Chapter 508: Family Squabbles
Damian walked up the grand staircase with Shin following several steps behind him, the young demon’s attention constantly wandering from one part of the palace to another.
By the time they reached the fourth floor, Shin finally stopped pretending he could contain his excitement and looked around with open amazement.
"This place is huge!" Shin gasped. Damian glanced back at him and chuckled quietly, continuing up the staircase without slowing his pace.
Shin hurried after him before glancing toward Damian again. "That old demigod was your butler?" he asked curiously.
"Grand Chamberlain, child. You have lived in the Underworld much longer than myself, you should know this." Damian rolled his eyes, clearly amused by Shin’s ignorance.
"I’ve never left the estate, how am I supposed to know?" Shin kicked back, his tone carrying the careless confidence of someone who had already become comfortable enough around Damian to forget exactly who he was speaking to.
"You little devil, is that how you talk to your master?!" Damian suddenly reached toward him, and Shin immediately reacted on instinct.
The young demon performed a quick side flip, twisting his body around Damian’s reaching arm, but his maneuver carried him too close to the railing. His feet slipped over the edge, and for an instant his body dropped toward the lower floors.
Shin’s expression changed as he realized his mistake, but before gravity could claim him, purple demonic force instantly wrapped around his body and suspended him in midair.
Damian stared down at him with an unimpressed expression. "Careful now, I can’t have you hurting yourself on your very first night in the palace."
He rolled his eyes before flicking one finger. The demonic force immediately pulled Shin upward and returned him safely to Damian’s side. Shin landed on both feet, straightened his clothing and gave Damian a small, somewhat embarrassed bow.
Damian simply shook his head before continuing upward, while Shin followed quietly this time, apparently having learned at least one lesson from his near fall.
They climbed the last set of stairs and turned into a long corridor, but Damian’s expression immediately changed. Shin’s eyes widened as well, his earlier excitement disappearing beneath a mixture of confusion and surprise.
The corridor ahead was occupied. Hazel, Racheal and Ruby stood on one side, while Rah, Mary and Alice stood opposite them, their bodies positioned in front of Loth as though they were protecting her from the other three women.
Several royal guards had gathered nearby, but none dared approach. The situation had clearly escalated beyond an ordinary argument, yet the guards were caught in an impossible position because all six women possessed enough authority that intervening against any of them could easily become a political disaster. Their weapons remained sheathed, and they could only watch nervously as the confrontation continued.
"This has nothing to do with you!" Racheal snarled at Mary, her eyes filled with irritation.
Mary merely rolled her eyes, an amused smile appearing on her face. "She’s also a concubine of our Lord. It’s only natural I step in when I see her being treated as less prestige than she deserves." Her tone was almost playful, which only irritated Racheal further.
Alice nodded firmly beside her. "Don’t be foolish enough to think this is the time of Lin Qui where your family could do as they wish. If you directly go against the Prince, I have no problem striking you dead here and now!"
Buzz!
"You bitch." Ruby hissed, her expression twisting with anger.
Rah immediately stepped forward slightly, making it clear that she was not interested in allowing the argument to continue escalating.
"She’s right. Anyone who acts against our husband’s interest will be killed regardless of their positions. He has chosen to make Loth his concubine despite her low social standing. You will respect and treat her as one!" Rah’s voice was cold enough to make several nearby guards lower their eyes.
Before anyone could answer, one of the royal guards finally noticed Damian standing at the end of the corridor with Shin beside him. The guard’s expression immediately changed, and he hastily lowered himself into a deep bow.
"Your Highness," he whispered, and the sudden movement alerted everyone else. Hazel, Racheal, Ruby, Rah, Mary, Alice and Loth all turned toward Damian at once.
The moment they saw him, every trace of the argument disappeared from their faces. They quickly bowed, and the guards followed.
"Your Highness..." Everyone mumbled in a low voice.
Damian’s expression remained completely blank as he stared at the small crowd blocking his path. He did not immediately speak. His eyes moved slowly across the corridor, taking in the positions of everyone present before settling briefly on Loth.
