Chapter 34

"You should have some restraint. It's like you are the Incarnation of Lust... oh, wait... you are." Hestia rolled her eyes at her own words, and both Pandora and Raizel laughed at seeing how annoyed she was at them.

They had spent six months in her temple, and to be fair, her irritation was justified.

There was not a day or night where they were not indulging in each other, and for a Goddess of Chastity, they truly were her worst punishment.

"I will see you in a while," The Darcaedes Queen stepped forward and hugged her friend, and when the Goddess of Hearth smiled at her, she whispered something in her ear.

The Prince stood on the side, silently watching them converse with each other. He was curious, but not bothered, and this was why he never asked his Mother about the conversations she hid from him.

"Shall we?" Pandora walked back to him, and he bowed to Hestia right before they teleported away.

When he blinked next, they were inside the Throne Room at their Palace.

"Go, I have a few things to deal with."

"Yes, Mother." He obediently nodded and then bowed to her, and she gently cupped his cheek and kissed him on his lips.

"Rias, Sona, and Freya will not be back for another six months. They are with Albedo."

"I understand." He sighed and then smiled at her before taking his leave.

The walk down the familiar hallways was very comforting, and when he saw Hilda coming over from his section of the Castle, he brightly smiled at her.

"Master Raizel," The yellow-haired maid bowed to him, smiling.

"Good morning, Hilda. Where's everyone?"

"Only Lady Cleria and Miss Aradia are at the Palace. Everyone else has gone out. I only know that Lady Mito is with Kuroka, Shirone, and Miss Hanekawa. They are in the Gremory Territory."

"I see."

"Shall I inform them?"

"No need." He shook his head and then walked past her, heading to his private hall.

The maids along the way all bowed to him and greeted him, and his steps halted when he passed by Cleria's room.

He had been very agitated the last time before he left with his Mother, but now, his mind was a lot clearer.

Yet, he did not enter the room and continued walking towards his destination.

As soon as he entered his Private Hall, he activated the shields, and then slowly took off his coat and shoes, sending them directly to his room.

He walked into the centre of the hall, closed his eyes, and slowly unleashed his Crimson Touki.

Raizel kept gearing it up little by little every few seconds and did not stop until the shields inside the Hall started shaking.

He controlled his urge to go on a rampage and to unleash a flurry of kicks and punches to destroy the place and grinned as he felt the thrilling power coursing through his veins.

It was still nowhere close to his Demonic Power, but it was already at a level where even a lot of Ultimate-Class Devils would find themselves hard-pressed against him.

Keeping his Touki active, he slowly floated up in the air and closed his eyes. And then he leaned back, lying in the air, and decided to take a nap in that position. He wanted to test his subconscious control over this power.

The Prince did not realise how long he slept for. When he opened his eyes, it was because someone had knocked on the door of his Hall.

His Touki was still active. The shields were stable, and everything around him was perfectly fine.

Satisfied with the result, he deactivated it, touched the floor again, and then walked towards the door.

"Raizel!"

It was Moka, and she rushed right into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Hey, you stink..."

"Stop lying! And you promised you would not be gone for a long time, and you came back now. It's been six months!" She complained, and he laughed at her words. "Don't laugh!"

"Why not? Have you taken a look at yourself? You look like you received a sound beating from someone."

"Hmph! I did." She pouted, folding her arms on her chest.

Moka only behaved so carefreely when she was alone with him, and he always found it a little adorable.

"Who was it?"

"Your Mother's Pawn. The Ice Demon of Annihilation." She pouted some more.

He surprisedly looked at her.

"I never thought she would agree to train you."

"She didn't."

He raised his brow at her.

"I..." She embarrassedly lowered her head. "I challenged her..."

"Ouch." He chuckled and then failed to hold back his laughter.

Moka felt even more embarrassed and irritatedly pinched his waist. However, she received no response as it just did not seem to hurt him at all.

"Stop laughing!"

"Show me your memories. I want to see your fight..."

"Hell no!" Moka subconsciously ran away, and her instincts saved her because her Master was right behind her.

The maids in the Hallways laughed when they saw the two running around. Moka screamed for help, but no one came to her rescue, and it was because she was still wearing a grin on her lips. Besides, it was not the first time they had seen this scene.

