Bab 15: The "family" is becoming even bigger!
"This is Ichika Seere, she is the daughter of Himari Seere who was the personal Maid of Ingvild"
Serafall finally had a chance to talk after her father and Mother finished, behind her a was a young maid with twin style black hair and black eyes. From her features Masaru could deduce that she was of a Japanese Human, to think he would get a chance to see a true maid.
"Pleased to meet you, I am Ichika Seere, personal Maid to Ingvild Leviathan-sama. I wish to express my gratitude for fulfilling my deceased mother's life long wish"
Masaru smiled
"It's a pleasure to make your acquintance, Miss Seere. My name is Masaru Belial. Look forward to working together with you for many years to come"
Ichika smiled brightly
"Yeah!"
Serafall who saw this could not help but twitch her lips
'This.... boy! Does he not realize his smile is dangerous towards innocent girls!? It's like he can pull girls into his harem with a smile, can I really entrust So-tan to him?'
Masaru spoke for a while longer with the Sitri Head and his wife.
"Apologies but I will have to leave, I still have many things to deal with now that the results came out"
Lord Sitri said his goodbye and left together with his wife, Serafall naturally left shortly afterwards as well even if she is willful and loved her family as a Devil King she had many responsibilities.
"Shall we go meet Ingvild? It will be your first meeting her awake right?"
Masaru walk in the direction towards the Hospital,
"Ye-Yeah!"
Masaru noticed that she was nervous and could not help but chuckle.
Realziing that Masaru was laughing at her she could not help but feeling embarrassed but wanted to pout,
"No need to be nervous, although saying that will make you even more nervous so well just go with the Flow"
Ichika almost fell on the ground when she heard how he was treating her nervousness so lightly
'Please be mindful of how you speak of a girl!!!'
Is what she wished to say but she kept it in her heart since her status was that of a servant, thanks to her mother's training she took her status and responsibility seriously.
Just as Masaru was about to open the door he heard Akeno still in the middle of her sentence
".....But even so, Masaru is so unreasonable, I even seduced him but although he does respond to me I still haven't gotten a kiss yet!... I even followed my mother's advice to wear some naughty maid clothes when his grandparents and father was not home but it still failed!"
Masaru wanted to turn around and leave felt complicated due to Ichika who was both blushing and looking at him with a questionable gaze, seeing this caused his embarrassment to become even more prominent.
"To think a lady would go so far and you still won't respond?"
"ehehe... Honestly, it's not that I want to respond but it's still too soon..."
Masaru opened the door at the moment Akeno was just about to continue when the girls saw him all of them blushed since they were not sure for how long he was there because they were talking about him. Shirone skipped forward
"Welcome back Big Brother"
Masaru smiled helplessly at these girls while caressing Shirone's head.
"Well since everyone is here, this is Ichika Seere. She is Ingvild's personal maid, so treat her as a part of the family"
Akeno looked at the girl then to Masaru
"She is not a peerage member like Ingvild?"
Masaru shook his head but before he could answer Ichika felt anxious
"Ingvild-sama is in your peerage!? But I never heard anything about this?"
"Ah..."
Masaru forgot to explain this part to the girl, so he took this time to explain how he "cured" Ingvild along with the condition he gave to Serafall to protect her, but what he did not expect was
"Allow me to join as well, I can't allow Ingvild-sama to face dangers alone I have to be at her side!"
Akeno and Stephani walked in front of the girl looking at her sternly enough to make her flinch,
"We will personally test you first before you join the peerage... Ingvild was a special case but the way you are now is a no-no"
Stephani nodded
"Yes, we can't have you take advantage of Masaru's kindness otherwise you too will have to face a great trial of being close to death if his sisters catch wind of this and I will be included if I did not stop you"
"I--- But..."
Ichika wanted to say something in return but Akeno cut her off,
"You can still be at Ingvild's side all the time, it will only be on Rating Game moments you will be separated but the rest of the time will be fine... If you are serious about joining the peerage you need to readjust your loyalty, unlike Ingvild who only learnt about the Evil Pieces and how it works you already know"
Ichika said nothing and only looked towards the floor
"sis Akeno, sis Stephani that is enough"
Ingvild stopped the two from continuing, although they did it out of kindness to make the girl stop from making a rash decisions, it appears the lesson they all learnt from Stephani was a harsh one so they all agreed not to allow such a thing to happen, Ingvild truly was a special case after all.
"Are you the daughter of big sis Himari?"
Ichika nodded while crying as she walked forward, she grasps Ingvild's hand softly while slowly going on her knees
"Thank you... For waking up my lady"
"I'm sorry that I worried you...."
Ingvild naturally knew the story of her personal maid, it was sad but she felt that Himari would have been proud of her daughter who kept her promise to her even if it was only for a decade.
"I know your mother trained you to be my personal maid, but I only want you to know if there is ever a time you wish to do something else you don't have to worry about m--"
Ichika shook her head smiling warmly
"No, I am happy my mother trained me to be my lady's personal maid. You are, after all, someone she saw as her little sister. And my wish is to stand by your side as my mother did before and watch over you in her place"
Ingvild pulled Ichika with the little strength she could muster in her body, Ichika who felt her pull moved her body towards her so she will not be burdened to pull her.
