Listening to the Risha ladies request Daimon inwardly frowned, all his classmates were in the boat as him already, that of course included Yvonne, Leslie and Liliana, so it was weird for their mothers to go through so much troubles just to speak about such a thing.
But then he remembered how they looked at him before and things became clear… this was probably an engagement discussion.
From the corner of his eyes Daimon saw Erin smiling and he knew she could read between lines.
Of course, as the publicly recognized most cunning woman of the galaxy, Erin didn't answer immediately, she took a sip of her drink before speaking in a soft voice.
"That sounds perfectly fine for me, let me prepare the soul contract".
Although Erin was a good host, she as a woman of course protected her "interests", and since those three were clearly proposing their daughters as possible partners for Daimon, she couldn't help but make things a bit difficult for them.
And it worked, the three Risha ladies seemed to have something to say, but they remained silent, refusing the offer of a half emperor they just met yesterday was a bad idea to say the less, besides they noticed Elaine seemed to be a bit in a defensive stance with them.
But then they all smiled as if they have accomplished what they wanted before nodding.
"We thank miss Erin for her understanding".
Irina previously spoke with her cousins, being too direct after such a short time would only made them look as gold diggers, and that wasn't the idea.
After Ferdinand returned, an assembly was upheld between all the clans that conform the Risha family, the subject was to join the side of the Revy and Argent families.
Besides the patriarchs of the three biggest clans, which are Yvonne, Leslie and Liliana's fathers respectively, there was a council of elders formed by the strongest representative of the other family branches.
Besides Ferdinand's father and his uncle on his mother's side, Richard, as well as Liliana and Leslie's father side granduncles and grandaunts, a total of seven peak Archmages from the three bigger clans, there were another seven peak Archmages from the minor families which formed the council of elders.
Ferdinand exposed the situation to the family, of course he only said that after personally "meeting" Daimon, he firmly believed it was better for the family to side with the Revy family.
Unfortunately, besides him, his father, granduncle, Richard, Liliana's grandaunt and one elder from the minor families, all the others voted against it.
So, the verdict was, one of three big patriarchs and five peak Archmages which supported the motion, against two big patriarchs and nine peak Archmages which rejected it.
For the first time in his life, Ferdinand got into a fight with his "good old friends", the other two patriarchs because they were contacted by the Ascott, Gladius and Grayer and offered something they couldn't reject, a spot in the exploration for someone of their choose and… a favor from a half emperor.
In exchange of course that they needed to publicly accept their marriage proposal and there was a new condition, which was siding with the Jolbaris family.
Everyone was trying to make more allies because one more ally means one less enemy to worry about inside the magic ruin, which will naturally lead to a higher chance of returning alive with treasures that would help their respective forces dominate others.
And so, the Risha family was divided, luckily as Veronica and Anya were about to rush from the family to go and protect their daughters from the elders that wanted to accept the deal from the human light faction.
They got a notice from Irina that the girls got invited to the Revy family, as "brave" as the patriarchs and elders of the Risha family were, let alone demand the return of the young ladies, they didn't even dare to show their faces at the Revy family grounds.
So, Aisha's invitation, was unintentionally a lifesaving for Yvonne, Leslie and Liliana.
Then when Veronica and Anya arrived, they noticed both of their daughters seemed to have a good impression of the little monster from the Revy family.
Originally, they both were glad with him because he helped them when the bastards of the Grayer and Gladius families came to cause troubles to their daughters, Daimon stood out for them.
But after seeing they also seemed to be relatively close to Daimon, they decided to take things a bit further, so with Irina's help, the three of them judged every little interaction between their daughters and him.
And they reached the same conclusion, "Let's try to pave the way for the future happiness of those girls".
The problem was that they didn't know how the relationship between Daimon and the Erin's daughters worked, that's why they came here at night to discuss with Erin about it, but the plan was ruined because Elaine was also here.
