1000x Random Returns: Investing in My Crippled Demon Wives!

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: ”Why Is It THERE?!”

The estate came into view as Lucien’s carriage rolled to a stop, and he actually blinked at it.

The roof sat flawless, dark tiles gleaming under the last orange light of sunset. The windows, all of them were fixed, glass catching the fading sun.

The garden, overgrown weeds and all, had been trimmed into something that almost resembled intentional landscaping.

’Money well spent,’ he thought, stepping down.

’Didn’t expect them to finish this fast, magic powered construction, I guess. Nice.’

He walked up the front steps, and the door swung open before he even reached for it.

Evelisse barreled out first, already mid-sentence then stopped dead, eyes going wide.

”...”

”...You’re covered in blood.”

Aurelia and Seraphina appeared behind her almost instantly, expressions shifting from curiosity to alarm in the space of a heartbeat.

Seraphina’s hands were on him before he could explain, checking his arms, his chest, patting down fabric like she could locate an injury through sheer determination.

Aurelia’s expression had gone flat and serious, the way it did right before she started issuing orders.

”Are you hurt?” she asked with no preamble.

Lucien almost laughed at how fast the concern had eclipsed everything else.

”Most of this is goblin blood,” he said.

”Not mine.”

The tension broke all at once, Seraphina’s shoulders sagging in relief, Aurelia’s jaw unclenching, Evelisse letting out a breath she’d clearly been holding.

’Nice,’ he thought, warmth spreading through his chest.

’Genuine worry, not ”did you get the loot,” not ”how much gold did you make.”

’Just... are you okay.’

’I’m definitely getting used to this.’

”Go wash up,” Seraphina said, already steering him toward the stairs.

”We’ll wait for you.”

---

He climbed to the bathroom, peeled off the ruined armor, and scrubbed goblin blood down the drain until the water ran clear.

Toweling off afterward, he caught his reflection in the full-length mirror and paused, giving himself an idle once-over.

’Bloodline’s really done a number on this body though I’m not complaining.’

Then he turned slightly, and froze.

Three marks traced down his spine, glowing faintly before settling into permanent ink.

Lowest, near his lower back, a pair of vampire fangs framed by crossed war axes and a curling sword on either side, crimson flame licking along the edges.

’This should be Aurelia’s.’

In the middle of his spine were a pair of delicate succubus wings, rose vines twisting around a heart shaped from droplets of blood, a small tail curling beneath it all.

’And this should be Seraphina’s.’

Highest and largest, spanning his upper back were black feathered fallen angel wings spread wide, a dark halo hovering above vampire fangs, faint golden stars scattered through the ink like a night sky.

’And this one just screams Evelisse.’

Lucien stared at his own reflection, chest tight with something he didn’t have a word for.

’The marriage contract,’ he realized.

’It’s complete, all three of them, permanently a part of me now. Not just on paperwork,not just a political arrangement anymore.’

’If mine appeared... theirs must have too.”

And just on time the system chimed in his head.

[Ding!]

[Bonds increased]

[Aurelia — Bond (Partner) 17% → 19%]

[Seraphina — Bond (Partner) 12% → 15%]

[Evelisse — Bond (Partner) 13% → 16%]

”Hm, thats quite an increase, seems like we are getting closer to becoming family for real.” Lucien said to no one.

---

Downstairs, in her own room, Aurelia had been mid-change into looser clothes when she paused, fingers brushing her inner thigh.

A small mark had bloomed there — vampire fangs and crossed blades, unmistakable.

She stared at it a long moment.

”...Interesting, it looks cool” she murmured, and said nothing more.

---

Seraphina discovered hers on her own thigh while changing, blinked at it twice, then went scarlet from her collarbone to her ears.

She yanked her nightgown down over it immediately, glancing at the door like someone might barge in.

”...” was all she managed, mortified and secretly, quietly pleased.

---

Evelisse found hers just below her navel and nearly shrieked.

”Why is it THERE?!”

No one answered, no one heard. She spent a solid minute glaring at the small mark like it had personally chosen the location to spite her.

---

Dinner was already on the table by the time Lucien came back downstairs, changed and considerably less bloody.

”I made dinner,” Seraphina said, a little shy about it.

”Since you got back late.”

”Smells incredible,” Lucien said, meaning it, and sat down to eat.

Compliments flew around the table almost immediately.

Aurelia’s usual clipped ”It’s good.”