"Master... you have gotten slow..."

Her words had not even finished when she felt him blur from behind her, and then she crashed right into his chest.

"Really?" He grinned at her, and before she could react, he pinned her against the pillar and sank his fangs into her neck, forcibly reading her memories of the battle.

Moka, though aggrieved, moaned at how comforting it felt, and her body trembled as she clutched the shirt on his waist.

A minute later, when he retracted his fangs and started linking the two puncture holes, she moaned some more and then hugged him tightly when he kissed her neck.

Soon, she was greedily kissing his lips, not caring about the maids who passed by and lowered their heads respectfully.

However, a pair of eyes stayed looking, and soon her brows furrowed.

"You..." She separated from his lips and glared in their direction, and froze when she saw who it was. "Lady Velzard."

Moka immediately separated from him and respectfully bowed to the Dragoness.

"Hello, Brother."

"Vel." He smiled at her and walked over to hug her, but she dodged his arms.

"You stink..." Moka nearly failed to hold back her giggle at Velzard's words, but the next thing she heard froze her, "... of her."

"Ouch." Raizel pretended to be hurt, but the Drgaoness ignored him and grinned at the Blood Demon, who kept her head lowered.

"Do you want me to train you, Moka?"

"No... I..."

"Come." She did not even give the girl the time to refuse, and the Prince ignored his Pawn's pleading look.

In the end, Moka threw him a glare and quickly followed Velzard, accepting her fate and not keeping her waiting.

"Don't be too hard on my Moka, Vel. She's precious to me!"

The Blood Demon cursed her Master in her heart as she knew these words were going to be of no help to her. Instead, she was now certain that the Drgaoness would make her go through a lot of pain.

"Oh, don't worry, my sweet Brother. You will get her back in one piece."

Raizel chuckled as he imagined the miserable state of dear Demoness, quite amused by what just happened, and then turned around to return to his Hall.

"Prince."

On his way back, he came across Cleria, and behind her was her green-haired Bishop, Aradia.

The two bowed to him in a greeting, and he gently smiled at them.

"Good morning. Have your Evil Pieces been returned to you?" He asked the Belial, who immediately froze at his words.

"Yes."

"Any plans on finding new members for your Peerage?" He nonchalantly asked and knew well that he was hurting her with this question.

"No. I don't wish to reform my Peerage."

"I see." He smiled and then continued walking past them. "Come."

Hearing the call, the two silently followed him into his Private Hall and stayed there as he entered his bedroom.

Minutes later, he returned, now dressed for the day, and Cleria lowered her eyes as her heart started accelerating.

"Raise your head." He ordered as he came to stand next to her, just a foot away from her.

Cleria nervously raised her eyes and met his gaze.

"Who do you belong to?"

The question froze her, and made her feel unwell, and even if she wanted to lower her head, she did not.

"You, My Lord." She answered, and her eyes turned a little misty.

"It's good that you know this." He smiled and raised his hand, reaching for her face, but moved it at the back of her head and pulled her closer to him.

Their faces were inches away from each other now, and Aradia respectfully lowered her eyes, not waiting to see what was going to happen next.

Raizel slowly lowered his head, their lips met, and a feeling of relief washed over the Belial Princess.

She grew more nervous, but this time, it was a different kind of nervousness.

Her hands reached up as they clutched the lapels of his coat, pulling him down on her, and she kissed him back, shedding a tear in the process.

"I will never let you down. I promise." She whispered as soon as their lips separated.

Six months was a long time for her to clear her mind and think things through, and she had already decided on how she wanted to live her life.

She wanted to belong to him, serve him, and make him feel proud of her. And she wanted to wash away the shame she had brought to her family.

"I hope so." He smiled at her as he traced her cheekbone with his thumb.

Raizel then stepped back and summoned his Evil Pieces, and seeing them, Aradia wisely stepped further back.

The Belial's eyes stayed on the Queen Piece as he started reciting the spell, and her heart dropped when she saw it pull back at the very last moment.

She stared at the Bishop piece that floated in the air in front of her, resonating with her, and she found it quite ironic.

"Do you have objections?"

"No, Master." She shook her head, and he smiled at her.

"Very well," said the Prince before he raised his hand, "I, Raizel Darcaedes..."