Demon's Virtue

"You're saying we threw you away? My dear, in no way did we ever throw you away... we just wished to help you... we didn't 'sell' you to the Holy Empire, we only wanted you to get help with them! They said they would be able to find a way to keep you safe, despite your powers!" Loid exclaimed, "And then, we only heard that the caravan that transported you mysteriously disappeared, and... and we thought you were dead..."

Sammy looked back at the man in front of her, as her face quickly turned sour, "You're doing it again, aren't you? You're trying to manipulate me again! No, I won't let that happen! Do you even know what it was like back then? I was eight, I wasn't an idiot!" She exclaimed angrily, "Let me tell you what I want you to do right now, alright? I want you to tell me the truth! The actual, absolute truth! Tell me why you came here!"

Eiro turned his head as he listened to Sammy use her ability on this man, who was quickly taken aback. And Loid simply answered without a moment's hesitation, not even seeing any issue with suddenly having to reveal the true reason why they came. Clearly, Sammy's skill did affect him, but it simply made it seem like Loid wanted to talk about this in the first place.

"We simply came here to have our two families join, by having you and Arc marry. We want you to return with us to our homes, and bring us prosperity using your abilities!" Loid explained in a simple tone, and Sammy and Arc immediately looked at each other confused, "Marry? Us two? Are you fucking insane?" Arc asked, "I'm not going to marry my sister, what the fuck!"

"Don't you dare use that sort of language in front of us!" Aaron yelled out, trying to act like an actual parent for once in his life, before Elizabeth stood up and tried to walk over toward Arc, "Please, scream, yell, be angry! Do whatever you need to to let these emotions out! But after that, you must start realizing... This girl is not your sister, by any means. She is just another victim of this vile, evil man that has kidnapped you."

"Oh shut the fuck up, you dumb bi-" Arc said, but Eiro quickly placed his hand on his son's head from behind to try and pull him out of whatever anger he was going through right now. And then, Eiro looked at the people in front of him.

"I have a few things to say about this. The first being that these two are siblings, no matter what you say. They are my children, and legally so. They are both part of the Daemonherz household, they grew up together, and most importantly, they consider each other as siblings. As far as I'm aware, there is no sort of romantic interest between the two."

Eiro turned to the side, noticing that Sammy was shuddering at just the idea, and then looked back at the people in front of him. With a deep sigh, Eiro figured he should just try and have this whole thing finish up, "Alright. You four, do you have any sort of proof that these two are your children?"

"H-Huh? It's obvious, isn't it? They look just like us!" Aaron exclaimed, and Eiro slowly turned his head toward Arc, "I do see the resemblance, but... that doesn't mean anything, does it? Is everyone that looks even remotely similar related to each other?"

"We all know for a fact that they are truly our children. So what is this about?" Loid asked with a deep frown, and Eiro slowly crossed his arms, "It's simple. Sammy, Arc... who is it you two consider to be your parent?"

"You, obviously." Arc said, "You are, and will always be, the only man I will consider my father." He said in a clear tone, standing up so that he could walk up beside Eiro, and Sammy slowly joined her brother with a nod, "I feel the same. He's my father, and that will never, ever change."

"I felt a little confused when I saw you earlier, but... now I just really want you to leave. Forever." Arc pointed out, while Sammy was still trying to find her words. She soon felt Felix squeeze her hand with a light smile on his face, supporting her with all he had. She let out a slow, deep sigh, and then looked at her 'parents'.

"I do not feel any sort of lingering attachment to you. You never acted like I'm your child. Even throughout the years I was there, I was just considered a guest in your home. You practically feared me to the point where you wouldn't allow me to speak, ever... except the few times when you wanted me to make 'suggestions' to people you would randomly introduce me to. Again, I'm not an idiot. But you two certainly are if you think that I would ever see you two as anything but strangers ever again." Sammy told them, her heart beating so strong out of nervosity that Eiro was actually kind of worried for her health.

But the Demon just slowly looked at the four people in front of him and in a very clear tone said, "Then I think the rest is simple, right? You four are strangers to my children. You have no proof that you are related in any way whatsoever, and you are just here to take them with you for your own self-gain. I don't know what the whole thing about having the two of them marry is about, but either way, it's a disgusting way to think, just treating the two like they're toys for you to play with. So we're adding that onto the oh-so-long list of reasons why I never want to see any of your faces ever again, and why I never want any of you to approach any member of this family." Eiro explained with a light smile on his face. He slowly took a few steps forward, and showed them a rather sadistic, even excited, grin as a bit more of a warning, "Or else, I will consider it a declaration of war."

He saw the people in front of him shudder, and a few moments, the kobold butler appeared beside them again, "My Lord, do you wish for me to escort our guests out of the property?"

"Please do, thanks." Eiro replied, watching as they all were practically forced out of the room. But they all knew that they couldn't just attack Eiro right here either, since that would just be straight-up idiotic.

Eiro made sure to watch from the main entrance as they all got into their carriages and left, before he heard Sammy's whole body simply slump down onto itself.

He immediately squatted down and held her, but he was simply pushed away by her, "N-No, please... Why... why did you even bring them in here..? Did you want us to go back with them or something?!"

"What..? No, why would I ever want something like that? Sammy, I just... I just didn't want to deny you the chance to finish things. I didn't want to deny you any chances, really... No matter what you had done, I would have supported you."

"Wait, so you really thought we would... we would just accept them..? That we would say 'Hey there, mom, pops, long time no see!'?!"

"Sammy, that's not what he meant, and you know that." Arc replied in Eiro's stead, "What was he supposed to do? Just fight them off? They knew we were here, and if he had just rejected them, things would have gotten even more troublesome."

"Oh yeah, so instead, why not fucking invite them in for a cup of tea? That makes sense!"

"They called him a kidnapper, an abuser! Do you think that Dad wanted to-" Arc replied, but Sammy quickly interrupted him again, "I don't know what he wanted, okay? I just know that... that I didn't want this..."

"Dad literally gave you the choice about whether or not you wanted to do this, what do you mean?" Arc asked, but Sammy didn't know what to say.

Eiro looked at his daughter and slowly wrapped his arms around her. She tried to push him away again, but he didn't let go this time, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put you in that situation. I swear to you, you won't ever have to deal with any of those people again, alright? If they try to even glance at you, I'll be in the way to block their sight. Alright? You're my daughter, and you always will be."

Slowly, Sammy wrapped her arms around Eiro's body as well, and hugged him back. She was clearly just overwhelmed with all of this, Eiro understood that. Sammy always tried to be strong around others, but sometimes, it was too much even for her.

A few moments later, she was also reminded of something else, "By the way... do you think you'll be in trouble for suddenly causing that kind of rain..? I mean, the source of that must have been visible everywhere..."

Eiro stopped for a few moments, and nervously let go of Sammy as he stood up, "That is a good point. I think we might get a visit from Solomon later today..." The Demon muttered, "But well... at that moment, I was just way too angry not to do something. And that was better than to hurt them, wasn't it?"