Chapter 105: Carmila’s Test
"WHAT!?"
The women yelled, turning towards Aiden. Who would have thought that the man who had turned them submissive and always seemed in control had such a fetish!
However, Alisha was affected more because she had always wanted Aiden to call her that. How could she stomach him calling someone else that when he hadn’t even called her mommy once!
Meanwhile, Aiden was equally baffled and sighed. As for Carmila, she was unbothered by their strange expressions and took another step inside the unit, calmly assessing it.
"How can someone live in these servant quarters?" she mumbled. "Aiden, I expect you to get one of those castles on priority. This place makes me feel claustrophobic."
"...please stop talking," Aiden replied, feeling a headache coming on.
For once, he wanted the women he had claimed to get along from the get-go. First, they acted up when he paid attention to one of them. Then they acted up when they learned about Milarel.
Now, they were doing the same with Carmila. It was getting taxing. But before Aiden could do anything about it, another problem arose.
"I don’t like the way you’re looking at me," Carmila frowned, getting into Karina’s face.
Karina was a bit taken aback by her sudden boldness. Sure, she let Alisha boss her around a bit, but that was because she had accepted Alisha as her elder sister.
On the other hand, Carmila had no relation to her. Yet she acted all bossy.
Honestly, Karina was looking down at Carmila. But it was simply because she was taller than Carmila, who was 6 feet tall, while Karina was seven inches taller. It was natural that she would look down on people.
However, not one to back down, Karina crossed her arms and stared right back at Carmila.
"The feeling is mutual," Karina scoffed, waving a hand to her nose. "You don’t like how I look, and I don’t like how you smell—"
She had barely finished speaking when something strange happened. Carmila’s legs grew longer. By the time it was done, Carmila was the one looking down on Karina.
"Get back!" Karina exclaimed, shoving Alisha behind her while summoning her gauntlet.
Seeing the two were about to fight, Aiden could no longer sit back.
"That’s enough!" he yelled before smacking his head in frustration.
He was hoping he wouldn’t have to tell them about Carmila being a vampire. Even though she would never harm anyone close to Aiden, Alisha and Karina would naturally be worried about housing a vampire under the same roof.
Unfortunately, Carmila blew the lid just because Karina unknowingly did the one thing she disliked the most.
"She’s Amaela’s mother," he said as if commenting on the weather. "That’s why she introduced herself as mommy—"
"That’s not the only reason, is it, boya?" Carmila asked, shooting a smug smile at the other women. "However, I didn’t think you’d stoop so low to mate with a... mutt."
The rivalry between vampires and werewolves was a tale of the old. Karina wasn’t a true werewolf, yet she couldn’t stand Carmila’s smell and vice versa.
Aiden still remembered the werewolf fur carpet Carmila had in her bedroom, back in the Otherworld.
"Carmila, enough!"
Carmila calmly turned to look at him. For a moment, it seemed she was greatly displeased with his behavior, only to smile at him.
"Good, you passed the test," Carmila said, before reverting to her usual size and turning to the women. "I would like to apologize for involving you in my little test without your permission."
Karina was surprised because she felt Carmila wasn’t lying. Yet the hostility she showed her wasn’t a performance either. Her beast senses had clearly picked up on that.
[Host, I think you passed.]
Not now.
[...shutting down again.]
Meanwhile, Carmila, after throwing the bomb on everyone, returned to watching everything around with keen interest, leaving Aiden to clear the mess.
Only after seeing her smile did Aiden realize why she wanted to test him. Although she had seen him rule the Otherworld and the apartment, she was worried he would have gone soft after she returned.
That’s why she deliberately picked a fight with Karina. She wanted to see whose side Aiden would take, even if it was clearly her fault for escalating the situation.
If he took her side, he would fail. If he remained neutral, he would still fail. Only if he called her out would she let him pass the test.
Meanwhile, Alisha and Karina were baffled. Karina looked at Alisha. Alisha looked at Karina. Then they both looked back at Carmila, then at Aiden, then at Carmila again.
"Well... she’s a vampire. Her strangeness makes sense," Alisha said. "Besides, we know Amaela is a nice girl. Her mom can’t be worse... right?"
"Talk for yourself," Karina pouted. "I bathe regularly! How dare she say I smell? Why are you two smiling!?"
How could they not? Seconds ago, she was ready to rip Carmila’s throat, and now she was pouting like a wronged child. Perhaps staying with Lily had affected her, too.
"Good girl," Aiden said, ruffling Karina’s head, only for Alisha to pout. "...you, too."
After a quick and proper introduction, it was Lily’s nap time. Once she was asleep, Aiden asked everyone to gather in the living room, where he told Alisha about what James did and where he was now.
Naturally, he added a lot of bullshit to make it sound even worse, and Carmila’s reaction to Lily’s artefact summoning ability made Alisha and Karina believe James had committed some heinous crime, which he did... kind of.
"I... can’t believe it," Alisha sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "How could he use his own daughter like this?"
"It’s not the first time he’s done that," Aiden sighed. "He already used Lily as an excuse to get close to you. He admitted it himself. The divorce and needing a wife were all a ploy to get you."
"Shush... it’s alright now," Karina mumbled, hugging Alisha’s shoulders. "As for that asshole... I’ll kill him—"
"No need. I’ve made sure he lives a fate worse than that. I just thought you should know about it."
Aiden was sure no one would care about James anymore. But before he could rejoice, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it now?" he said, waving his hand to open the door, only to see Marcus there. "What is it?"
"Pardon my intrusion, sir," he said, looking a bit tense and confused. "But... Old Joe is here, asking to meet you."