"I'm glad big sis Himari managed to have such a lovely daughter like you, I'm sure she is truly proud of you as I am"
Ichika choked on her tears while nodding as she listened to Ingvild's words.
"But Ichika, I know you wanted to join the peerage to fulfil your mother's task, but like sis Akeno said you will have to put Masaru as your first priority..."
Ichika wanted to say something but Stephani who was in a similar situation was more persuasive than the others
"Ingvild is not telling you to throw away your loyalty towards her, only that you will put Masaru first... If you can't tolerate the thought of putting Ingvild in danger to save Masaru, then become strong enough to prevent it then there should be no trouble"
"That's enough"
Masaru sighed. The way how his team was gathering too fast with limited time of cooperation, getting to know each other, not to mention too short to develop loyalty. He could not allow his peerage to be short-lived, he already made up his mind that the knight he intends to get from the Vatican will be the last member he will take into his peerage for a while and from then on he will be training his peerage members while taking them out on missions to develop the stronger sense of comradie and also to change the way how Stephani was acting towards him.
What he did not know was the training the girls underwent well for Akeno, Shirone, Stephani and Angelica it already resolved most of the issues he thought off and as for Everest, it appears he will not have much trouble with her as he naturally fought her for a week.
Ingvild is a special case so he can take his time with her while she recuperates he can allow his team to form a bond with her and such.
Hearing Masaru's order the girls stopped talking about having Ichika join the peerage, but Akeno and a few others like Ingvild knew this girl will push to enter someday.
"Anyway, since the Sitri family resolved the problems regarding the people who wanted to sell Ingvild. We can finally go home"
>\/<
"Masaru..."
Diana was looking at Masaru with a slightly irritated look, they just managed to extinguished a fire in the back of his team's courtyard which was Stephani and now he brought another girl.
"Hold on!"
Masaru began to scream as Diana dragged him out on the reason being "For Training", mournful cries could be heard with explosions occurring from time to time again.
Meanwhile, Ingvild bowed towards everyone,
"Uh---Uhm... My name is Ingvild Leviathan, by fate I have become master Masaru's Queen and will endeavour to work hard towards the expectations he has of me. So please take care of me from now on"
Every word Ingvild said was from her heart but it was also advice she got from Akeno to prevent another Stephani situation,
"Pleased to meet the members of the Belial Family, I'm Ichika Seere, I'm Ingvild-sama's personal Maid"
Calfa looked at Akeno,
"Peerage member?"
Akeno shook her head, the atmosphere finally relaxed as the family had agreed that if there is another Stephani kind to appear with Masaru they will handle the situation immediately instead of trying to hope that Masaru will deal with it himself since he was simply too kind.
"Sorry for the tense atmosphere, welcome to the Belial family, I'm Dominic Belial, the current head of the Belial family and Masaru's grandfather"
"Such cute girl, but to think you would be the one to take Masaru's queen piece"
Calfa walked closer pulling Ingvild into a warm hug
"I'm Masaru's grandmother so you can call me Grandmother as well"
Ingvild began to silently tear up in Calfa's embrace, unlike the embrace with Masaru the embrace with Calfa penetrated her heart deeply since nothing can replace a mother's love
"Oh, my, there... there"
It took a few minutes for Ingvild to calm down and only then Diehauser came closer
"I'm Masaru's father, Diehauser Belial"
Ingvild who looked at Diehauser could not help but smile
"He truly is your son...."
She muttered softly which only Calfa heard.
It was only after two hours after the everyone introduced themselves to Ingvild and Ichika, but the ladies were more vigilant towards Ichika after they heard from Stephani who thought it will be better they knew beforehand.
They did not deem her as a threat but instead were already planning her trial she will face before they approve of her since she was a maid trained to be loyal to only one master made the trial she will face be several levels above Stephani's... Well, that is IF she does intend to join.
Diana came back into the room and pulled Ingvild into a hug,
"I'm happy to meet you Ingvild, I'm Masaru's adoptive mother. I don't mind if you call me Mother as well"
"Ye-Yeah Mo----Mother"
Diana spin Ingvild in circles going "Kyaa kyaa" out of excitement for gaining another adoptive daughter, in the two hours she was beating Masaru up she naturally learned about everything about this girl from Masaru including his reason for making her his queen.
From a Political view, she believes he made the smartest move and from a personal view if this girl's personality was not the way it was it would have been troublesome. The descendants of the old demon lords were sensitive topics after all, and having her in his team will grant him some influence as well.
Damian just arrived after working the fields entered the room seeing that the number of girls in the manor increased he could not help but speak out loud because of this surprising sight
"I know I told him to create a Harem team in my place but I did not think he would rush it this --- BWahhhaaaaa!"
Before he could finish his words Calfa threw her shoe into his face,
"You shut it! You old pervert!"
She dragged Damian away to lecture him.
Ingvild giggled
"Who was that?"