The atmosphere became painfully tense as everyone waited for his reaction. Hasty footsteps suddenly echoed from the staircase behind them, and William hurried up the stairs before stopping beside Damian and bowing slightly.
"Let me take the young master away and show him his room. He shouldn’t witness scenes like this." William glanced toward Shin, clearly understanding that whatever Damian intended to do next was not something a young demon needed to watch.
"Yes, do that..." Damian answered in a small, empty voice before turning toward Shin.
His expression softened slightly as he looked at the young demon. "I’ll meet you tomorrow after the royal court meeting. Is that okay?" Damian gently patted Shin’s head.
Shin nodded firmly, a small smile appearing on his face. "It’s okay..." Damian smiled back, and William carefully guided Shin toward the staircase.
The young demon glanced over his shoulder several times as he followed the Grand Chamberlain, clearly curious about what was going to happen, but eventually disappeared from sight.
Damian then returned his attention to the women blocking the corridor. He strode forward without hesitation, and everyone instinctively moved aside to create a path for him. He passed through the middle of the group before stopping beside his wives.
His gaze settled on Mary first, and a small smile tugged at the edges of his lips. He then looked toward Rah and finally Alice. This time his eyes narrowed slightly, a trace of genuine confusion appearing in them.
"Thank you for taking care of Loth in my absence," he said.
The three women bowed respectfully. "We were only performing our duty to safeguard your interest," Mary replied with a smile.
Damian then shifted his gaze beyond them, toward Loth, who stood behind the three women with her head bowed. Her posture suggested that she had been trying to avoid making the confrontation worse.
Damian studied her for a moment before speaking. "Don’t worry. I’ll make sure this never happens again."
Loth’s head lifted slightly at his words, but before she could respond, Damian had already turned away.
Without hesitation, he continued down the corridor and his demonic force erupted.
Hazel, Racheal and Ruby barely had time to react before an invisible force seized their bodies and pulled them violently away from the others. Their feet left the floor as they were dragged behind Damian against their will, their expressions changing instantly from confusion to fear.
The royal guards stiffened, while Rah, Mary, Alice and Loth remained silent. Never had they seen Damian handle the three women this way. He had argued with them before, threatened them before and even displayed his anger toward their families, but this was different.
Damian continued walking until he reached his chambers, opened the door and entered. The three women were pulled inside behind him, and they were flung onto the enormous bed.
Bam!
The mattress absorbed their bodies, and Hazel, Racheal and Ruby immediately sat upright. Fear was written clearly across their expressions as they bowed their heads.
"Babe, wait, I can explain..." Racheal tried to speak, but Damian casually raised his hand, stopping her before she could continue. The door slowly shut behind them, cutting off the view of everyone outside and leaving the four of them alone inside the chamber.
Outside, however, Mary was staring at the floor.
Tiny droplets of blood had appeared across the polished surface, trailing from the corridor toward Damian’s room. Her eyes followed them carefully until she realized they were coming from beneath Damian’s robes. Her expression changed immediately. She turned toward Loth.
"How bad was he hurt in Cinderfall?"
Loth was initially taken aback by the question, but then she followed Mary’s gaze. Her eyes landed on the blood droplets, and the surprise on her face immediately changed into a deep frown.
"He was hit by a few artillery weapons and even stabbed by a bolt from a Devil Ballista," she explained. "But when I worked on his wounds it was nothing serious. I think he was forced to overexert himself when he went to Cinderfall, and that may have opened up his wound again."
Alice, Rah and Mary exchanged looks. Their faces had paled slightly at the mention of the Devil Ballista. Even so, none of them panicked completely. The person who had taken the attack was the Prince of Lust, a being whose physical resilience far exceeded that of ordinary demons. A wound that would have killed most creatures in the Underworld was not necessarily enough to threaten Damian’s life, particularly if it was treated properly.
"I’ll use my clan’s healing technique to help with his wounds after he sends those three away," Alice said firmly.
The others nodded.
"Please do," Rah replied.