy no her previous actions had been committed while the mother was entirely in control of her movements, a fact Vienna would coincidentally forget to bring up for as long as she lived.

"Huh…Yes, Arthur?" Vienna unabashedly responded, her pure shamelessness driving her conversation with the boy, though just because she was shameless didn't mean that the mother wasn't embarrassed. Her gaze refused to meet with Arthur's curious yet glittering eyes, dancing around the room in a futile attempt to avoid his stare. And that was when she saw it, sitting atop one of her many ornate tables was a diamond-laced dark wood clock, the golden hands of which pointed to a time that racked the mother's mind with despair, she was late. Vienna had been too enthralled obsessing over her unknowing "Mate" to pay heed to the time she had so carelessly let slip from her tightly grasped hands, her plans, her day, her lesson! All of it had seemingly gone up in smoke. She couldn't keep her guests waiting. Not after they had made an effort to free an hour off from their tightly packed schedule to discuss their current affairs with the marquis of Zepar city.

"Arthur," Vienna hastily called, evident panic visible in her beautiful emerald eyes that even made the usually calm Arthur worry.

"Yes"

"We're going," The mother yelled, vanishing from her place on the opposite end of the monster hide sofa and reappearing behind the stunned child. Picking him up in one fell swoop and slinging him over her fragile shoulder, Arthur couldn't even process the sudden change in Vienna's demeanour before he witnessed his environment blur, becoming a mixture of all the corridors in the Zepar estate before eventually he was met with the fresh picturesque view of one of the family's many gardens.

"Mistress Vienna, what are you doing!" Arthur couldn't help but yell. His fragile sense of masculinity having shattered into an uncountable number of pieces from Vienna's treatment of the child who she now held in a perfect princess carry.

"I'm taking you to meet some very important people, Arthur, but because of our…*cough*, but because I got distracted, we're running late," Vienna instantly responded, filling the boy in on the necessary details of this half-hearted kidnapping.

'Wait, is this…' Arthur inwardly speculated, his thoughts cutting off halfway to ask Vienna another vital question. "Is this my lesson for the day?" Arthur critically questioned an unsettling sense of dread swelling in his already weary mind.

"Yes," And with Vienna's straightforward answer, that sense of dread blossomed, though it didn't blossom into something horrific, something that would once again traumatise the only recently fixed boy.

No, that seed of dread blossomed into a flower of absolute knowledge. Vienna's response was the only affirmation Arthur needed to confirm his suspicions, his hunch on why William chose today of all today's to enforce his injustice upon both him and Rono. 'So he doesn't want me meeting with these people. I wonder why that is?' Arthur softly smiled. Sure William could be petty, but Arthur, Arthur could be a whole lot pettier. After all, you can't get to the number one spot in a game everyone in the world is playing without being backstabbed a few times, and Arthur had made sure to get his revenge on anyone that dared wrong him, no matter the time it took to do so.