*Bam* *Clang* *Bam* *Clang*
Beats and metallic sounds echo through the workshop, making it clear that Rebecca is working with her second favorite hammer; Lucien has the one she loves the most, after all.
"Let's go." He comments as he walks toward the back of the workshop with Wrath; the other Sins are inside his soul, watching their sister have fun like a happy little girl.
The workshop is one of the largest rooms in the house, but Lucien quickly spots Rebecca in front of the anvil, hammering a large rectangular shield while watching Jeanne holding her large glowing shield.
Soul weapon usually can't stay materialized long away from its owner, so this explains why Jeanne continues to hold her shield, but Lucien wonders why Rebecca is interested in that soul weapon.
However, he is more attracted to Jeanne's current look. She's wearing a maid outfit too, but her dress is totally altered; It has shiny metal adorns throughout, shin guards, shoulder pads, and a corset that leaves a lot of her skin exposed while highlighting Jeanne's breasts.
Jeanne's maid dress-armor looks sexier than really useful, but the enchantments Rebecca did in it leave her entire body protected while making her look wonderful.
Wrath obviously notices that too and discovers a new feeling, jealousy. Jeanne looks like a light battle maid while she would be the dark one, and it makes Wrath wonder which one Lucien prefers.
He definitely doesn't like to make comparisons, and he's quite impressed with Jeanne's look, but if he had to choose between her and Wrath, that wouldn't be fair competition as darkness is much more familiar to him than light.
"Hubby?!?" Jeanne notices Lucien and makes a panicked expression. It is evident that Anne asked the girls to keep the surprise a secret.
"Lucien!?!" Rebecca wakes up from her work trance due to Jeanne's voice and looks at Lucien with an even more panicked expression.
He smiles lovingly at them. "Why are you girls acting like I caught you doing something wrong?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"..." Jeanne blushes while wondering how she ended up agreeing to play such an embarrassing game, even though she loved the changes Rebecca made to her maid outfit.
"Ehhh..." Rebecca, on the other hand, really feels like she's doing something wrong. She looks at the shield on the anvil and then at Lucien several times as she thinks about what to say.
Lucien feels something is wrong and quickly approaches her. "I was just kidding, my dear; you don't have to worry."
"I know, ahh..." She still looks hesitant but then starts to explain. "I know this sounds silly, but I was trying to create good equipment for your troops in Argerim, and Jeanne's shield looks so amazing... I wanted to use it as a base to create the best shields possible."
She bows her head as soon as she's finished talking as if she thinks he's going to scold her or something. But she smiles when she feels his hand gently stroking her hair. "You... aren't you angry?"
"Why should I be angry?" Lucien lovingly smiles as he continues patting her head.
Lucien leaves no doubt that he's not angry with Rebecca, but Wrath looks at him with a sorry expression; only she and Lust know how much repressed-anger there is inside his heart for everything that is happening to his sisters and the fact that his mother could be someone very different from what he thought.
He tries very hard to keep that anger in the deepest, darkest part of his heart, not letting it affect his beloved ones. But he can't hide that from the person who knows him best and the Sin who better knows anger.
"Ehhh..." Rebecca makes a thoughtful expression. "Well, I know you're busy with so much trouble, and I should use our resources wisely, probably just with ourselves, or craft equipment for the Nagas and Mermaids who are joining your troops, but..."
"It's okay, fine..." He kisses her forehead. "I really want to help these people, so they can make our family stronger, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten the people of Argerim."
"Really?" Rebecca believes Lucien's words, but she instinctively asks.
"Sure." He smiles. "I'm always thinking about them and how to keep them safe, so I have no reason to be upset about you doing the same."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Oh, good..." She sighs in relief. "I worry about the people of Argerim; they are very weak compared to the people of this world, and I fear that people like that might attack them while we are away... I just want to help them become stronger."
"I have such concerns too..." Jeanne comments. "My family is in Argerim along with my people... Don't get me wrong, I am very happy with you, Hubby, but I fear they could be attacked because of us."
Lucien understands how Jeanne and Rebecca feel; Due to how his life is shrouded in mysteries and powerful races, it is quite possible that his enemies will try to attack Argerim because of him.
But before he can say anything else, Wrath steps forward. "Such an attack is unlikely to happen now. Argerm is an inferior world that has nothing to offer."
Lust materializes her body beside them and nods. "Wrath is right. Those Angels only went there because they were following the energy of the Ghost Lady and the Shé Dragons, probably because of the life crystal mine, but both things are no longer there, so Argerim doesn't draw attention anymore."
"What if someone attacks Argerim because of me?" Lucien asks.
"Like attacking your weak point?" Wrath asks and quickly continues. "That could really happen, but not now."
"Because now few people know we came from there." Lust completes Wrath's words. "Only your wives know about this, so most people think you came from the Demonic World."
"It makes sense." Lucien is more relieved by that. Yet, he can't help but worry about the mysterious people who are trying to manipulate him from the shadows. If someone wanted to hurt him by attacking Argerim, he couldn't do anything now.
