The next year was almost a political disaster for Julius, but with him, Nozel, and Leonidas working together, they reigned in the dissent among the Nobles that clamored to have Alucard locked away.
Alucard, for his part, stayed true to his word and had nothing to do with the Silva household from that day forward. He had actually locked himself inside Julius' personal library for almost a month straight, when Julius forced him to bathe and eat, as Leonidas was coming over and bringing Leopold and Mimosa.
Alucard didn't like it, but he was much more open to them, as, despite being related to the Silvas, the Vermillion's were much more direct and open. "Alucard! I heard what happened. Great job standing up for yourself!" Leopold cheered when he and Mimosa burst into the dining room.
"Lower your voice," Leonidas said calmly as the Vermillions took a seat at the table and the servant brought out more food. Leopold apologized as he and Mimosa took a seat on either side of me.
I didn't say much as I ate in silence. Julius and Leonidas talked more and seemed to be finalizing my marriage with Mimosa, at least that's what the looks they were giving us said. "Alucard?" A voice said softly, and I turned to Mimosa.
"Yes?" She flinched, as if not expecting me to respond before continuing. "Would you mind showing us around the estate? I've never been out much and would like to explore." I nodded and led the way as Leopold followed behind us.
"So do you plan on joining the Magic Knight, Alucard?" Leopold asked as we walked towards the training grounds. I nodded, "Yes, Father said that it's my duty as a Noble to defend the realm. So I'll be joining after I get my grimoire."
Leopold's eyes lit up since he was already a Magic Knight, if low ranking. "That's awesome! You should join the Crimson Lions with Mimosa when she joins!" He said as Mimosa shook her head.
"I'm not joining the Crimson Lions." Leopold was shocked as he asked why. "I don't want to rely on our family name to do good things. I want to be known for being me, not a Vermillion." I nodded, agreeing with her since that was my plan as well.
"So, what kind of magic do you have?" I asked Mimosa as she smiled, "Plant magic. I was tested a few months ago, they were surprised it wasn't flame magic, but Kirch also had a different magic, so it wasn't that bad." I nodded; most of her cousins had flame magic, or some variant of it.
We finally reached the training ground as targets were set up. "Take a shot." I nodded at Leopold as he grinned, "Let me show you how a Crimson Lion fights!" As he threw himself into fight mode, I stood back with Mimosa, who glanced at me.
"Nice disguise, but your eyes give you away," I said as she froze, then blinked. "What disguise?" She asked sweetly as I demonstrated. "Oh, I just adore you, Mimosa! I can't wait for us to get married and live happily ever after~" I mocked as my body language and tone matched everything I said.
"Oh, now I see." She noticed my eyes, which looked murderous compared to what I was doing and saying. "When did you notice?" She asked as I returned to normal. "The first time we met, when Leonidas mentioned us getting married. What's your opinion on that, by the way?" I faced Leopold, who was doing some flashy move, wasting mana.
"I dislike it, that's why I'm joining the Magic Knights. I'd rather be married to the squad than some snotty Noble." She huffed as I felt like cackling. "Not a bad idea, we should bring that up to the adults." She shook her head, "Let me finish."
"Although I'd much rather be a Magic Knight than be married, you aren't as stupid as the rest of the Nobles. I can see the drive within you to improve. The fact that you were able to keep up with Mereoleona proves that. So by marrying you, I'd be able to keep other suitors away."
I blinked at the thoroughness of her plan, then frowned. "So I'm nothing but a way to keep others away, maybe I should go back to the Silvas." She froze, realizing how her words sounded.
"I apologize, I didn't mean it that way. You seem to be a lot more interesting than the rest, so I'd like to get to know you." She said as if unsure, and I shrugged. "Better, but try to blend who you are and who you act like. It makes the disguise better in front of people who can see past it like me."
She thought about that as Leopold walked back to us, sweating and tired. "Your turn!" He gasped as I stepped forward, reaching deep for the new magic I now had. Then I decided against it, not everyone needed to see it.
Bringing my hands up, I formed a Fire Bullet, then another until four floated around me. I then spun the bullets for a moment before launching them, as the targets went up in flames. I turned to Mimosa and Leopold, who watched in surprise, "If you want to use me, then get stronger. I won't have someone weak stand beside me."
After that day, Mimosa came to visit at least once a week as we got to know each other better. Julius and Leonidas also had a serious talk, deciding that Mimosa and I would be married at the ripe old age of 16.
