DxD: The Tale of Blood

"Traitor!" Roygun spat the insult as soon as she saw Cleria sitting inside the Hall, and the atmosphere suddenly coagulated.

Aradia dangerously narrowed her eyes at the horned girl, and her Demonic Power pulsated in a threat.

Cleria too did not take kindly to the insult, and for a moment, the Belphegor felt chills run up her spine as she looked into those desolate grey eyes.

"Behave yourself, Roygun." Misla came out of the room and admonished her Queen. "She's Raizel's Fiancée." She Vapula whispered in her ear so that her guests could not hear her words.

Roygun froze at what was just revealed to her, but then she narrowed her eyes at the Belial, smirking at her.

"Lucky you," She was clearly looking for trouble but had to shut up when Raizel finally came out.

Though Cleria really wanted to ask him about what took him six hours inside Misla's Solar, she did not say anything.

All her anger, pain, and agitation vaporised when he smiled at her and walked over to grab her hand.

"We will be having lunch with Lord and Lady Vapula." He gently informed her, and she obediently nodded her head.

"Is she worthy of your affection, My Prince?" Roygun boldly questioned him, and in an instant, a terrifying suppression descended in the room.

His crimson eyes turned to look at her, and she felt like she had entered the seventh layer of Hell.

"That's not something for you to decide," He coldly told her, and the Belphegor wisely lowered her head and apologetically nodded to him, telling him that she would not make this mistake again.

Misla breathed a sigh of relief when Raizel suppressed his presence and Demonic Power.

She had not seen that coldness in his eyes before, and she never wanted to see it again, not at her, and not at her Servants.

"Let's go. Mother and Father must be waiting for us." She smiled and stepped forward, greeting Cleria and Aradia with a hug each, and then led them out of the Hall.

Lord Marius Vapula was a man of massive stature. He stood nearly eight feet tall, and had a full beard, resembling a lion's mane, which made him appear very majestic.

It was the second time Raizel had met the man. The last time was on his 10th Birthday Feast, which every Lord and Lady in the Devildom had attended.

As for Lady Helga Vapula, who belonged to the branch Family of House Vapula and was the daughter of Steward Azlan, looked very amiable and beautiful.

Both of them were a couple of thousand years old, had seen a lot, been through a lot, and today, they were genuinely smiling from the bottom of their hearts.

Raizel was respectfully greeted by the two, who did not shy away from expressing their happiness at having him with them for a meal.

The two did not express any dissatisfaction at having Cleria there either. Helga even behaved like a mother to the young Belial, who genuinely needed to feel such respect and care from someone who was not from their family.

After a sumptuous meal, Lord Vapula took them to visit their Sky Lion Farms, where they saw hundreds of giant winged Lions, one of the most beautiful creatures in existence.

They even visited the Barracks and the Forts around the Castle and met thousands of soldiers.

It was so evident that Lord Vapula held a lot of respect in the hearts of his forces, and as someone in command of one of the powerful legions in the Underworld, he was a man with a lot of friends and enemies.

Their enemies expected that the Vapula Family would suffer a great political and military setback after Misla's divorce from Lord Bael, but no such thing happened.

No Noble House made a move against them. Instead, they earned even more friends.

There were rumours that the Vapula Clan had taken refuge under the House of Darcaedes, and now seeing Raizel with him, accompanying him on the tour, these rumours seemed true.

However, when the news reached the Capital, Lilith, later in the evening, the highlights included Cleria Belial.

Though only the Noble Houses knew what happened to the Princess, and had stayed tight-lipped about the King Piece scandal other than the Official Statements by the Satan, people were wondering where she had been.

The Belial Territory on Arz, which she was in charge of, now belonged to the Gremory Family. And there was also news that she had lost all her Peerage Members, except for her Bishop, in a battle in that world.

Unaware and unbothered by all the rumours and news about them, Raizel returned to the Darcaedes Palace after sunset.

"Thank you." Cleria sincerely said to him, and he smiled at her before walking towards his Hall.

She wanted to go after him but stopped. There were some people whom she had not seen in a while, and she was terribly missing them right now.

Most importantly, she needed to apologise to someone as it was now starting to suffocate her.

Cleria sighed and then activated a Magical Circle, taking her Bishop to the Belial Palace to see her family.

A smile crossed Raizel's face when he sensed her leave, and after arriving in his room, he took off his clothes and went straight to get some much-needed sleep.

And sleep he did.