Jeanne and Rebecca are also relieved by the Sins' explanation, but they still want to increase the power of the people of Argerim.
Lucien knows that and smiles at them. "Don't worry about resources; anything that can increase the power of the people of Argerim is beneficial to us. Also, you should talk to Cassidy, Angela, and Ghalenna about it; they are always concerned about their people too and will be happy to help."
"Mm." Rebecca smiles at him. "Then I'll keep working on those shields."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Alright." Lucien is really proud of Rebecca. He doesn't regret bringing someone so kind and hardworking into his family, although Lust was against it at first due to her Creation affinity and latent talent being too low.
He pats her head again before turning his attention to Jeanne. He looks her outfit up and down with a naughty smile on his face, making the shining knight blush even more.
"Don't look at me like that..." She speaks in a shy tone. "I could die from embarrassment."
"No one can really die of embarrassment!" Lust laughs.
Wrath looks at her with that usual hostile expression. "You have no idea because you don't know the feeling of shame."
Lucien can't help but smile. The shy Jeanne is already so cute, but the shy Wrath can reach a level of cuteness he can't even comprehend.
"Anyway…" He pats Jeanne's hair, making her feel much better. "You seem to be having a lot of fun with this."
She blushes even more, and maybe it's because her hair is pink or just her skin is too pale, but Lucien thinks she looks more pinkish than reddish when embarrassed, which makes her look cute in an even more unique way.
"It's not like... you know..." She starts to stutter. "I don't… just don't tell Anne, okay? She wants to make this a surprise for you."
"Sure." He smiles and then takes a quick glance at Wrath and Lust before looking at Jeanne again as he thinks aloud. "I'm already loving it."
Lust keeps her beautiful and delicate nose up while her ego is exalted by Lucien's lustful gaze; the more he looks at her that way, the hornier she gets.
But Wrath is the opposite; not that Lucien doesn't arouse such feelings in her, but it only happened when they fought, while his gaze makes her feel shy and embarrassed, which in turn makes her angry at herself.
However, she likes that so much. It's confusing, and not even she understands her own feelings.
Jeanne also doesn't know how to deal with that embarrassment, so she panics and ends up dematerializing her soul weapon. "Oh!"
"Shh..." Rebecca sighs as she can't blame Jeanne for being teased by Lucien. Then she looks at him with a pleading look. "Hubby..."
He raises his hands in defense but keeps his smile teasing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt..."
Jeanne calms herself down and materializes the shield again on Rebecca's bench; then, she looks at Lucien. "Do you want to tell me something?"
"Yeah," he nods. "It's about Kamala and Lena; I'd like you to help them train, especially in a defensive way."
"To train?" She makes a confused expression. "I certainly wouldn't have a problem with that, but I don't think I could teach them anything better than your techniques; wouldn't that be more negative than helpful?"
"Of course not." He quickly responds. "Your techniques are amazing too, my dear. And I don't think my fighting style will benefit them; I usually use my agility offensively, and they will need to protect their mothers during combat, so I think you would be a perfect teacher for them."
"Hmm..." Jeanne can't help but find the proposal very exciting. That reminds her of the good days in Portgreen when she trained soldiers for her family and adventurers in the Guild.
And while she doesn't think she could teach a woman like Kamala anything, as she is hundreds of years old and has a much higher power level than her, Jeanne doesn't want to let Lucien down.
"I'll try my best!" She makes a determined expression.
"You already do, my love." He kisses her lips. "Also, we still don't know much about soul weapons, but if you could show the girls how amazing your glowing shield is... you know, make them desire something similar."
"Got it." She smiles. Jeanne really thinks her shield is amazing but not because of Its look but rather Its ability to protect those she loves. Lucien knows that and thinks it could be a strong motivator for Kamala and Lena.
"I'll start as soon as possible." She comments.
"No need to rush…" He responds and then makes a naughty expression. "Also, we have something to do first, don't we?"
Jeanne again starts to blush. "Ehhh... it's just..." She knows that if Lucien keeps teasing her, she's going to want to do things with him before Anne and the other girls finish the surprise, so she steps back.
"I need to go help Anne and the others!" She stutters before running towards the door, but before leaving, she looks at Rebecca with a sorry expression. "We can continue later, alright?"
"Sure." Rebecca responds with a friendly expression.
"Mm." Jeanne smiles and then leaves the workshop.
Rebecca tries to look at Lucien with a fake angry expression, but his teasing smile makes her blush too. "Why are you looking at me this way?"
"You must have gotten a maid outfit, too, didn't you?" He asks in an expectant tone.
"..." She pouts, but after a few seconds, she sighs. "Yeah, Kara gave me one, but I don't think I look good in something that cute..."
He continues to smile as he hugs her and slowly starts removing her clothes. "We only have one way to find out..."
"Hehe..." Lust giggles as she looks at Wrath with a provoking expression. "Will you want to watch what comes next?"
She huffs before turning and walking toward the door. "I'll wait outside."