It bothered me a little, but I focused more on training than anything else. Nozel also tried to get in contact with me to try and apologize, but I stayed as far away as I could. Usually hiding out with Mereoleona, who didn't really like him either, she didn't like many Nobles, actually, and considered them all spineless cowards.
So for that reason, we got along great, as when I went to visit Mimosa, Mereoleona was usually the one waiting for me. Today was no different, as Nozel had sent Noelle to spend the day with me, so to avoid that I was here with Mereoleona.
"Common brat! I know you can hit harder than that!" She yelled as I weaved through a cluster of flaming paws, before striking her arm. "I'm trying. If you'd put those things away, maybe I could get a better hit in!" I shot back as Mimosa, Leopold, and Fuegoleon watched from afar, sipping tea.
"Maybe if you didn't look at them, you'd fight better!" Mero yelled as Mimosa sighed. "I think he made her mad again." She said as Leopold snorted, "She's always mad." "WHAT WAS THAT?!" "NOTHING!" Leopold said, scooting closer to Fuegoleon when a butler came by.
"What is it?" Mimosa asked, seeing her cousin's face as the butler left, and Alucard went flying. "Noelle is here to see Alucard." Mimosa and Leopold made a face. Although they loved their cousin to death, they wished the others wouldn't be so hard on her, since she had very low self-esteem.
The hope had been that Alucard would be the positive influence in Noelle's life, but that bridge had already burned as he went out of his way to avoid the entire Silva household. Fuegoleon had another chair brought in for Noelle and had it placed next to him in case Alucard lashed out.
Noelle then arrived a few minutes later and sat silently, watching as Alucard and Mereoleona ripped into each other. Spells weren't being cast anymore, and the two had coated their bodies in mana and were now fist-fighting. Noelle was surprised to see this since it had been a year since she'd last seen Alucard.
"How is he still alive?" She asked incredulously as he took a punch to the face and kicked back in return. "Well, physically, the constant training and fighting have made him almost stronger than me; his magic is still catching up, so Mereoleona is 'forcing' him to fight every time he comes over," Leopold explained as the table shook.
"HAHAHA YOU ALMOST GOT ME!" Mereoleona shouted as she swung Alucard around by his leg, smacking him into the ground twice before dragging over to the others. 'How indecent!' Noelle almost squealed seeing Mereoleona's torn top; most of her chest was exposed as it heaved from having fought so hard.
"Oh, hey, Noelle. How's the pretty boy doing?" She asked as Noelle pulled her eyes away from her massive boobs. "Nozel is fine, just trying to clean out the family."
Mereoleona laughed as she hurled Alucard the rest of the way, as he skidded to a halt before hitting a wall. "At least he's learning from his mistakes, better than someone!" She glowered at Leopold, who tried to apologize, but was dragged to fight anyway.
I shook myself as I got up and took Leopold's seat. "How long this time?" I asked Mimosa who checked a stopwatch they'd brought for this, "1 hour. You lasted a full 5 minutes longer than last week. She still hasn't used her grimoire."
I grumbled at that as Fuegoleon shouted encouragement to Leopold, who was fighting for his life. "DUCK, DON'T LET HER CORNER YOU!"
Noelle looked very uncomfortable being around the noise as she watched Mimosa help Alucard get the dust off himself. "So you two are engaged now?" She asked quietly as all three heard her. Fuegoleon stayed silent as Mimosa nodded.
"Yes, we are to be wed when we turn 16. That gives us some time to get to know each other beforehand." Mimosa smiled, surprising Noelle. Not because she smiled, Mimosa smiled all the time, it's just she looked happy for once, not the mask Noelle had always suspected her somewhat air-headed cousin wore.
"That's good, I'm happy for you," Noelle said sadly as she remembered how Alucard had stood up for her when he spoke up. "How's your training?"
She hesitated to speak, but Mimosa smiled encouragingly at her, so she spoke up, "I've made a little progress. I've been able to train by myself since Solid and Nebra have been helping Nozel a lot more." He nodded and stood up, "Show me."
Before she could respond, Mimosa was dragging her out of her chair as Alucard yelled for Mereoleona to stop playing with Leopold.
Fuegoleon smiled to himself, seeing his family's antics. Leopold had started training more seriously after he'd watched Alucard put Mimosa to work, even Mereoleona stuck around the estate more often rather than venture out looking for fights.