Evelisse’s grudging ”...fine, it’s decent though I prefer Lucien’s more.”

Lucien’s more enthusiastic praise leaving Seraphina pink and pleased through most of the meal.

Between bites, he started telling the story.

”Goblin King,” he said.

”Ten meters tall with a rusted crown fused into its skull.”

Aurelia nodded slowly.

”Standard for a mutated boss variant.”

”Then it went to Peak D-rank,” Lucien continued.

”Second phase pushed it toward Beginner C.”

Aurelia’s brow furrowed sharply.

”That’s dangerous, a power spike that severe should never happen in an E-rank dungeon.”

”I wasn’t alone, though,” Lucien added.

”Teamed up with three other adventurers.”

Seraphina’s shoulders eased visibly.

”I’m glad,” she said quietly.

”I’m glad you weren’t alone in there.”

”And then,” Lucien said, building it deliberately.

”We killed it, and it even dropped a Gold Chest.”

Silence.

Aurelia actually straightened in her seat.

”...Gold?”

Seraphina’s teacup wobbled dangerously in her hand.

”...A Gold Chest,” she echoed, faint.

Evelisse just stared.

”That’s...” she said slowly, ”insane.”

’Exactly the reaction I was hoping for, Lucien thought, hiding a smile.

---

He reached into his storage pouch and set the fruit gently on the table.

Golden light spilled out immediately, soft and warm, illuminating every face at the table.

Nobody spoke for a long moment.

Aurelia’s eyes narrowed, recognition dawning slow and heavy.

”A Golden Genesis Spirit Fruit,” she said quietly.

”You know it?” Lucien asked.

She nodded.

”Its a Legendary rank fruit, capable of awakening a Talent in someone who has none, thoughI’m assuming this one only works for E-Rank or lowers individual since it dropped from a E-Rank dungeon. ” Her voice dropped slightly.

”Entire noble families have gone to war over rumors of one existing. Actually possessing one is...”

”Priceless,” Seraphina finished softly.

”Even Duke-tier families would treasure something like this and only give it to their most promising geniuses.”

Lucien looked at the fruit, glow pulsing gently against the tabletop.

’If I ate this, I’d get stronger if I awaken a new talent ability.’

’But—’

He looked at Evelisse instead.

’She’s waited twenty-one years for a talent that never came, waited her whole life to stop being ”the worthless half-breed.”’

’I can wait a little longer for my own upgrades. This isn’t even a hard decision as I will get on e with the systems return investment.’

He slid the fruit gently across the table, stopping it in front of her.

Evelisse blinked down at it.

”...”

”...For me?”

”Who else then?” Lucien said simply.

The table went quiet.

Evelisse’s eyes went glassy almost immediately, though she fought it, blinking hard, refusing to actually let anything fall.

”Nobody’s actually ever put her first,” Lucien thought, watching her throat work.

’Not her own father, not her clan. But there’s first time for everything, apparently.’

”...Are you sure you don’t have a fever?”

Evelisse asked finally, voice slightly unsteady, retreating toward humor the way she always did when things got too real.

Lucien laughed.

”No fever,” he said.

”Just investing in my wife here.”

Aurelia and Seraphina exchanged a small, knowing glance, a joke, obviously, in their eyes, though neither of them caught the deeper truth buried underneath it.

’Only I know exactly how literal that actually was,’ Lucien thought, satisfied.

---

Evelisse picked up the fruit carefully, cradling it like it might shatter, turning it over in trembling hands.

”...What if it doesn’t work?” she asked quietly, golden light reflecting in her eyes.

”It will,” Lucien said, no hesitation in his voice at all.

She looked up at him, something raw and hopeful flickering behind the usual tsundere bravado.

”...You don’t know that,” she said, quieter still.

”Don’t need to,” Lucien said.

”I believe it anyway.”

Evelisse stared at the fruit a moment longer, then carefully, reverently, set it down in front of her, not eating it yet, just holding the moment a little longer, like she wanted to remember exactly what it felt like before everything changed.

Aurelia watched her with an unreadable expression.

Seraphina reached over and gently squeezed Evelisse’s free hand.

Nobody rushed her.

For the first time in twenty-one years, someone had finally chosen Evelisse Noctis first, not as an afterthought, not as a leftover, not as the family’s last resort.

And she had absolutely no idea what to do with that feeling except sit there, fruit glowing softly in her palm, blinking back tears she refused to let anyone see fall.

***************

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