Chapter 354

354 Fear of demons

Nick looked carefully at Iris and noticed she was covering her neck. The thought of her being a slave increased in his mind.

“I am sorry for this inappropriate question, but is Iris a slave?” Nick asked.

Iris was flustered. The question about her caught her off guard.

Iris thought she blended well beside Ester and Lupa. On the other hand, Lilith and Sakura were mainly in the spotlight. One because she was the daughter of Teresa and Leonis, while the other because of her race.

Vincent went beside Iris, placed his hand around her waist, and pulled her beside him.

“My wife covers her neck because she is embarrassed, that’s all. She was attacked by a horned rabbit when she was little. Fortunately, she managed to survive, but the price was a large deep scar.” He lied with a straight face.

Iris nervously nodded and fiddled with her hair. Iris knew Vincent was lying for her sake since she had to hide the retainer mark at the back of her neck.

Vincent wanted to change the subject, so he said, “Nick, did you see the little flower girls? I told you the slaves are happy living with us.”

Nick looked over to the table with Sofy and the little girls. They were smiling and giggling happily. It looked they were having more fun than them.

.....

Victor Graymoon became interested in his son’s conversation. “Nikolai, did you become friends with Vincent Lionheart? Only your friends call you Nick.”

Nick replied with a yes. Both his parents became happy to hear that their son had made a new friend. Although Vincent was older and married, a friend was still a friend.

After exchanging a few more words and mentioning Lilith’s surprising class awakening, the Graymoon family asked Vincent to visit their auction house. They offered to gift Vincent one item of rare grade or lower of his choice for free.

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Vincent and Kazumi became thrilled to see what free item they could acquire. The ability to choose any one item was like a random choice selection loot box.

The next and last table with guests remained. There were three families on this last large table: the Hawkins, the Reddawn, and the Griffionheart families.

As they approached the table, Vincent noticed Clair Reddawn was averting her gaze and sat shoulder to shoulder with her mother, Caramel Reddawn. It appeared as if she was trying to hide all of a sudden.

[Did something happen recently? Clair was talking with Melissa, but now she looks like a different person. She looks scared.]

They greeted the three noble families, and Lilith’s parents quickly asked if the reception was inadequate. Both were prepared to apologize and fix any unanticipated problems.

Caramel understood what was happening. “Melissa, could you please accompany my daughter to the restroom.” She politely asked.

Melissa looked at her mother and father. Both nodded. “Okay.” She replied with one word.

Teresa called for a maid to lead Melissa and Clair to the restroom. Soon, they left.

The three families congratulated them on the marriage as if nothing had happened. They praised the wedding, the reception, and the food. It made Lupa drool hearing about food.

“My apologies for my daughter’s rude behavior.” Caramel apologized. She took out a fan from a hidden bag of holding and looked at Sakura. “My daughter fears demons, no matter if they are salves or not.”

“Please, take one of my favorite fans as compensation for our rude behavior.” Caramel tossed the fan to Sakura. Her gaze didn’t miss a single movement. “You caught the fan. I learned a lot more about you now.”

[Is Caramel studying Sakura for information? What is she planning?]

-I feel we can know something if we wait.-

“Is it perhaps because of that incident?” Teresa asked. “If I knew it was this bad, I would have arranged a more private... ”

Caramel opened her fan, covered her mouth, and interrupted, “No need. The fault lies with me, and weakness must never be revealed.

“I saw a woman of the demon race who chose to sacrifice her future with her kind for the sake of love.” Caramel looked and Sakura and smiled behind her fan. “The expression you made as you caught my fan after I called it one of my favorite possessions, and the nervousness you displayed isn’t that of a bad or evil person. I don’t mind your presence now after analyzing all...”

Her husband, Revos Reddawn, worried his wife and daughter might cause trouble. *cough* “Dear wife, please don’t test the newlyweds. We are here to congratulate their marriage and not spoil their memorable night.” Then he stood up and apologized respectfully for his family’s behavior.

Caramel ignored her husband and decided to explain what her daughter’s reaction was all about. She explained how her age difference from her husband stems from the incident Teresa mentioned.

