Chapter 82: The Thoughs of a Father
Meanwhile, back in the B-Empire.
Ivan and two children were sitting around a large table in his apartment that overlooked the gloomy, yet beautiful cityscape together.
The sound of plates and cutlery delighted sounds as the two children ate the expensive beef and pork that once they could only dream about while watching the tall silver-haired dandy named Ivan who drank a small glass of brandy with his meal.
A large screen covered the opposite wall, wrapped in a gentle strip of faint light. There was an image of an arena on the screen where an extremely handsome male who looked much like the dandy old man knelt while panting.
Yet despite that, he was alive, and the black and silver aura he used to win the fight caused Ivan's eyes to shine with a proud light, his lips curled into a delighted smile.
"Uncle Ivan, is that your son?" A lovely girl asked while kicking her feet against the chair. She seemed to be in her late teens while enjoying a glass of red wine. However, she wasn't as young as she seemed.
"Ah, what do you think? Isn't he strong?"
Ivan's praise for his son ever since his fight against Sebastian became more genuine. He watched all his son's fights that were recorded and, today, even paid for the live event just to see this match. "He is the one I wanted to ask to keep you safe from those damned Silver clan idiots."
"Really?" Her eyes were like jewels, and although her hair was golden in the image since Ivan was now protecting her, she died her hair platinum silver using a special monster blood and could alternate the colour of her hair using her Celestial Aura to protect herself.
Sulley, her brother, looked a little unhappy.
However, it was because he couldn't leave with her because of his current role as Ivan's squire. Thanks to that, unlike in the past, when he could barely transform claws, now he could transform both arms and legs and would one day be able to transform into a silver clan werewolf.
Sadly, he couldn't become like Ivan and become a Volkov bloodline werewolf, yet it didn't matter to him.
'Thanks to Uncle Ivan, we were given a chance to live a wonderful life. I wish nothing more than to grow stronger and one day get revenge with my two claws.'
"Well of course, though maybe it might be better if you became close to him. That is the only way to cure your illness because his blood is special." Ivan's eyes looked at the young woman with a look of pain and discomfort.
In reality, she wasn't Sulley's sister but a member of a clan destroyed by the same enemy.
Thus, when he found her in the burning wreckage on that cold winter night, Kumiko became a turning point in his life. He abandoned the silver family and searched for a new clan or family to accept him.
'Golden fur, golden eyes and two tails. But with a blood defect that caused her body to be attacked by her bloodline.'
Ivan thought to himself, wondering if the strange blood coursing through Nikolai's body that Eliza once mentioned could help cure her.
"Are you willing to meet him, Kumiko?"
"If it helps Uncle Ivan... then I will."
"I won't force you or Sulley to do anything since your brother accepted my name. Then you are welcome to stay with me for as long as you like. Do not feel forced, Kumiko and the same goes for you, Sulley. Okay?"
"Nn!"
"Thank you, Uncle Ivan."
Ivan's eyes watched the two, and they couldn't help but smile. The reason he knew of his son's actions was a person who never accepted him in the past.
'Alphonse Veran Báthory. It seems that you intend to give the family to Nikolai, but I won't force my son to do anything he doesn't want. Though. I am grateful that you are helping him while I cannot... Father-in-law.'
He couldn't believe that after all this time that stubborn old man would not only send him a letter but also contact him via email and phone and become his second sponsor to help Ivan's recovery and goal to get revenge easier.
"Uncle?"
"Uncle Ivan, are you alright?"
"Ah... don't worry about me, you two, you can go do what you like. This is your home now; I will just rest here for a moment."
The two nodded, giving a polite bow before taking their leave. They looked back a few times, only to see the kind smile of Ivan looking back at them. A few moments later, two maids came to collect the plates and refilled Ivan's glass with his favourite brandy.
"Phew..."
'I cannot forgive what happened back then so easily, Alphonse, because you refused to help her. Elizabeth ended up shouldering everything and died young. However, I won't stop you from making amends and trying because Nikolai would want to forgive you because he is a kind boy.'
"...and Eliza wouldn't want me to hate you forever either.'
In the now lonely dining room, Ivan's fingers snapped, dimming the lights as he looked out the window.
A sudden downpour of rain started as if reflecting his heart when he thought of his late wife.
The moonlight shone into the apartment, revealing something behind him. It was a massive image of Elizabeth when she was younger, in a garden of roses and tulips her brilliant smile able to brighten even the darkest room.
