Wait, wait wait, Damien shook his head and quickly retracted his wandering hand. I’m not a goddamn wife-stealer! 

 

Damien may be Damien, but he’s not the same devious motherfucker from the game who just cucks people all willy nilly. He has standards. So no, he won’t fool around with this extremely attractive milf despite the woman’s obvious interest in making him Cory’s new daddy, thank you very much. 

 

It was regrettable, but a degenerate he was not. 

 

So he pulled back his hand from her thighs, pushed away her leg from under the table, and calmly ate his breakfast as if nothing happened. 

 

He could feel her eyes on him. “Is something the matter, Lord Damien?” She asked. Her saucy smile tried to reel him in, but he resisted.

 

“No, of course not.” He replied evenly. 

 

“I see.” Was her only response. The woman lightly nibbled on the tip of her sausage. Her tongue licked at the dripping juices for a moment before taking a bite.  She wasn’t looking at him at all, as if the little show hadn’t been meant for his pleasure. But he knew better. The kids didn’t know, but he did. 

 

Well, maybe Cory knew because she was watching her mother with furrowed brows and going back and forth between her and Damien like she were suspicious of something but couldn’t tell what was wrong. 

 

“You should visit more often, my Lord.” Lisandra spoke suddenly after a lengthy silence. “You and Dahlia, of course.”

 

“Indeed? But I see no reason for me to do so.” He shot her down. “Cory is Dahlia’s friend. I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel.”

 

“You wouldn’t be any such thing. Right, Cory?”

 

“Not at all.” The girl said as she gracefully wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. “The more the merrier.

 

“Quite.” Lisandra nodded. “And if you don’t wish to play with them, you are always welcome to visit me in my solar.” She casually suggested. “ Cory and Dahlia talk about how talented you are in the arts all the time. And you know, I just so happen to hold a rather keen interest in the classics. GIven your knowledge, I think we’d have much to talk about to pass the time.” 

 

He shook his head, “Talented? No, that’s an exaggera--”

 

“Yeah, that’s true!” Dolly cut in happily. “Day is really good at drawing and the piano! He makes so many interesting designs and plays such lovely tunes, he’s really a genius!”

“That’s really an overstatement.” He tried to intervene but it was useless.

 

Cory shook her head. “Nonsense! Everyone knows how gifted you are. I remember the stunned faces everyone had when you played one of your original pieces for young master Jacob’s birthday a year ago. And didn’t the famous painter Anthony Silvers once compliment a work of y--?”

“Nope. Didn’t happen.” He mercilessly interrupted her. “Lies, all of it. I’m really not that good at all.” He insisted heavily.

 

He really wasn’t. For the piano pieces, at least, all he did was play a piece or two from some of the greats of his previous world after being pestered so much. The drawings were his random scribbles when he was bored. He painted sometimes too and he did vaguely recall some random cunt who praised his work once but Damien had no appreciation for painting and had just drawn whatever had popped into his head at the time because he had to wait for his father to get done talking to one of his friend’s during a business trip he’d taken Damien on. And the guy’s family was taking lessons and invited him to “express” himself or whatever and he had nothing better to do. So, he went along. 

 

Painting is such a bullshit art anyway. A fucking black line on the paper would be all it takes for people to go crazy and begin wondering about the deep philosophical meaning the line could have.

 

Music is where it’s at. And he did take lessons in his last life, so he’s decent. Sure. Not his fault these people are behind the times and get worked up over a basic piece anyone could do. 

 

That said, he is knowledgeable about “the arts” in general. He’d had good tutors in this life. It’s nothing great, though, it’s just memorization. Anyway his “talents” ain’t nothing to go wild over. 

 

“Be that as it may, or may not be, the offer still stands regardless. I do get quite lonely. My husband is away so often these days. I could use the company.”

 

His eye twitched. “Jesus, lady, how thirsty are you?” He asked by impulse, his true character shining through for the first time since his arrival. 

 

The woman looked at him with a raised brow. “Pardon? I’m quite hydrated, I assure you.”

“Nevermind.” He waved his hand. “Well then, this was nice but we should really get going.”

 

“You’ve just barely sat down.” Cory reminded. “At least eat before you go.”

 

“Quite right, daughter of mine. Please, finish. You wouldn’t want to hurt the kitchen staff’s feeelings, would you?”

 

Seeing as how Dolly was already digging in Damien didn’t bother to argue. The rest of the meal passed by uneventfully apart from the arrival of a gagged Baz and an ever-indifferent looking Vera. 

