Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Sitting on the porch of the house, Mino finally felt at peace. Being a monster who was carried in via the bracelet, she could feel the force of the warding runes affecting her and her magic. The moment she stepped out, shards of red glass cascaded out of her body. Plugging her pores inside the house, they'd been waiting to be let out to free herself from the magical constraints.

"Fira!" Conjuring a small flame in her hand, she quickly blew it out.

Smiling, she placed her hands on the wooden porch and glanced over to the forest with her legs playfully cycling around. Beyond the thicket in front, a hint of wolves and a pack of goblins–she could smell them all, but somehow they just wouldn't dare cross that threshold set by the house.

'This magic could be useful for camping.' Getting on her feet, she began walking around the clearing separating the forest and the structure. Focusing flames into her hands, she traced every spot trying to figure out where the runes were outside of the house. 'Must be buried and not as effective if I can use magic but…'

Taking a step on a certain spot, the flames in her hands disappeared completely. Being right about her conjecture another smile crept up her lips. Standing atop that very spot made her mana shut off completely, which could mean but one thing.

"It's here, at least part of it," as she took a quick step back, a much smaller portion of red glass from before poured out of her skin. Falling to the ground it shattered and disappeared in thin air. "I should have Raven check this out later."

Being a spirit mage, she'd never learned to read, not that her clan would know how to anyway. Thus, turning around she stretched her arms upward and gave a tired yawn. The night before had been anything but pleasant to her. At first, it was just the pressure from being inside the house, but with Raven fucking Aerin beside her, she couldn't get any shut-eye either.

'If only I could join, maybe the headache wouldn't be here?' Despite wanting to join in the fun last night, she was forced to rest since her injuries could open back up from internal movement. 'Maybe a week or so more? I hope it doesn't last more than that.'

Cracking her neck, Mino turned to the forest and marched in for a hunt. A deer, a rabbit, or anything that would fill her belly, she wanted to relive her moment of power for a bit, just like she had on the throne of corpses back in the minotaur cave.

In the meantime, back inside the house with Raven and the two women sitting around the floor dining, an awkward silence loomed, as nobody knew how to break the ice. Glancing at each other through shifting eyes, they kept themselves busy with the meal instead of making any small talk. However, unable to keep the quiet going any longer, Brenna finally spoke up.

"So you're leaving your home city soon?" Setting her spoon on the table, Brenna rested her chin on the back of her hand. Staring at Raven with half-shut eyes, she tilted her head while waiting for an answer.

Lifting his head, Raven glanced between the mother and daughter duo, but then landing on Brenna, he set his spoon aside before answering.

"Yeah, that's why I wanted to visit Aerin and you before my party leaves," shifting his eyes to Aerin, Raven reached for her hand and added. "And to be honest, I wanted to make sure you wouldn't force her to get married after all."

Silence lingered in the room once more, but this time, it wasn't due to the awkwardness of the situation, but the musings of everyone's mind. Judging the situation for herself, then looking at her daughter, Brenna knew there was no need for Aerin to marry the man her father had picked anymore, but what exactly was Raven insinuating? That he wanted to marry her instead? She couldn't be more unsure.

"It was her father's last wish, but…" Retreating her hands from the table, Brenna picked herself up and glanced down at the two. "He got everything he wanted from us in his life, it'd be a shame if we kept being his slaves in his death."

A sudden gasp left Aerin's lips, staring at her mother, her eyes widened with shock, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could she? Brenna had never even tried to defy her husband in front of her daughter after all.

"And you're free to stay a few more days," doing her best to hide a weak smile, Brenna quickly turned away and disappeared into the creaky hallway. After the sound of her steps against the floor slowly disappeared, both Aerin and Raven looked at each other, their faces scowling in confoundment.

"What just happened?" Asked Raven, and Aerin could only shrug in response.

Neither of them had a clue as to what was going inside Brenna's head. And while the two were busy thinking over what had just happened, the widow was busy preparing for the night even though it was still early morning.

Shutting herself inside her workshop, Brenna made sure the door was locked. What she intended to do, she didn't want her daughter to find out, as for Raven he would find out soon either way.

'Don't mess this up this time…' She told herself, right before picking out the herbs needed from the shelves. Piling them all up on her desk, she sat down on the cushion beside it and began grinding them inside a cauldron.

"Smaller dose, and a bit of something extra…" Talking to herself while working, she kept thinking of the night, and how much she wanted to finally do it with Raven. Even just remembering the way he teased her with his fingers, had her dripping against the cushion all the way until her concoction was finished.

'Just one dose.' She thought, picking herself up and getting ready to prepare dinner. Intending to slip the medicine into Raven's portion of the meal, she rubbed her thighs together–aching for the night and everything it entailed to come sooner.