"Elizabeth, did you see our son... He is growing so fast that I fear he will overtake me before I return." Ivan tipped his glass and looked towards the shining moon. "Please watch over our boy; under the same moon and sky, I can only pray to you, my lovely wife, who I still miss dearly."
With a clang of ice cubes melting together, Ivan downed the brandy in his cup and watched the rain while thinking of his late wife.
***
Meanwhile, at the Nikita household, Nagisa was reading the letters sent from Ivan with an expressionless face.
"It seems that she survived. I am glad that Rosaline is alive and well. If that woman was still alive, would she be bragging about her beauty?" Nagisa was the one secretly helping Nikolai with his troubles because her husband was only good at fighting and spending money.
'I wonder if Ivan knew she would be there, but to send that girl to Nikolai? Wouldn't the Megiru family discover her if they came closer to the Asian continent?'
In the letter, it didn't mention the girl's blood disorder because, to monsters, those born with these kinds of defects were a sin for the clan.
Normally, they would be killed the moment any faults were discovered. Although cruel and heartless to them, they couldn't afford to damage the bloodline as it would get no purer and would only degenerate.
Nagisa began to organise her letters from Ivan. Also, the money he sent for investments was done using her private company, while the money for Nikolai was invested in the projects she deemed safest and most likely to have returned.
"To think Ivan was so trusting, my husband would gamble it all away and here this man is giving most of his money to creating savings for his son and the future should anything go wrong. Ah, I hope my baby is smarter with money... As for Nikita.... well, she can just live with Nikolai and spend his money like my husband does mine!"
Normally, in families where one child takes after the father instead of the mother, it would usually cause them to grow apart.
Even after thousands of years of studying this phenomenon, it was still a mystery, but for Nagisa, she didn't suffer from this issue; even though Nikita carried almost none of her Okami bloodline in her, Nagisa loved her daughter dearly. 'That foolish girl finally managed to reach third base...'
"I want to help her, but she is so stubborn, and the only part that resembles me is how she stalked him for ten years... and the slight obsessive and violent mood swings she gets if jealous. Is that why I find her so adorable? That lovely wolf that resembles my beloved husband is now acting like me?"
Suddenly, the door opened with a light clack. Sliding it open was Nikita who looked like a neat lady for a few seconds before she noticed her mother in the centre of the room and lunged at her with arms and legs extended. "Mom! I missed you!"
'What does this cheeky girl want now?!'
"Oh, my? My lovely little ball of fur wants something from Mommy?" Nagisa couldn't remain tough or push Nikita away. Despite their different race and bloodlines, she adored her too much, even with her newest child born identical to her... Nikita remained in her heart.
"Hehe~ I want you to teach me!"
"Oh? What does my little girl want to learn?"
"Seduction techniques and how to entrap Nikolai with my body!"
"..."
"Nikita?"
"Yes, mom?"
"Why did you come to me?"
"Dad said you were the best at those things!"
'Her innocent voice melts the anger in my heart... I must not blame her. Nikita is a good girl! Yes, it's my stupid husband. Why would he teach these things to my daughter?! What does he mean, seduction techniques?!
I've only ever been with one man, and he was the one who seduced me!'
Nikita's eyes flickered with a golden shine before she noticed her mother's slight change. The glint in her eye was fierce, and the small white wolf realised she might have made a mistake.
'Ah... thank god I said it was dad and not because I thought she seemed like that type to do that... Sorry, Dad, please endure the pain! Love Nikita.'
"Well, I can help you in winning his heart, but as for the other things... didn't you already do that the other night when he visited? I am sure you didn't make those sounds for no reason... The entire estate could hear, you noisy little girl!"
The face of Nikita became red, her ears fluttering before she turned away, and pouted. It's not like she didn't understand what her mother said, but at the time, she was just a poor, innocent rabbit being ravished by a beast.
"After all, mom is the best! Hehe!"
Nikita kissed Nagisa on the cheek before skittering out of the room with a burst of wind, her guilty eyes shimmering with delight while being told not to run several times by the maids.
That night, her father would suffer the worst defeat in his entire life, and the poor man did not know why or what triggered his wife to bring out her hidden knives and trap him in the illusion of using them on him.
Although the two later made up the next day, Nikita would be confronted by a beautiful and glossy-looking angry mother.