Caramel and Clair were on their way to visit a village under their family name many years ago. A small group of demons attacked their carriage, which meant their visit to the village was leaked and sold.

The small group of escort guards died unaware. Furthermore, the little Clair almost died that day in the hands of demons. Caramel was the only fighter left. If she died, her daughter would die as well or worse.

Caramel fought with all her skills until the last demon assassin died. However, she was baited to waste multiple times, which resulted in her aging.

Now Clair dotes on her mother and worries about her well-being so much that she awakened into a Cook Class after trying her best to cook healthy food for her mother.

Caramel explained with the fan covering from nose down, but it was easy to see the saddened expression she tried to hide in her gaze. The Cook Class was considered a commoner class. As such, her daughter would have many years possibly bullied because of her class.

It was obvious Caramel felt guilty for not giving her daughter a great future. Vincent and Kazumi felt Caramel was trying to use any information she could gather to support her daughter one way or another.

The story inspired Sakura the most. She wondered what her mother would do if she had one. Such love for their child almost brought a tear to her eyes.

Sakura opened the fan and looked at it. She smiled and said, “Lady Caramel, you’re kind and brave. To lose years of your life to save your daughter is a noble deed. Lady Clair must be proud to have you as her daughter.”

Both Sakura and Caramel praised each other for the decision they made.

“How about we change the subject?” Leonis looked at Darwin impatiently and continued, “My little angel can attend the academy now, correct?”

“Haha, sure. It will make Vincent more interested in attending the academy and joining the CQC lessons I will teach.” Biro replied.

“Ahem, I am the headmaster if my memories serve me right.” Darwin looked at Biro and frowned. He might have responded positively if he had been given a chance, but he was interrupted before thinking of a suitable reply.

“Oh, look who is back, haha. ” Biro said. He raised his glass of wine, made a small cheers gesture, and drank a full cup of wine in one gulp. “You were quiet all of a sudden. You scared most of us when you shouted the bride’s names.”

*Cough* “I misread their information after I rudely used Inspection on the brides.” Darwin averted his gaze and appeared to be a little embarrassed he was called out for his abrupt actions.

[Hehe, Darwin remembered to keep the info to himself. He should know how much trouble he will bring us if all your wives’ classes are revealed.]

“Oh, no. Are we safe?” Ester leaned her head and whispered to Vincent.

“Did the human know I was hungry?” Lupa murmured quietly and wiped her mouth.

“Will humans attack us because of me?” Iris swiftly hid behind Ester and whispered.

“I hope Marquis Darwin Griffinheart didn’t see my curse. ” Lilith whispered in her mother’s ear.

“Will I get asked to make weapons again? I wanted to make something different for once.” Sakura murmured quietly.

“No more wine for you.” Biro’s wife Helena placed the wine bottle on the other side. Watching Helena frown and Biro become sad eased the tense mood.

Darwin’s wife, Vanessa, nudged his shoulder and said, “My husband can inform the two students eligible to attend and provide all the necessary details.”

Lilith knew about the academy for the most part, but because it didn’t take much time to explain, she decided to explain later. However, hearing from the headmaster would provide more details than she could offer.

Darwin understood and said, “First of all, I regret to inform everyone that Lady Sakura Lionheart can not attend. Furthermore, every student can only bring one servant and their familiar. As such, I regret to inform you that another one of the five ladies can’t attend.”

“I will join as a beautiful white wolf familiar, hehe. Best girl Lupa, knows how to fool humans, hehe.” Lupa proudly said. Her words surprised the three noble families from the bold proposition.

Vincent approaced Sakura. He patted her back to reassure her and said, “I can’t forget my lovely wife, and so I wanted to be able to visit her every Sunday. We already accepted to communicate through letters.”

“But as for the remaining extra person, my wife Lupa can join as my familiar. She will never shapeshift in public and expose her identity.” Vincent respectfully bowed and continued, “I hope the headmaster can accept.”

Vanessa nudged her husband again. “Make a condition like you usually do, but don’t let them get separated more than they are going to be. ” She whispered.