Chapter 57: Finally! Shopping!

Chapter 57: Finally! Shopping!

Indra and Aveena were locked within a bitter stalemate as the two cultivators stared each other down like they were prepared for an inevitable conflict.

"H-Hey, let's just go, alright?" Lucia said worriedly.

"Y-Yes, yes please! This is a place for goods to be bartered for, not wars to be waged!" The auctioneer agreed.

The boarkin turned to the towering oni who was still licking her wounds and nearly fell on his knees to beg.

"M-Miss Aveena, could you please just pay the young man without further causing a fuss..!"

Aveena lavisciously dragged her gaze up and down Indra's body for a final time before she reached in her back pocket.

She pulled out a hefty pouch containing the funds from his purchase, and she tossed it to Indra with a smile.

"Don't spend it all in one place, handsome."

Catching it, Indra was surprised that it wasn't lighter than this, only to realize that Aveena must have made it easier to break down for spending.

Afterall, there were surely a great many shops that couldn't even hope to accept such an exhorbitant sum of money.

"W-Well, we'll be leaving now then!" Lucia said as she grabbed Indra by the arm.

"Y-Yes, do come again!"

The auctioneer waved them both out the door and didn't stop smiling until they left.

-

Lucia and Indra finally exited the auction house and entered back into the street at around midday. n-.o/-v/.e(.l//b/)I-.n

Once the two of them were finally out, she gave him a small punch in the ribs that he found rather endearing.

"What is with you?? Have the centuries you spent asleep rendered you so cranky? Why must you always pick fights, Indra?" She asked angrily.

The vampire didn't know why, but he ended up repeating words that he didn't believe he'd ever heard before.

"Life is a fight, Lucia...".

The snake girl recognized the complicated light within his eyes and she slithered closer to him.

Oblivious to the looks that they were receiving on the street, she placed one of her hands on his cheek and looked at him sadly.

"It doesn't have to be... You are not a monster driven solely by the thought of the next battle that awaits you, so why must you behave as one? Who has made you think that this is how you have to be?"

For some reason, that question filled Indra with both heartache and a headache, as he realized exactly what the answer to such a question was.

"I... don't know."

Lucia slipped her arms around his midsection and she embraced him in a firm hug right in the middle of the street, earning more than a few jealous glances.

But she didn't care.

Even if Indra didn't know why he was behaving like this, she had some guesses.

Normally she would never talk to him about his family as she was sure that it was an uncomfortable subject, but she felt as if now was the right time for it.

"You're all alone now and I'm sorry for that, but it also means that you get to choose the way you want to be for the rest of your life and nobody else has any say over it.

So be the gentle man that I and everyone else already know you to be. That is who you truly are, not some tyrannical monster who kills at the drop of a hat. You have a good heart that I..."

Lucia had to bite her tongue to keep herself from accidentally talking her speech too far and saying something she shouldn't.

Her body stiffened up as she tried to release Indra to put some space between them, but he held onto her firmly to prevent her escape.

"I understand... I will try to cause less incidents in the future and... I am grateful for your feelings, Lucia."

A small squeal would have escaped the lips of the lamia if she had not bit them at the last second.

The two of them finally separated and she felt her insides beginning to melt as she found him giving her a sweet yet sad smile.

He suddenly grabbed her by the hand and started pulling her down the city streets into the shopping district. "As an apology, I will buy you whatever you want."

"What? I couldn't possibly allow you to-"

"Then you do not have to allow me to do anything, and I will just do it."

Lucia smiled bitterly in defeat as she let herself be pulled without a care in the world.

"Okay, okay! Then what I want first is..."

-

It was a few hours before Indra and Lucia finally returned home.

Upon opening the front door, they found Keran and Vermeil sitting on a couch side by side.

It looked like the human girl was pestering the werewolf to allow her to fondle her fluffy ears and Keran was steadily losing ground in this argument.

"Indra! Tell your betrothed to let me pet... woof..!"

Vermeil's eyes became slightly glossy as she took in the sight of the brand new Indra and Lucia.

For starters, the bewitching Lamia was now sporting a much shorter haircut.

Her long black hair had been cut into a bob that framed her cute face perfectly.

It also helped to better show off the necklace that Indra had gotten for her, and it would be hard to make a judgment on which of the two was more eye catching.

The vampire beside her could illicit a similar dilemma.

After having his adaptable armor 'eat' the things he bought, Indra could now take on a few new outfits and combinations, all offering the same level of protection.

Currently, he had on a black robe with gold trim that hung open to reveal his muscular abdomen and the bright red gem in his chest.

He wore a pair of simple white pants that currently had his hands stuffed into the pockets and a pair black sandals that went up to his ankles.

His long silver hair was tied up behind his back, but a few strands of his hair also seemed to have been neatened up by a stylist.

"Indra, I have a question?" Vermeil said.

"...what?"

"Would you like my virginity gift wrapped, or as it is?"

"Neither." Indra replied with a small smile.

Walking up to the couch, he placed the two bags he was carrying onto Vermeil's lap, before taking out a small black box from his pocket and handing it to Keran.

His former fiancé had been staring at him like he was a porterhouse steak ever since he entered the room, so she was more than a little surprised when her beloved suddenly handed her something.

"W-What is this?" She asked.

"A small gift. I'm not exactly sure if it's to your liking but it didn't seem right not to get you anything."

Keran felt her heart beginning to race as she cracked open the black box in her hand.

Inside, she found a pair of gleaming diamond earrings which had been cut to form sculptures.

One was a beautiful glimmering moon, and the other was a brightly shining sun.

The werewolf felt her eyes staring to become wet as she looked at these treasures that were already the most precious thing she owned.

"Beloved... thank-"

But before Keran could finish expressing her gratitude, she looked up to find Indra already gone.

She glanced at the staircase on the other side of the room and a bitter smile spread across her face.

'He's gone to see her already, huh...?'

Keran had told herself that she was okay taking her time for Indra to come back around to her.

But upon receiving his gift a few moments ago, she decided that maybe she should switch her tactics around.

She couldn't take much more of this painful waiting.

She had to get the man she loved back, by any means necessary.

-

Indra stepped into what had become he and Enyo's room and he found her still in bed.

His wife was clearly just waking up from last night's activities, as she was still completely nude and her hair was slightly messy.

The setting orange sun streamed through the curtains and cascaded off her delectable chocolate skin.

Bits of her figure were exposed as she sat up, like the love bites that had been left along her upper body and her bountiful breasts that seemed ripe for suckling.

When her eyes landed on her husband, her eyes became crescent shaped as her lips bent into a sweet smile.

She held her arms out toward him like she desperately needed his embrace, and the melodic way that she called for him sapped all of his resistance to be apart from her.

"Honey..!"