"What did you say?" he cried, his voice reverberating against the wall of the study and making the furniture tremble. The pile of paper tumbled and fell down the desk, littering the ground with ink and parchment.

The informant shivered, his back trembled, and he kept his eyes focused on the ground as if it was the most interesting sight in the world. "Th-that is," the servant stuttered, unsure of the way he should word it.

"I said, 'What did you say'!" Aku repeated, his voice growing louder and the aura around his more dangerous as he zeroed his eyes on the poor Demon's head, almost glaring holes in his skull.

The Demon difficultly swallowed before he almost prostrated himself in front of the Founder. As if he was seeking forgiveness for the words he uttered. "L-Lord Shin has decimated a third of the Vibora Clan's population and military forces."

Aku heaved a sigh, he leaned into his quilted chair, rubbing his sinuses in disbelief. "For the love of—" he cut himself, straightening his spine to look at the man that still laid on the ground. "When did it happen, if we act quickly, we can still try to patch things with Burai," he said, the later part more to himself than to the servant.

The informant, as if sensing his doom coming, difficultly swallowed. "A week ago, My Lord—"

"A week ago!" Aku screamed back, hitting the desk again. At this moment, the pressure went up, and his eyes glinted dangerously. "How come I wasn't made aware of this 'a week ago'?" he asked, almost threatened.

"Th-this, we tried to contact My Lord but—"

The man was cut by the sudden pressure exerted around his neck, almost choking him to the edges of asphyxia, he desperately clung to his neck, as if to lessen the force around it.

Aku's golden eyes shone with crimson color, his usually amiable face contorted into a snarl as the force around the informant's neck grew. It lasted for some seconds until the Demon's eyes began to mist and rollback. Aku sighed, he drew his power back, and slumped in his seat. Deep down, he knew why they couldn't reach him, but he couldn't accept it.

The male Demon coughed, trying to regain his breath, he fearfully looked up to meet Aku's gaze. Seeing that the First Blood wasn't going to explode, he regained some composure.

"So, what did the Burai do?" Aku asked, looking at the informant with narrowed eyes as he racked his brains for ways to counter the Vibora Clan and prevent a possible war.

The male cleared his throat, his voice came out raspier than before, as he reported the events. "His Majesty Burai asked for an audience with his Serene Highness Giesbach, but Lord Carla intervened and directly went to the Vibora Clan a few days ago."

Aku almost heaved a sigh of relief at the mention of his eldest brother. If it was Carla, then things shouldn't escalate into war, he tried to comfort himself. "And?"

"Lord Carla brought Lord Shin with him. We presume that Lord Carla will beg the Vibora Clan for forgiveness," the informant provided. "As for the means and the length his Lordship is willing to go to, we aren't aware of them yet."

Aku licked his upper lip, carefully narrowing his eyes as his nail repeatedly hit the wooden desk surface at an irregular pace. Aku wasn't naive enough to think that an apology would seal the deal. Shin had decimated a third of the Vibora's population, any Clan would seek retaliation if they were in the Vibora's position.

He also knew his brothers best. There was no doubt in his mind that Carla would seek a peaceful way out. After all, as the one who stood at the battlefront, Carla knew the impact of war more than anyone. He was also the most aware of the Clan's situation, and with the growing tensions between Giesbach and Karlheinz, the First Blood didn't need the Vibora to add to their troubles.

Although Aku was aware that it was too late for him to do anything, and that even if he wanted to, he wouldn't reach Carla and Shin fast enough, he tasked someone to follow them a report to him periodically. Having more or less dealt with this headache-inducing problem, Aku dismissed the informant and remained alone in his study.

He deeply regretted his absence in the Clan's affair the past few months, and thinking of the reason behind his absence, he couldn't help the distaste in his heart from growing.

This damn whore.

He licked his upper lip. Either way, the pregnancy was coming to its end, with the tonics and magic supplements he fed her, the womb's magic intake had exponentially grown the past year. He would need to call for Asclepius, the Royal Physician, to perform a check-up, and prepare a room for the delivery.

There were many things that Aku hadn't expected from the Vibora incident. One was the fact that Giesbach hadn't made a move. Then again, the Founders' King merely looked for war these days and didn't show much attention in the Clan's interest. The second thing was the price Carla accepted to pay in exchange for both peace and his brother's life.

Aku brought a piece of meat to his mouth. Silently chewing on it before swallowing, he brought the wine glass closer to his lips. The red beverage glinted under the dining room's lighting, seeming almost ruby-like. He brought it to his nose, getting lost in its scent before bringing his lips closer to the glass' edge and taking a sip.

His golden eyes minutely flitted upward to glace at his older brother's cold face, and he internally sighed. Ever since coming back from the Vibora territory, both Shin and Carla had turned colder and more stoic. It wasn't much different from Carla's usual behavior, but for Shin, it was like night and day.

Aku only hoped that the change wouldn't be permanent and that with some time to ponder the events Shin would come to terms with Carla's actions and decisions. Losing his eye out of this ordeal was a major blow to Shin's self-esteem, add to it the fact that Carla supposedly lowered his head, and begged the Vibora King for clemency, the event had changed his world view in less than a second.