'That poor girl.' He then frowned, seeing Noelle tremble as she passed Mereoleona. Though he didn't know the full story as to how Acier Silva died, he did know that Nozel blamed Noelle for something she had no control over. The fact that he let his two younger siblings abuse her angered him greatly, so he always invited the poor girl over to spend time with them.
For a few years, she had come over, but that stopped for a few months after Alucard killed one of her uncles and exposed a plot to take over the kingdom. Nozel, Nebra, and Solid had been busy ever since tracking down family members and outsiders who posed a threat, giving Noelle more time alone, which served her better than being with those fools.
Seeing Alucard stand a few meters away from Noelle, he wondered what might have happened if the Silvas hadn't screwed up so badly.
"Hit me," I said as Noelle froze for the fifth time since getting here. "W-what?" She stammered as I felt like tearing my hair out, "Hit him with your magic!" Mereoleona cheered from beside Fuegoleon as she took a break.
"But what if I hurt him?" Noelle seemed ready to fall apart as Mereoleona snorted, then punched the ground, cratering it. "Could your magic do that?" She asked, and Noelle shook her head, "That was how hard I was hitting him for the last hour; he'll survive." Noelle didn't seem sure, so I spoke up again.
"Hit me, and prove your useless family wrong." She looked surprised at that as Mereoleona sighed and walked over to her, whispering something in her ear. "WHAT?!" Noelle shrieked as her face went bright red. I ignored that as Noelle looked ready to have a heart attack.
"What did you say to her?" Fuegoleon asked his sister as she sat down. "I said if she didn't at least try to hit him, I was going to tear the rest of my robe off and smother her." Fugeoleon groaned, "Please don't, you'll kill the poor girl." Mereoleona just cackled as Noelle finally got her courage up.
"H-here I go." She said as she slowly formed a water bullet. It was shaky and seemed ready to fall apart at any moment, but she made it. She then stared down Alucard, who tapped his foot, already 15 minutes into what should have only taken 5. Noelle then launched the bullet as it sailed across the field and struck him in the chest.
Noelle gasped as it hit him, as Mimosa giggled at her cousin's face. "Don't worry, cousin, Alucard is a lot stronger than he looks. He'll be ok." She had complete confidence in her fiancé.
As I relished the feeling of having another element tucked away, I frowned at Noelle. "Is that it?" I asked, and she looked confused. "You have a mana capacity almost larger than Leopold's, and you couldn't even knock the wind out of me?" She shrank as if expecting to be scolded, as I cursed myself for remembering she wouldn't be helped by that, as Mereoleona stepped in.
"Don't listen to that idiot, you did great!" Noelle trembled a little as the much larger woman stalked over. "Give it some more practice, and you'll be beating his ass before you know it!" Mereoleona said as I rolled my eyes. "Great encouragement." Mimosa grinned as she sat back down.
I then walked over and decided to put on a show as I decided to bring out some secrets. Fuegoleon sat up in surprise at the other's force, shocked to silence as I formed nearly a half dozen water bullets the size of Noelle's. "If you can do this by the end of the year. You'll have proved those idiots wrong, and then you'll see you don't need their approval to use magic."
Noelle watched with wide eyes as the water bullets then shot out, slamming into the ground and drenching us as the water exploded and rained back down on us. "I JUST DRIED MY HAIR!" Mereoleona shrieked as I shrugged. "Like anyone would care what you do to your hair, not like you're getting a man anytime soon."
I then froze as a flaming paw grabbed me by the head and brought me over to a smiling Mereoleona. "I'm sorry?" I said as she smiled sweetly at me.
"Mind saying that again, I don't think I heard you~" I racked my brain and finally squeezed out, "Any man would be lucky to have the beautiful Lady Mereoleona Vermillion. Renowned for her beautiful hair, figure, and benevolent personality!"
Fuegoleon sighed as Alucard was then smothered in a crushing hug. "I knew you cared about me!" Mereoleona smirked as she smothered him in her chest. Rather than enjoy it, Alucard was writhing around trying to get free as the massive pillows left him struggling to breathe.
Noelle blushed as she watched Alucard's fingers sink into Mereoleona's breasts as he frantically tried to free himself. "Aren't you jealous?" She asked Mimosa when she returned to the table and took a sip of tea.
Mimosa shook her head as Alucard finally broke free, pushing himself away from Mereoleona's chest with both hands as he gulped in much-needed air. Leopold, for his part, cackled at his misfortune.
