CHAPTER 438: WIVES’ TALK

Katharina’s bedroom was a temple of dramatic luxury. Wine-colored velvet curtains hung from the vaulted ceiling, and the scent of night-blooming roses permeated the air, mixed with the faint smell of magical incense. In the center, sprawled on cushions scattered across a disorganized throne of comfort, Katharina lay, huffing like a sulky teenager.

"I just think it’s ridiculous, okay?" she complained, crossing her arms tightly. "We marry him, go through everything, and then... that’s it. He disappears. He goes off to play cosmic babysitter with a little demon witch girl."

Roxanne, sitting cross-legged on a divan with a glass of liqueur in her hands, nodded dramatically.

"Exactly. Like, she’s not even his real daughter! She was thrown into his lap and now, suddenly, she’s his priority? Seriously, what kind of man leaves three wonderful wives for a child who doesn’t even have a last name? Ugh..."

Before she could continue, a sharp "tek!" echoed. Ada, who until then had been standing silently by the window, smacked Roxanne directly on the head.

"Ouch!" Roxanne put her hands to her head. "What’s your problem?!"

"The problem," said Ada, the most mature and direct of the three, in a firm voice, "is that Alice calls us ’mom. Mom, Roxanne! And here you are treating her like she’s a nuisance. You’re being an idiot! I know you’re jealous, but think about it, you idiot!!"

Roxanne muttered, embarrassed, rubbing the top of her head: "...I’m sorry."

Katharina rolled her eyes.

"Of course she calls us mom. She’s cute! I like her! But that doesn’t change the fact that our husband has been gone for the last few days dealing with things that aren’t our home! And when he comes back, it’s just ’Problem this,’ ’Problem that,’ ’Oh, more problems,’ ’Problem appeared.’ I’m a woman, damn it! I want a hug too!"

Ada let out a long sigh and sat down, finally letting go of her rigid pose.

"I understand. Really. He carries the world on his shoulders. But... what about our home? What about our clan? We haven’t founded anything. We live as guests in our mothers’ palace. We need a home of our own. A point of origin. A base."

Roxanne looked up.

"A base... you mean like a house with a backyard, or a hellish fortress with demonic dragartos?"

Ada smiled slightly. "Whatever he builds. As long as it’s ours."

Katharina stood up, as if that comment had lit a light bulb in her mind. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and genius.

"Maybe... it’s time to create a family problem." The other two turned to her, curious.

"What do you mean?" asked Roxanne, her eyebrow arched.

Katharina began to walk in slow circles, already wrapped up in her own strategy.

"Vergil is protective. He acts when something is threatened. He fixes what is broken. But he... never builds. He acts out of reaction. Not out of ambition."

"Until now," said Ada, following her reasoning.

"Exactly!" Katharina spun around and pointed. "He never had the urge to create a territory. But now that we are his wives, it’s no longer just about him. It’s about us. It’s about a legacy. A land that future generations of the Lucifer clan can call home."

Roxanne’s eyes widened. "Wait... are you suggesting that we make Vergil create a territory? A territory for that irresponsible man?"

Katharina smiled triumphantly, like a queen who had just knocked down an enemy chess piece.

"Exactly. Officially, a territory founded by him, commanded by us, and various servants, structured as the headquarters of the Lucifer Clan. We can start small. A fortress city. A free zone, where demons, nobles, and random idiots can exist without pressure from the great houses. But he needs to be the pillar. The founder. And he needs to want this for us."

Ada crossed her arms and nodded slowly.

"That solves two problems. First, it gets him out of this cycle of putting out other people’s fires. Second, it unites the family for a purpose. And best of all... it creates something of our own. No more favors from third parties. A domain that bears our name."

Roxanne twirled the glass in her fingers, thoughtful. "What if he refuses?"

"He won’t," said Katharina confidently. "But if he does... we’ll create enough of a problem that he’ll have to react."

