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Serena Snape: Love of Magic - chapter 86
🕑 Added 2025-03-22 01:18:45 +0000 UTCAuthor's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena Pov
"How bad is it?" I asked tiredly as I slumped into my seat with my eyes closed and a cigarette in my mouth. We were both in Lucius's office, though it should really be mine, and it was, in name at least, but I barely set foot in here unless absolutely necessary. I heard Lucius hum softly.
"Actually, this benefits us even more," Lucius said simply. He opened his eyes and looked at me out of the corner of his eye, a slight smile on his face.
"How is announcing to the public that I have hereditary traits a good thing?" I asked dryly.
"It's actually quite simple. As you know, succubi are much more fertile than normal devils, but the problem is that their offspring always tend to be succubus without any special traits. But now that they know you have a trait similar to one of the pillars? They'll definitely want you." Lucius said simply, I grimaced.
"Great, it's much worse than I thought." I moaned loudly, Lucius chuckled.
"It's not so bad, while you definitely won't get them to offer any heirs, a second or third son is enough for them to believe they can lure you to their side. In addition to trying to stay on your good side while flattering you a little. Not to mention that all the proposals we've received so far have offered their daughters, it seems your taste in women was made perfectly clear thanks to your 'encounter' with the Phenex's daughter." Lucius said amusedly.
"You're not… considering me accepting one of those proposals, are you?" I asked slowly, narrowing my eyes at Lucius. He just smiled at me and shrugged.
"Well, I'm sure you'd like to know that your lovely Ravel Phenex is among those proposals." Lucius said with a huge smile, and I froze.
"No." I gasped, almost dropping my cigarette. He just nodded. "But her father hates me!" I exclaimed in disbelief. Lucius snorted.
"Besides your first meeting, Lord Phenex never hated you," Lucius said bluntly. I looked at him incredulously. He rolled his eyes. "Your first encounter was with what he thought was his son's killer. What you did to Ravel barely entered the equation. In fact, it was quite mild compared to some of the devils' excesses. Different morals, different thinking. As long as you didn't go too far, a little groping really isn't anything to worry about, even if it was passed on to all the devils." Lucius said simply.
"It would have been nice to know that weeks ago," I said dryly, Lucius gave me a shit-eating grin.
"You never asked." I could feel a vein twitching on my forehead. I took a long drag on my cigar. "Besides, you’re helping Riser, so our relationship with the Phenex is positive, at worst, neutral."
"Wait, helping him?" I asked stupidly, Lucius nodded.
"Riser has a huge rivalry with you, and everyone has noticed. So much so that, for the first time, Riser has started training. Up until now, he's been sustaining himself solely on his pillar trait, and for good reason. There are few, if any, devils his age who could do anything to defeat his regeneration."
"Even so, you've already defeated him 4 times in a row, and not in a direct fight. So he's angry, now both he and his Peerage are training even harder. Everyone's improving, Riser because he wants to defeat you and Bella, while his Peerage wants to make Riser proud, driving them into training even harder."
"It's the reason why Riser hasn't been banned from continuing to try and challenge you. Because he's really trying hard, and those in charge of the Rating Games see it too. They can't see any obvious signs of cheating, which is why they are allowing all these matches in a row. So yeah, the Phenex are slightly grateful to you for that."
I frowned; I'd noticed. Riser had improved; the fights with Bella were getting more and more violent, something Bella loved and looked forward to every week. And so had her Peerage. Oh, they still weren't even close to scratching Bella, but with each Rating Game, they lasted longer and longer against Bella and her stakes.
"Just for that? Okay, that's a good reason, but offering Ravel?" I asked cautiously. Lucius nodded.
"I don't really have proof, but I'm sure it was Ravel's idea." Lucius said simply, my eyes widening.
"What?! Are you sure?" I asked incredulously. Lucius nodded with a smile.
"First, you're underestimating your time bubbles. Everyone wants more time, and you stated that you can basically cram an entire day into an hour. While devils are immortal and have 'all the time in the world,' it's very different from what you do. Having more hours in a day can sometimes make a huge difference in many cases. It's something you're actually quite familiar with, since you take advantage of it on a daily basis." Lucius said dryly. I shrugged.
"It's the days' fault that they only have 24 hours." I said simply, Lucius snorted amusedly.
"Second, they would be securing your potions. You've proven several times that your potions work completely against the Phenex, and in the worst possible way. So by marrying one of them, you ensure that they wouldn't be used against them." Lucius said, and I wrinkled my nose.