"Alucard and I have spoken a lot already. We are more focused on getting stronger and becoming magic knights, rather than chasing pleasure as so many of the Nobles do. Although I admit I am a bit curious, I'm more attracted to his mind than anything else, for now."
Fuegoleon felt very uncomfortable as the two girls continued their talk, being saved by Alucard, who hid behind him to get away from Mereoleona, who now had Leopold trapped. 'What a strange family.' Fuegoleon shook his head with a smile as Alucard went to talk with Mimosa and Noelle, 'I would die to keep them.' He thought, not knowing how close he'd come to doing just that.
For the next two years, Alucard and the Vermillions included Noelle in several outings as Fuegoleon sometimes stopped by with Leopold when they weren't busy with Knight duties. Mereoleona was usually the one to take Alucard, Mimosa, and Noelle out since she was much stronger than most Magic Knights, but refused to join a squad.
Alucard, for his part, gathered the last two elements he needed to have the four primary elements. Fire was easy; it got stronger just being near Mero since she was always punching him. Water had been from Noelle, who was now marginally more confident around him, though she remained wary since his tone of voice always reminded her of her siblings.
Earth magic had been fun once, since one day Mero had taken them to visit the Blue Roses Magic Knight squad after she found out Mimosa didn't plan on joining the Crimson Lions. Captain Charlotte had been respectful, so Alucard had behaved; the problem was her Vice-Captain. A loud dark dark-skinned girl who seemed to hate all men near her, 'Sis' as she insulted him, which caused him to insult her until they ended up beating each other as the whole Blue Rose squad watched.
Charlotte had used it as a chance to teach her Vice-Captain, named Sol, humility. Her squad also listened as Alucard got a reputation for fighting anyone and being strong enough to fight full-fledged Knights.
Wind Magic had taken a bit of looking, but when Julius had taken him to see his old squad, the Aqua Deer, he'd been able to spar for a while with their Captain Rill. His painting magic had been truly bizarre; he didn't get that since he'd asked Rill to use wind constructs, since Rill could turn anything he painted or drew into an attack.
It had been a hard fight for Alucard as Rill was just like him, able to use several elements. Alucard had actually lost but enjoyed his visit to the Aqua Deer as Rill was the easiest going out of the Captain's he'd met so far.
He'd briefly considered going to all the Magic Knight squads to find magic that would be useful, but that would give him away, so he stayed back and got to know his fiancée better. He and Mimosa had really hit things off recently.
Though the start had been strained since she wanted a shield from the Nobles, and he despised a whole branch of her family, they'd made it work by slowly getting used to each other. That's what they and those close to them knew; to the outside world, Mimosa Vermillion and Alucard Novachrono were the star couple.
Always together at Noble gatherings, planning to join the Magic Knights together to serve the Clover Kingdom as the perfect union between the Royals and the Wizard King, practically made for each other.
Behind closed doors was slightly different, though they did share their quiet moments at times. Alucard and Mimosa mostly spent time training and reading together, constantly sharing notes as she gave him fresh ideas and he pushed her to be more than just a healer. They did care for one another; however, when others tried to drive a wedge between them, they always stood up for the other person.
The one doing the driving right now was actually Mereoleona, who was slightly worried that she might actually be alone when she died. She returned to Fuegoleon training them and had just poured her heart out to Mimosa, right in front of the panicking Fuegoleon and Alucard.
Mimosa had taken her cousin away for the day as Alucard and Fuegoleon spent the day relaxing in the hot springs that every Royal estate seemed to have. "Should I be worried that Mimosa is alone with Mero? I get we're nobles, but I'd like to have only one wife if I can help it, plus I'm only 14." Fugeoleon thought for a moment as the heat sank into his tired body. Being Captain of the Crimson Lions wasn't that easy after all.
"I don't think so. This is probably just a phase of hers. She had one a few years ago when you all were still small, but it was around the same topic, so she should be fine." He shifted in the water and looked at me.
"As for that? You should be fine, as much as Mero likes you, I don't think she'd be happy sharing like that. Plus, she prefers men who listen to her, which is pretty hard to find in this kingdom. You should be fine, though."
I huffed as I tried to sleep, but the gut feeling that something would go wrong stuck with me for the rest of the week, which made training with Meroleona hard since she seemed to single me out this time, rather than torturing everyone equally.
"Is my skin sloughing off, or have you been blinded by my majesty?" I asked Mereoleona as she froze, "Did you just make a joke?" Mimosa and Noelle looked shocked as well.
"Since when could he do that?" Noelle asked her cousin, who looked just as shocked, "He barely even smiles unless he's fighting. I didn't think he had a sense of humor." She said quietly as she realised there was still plenty about her fiancée she didn't know.
Seeing Mereoleona distracted, I punched her in the gut as she slid back. "Don't lose now, hag!" I taunted as she snapped out of it, as flames formed over her hands. "You're asking for a beating, punk!" They went back to fighting as Noelle and Mimosa watched, resting from their own beatings.
Now that Alucard was only a year away from getting his grimoire, he was a lot more liberal with his magic usage as he kept Mereoleona at a distance with swarm spells as he charged a large attack. She wasn't fazed as she charged straight ahead, not even needing to bring out her grimoire as she slapped spells aside.
She did tense up as his spell finished, as she was forced to bring out her grimoire, as a lance of spiralling water slammed into her.
'She's lucky it wasn't devil magic; that little bit of mana would have ripped her apart.' Alucard thought as Mereoleona coughed, she'd been winded by the attack, and the fighting stopped.
"Since when could you do THAT?!" She demanded as he shot a question back at her, "When did you start getting so close to me?" He didn't have to explain; she knew exactly what he was talking about, as Noelle looked confused.
"Haven't they always been close? They fight and eat together almost more than you two." She said as Mimosa glanced at Alucard before turning back to Noelle, "You should go back a bit early; they might tear this place apart, and it won't be pretty. If Nebra is home, though, come straight back; the room next to mine is clean enough."
Though still confused, Noelle could feel tension in the air, and the fact that her perpetually smiling cousin was now serious. So she left, leaving Alucard and Mereoleona staring at each other as Mimosa walked over. "I told you there was no point hiding it."
Mereoleona huffed, "I did hide it well, I bet you just told him." Mimosa shook her head, "He figured me out day one, you never stood a chance. Be honest now because this will probably be your only chance." Mereoleona knew she was right. What happened with the Silvas may have been years in the past, but Alucard still hadn't even acknowledged that Noelle had siblings, not even at social gatherings.
Clearly waiting, Alucard went and dragged their chairs over as they all took a seat. "Start talking, or I'm leaving." As all he said was Mereoleona collected her thoughts, Mimosa went first.
"Mero came to me about a week ago. She feels that she will never be able to find someone since her attitude keeps everyone but us away." Alucard raised an eyebrow, "How does this affect me? I'm not the one scaring everyone away." He said as Mereoleona spat.
"Fine. Will you marry me, too? I'm not getting any younger, and you seem to be the only guy other than Fuego and Leo that can stay around me without running off like a little baby.
I've already talked to Mimosa, and she said she'd go with whatever you want. So what do you say, want two Vermillions instead of one?" She spat out everything all at once as Alucard felt his head spin at how fast she spoke.
"Does Fuegoleon know?" He asked, and both shook their head, no. Fugeoleon did not know. Alucard felt like banging his head on the table in the corner. 'First Julius makes me get engaged, and now I've got a lioness asking if she can turn my monogamous marriage into a harem!'
"To be honest," He said after a minute of thinking, "I'd rather not, since if you both marry me, then everyone will want their daughter or grandchild married to the Wizard King's son. I hate the attention I already get, I really do."
Mimosa looked mildly surprised at that. She could always tell he was uncomfortable when out in public events, but the fact that he hated it was new to her.
"So you don't like me?" Mereoleona sounded small for once, and Alucard shook his head, sighing. "No, god quite assuming so much. You're a very beautiful woman who's strong, smart, and not afraid to get stronger."
"Then what's the problem!" She demanded, getting up in his face as he frowned up at her. "The problem is I'm 14 years old, and still looking for ways out of the marriage I'm already stuck in. I think Mimosa is an amazing person, but I despise the Nobility of this Kingdom. The fact that I've stuck around is proof of how amazing Mimosa is and how much of a bad person I am. You both deserve someone better."
Both Mimosa and Mereoleona were shocked to hear this, as Alucard took the chance to open a portal and leave, now wanting to deal with any of this as he emerged far away, in a small village in the Forsaken realm, in front of a massive demon skeleton that Fuegoleon had once taken them to visit.