Aku couldn't blame him on the last one. He too, couldn't readily imagine the all-powerful Carla bowing to some Lesser Demon, even if the said Demon was one of the Demon Lords. Carla, who previously was an untouchable existence, had shamelessly lowered his head in front of adversity. No matter how much Aku idolized him, he couldn't help the budding disillusion from growing. Nor could he stop the feeling of disappointment from taking root.

"Cough, cough— Cough, cough!"

The attention was brought to the coughing Giesbach. The mighty First Blood had entered yet another coughing fit, it wasn't uncommon these days. As a matter of fact, since a few days ago, a few of the Founders had contracted a sickness similar to what Humans called a "cold."

The Tsukinami family remained silent and unaffected by the patriarch's coughing fit. Apart from Shin, perhaps, the remaining members chose to pay attention to their food and leave the matter to the servants. Even if they wanted to pay attention to Giesbach's sickness, the man would ignore them in the best cases, and the worst cases scold and punish them for useless meddling.

The coughing fit passed, and silence once again settled withing the Banmaden castle. Only the sound of cutlery hitting ceramic plates echoed.

Giesbach cleared his throat, making the other Tsukinami lend an attentive ear to his words while one of their eyes lingered on his figure. "How is Menae doing," he seemingly asked out of the blue.

Hearing her younger sister's name, Krone minutely stilled before resuming her chewing motion. She didn't know why her husband was asking about Menae, but she didn't think it was a good thing on the contrary. She shivered at the thought of her younger sister falling into Gisbach's clutches, yet she didn't utter a word and continued eating.

Shin was the one to open the 'ball.' "Aunt Menae?" he echoed with some surprise, he didn't think that his father was interested in his aunt. For one Menae wasn't all that strong, she wasn't the prettiest First Blood out there either, and he didn't have the memory of her ever speaking to his father.

Carla spared his brother a glance, seeing that Shin wouldn't add a word and that his mother didn't want to say anything, he continued. "Aunt Menae has taken her leaves from the court, and is currently retired in the Mikazuki Dukedom to rest," he provided, cleverly ignoring the flash of distaste that coursed through his father's eyes when he spoke up. "She has fallen prey to sickness not long ago but is supposedly recuperating and should be able to resume her activities in the following days."

Giesbach hummed in disinterest. It was unclear whether he was no longer concerned with Menae, or if he simply didn't want to hear Carla's voice any longer. Sensing his father's lack of involvement, Carla went back to his meal. Silence fell once again.

Aku mutely wiped his mouth before folding the silk napkin and resting it on his lap. Through his blond lashes, he peeked at Shin, admiring his remaining golden eye. It was strange, but until Shin lost one of his eyes, Aku had never found them particularly pretty. After all, his eyes were pretty similar to his brother's.

He wondered, was Shin's eye always so beautiful? Like a star in the night, it shone brightly and almost blinded him. He found it captivating, bewitching. He refrained the smile that threatened to break on his face and focused back on his plate.

If Shin's eye was so pretty after observation, then what about his mother's? Surely, Krone's ocular globe would be the most captivating of gems out there. Nothing could rival his mother in terms of aesthetics, Aku believed. Most of the Founder's eyes were gold in color, it was a trait that represented both their strong power and bloodline. Apart from the Founders, the only Demon to possess a similar pair of eyes was Karlheinz, the King of Vampires, one of the Demon Lords.

With some interest, Aku pondered. If the Founders' golden eyes were the epitome of beauty, then how would the other species' eyes compare? He was suddenly highly interested.

What of the Vibora Clan's signature green eyes? Would they look like jade or emerald? Did they shine into the night the way they did when a Vibora stared you down into darkness? Did the Adler Clan's eyes keep the distinctive cross of there pupils or did it recede back to a simple slit once plucked out? He almost shivered at the thought of the ice-cold silver eyes of the Wolves Clan. There was so much to explore, so much to collect.

The Vibora, Adler, and Wolves Clan were merely a fraction of the Demon population.

At once, he stilled. Demon World, of course, there also existed the world of the living. The Human World. A sick grin crept up Aku's lips, he excitedly licked his upper lip. Oh my, how exciting! He barely refrained himself from shuddering as he kept a napkin to his face to hide his morbid temptation.

He felt merry at once. All compassion toward his brother's loss was gone, as well as his recent worry toward the cold that slowly intoxicated his Clan. His mind was devoid of political schemes, machination, and manipulation— he even forgot the whore he was housing and the pair of bastard she was bearing.

For a fraction, he even felt envious of the Vibora King for owning his brother's eye. Oh, what he would give to be in Burai's place. What he would do to be able to admire it whenever he wanted. The thrill!

...

To be in Burai's place.

Be in Burai's place.

In Burai's place.

Burai's place.

Yes, of course, he could be. With his diplomatic skills, it wouldn't take much for him to have the Vibora King in the palm of his hands. What he needed was a chip interesting enough for the Demon Lord to voluntarily give up Shin's eye.

His thoughts wandered to Menae, thinking back on his father's inquiry. Menae was both a Founder— although one of the weakest, and the Royal Aunt. She had looks and potential. Wasn't she perfect for his plan?

Thanks for reading, until next time^^