 

They took their positions beside Damien and Dolly respectively. Once they finished Damien once more took the initiative to rise and announce their departure. However right then, Lisandra spoke up. 

 

“How about a walk along the garden before you go? It’s good for the digestion.”

 

Dolly heard this and shook her head. “I’m afraid we won’t be doing that, Lizzy.” They were close enough to call each other so casually?

 

Lisandra tilted her head. “Whyever not?”

 

The little girl hmph’d. “ Day’s chastity will be in danger from your daughter if we stay longer. Which is why I have just now, in fact, decided that from today onwards I and Cory will no longer be friends. After some food for thought, I cannot allow myself to be friends with someone who only wants to take advantage of my brother!”

 

Everyone was visible stunned. Lisandra burst out laughing. “I see, I see. Well, as you please.”

Dolly stood and bowed. “I’m sorry, Lizzy. I really didn’t want to drag you into this, but...as her mother...well…”

 

Lizzy waved off the concern. “Oh, don’t be silly. It’s perfectly okay. After all, you have to protect your brother, right?”

“Many bad women will want to try and pull the wool over his eyes, indeed.” Dolly sighed. “And many bad men will want to hurt him out of jealousy.But  I, Dolly, will never let Day be hurt ever again! No matter who it is, anyone who wants to hurt or take my brother away from me are all enemies I shall smite with full prejudice.” Her eyes blazed.

 

Cory slammed her hands on the table. “And you think that includes me?! I’ve been nothing but pleasant since you arrived!”

 

“Exactly! Cory is never so ladylike! You obviously have bad intentions. Weren’t you the one who sabotaged our carriage the other day as well?”

 

“What?!” The othe rgirl asked incredulously. “Of course not! What makes you think I would resort to tricks like that anyway?! Don’t be absurd! “

 

Damien looked at her. He had a pretty good bullshit detector and she didn’t appear to be lying. Strange.

 

Maybe it really was an accident? 

 

Or…

 

“Don’t take me for a fool! If not you, then who?!”

 

At this, Lisandra held up a hand. “Alright, alright, let’s be civil.”

 

“Hmph!” Cory pouted. “This nonsense, and you want me to be civil? I refuse!”

 

“As do I! “

 

Cory grit her teeth. “So, what? That’s it then? You want to break off all relations based on irrational suspicion?”

 

“What suspicion? Vee knows you’ve been after my brother for ages! Right, Vee? Isn’t that what you said?”

 

The green-haired lass shrugged. “If one were to say she has a keen interest in becoming your sister-in-law, no one would say otherwise. Her fangirl mentality is well-known among our circles.”

 

Baz mumbled something through the gag that no one understood. However Vee subsequently glared hard at him, causing the boy to gulp and hide behind Damien’s back.

 

Since Damien trusted Vee in spite of her sharp tongue, he could only shake his head. So his initial judgement was correct after all. Oh well. No sweat off his nose, he didn’t even know Cory well.

 

“Ah, well,” Lisandra smiled. “When I say let’s be civil, that’s because I don’t want you two to fight.over this matter. After all, Cory really didn’t have anything to do with the sabotaged wheel.”

 

“Oh?” Vera was the first to rush for answers. “And how would you know that?” She questioned in a  tone of voice far from what one should use when speaking to someone so above their own station.

 

“Well, because the one who did it was me.” 

 

No one said a word. Damien, too, was stunned. Even more so when the woman turned to him and asked, 

 

“Don’t you think you should become my man, my Lord?”

 

Holy fuck, but she’s direct!

 

“What about your husband?”

 

“What about him?”

 

Damien’s eyebrow twitched. Once, twice, three times. 

 

“Young Master, don’t be reckless.” Vera pleaded caution. She felt the air stir in that moment, which is why she said as much. Something was coming, she could feel it. She was intimately familiar with the Young Master’s personality and thus was afraid.

 

But it was useless, her urgings.

 

Because by the time the last word left her mouth, Damien already had Lisandra over his knee and started on her ass with the Devil’s Left, coming down on her rear with all the fury of a mad God.

 

Cory’s mouth fell open. In fact, everyone’s did. Including the surrounding servants.

 

“My Lady!” They cried. 

 

Damien paid them no mind. 

 

“Dammit, you think marriage is a joke? Huh? You think cheating on your partner is fun? Fuck, see if I don’t beat some sense into you today!”