And none of them was shameless enough to promote their daughter in front of one of the actual fiancées, not only that, they were genuinely thankful for the Revy family to provide protections for their daughters, and so the three of them agreed to leave this discussion for later.
In any case, feelings need time to be developed, and unlike what happened to them, Veronica, Irina and Anya were decided to help their daughters be happy, unlike what happened to them.
A moment later Erin handed them a soul contract, the terms were the same as always, an alliance which didn't let them harm each other.
After signing it, the three ladies slightly bowed again… but this time they did it towards Daimon.
"Thanks for helping Yvi… I know this is not your duty, but please if you have the chance, lend her a hand inside the magic ruin".
"Same here, after being depressed since she got the notice of the Gladius family proposal, my Leslie started smiling again thanks to you!".
"Liliana is a good girl, keep her safe… please".
They understood that if they directly proposed a marriage, they'll be seen as invaders, especially since their daughters met Daimon not too long ago.
That being said it would be a lie to say they didn't expect Daimon to get the message.
The three women in front of him might have completely different personalities, or ways to express it, but right now, they weren't part of the high echelon of the Risha family, nor Archmages, they were bowing their heard as mothers to the youth who helped their daughters when they needed it.
At first Daimon was a bit surprised, but then remembering how Aisha didn't hesitate even for a second to give her life to protect him.
"No matter in which galaxy or planet you live, mothers are incredible", he thought before saying.
"Please raise your heads, they are friends of both my sister and me, inside of the magic ruin I can't guarantee anything, because I don't know whether I would meet them or not… but I won't sit idly by, if I'm there to help".
The Risha ladies smiled, while also giving an apologetic gaze at Elaine before leaving the mansion.
Elaine didn't know what to say, she felt a bit conflictive right now, if they were plotting against her, her heart mirror would have warned her, so they clearly weren't here for greed but instead for a decent reason.
But understanding their reasons and agreeing with them were two completely different things.
She stared at her mother before using mana to send her a message which only Erin could hear.
"Mom, you look calmer than what I expected, those three seem really decided to bring their daughters to the family".
Erin remained silent for a moment before shrugging.
"Ultimately that decision is not up to us, but up to Daimon… we shouldn't worry about that anyway, has he ever put any of us above the other?".
Elaine immediately shook her head, Daimon always tried to be fair with them, resources from the system, gifts in their birthdays, even spending time with them, he always did his best to show them the same amount of care, of course his interactions were different with each one, just like how Liz was too clingy or the way Erin competed with Aura.
Erin turned to see Daimon which seemed to be lost in his thoughts before saying.
"Regardless of what happened here today, you were going to give them a "life insurance", right?".
Daimon's eyes glowed for a second before standing up from his chair, he then dragged both mother and daughter into his arms.
"Of course, but they aren't the only ones, Calvin, Michael, Loren… even that little girl from the Jolbaris family, I will help them all, but I won't say a thing about it, they can't depend on me all the time".
Even if Daimon was the captain of the team and he accepted the responsibilities that came with the position, he wasn't a babysitter, and that was something all the members of the elite class understood.
Of course, if the person in question was Aisha or any of his soulmates, he would turn the whole galaxy upside down if needed, and he didn't consider it hypocritical, everyone had something which weighted more in their heart.
If he had to choose between Aisha and his other classmates… he wouldn't doubt it even for a second, that was the reality of the cruel world in which they lived, and Daimon was aware of it.
But that's why he was aiming for the top, to be strong enough so that he didn't have to choose one thing or the other, instead of that, others would have to follow the options he set.
Evangeline as the manager of the system could feel Daimon's current mind state, she then looked at the notification which appeared in front of her eyes and she couldn't help but laugh.
In that isolated space where no one could see her nor hear her, she laughed out loud to the content of her heart, before waving her hand making the notification to shatter, that's right it didn't disappear like normally, it was destroyed.
"I'm wishing to see those bastards faces in the future, against all the chances… their own actions made an abnormality which can't be restrained nor controlled to be bo she thought in silence.