Diana smiled
"That is Damian, Masaru's Great Grandfather. He's frank, bold and honest. But he is truly kind above all"
Ingvild smiled
"I can understand why I could feel such a large amount of warmth and kindness when Masaru remained at my side while I was sleeping"
Diana's interest was piqued
"Oh, care to tell me more about that?"
Thus Ingvild told her tale of how she met Masaru which sounded similar to a snow-white movie, when Dominic and Diehauser heard this they turned to look at each other thinking
'From who did this boy inherent such a natural lady killing talent'
"Urg..."
Masaru limped into the room before collapsing on the couch, his body was sore. The amount of fierce beating he suffered under Diana was equivalent to a full day's training, it was torturous.
"You deserve that! For making us all worry about your future"
Masaru said nothing and only nodded, just as Diana learnt about Ingvild from him, he learnt about what they did the week he was not at home. He never realized his own actions were giving his family such a high degree of stress so he once again resolved himself only to get the knight and after he will consolidate the bond with the members than before taking any more members.
"Are you taking everyone with you to the Vatican?"
Dominic thought it was too early to leave for the Vatican if Masaru intends to take Ingvild with him even if she had a personal maid, Masaru shook his head
"No, I will only be taking Shirone and Everest with me. The rest will remain here and train"
Diana nodded
"I will personally train Akeno and Ingvild while your away"
Masaru looked at Diana sternly
"Ingvild's body is stable, however, don't push her too hard"
Diana stick her tongue out
"Naturally I won't be hard on my daughters but you're a different case"
"How unfair!"
>\/<
Because of the family's insistence, Masaru extended his stay before his flight for four days allowing them to feel satisfied, because of Ingvild's honest, timid yet extremely kind personality the family accepted her fast including the fact her loyalty to Masaru was quite high due to him protecting her despite her situation.
Ichika, however, was having the hardest time as she was continuously harassed by Shuri and Akeno who began to turn her maid uniform more naughty every other day, but she still fit in it but on the second day after their arrival she mysteriously disappeared and came back exhausted to her bones with a Refreshed Julia and Circe who felt reassured about a few things.
"Are you sure?"
Stephani felt a bit nervous about this plan but Diana smiled at her reassured,
"Go, I will make sure no one will disturb your time but be sure to tell him... Remember he is leaving for the Vatican and when he will be coming back is not confirmed"
'Although it will probably not be longer than a week, this girl sure is tough to push'
Stephani finally accepted it moving towards Masaru who was currently swinging his sword to finish up his night practice since tomorrow morning will be the day of his flight,
"Uh--Uhm... Masaru"
Masaru stopped looking towards Stephani whose attitude was completely different from how he knew her.
"Something the matter?"
Stephani shook her head
"Could we speak a bit alone?"
Masaru nodded while walking with her towards the bench where his towel and water bottle was placed, wiping the sweat away he took his seat and Stephani next to him.
"I wanted to talk to you for a while now... Ever since the day after I became your bishop"
Stephani looked at the stars,
"I always looked at the stars whenever I and my mother were relaxing outside. She was a strong mother but her kindness was the only weakness she had, we never knew why the family suddenly decided to kill me and my mother but I only remember it being a night like this looking at the stars. My father came ahead of the family to warn my mother...."
Stephani began to tell her past how she witnessed her father fight with his life on the line against his own family to protect his daughter and wife to run, how they had to move from one town to the next while even taking risks to be near other faction's territory in hopes they could use the other faction as a deterrence from their assailants.
They kept running day after day until her mother came in contact with her brother who told her that it will be safe to hide with him but never did it cross their mind that the brother was a traitor who set up a trap for them.
"My mother died while fighting her own brother to give me enough time to run away, ever since then I have been bullied by boys and men while I was running away while keeping the hatred in my heart swearing I will destroy the family who took everything from me... And then I finally met you, I really thought I was sleeping when I saw you saved me like a hero from the swordsmen who wanted to do more than just harm me.."
Stephani's tears began to flow while she was choking on it, Masaru gently caresses her back. Not saying a word as he listened to her story.
"I feared my own saviour... You were far stronger than those who bullied me... I thought you were the same as my mother's brother who is nice in the open but shady in private... I feared you that's why I thought I should cling onto Akeno-sama acting like a lesbian in hopes you might lose interest in me..."
Masaru who heard this almost wanted to scream
'Seriously!? Am I really being seen as a beast that wants to ravage girls? Never expected this one at all'
He understood this girl but he still felt perplexed if the way he acted was wrong or something.
"After staying with you and your family, I realized I mistook you for someone who you were not. I felt ashamed and had no idea how I should fix it. I could only carry on my act while thinking about how I should fix it... Well, that was until Big Sis Circe and Big sis Julia trained me"
Masaru flinched
"Ehe, I am sorry about their way of dealing with things. My family is a bit overprotective of me because of my past"
Stephani looked at Masaru thinking this boy was simply too kind, he never blamed her... even now he apologized to her while she should be the one to apologize to him.
"That's unfair... Masaru"
Masaru did not hear clearly so he tilted his head but Stephani shook her head as if it was nothing important.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
CompleteNoob
CompleteNoob 31/07/2020 - changes made
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone