Cries and grunts echoed within the deserted corridor. Aku marched to the West aisle's highest tower, the closer he got, the louder the noises got. The stench also got more powerful. He scrunched his nose in disgust, almost stopping in the middle of the alley before he resumed his pace.

The tower was located in the deepest part of the West aisle, and the number of staff and Founder allowed to set foot in it was scarce. It was a place allocated to Aku by Giesbach not long after he took his function as the head of the public relations ministry. In fact, apart from Aku and the select few he allowed in, no one dared to get too close to this part of the Banmaden castle.

He climbed the stairs with ease, preferring walking rather than teleporting— he didn't want to get there too quickly. Behind him, the royal physician, Asclepius mutely followed. The man dressed in his usual robe hadn't changed much from the time of Aku's birth. His beard was as long as it used to be, his hood hid the top of his head and almost covered his spectacles.

Soon, they reached the heavy and imposing doors. It looked more like doors to a heavily guarded prison cell than the doors to one of the royal bedchambers. The Demon that stood guard beside the door saluted, never meeting Aku's piercing gaze, he kept his eyes on the stone wall.

Aku didn't spare the man a glance. He silently inhaled and exhaled, painted an amiable smile on his face with hints of anxiety in his eyes, and pushed the doors open. What greeted him was the sight of a woman sweating and crying as she difficultly kept herself awake through the pain of childbirth.

Aku refrained himself from scoffing. Who gave her the guts to bear the children of a Founder?

Nevertheless, he adopted the attitude of a frantic male, worried for his children and beloved. "Hurry, Asclepius!" he ordered, his voice resonating in the windowless dungeon, and overpowering the woman's screeching.

The old doctor executed the orders. Following Aku's direction when they were walking to the tower, he first cast a spell for her to sleep. Silence came back in the room, Aku allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. Here he thought he would go deaf. As fast as he took the woman's hand for comfort, he threw it. He didn't care for his image as he requested someone to bring him some water, antiseptic, and a towel to wash his hands before he whanged his gloves, not forgetting to burn the previous pair to ashes.

The staff didn't utter a word, it wasn't their places to. Asclepius too ignored it. They would do a caesarian. First, because the woman was asleep. Second, it didn't matter if she was scarred or died from blood loss. Third, they needed to get the children before they gained their awareness.

Aku came back to the old doctor's side. With a wave of his hand, he cast two magic circles where the two children laid. The light of the circle was dim as if no magic coursed through it, waiting to be activated. Aku extended his hand Asclepius' way and received an elongated silver needle. With it, he pierced both newborns' hands, ignoring their pained cry, and brought the bloodied needle to his mouth.

With some disgust, he licked the silver needle clean. The magic circle glowed, the twins' cries grew louder, Aku's golden eyes glinted a crimson color. He didn't utter any word, he didn't need to with his potent magic. At once, two marks engraved themselves on the children's torso. Aku spared them a glance, he circulated his magic to test the bond's strength and turned to go out of the room.

From the shadow, Kagamine— another gift from his mother, emerged. The man bowed. "Take care of it," Aku ordered to the guard that stood outside of the room. He turned to look at Kagamine and glanced toward the half-blood. "Make them useful."

With those parting words, he walked out of the room. He didn't need to turn around to see how it went. The guard killed the woman and Kagamine brought the twins to another part of the West aisle to raise them. Aku didn't care much for Kagamine's ways of raising children. He knew he wouldn't turn the twins against him and would instead mold them into obedient pawns.

"Say, Aku," Shin called as he took a sniff at his younger brother. Both males sat in the inner garden after one of Shin's sparring sessions. "Don't you smell like those mutts these days?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Aku merely smiled and hummed in approval. There was no need to hide it if Shin asked. "Yes, I took a few in," he acknowledged. "Kagamine is in charge of their education," he explained.

Shin showed a perplexed expression. "If you wanted dogs you could have asked me, I know those best!" he boasted before snapping his fingers. Following the snap, a large wolf with a crimson coat emerged from a puff of smoke.

Aku nodded contemplatively. "It's not the same race," he denied before pausing, a grin crept up his face. "I'll take you to see them next time if you have time," he proposed, his eyes glinting a peculiar light. "You'll be surprised!"

Hearing his younger brother's words, Shin cackled. "Really? Aren't you boasting a bit too much, Aku?" he jeered as he ruffled the youngest's hair. Shin threw his head back for another laugh. He carded his hand through his curly strawberry blond locks, revealing the hidden leather eyepatch underneath. His remaining eye narrowed at the always dim sky that hung over Banmaden castle as if searching for something.

At last, seemingly defeated, he sighed.

Aku who observed him from the sidelines knew Shin was ruminating over his lost eye. Since losing it, the Founder lost accuracy. It wasn't to the point of missing his targets, but it remained annoying nonetheless. Therefore, from moonrise to moonset, the First Blood would train with the Royal guard to once again polish his skills.