When Hilda woke him up, it was already the next day, and there was a beautiful white snake wrapped around his left arm, stopping the maid from touching him.

"Yes, Hilda?" He lazily asked and smiled at his Familiar, who nuzzled its head in his neck and then shrank in size, forming a ringed bracelet on his wrist.

"There's a Devil Council Meeting, My Prince."

"Can't you attend it?" He sighed.

"Orders from your Mother."

"Of course..." He sighed. "Please tell me you will be coming as well."

"I have to as the Head of House Crocell."

Raizel lazily got up and entered the dressing room. He returned minutes later, still wearing a scowl on his face, but dressed for the day.

"Where's Cleria?"

"She's in her room."

"Tell her to get ready. She will be coming with me."

"Yes."

When Hilda left the room, he followed her out but did not stop at Cleria's door.

He arrived in the Entrance Hall and patiently waited for them, gazing out at the lush green gardens, and the sky.

When he heard the approaching footsteps, he turned around. A smile formed on his lips when he saw how tensed the Belial was. Clearly, she had been informed by Hilda where they were headed.

He raised his hand to her, and she quickly rushed over and grabbed it.

"Relax," He gently said, and she bravely nodded to him before she took a deep breath and exhaled.

The Crocell activated the Magical Circle, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived inside another Entrance Hall, right outside the Council Room where the meeting was about to start.

There were a few people who looked their way, but he did not stay there to give them a chance to approach him.

A few nods and smiles, and they were inside the Council Room. A round ring-shaped table, in four sections, with a total of Seventy-Two seats, four of which were of the Golden colour, meant for the Four Satans, and then another four of a Purple-Gold shade, meant for the Great King Factions of Bael, Mammon, Belial, and Darcaedes. Each seat had the symbol of the House that they belonged to, and nearly half of them were already taken.

As Raizel and Cleria made their way to the seat of the House Darcaedes, they attracted the attention of all the people present in the Hall, including the four Satans.

Lord Bael narrowed his ways when they landed on the Belial Princess, but he dared not say anything.

"You don't mind standing, do you?" Raizel playfully asked her, and instantly, all her nervousness vaporised.

"Of course, not." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Good. Stay silent and stand behind me."

Cleria obediently did as asked, and Raizel smiled at everyone in the Hall before taking his seat.

"Good morning, everyone. Such a fine day to sleep in, and yet, here we are. I hope it's worth it." He mischievously said and earned several chuckles from the people present there.

Once he sat down, he picked up the file before him and started going through the main objectives of this meeting.

Suddenly, he lifted his head and looked towards Lord Amon's seat. A little girl was standing there, with trademark pink hair and pink eyes of the House Amon.

She was probably only seven or eight years old and was very adorable.

Her curious eyes were glued to him, and when he smiled at her, she smiled back and then happily skipped over to him.

Lord Amon tried to stop her, but Raizel gestured for him to not worry about it.

"Hi! I am Avi Amon." She cheerfully introduced herself, offering her hand, which he happily shook.

"Raizel Darcaedes." He gave her his name and then picked her up in his arms and sat her in his lap. "What are you doing here, Avi?"

"Papa promised to take me anywhere I wanted, and so I asked him to bring me here. But it's so boring..." She grumbled and complained, making her father feel a little embarrassed, but most of the Devils did not really care about her presence.

"I see. Well, it's not so bad and you can learn a lot of things here."

"Such as?" She curiously asked.

"Such as spotting friends and enemies, reading the mood of people, observing how the Heads of Houses interact with each other. Most importantly, you learn when to speak and when to stay quiet, especially when it comes to speaking to certain people." He gently said to her, and then offered her a chocolate that he was carrying in his pocket.

She obediently nodded to him after she threw the treat in her mouth and started looking around the table.

"Since it is the first time you have come here, and you are still learning, stay quiet and just observe when the meeting starts. Understood?"

"Yes."

"And are you brave enough to stand behind your father until the end of the meeting?"

"I am brave." She confidently nodded her head.

"We shall see if you can make it to the end. Clearia has come here for the first time as well. Let's see if you can behave as well as her."

"Oh..." Avi curious looked at the Belial Princess, and then brightly smiled at her.

Right now, her teeth were covered in chocolate, and the Princess nearly giggled at her cuteness.

"Go, the meeting is about to start. You remember what you have to do, right?"

"Yes." She nodded her head and hopped off his lap, returning to her father's side.