"But I'm not selling any kind of potion like that." I pointed out, and Lucius nodded.
"Publicly, everyone makes deals behind closed doors, Sera. Everything has a price, and they want to make sure other people can't put a price on them." Lucius said seriously. "Specifically, a certain redhead engaged to Riser." I grimaced.
"Ah, yes, Rias. Speaking of which, wouldn't Sirzechs be angry about that? I'm talking about Riser getting stronger." I asked, Lucius hummed.
"Not really, no matter how strong he gets, your potions are still effective against Riser. Rias is still slacking off like in 'canon', so he knows that even before your involvement, Rias wouldn't be able to defeat him in a head-on fight. So they're banking on other avenues." Lucius said simply, I nodded.
"That won't change if I accept the Phenex's offer. I'm sure I'll completely offend them if there's even a hint of my interference in their engagement." I replied once more. Lucius shrugged.
"Maybe, but they won't mind too much even if Rias uses your potions to break off the engagement with Riser. They definitely want it to happen, but they're prepared for it not to. They know Sirzechs is involved in getting it called off, so they don't have their expectations too high. Even if the marriage does happen, there's really no direct benefit for them."
"Riser is the third son of the Phenex family while Rias is the Gremory heir, so it's safer to say that Riser will be joining the Gremory family and not the other way around, his children will be Gremory, and all the other benefits will go to them. On the other hand, if you accept Lord Phenex’s engagement to Ravel, his benefits are more direct."
"You have no ties to any other family, so you'd practically become a Phenex even if Ravel were to take your name. They'd be in a better position to negotiate direct benefits than they would with the Gremorys. And that also brings us to the third thing they want: Bella."
"Bella's already stupidly strong at this point. They want her on their side. If they can't steal her away from you, which they know is Impossible, they want her as an ally. She's already proven several times that she can keep up with the Phenex in terms of regeneration, so again, that's not someone they want as an opponent."
I sighed tiredly. Really, the last thing I wanted to think about was an engagement and its future repercussions, so I'll just do the best I know how. I'll ignore everything until I have no other choice. I glanced at Lucius, who was giving me a mocking smile, as if he knew what I was thinking, which, fair enough, he probably did. I rolled my eyes, and he just laughed.
"Don't worry, I'll start writing letters to put them off for the time being. Although, you'll have to figure out for yourself how to respond when people approach you of their own accord," Lucius said amusedly. "It's best if we also bring your engagement to Bella and Enid to light. It's possible some might back out, but don't count on it. Most won't mind you having other partners," Lucius said simply. I nodded tiredly.
"That's it? I really want to go do basically anything else to forget about this conversation." I said dryly. Lucius hummed before walking over to the desk and pulling out one of the letters before offering it to me. I frowned.
"Fengxian?" I asked as I read the letter. "Oh, Verdigris House." I said simply as I continued reading the sender. Verdigris House. The place where, according to Paper Trail and the created backstory, was my birthplace and where I grew up. The place where a group of succubi lived, a brothel.
I quickly opened the letter and began reading it with a frown.
"A meeting? What do they want a meeting for?" I asked confused, Lucius hummed softly.
"I have… some ideas, but it's best if you hear their offer from their side first," Lucius said simply. "While I would recommend that you familiarize yourself completely with their backstory, I'm sure several of them will either know you or think they know you well enough, it would be suspicious if you didn't know any of them." He said simply. I wrinkled my nose, but nodded.
"Schedule a meeting as soon as possible." I said simply as I stood up and stretched lazily. "Now that's it?" I asked once more.
"For now, yes. I'll let you know when the meeting is," Lucius said matter-of-factly. I nodded before leaving the office, genuinely curious why the succubi would want to meet with me.
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March 30, 2008 - Serena Pov.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Prince. Thank you for your time." The woman known as Fengxian bowed, and behind her, the other four succubi did the same. "I'm sure you already know them, but let me introduce them once more. These are Pairin, Meimei, Joka, and Maomao." Fengxian introduced her companions.
I stared at the five succubi in front of me. They were all wearing quality clothing. It was certainly sparse clothing, barely covering anything important or greatly accentuating their prominent figures. But the clothing they were wearing was certainly expensive. Something they didn't wear very often, something meant to impress, I suppose.
Except for the girl named Maomao. In fact, she stood out among the other succubi. Her clothes still showed large expanses of skin,while still much more modest than the others'. Which wasn't really saying much. But the important thing was her lack of sexual attributes. Oh, she was definitely beautiful, but she was lacking in the curves department.
While I certainly wasn't buxom, to speak of, even with several accumulated effects like my Baiser Magic transformations and talents like Body Tune , I still had a few curves. I filled out enough to not be completely flat in the breasts and butt department. Plus, I was still slim and fairly tall, something that didn't really bother me.
Less so now that I could actually dress the way I wanted once again thanks to the Bara Bara no mi I bought for Aria.
[Aria has Bara Bara no mi ( Devil Fruit )] -20 [51]
Those 20 credits were totally worth it.
Paper Trail 's backstory. It actually wasn't that complicated at all, and the memories weren't really that important either.
There was nothing substantial, not in the sense that a deep connection could be formed with someone from the past. Most interactions were short or shallow, simply acquaintances, even though several of them raised me.
Fengxian was the succubus in charge of Verdigris House, the one in charge of managing all the other succubi within the large brothel. Which meant more than 100 succubi reporting to her. She was good at her job, And not just as an administrator; she was the most famous succubus in the brothel and worth her weight in gold to someone who could afford to hire her for a night.
Succubi may practically need sex to stay alive. But each one was vain in her own way, and they were going to sell themselves at a price they deserved. Succubi, despite being almost unanimously dismissed by most of the pillar devils, were actually the pillar devils' main clients.
After Fengxian, the so-called Three Princesses followed. Pairin, Meimei, and Joka, in that order of courage. Finally, there was Maomao, Fengxian's daughter, a succubus my age who was quite intelligent from what I remembered.
Most of my memories are basically me secretly making potions and practically living in the Lucifaad public library. I was the daughter of a "low-quality" succubus, so even though several of them helped raise me, the effort put in was actually minimal.
Unlike Maomao, she was the daughter of the manager, the best succubus in the brothel, practically spoiled at every turn. It's not like it really bothered me, but the difference was obvious and noticeable.
"How can I help you?" I asked simply as I gestured for them to sit. The couch had been enlarged to fit the five of them comfortably. Fengxian was in the middle, the three succubi were on her left, and Maomao was on her right. I was sitting in front of both of them, with Bella sitting next to me again. And the rest were behind me.
"We wanted to ask you a favor, one succubus at a time," Fengxian said, her expression cold. In fact, based on my recollection, I'm almost certain that was the only expression she actually had.
"I can't promise anything, but just tell me, what do you need?" I asked simply. Fengxian nodded. I looked at the others; the three older succubi were all smiling, but I could tell they were slightly nervous. While Maomao had been staring at me since I entered the room, she had barely blinked.
"As you know, even though we reside in Lucifaad, we have no protection from the city or the other devils. The devils in general, but especially the pillar devils, take advantage of us left and right, and we can't do anything." Fengxian began, and I nodded. It was exactly what I knew. The only reason it wasn't much worse was because the pillar devils didn't see the point.
Yes, they'd probably get the best sex possible by hiring a succubus, but to get it, they simply had to pay money—very little, a pittance compared to the amount the pillars actually managed. So most simply paid and left. But there were some who weren't truly satisfied with that and... over restricted themselves, to say the least.
"I know, but what exactly is it you want me to do? It's not like I can just go to Lucifaad and change things." I said simply, Fengxian nodded.
"And that's not what we want. No. We ask you, as the newly ascended first succubus, as someone strong enough to reincarnate a queen capable of matching a Phenex in combat and reaching a stalemate. As someone capable of creating deadly and dangerous potions. As someone who has the favor of two Satans at her command. Please, let us live in your territory under your protection."
Fengxian bowed deeply. The other four followed immediately.
"Please!" My eyes opened wide.
What the fuck.
Author's Note: For those who've noticed (and also for those who haven't), yes, the characters are from The Apothecary Diaries! I love that series. I wasn't originally going to write the brothel and the courtesans from that series as part of the plot, it just... happened. While I was trying to write this chapter, the only thing that came to mind was this series, so... yeah, here it is.
Editors note: Also a fan of The Apothecary Diaries. This is my first edited chapter do enjoy!
Comments
Gerrymil Garcia
When Serena finally Trans Magias can Serafall and Sona be there as they both love magical girls?
Camellya_Addams
Where there's a Maomao, there's a Jinshi, don't worry. ;D
Gerrymil Garcia
Apothecary Diaries? Didn’t expect that. Please let there be a demon Jinshi.
