Chapter 226 45: Return
Raven woke up in the middle of the afternoon and felt amazing—like he'd had a full night's sleep and completely recovered.
He was alone in the bed, but the scent of several females lingered on the sheets, which were twisted around his body in such a way that it looked like they had wrapped him up and tucked him in. He laughed at the thought and stretched, then got dressed and walked downstairs to the main level.
The kitchen was quite empty as most of the staff and servants were patrolling or cleaning the castle at this time, and it looked like his knights were gone.
Juniper was still skittering above him, though, like always, that girl never left his side for too long.
*Clack*
Raven opened his phone and began to type several numbers before making a call as he walked towards the exit with a relaxed face.
"Juniper, you can spend some time with your friends at the mansion. I am going to spend the afternoon with Philis, Emily and Miriam."
"...."
She didn't respond, but her arachne legs tapped the ceiling before skittering towards her little den above his throne, seeming to be happy to meet with Delia and Dianne, who had become quite close to her in the past few months.
'I guess because one has been her friend for years and the other has a centaur body, she feels comfortable with them. Although Juniper seems to treat Miriam like her mother, which is cute.'
Thinking on it now, it's probably because of him mentioning her name that she decided to have fun; Juniper was a cute girl like that. Sometimes, as Raven left the dungeon, the normal world greeted him, the dirty scent of petrol that had a strangely addictive scent.
They were honking cars and complaining drivers trying to get to lunch reservations before their dinner hour ended. It was the life he led before becoming a manticore or meeting Lilith.
"Hello, Honey, is that you?"
A woman's soft voice sounded from the phone; if people knew the owner of this voice could be so sweet and gentle, they might be shocked.
"Lilith, I missed you. I'm coming home."
"Oh! Okay, come quickly; I've been waiting for you."
Her cheerful tone made Raven chuckle before hanging up and walking towards his spare car that was kept in the VIP parking lot just a few metres from his dungeon; it was a simple black executive car with a glossy shine and silver trims.
Most people would die to own this car, but to Raven, it was merely his low-key car and the cheapest in the mansion's garage.
Starting the engine, Raven drove off while enjoying the scenery; although he could fly back to the mansion in seconds, what's the point? There was no rush to see Lilith and Miriam again, so why not enjoy the wind against his skin as he drove?
He did a lot in the past two days and realised that although power was great.
There was nothing that compared to the women he loved, so he decided to take some time to be with them and enjoy life as a husband and father.
Recently, Emily, Nene and Philis were speaking about holding a big ceremony, which made Raven excited... But he wasn't sure whether to leave it until he saved his parents or not.
'If they want to marry, then I will. It's not like I lack women; maybe marrying some later when my parents are free won't be so bad too...'
His thoughts continued as he drove into the mansion's garage after passing the security checkpoint with a smile on his face.
Inside the garage, Lilith and Miriam were waiting while giggling and waving at him, with Philis standing behind them, wearing an apron and carrying a spatula.
It was rare for these women to be in the kitchen, so his gut was already feeling sore imagining the horrors they cooked up, ruining Mirima's delicious food.
"Honey~ welcome home."
"Darling, I missed you."
"Raven, you look even more dashing..."
Miriam's last words and her slight blush caused him to smirk; this woman was so good at getting his attention and focus.
Walking over while laughing, Raven kissed Lilith and Miriam before giving Philis a passionate kiss, causing her cheeks to blush and her eyes to lose focus.
Although he spent the life of a dread lord and hero to his knights yesterday, there was nothing better than greeting your women after a day apart.
"So, ladies, what do you plan to make me eat today? If it's terrible, I will spank all of you."
Raven asked with a laugh as he followed them inside; he enjoyed Miriam's cooking and Lilith's cakes, so whatever they made wouldn't be bad.
Philis was a different story; Raven loved her beauty, humour and lovemaking skills, but this woman was worse than Emily and Nene when it came to cooking.
Philis seemed to know Raven was thinking negatively because her expression became sour, and she pouted while following them inside.
"Raven, my cooking isn't that bad anymore; Miriam taught me a recipe for pancakes and showed me how to make batter correctly without burning the house down."
Philis proudly said while puffing her chest out. Raven remembered the disaster she made months ago and shivered in horror.
"Okay, well, let's hope it tastes nice. If not, I'll punish you by taking advantage of you tonight."
Raven teased while smacking Philis' plump buttocks, causing her to jump before blushing and running ahead, looking embarrassed.
"Let's go eat."
"Yeah, honey, we prepared lots of stuff, so let's eat first and chat later."
As they approached the dining room, Sasha and Armina joined both of them, hugging him tight and biting his neck to enjoy a quick taste of his fresh blood, which Raven enjoyed as much as they did.
lightsnοvεl.cοm "Mhmm, hubby, you smell so good."
Armina whispered with a seductive face while biting his earlobe; her actions caused Miriam to cough, Lilith to glare, Philis to pout, and Sasha to sigh.
She was shameless, but Raven liked that part of her, so he allowed her to tease him more before entering the dining room, where Emily, Nene, Delia and Dianne waited for him.
"Oh? It's almost a full house if only my little Zestria and Valeria were here." Raven muttered as they all sat down, his lap occupied by Nene while the huge group enjoyed a large lunch; it seemed that once he contacted Philis, the entire group was informed.
"Haha, Valeria is currently taking over Zestria's work as the enforcer's leader while Zestria is training with her mother," Nene replied while feeding Raven with a bright face; although it was a little embarrassing, he didn't mind playing along.
"Training? Is she planning to hunt humans or something?" Raven asked curiously; although he hadn't met Zestria in a while, he wanted to ask how she was doing.
Nene shook her head while continuing to feed him, ignoring the others, who glared at her with jealousy.
"There is a lot of danger in the world; soon, it feels like this peaceful time might end if we sit around doing nothing. We will lose everything."
Nene muttered with a serious face while staring into Raven's eyes; her gaze was deep and mysterious, showing many emotions that he couldn't understand.
"Nene, I will protect everyone. You don't need to worry." Raven confidently said while kissing her; his words caused Nene to hug him tight while smiling before returning to feeding him.
"We know; that's why we're preparing ourselves, so if something happens, we aren't sitting around and waiting for you to save us. We can fight too!"
Emily added while looking smug, her flowers and vines wrapping around Raven's hand to comfort him.
Nene stuck her tongue out in response; these two were playful rivals along with mother and daughter since they became entangled with Raven, always competing to be his favourite.
After eating, Raven returned upstairs to rest; he enjoyed spending time with everyone but needed to unwind after everything that happened recently.
He took a long hot shower before resting in the bathtub while sipping wine and relaxing in the huge living room, where the girls seemed to have arranged who would meet him, as Philis, Delia, and Dianne entered the room with his refill.
Delia walked behind Raven, massaging his shoulders and neck while Dianne fed him wine while giggling.
Despite only being one of the women he slept with for money, slowly, she was beginning to fall deeply for him and tried to build a relationship beyond just sex, and the women around Raven were helping her.
Philis simply sat on his lap, hugging his waist and rubbing her face against his chest while whispering cute things that made him chuckle.
Although Raven was strong, sometimes he enjoyed moments like this, where he could relax without anything happening.
"Darling, did you fight?" Philis asked as her soft hands stroked his chest, noticing several deep scars that were yet to heal completely.
Raven didn't notice, but it seemed the wounds from the beast lord didn't heal so easily. Perhaps it had to do with the poison used or maybe something else.
"Yeah," Raven nodded as Delia massaged his shoulders. "I fought a really strong bird."
"A bird?!" Everyone said in shock, wondering why such a thing would happen.
Philis hugged Raven harder, worried about his safety. Although she knew that he was strong, sometimes she couldn't help but worry that he might get seriously hurt someday.
"Can you not fight?" Her words were quiet, gentle like a soft breeze.
She knew it wasn't an option, but her heart felt pain seeing him like this.
Everyone stopped what they were doing upon hearing her words, looking at Raven and waiting for his answer. They, too, felt the same way, even if they didn't say it out loud.
Raven fell silent as Delia's hands slowed down, Philis hugged him tighter, and Dianne looked at him with worry in her eyes. He then let out a long sigh before kissing Philis' forehead and stroking her back.
"It is my job, Philis. I can't stop fighting."
"But I promise... I won't get hurt anymore; I will fight smarter, so you don't worry. Okay?" He added, cupping her chin and gently making her look up at him.
Philis fell silent for a moment before nodding, accepting his words and trusting him. She knew that Raven wouldn't stop fighting no matter what she said, and she didn't want to sound selfish.
She understood how dangerous his job was and knew that he couldn't stop fighting, but she still couldn't help but worry.
Philis then kissed Raven passionately before burying her head in his chest once more, while Raven's hands gently stroked the hand of Dianne and kissed the cheek of Delia because he knew they were also worried about him.
They spent the rest of the night quietly chatting and relaxing. Raven bathed with Philis while Dianne and Delia cleaned his clothes.
Afterwards, everyone cuddled together in bed before falling asleep in each other's arms, enjoying this peaceful moment that night they didn't have sex.
For some reason, it felt right to just sleep together, all three bodies warming each other, while Dianne rested her human form on his chest while the steel bars kept her horse body safe from harm.
'I feel so at ease... That I worry what horrors and challenges the future brings...'
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