Perhaps he felt his rest was enough, Shin stood up and stretched. He leaned down to pick his sword and made his way to the middle of the court. "I'll see ya later, Aku," he bade with a wave before getting into a defensive stance and ushering the guards to take place around him. At once, the royal guards attacked.

Aku stood, observing them with minute attention, before turning away from the scene and entering the Banmaden castle.

"Marriage?"

Aku gave his aunt a small comforting smile as he nodded with a compassionate look. He brought his gloveless hands to grab hers in a light grip, gently rubbing her knuckles as if to soothe her worry.

"Yes, with the Vibora Clan," he answered, his voice at lost.

The two Founders sat in a carriage with a small escort outside. Apart from Aku and his closest subordinates, the number of people aware of his move was scarce. He didn't want to worry about his father who would oppose the idea, Shin who loathed the Vibora, or Carla who most probably didn't want to squander their blood.

Menae bit her lower lip, eyes half-lidded. When she didn't speak and part of her face was hidden, she looked a lot like Krone. "Is it really the time for marriage?" she tried to understand, her voice was meek under her nephew's gaze. She wasn't dumb and knew that Aku wasn't acting with the approval of the whole Clan, but she wasn't strong enough to oppose the Third Heir of the Founders.

Aku's eyes minutely narrowed but the amiable air around him never faded. He hummed, gently tucking a strand of hair behind his aunt's ear as he weakly shook his head. "I am afraid it will be too late if we wait. We don't want Burai to retaliate against us because of Shin, do we?" he rhetorically asked, voluntarily opting to call his older brother by his name as he gazed into Menae's pools of gold.

Menae shivered, she bit her lower lip, her complaints remaining stuck in her throat at the mention of her second nephew. Although she wasn't close to Aku as he spent most of his time with Krone, she considered her two eldest nephews like her children. Hearing how Shin could suffer if she refused, she didn't know how to react.

The smile on Aku's lips deepened. He brought his aunt's hands closer to him, gently laying kisses on her knuckles before chuckling. "It's for Shin, for the Clan," he saw how she seemed to convince herself as he spoke and his smile turned sicker. "Once we have dealt with the epidemic, we will come for you, Aunt, do not worry," he comforted, bringing the woman into his embrace.

He felt Mehae tense before she relaxed. Her shoulders trembled and soon, Aku felt his shoulder get wet. He merely patted her back, whispering in her ear like a mantra that everything would be fine, that what she did was for the greater good. His golden eyes glinted, a thin veil covered his eyes, he wasn't stupid enough not to use a little bit of hypnotism on his aunt. He didn't want Menae to suddenly disagree and flee.

Aku felt satisfied with his scheme. He knew that even if Giesbach or anyone came to know, it was too late to stop him as an envoy had already reached Burai's territory long ago. At most, he would get into an argument with his brothers, but if he brought Shin's matter on the table, no one would refuse him.

The trip to the Vibora territory by carriage was a long and uncomfortable one. It lasted a week in total, and Aku deeply regretted that they couldn't use the teleportation gate in the depth of the Banmaden castle. Their arrival wasn't grand, there were no festivities. After all, the memory of Shin's massacre remained in most Vibora's mind. It already was a great fit that no one came to curse under their window the night after their arrival.

From the balcony of his room, Aku overlooked the Vibora caste's garden. As an important guest and the only family member of the bride, the Vibora Clan allocated him the best guest room. He would soon go back, probably staying a week at most to oversee the wedding and make sure Menae wouldn't do anything stupid.

Without trouble, Menae got married to Burai. The Vibora Clan had the courtesy to name her Queen and not Concubine. With the union of both Demons, Menae soon fell pregnant. Aku didn't know if it was her who was fertile or Burai, or if it was one of the Vibora Clan's ancestral rituals.

Nevertheless, with his aunt pregnant, Aku pushed his return trip back. He feared that the pregnancy would weaken the faint hypnotic spell cast on her. So he stayed, for months under the guise of diplomatic travels to stabilize the relationship with the Vibora Clan. Either way, there was no loss for him, he already got the eye that haunted his dreams.

In this fashion, Menae's pregnancy came to its term, and the world greeted the birth of a female half breed. They named her Cordelia.

Sadly, things didn't always go as planned.

For once, even in his wildest dream, Aku had never expected the epidemic that broke out through the Founders' territory to decimate his people. Neither did he think that the news of their death would come to him via Kagamine who had remained by his mother's side.

When he learned of it, it was already too late. Most of the First Blood had perished, those who hadn't weren't far from it. He wasn't sure of the details, Kagamine only knew so much. Either way, when he decided to hurry back to the Founders' territory, it was too late.

A large dome erected itself around the Banmaden castle. Sealing inside the remaining members of the Royal family to their impending death.

Thanks for reading, until next time^^