"A problem like...?" Ada asked, already smiling.

"For example..." said Katharina, walking over to the dressing table and picking up a tiara with decorative golden horns. "How about... we need a place where we can enjoy a quieter life, and maybe some nobles are saying that he is weak and has no territory..."

"Intrigues demeaning our husband," Ada added, now excited. "How cliché."

"Nothing that’s a lie," said Roxanne. "Just a... provocative narrative. Something he can’t ignore."

"He loves us," added Katharina. "But if we don’t make a move, he’ll continue to let others use him as a tool. He needs to lead. And not just on Alice’s behalf. On our behalf."

Ada stood up, determined.

"Then we’ll start today. The structure. The plans. A territory. Recruitment. We’ll show him that we’ve already started building... with or without him."

Roxanne smiled, amused, now back in the game. "And if all else fails... we can just pretend we’re being threatened by a rival faction."

Katharina laughed loudly, throwing her hair back.

"You two are brilliant."

"We’re a hell of a family, dear," Ada said, picking up a grimoire from the corner of the room. "If not for love... then for well-made idiotic problems."

Roxanne toasted alone, swirling her glass.

"You guys are pretty stupid sometimes," said a drawling, sarcastic voice from the window.

The three women turned abruptly. Sitting on the windowsill, as if it were the natural throne of meddlers, was Stella—Roxanne’s mother. She bit into a candy apple with relish, her legs crossed, casually swinging her feet in the air as if she weren’t listening to plans to redefine the balance of power.

"Mom?!" Roxanne’s eyes widened. "How long have you been there?!"

Stella smiled, showing her caramel-red teeth.

"Since ’he disappeared with that random little girl,’" she said mockingly. "I thought about interrupting, but the idiocy was so... artistic, I let it roll."

Katharina frowned, clearly annoyed.

"Get out of here now!" And with an angry gesture, she fired a glowing fireball straight at Stella.

With the same calmness of someone blowing out a candle, Stella twirled a finger. A sharp gust of wind arose, dissipating the flames in the air with a sharp whoosh.

"Are you nervous, Katharina?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I am!" retorted the dark-haired woman. "You invite yourself, butt into a private conversation, and then call us idiots!"

"You are idiots. I’m not wrong." Stella took another bite of her apple with a crunch. "This whole thing... this plan, this ’family political maneuver’... it’s so ridiculous that I’m torn between laughing and banging my head against the wall."

Ada narrowed her eyes, remaining calm but visibly annoyed.

"Get to the point, Stella. You never show up for no reason."

Stella climbed down from the window with feline grace, wiping her sticky fingers on her coat and shooting a look that cut like a razor.

"You guys are too quick to discredit him, you know? You talk about building territory, clan, legacy... all very nice. But deep down, you think he needs a push to care about his own family." She spun on her heels, staring at each one. "That he needs to be forced to choose you."

"That’s not true," Roxanne murmured, unconvinced.

"Yes, it is," said Stella, now serious. "You’re so focused on pulling him closer that you’ve forgotten to notice something much more important."

Ada tilted her head, attentive. "And what would that be?"

Stella smiled slyly and snapped her fingers. A sharp, precise gust of wind rose from the ground, hitting Katharina’s shadow squarely. In the next instant, the illusion dissolved with a sparkling purple glow.

The shadow... wasn’t real.

The three of them paled.

"But..." Katharina began, scanning the floor with her eyes. "Death magic?..."

Stella crossed her arms and snorted triumphantly.

"I can’t believe you didn’t notice. Ever since you started talking about your ’plan to tame your husband,’ he’s been here."

Roxanne put her hands to her mouth. "Are you saying that..."

"That Vergil heard everything?" Stella finished, chewing the last bite of her apple.

"Yes. Even the parts where you considered lying to him. Including the part about ’she’s not even his real daughter.’ I thought it was pretty bold to say something like that, Roxanne."

Roxanne simply froze.