Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

It was the royal garden and the king was sitting alone under the gazebo with a clutter of empty tea cups lying on the table in front. He was looking for peace and quiet whenever possible, and there was no better spot than one surrounded by greenery. The maids and the gardeners groomed the bushes and flowers in the background, and the rhythmic sound of their scissors helped Milo to calm down.

"So much to do, so many betrayals and conspiracy to handle, why?" He couldn't understand, not because he was incompetent but rather through the fault of others. "For gold? For power? Is that all there is in this world? If so, I pity the goddess who made us who we are."

Talking to himself since Viola wasn't present, Milo gazed into nothing and nothingness gazed back into him. For a spell he was lost, his vision disappeared. There was nothing in front of him and he felt detached from the flawed human experience completely. But then, from the edge of his eyes, he noticed a shadow–a shadow towering over him.

"Raven?" He muttered, slowly turning to face him.

Glancing over his shirtless body, a frown appeared on Milo's face, however, realizing the reason behind the sweaty skin, he brushed the thought and brought himself back to the moment.

"Sit down, please," offering him a chair, the king searched for a maid with his eyes. Spotting one, he gestured for the cups to be taken away and replaced with yet another pair filled with steaming hot tea.

In the meantime Raven settled into his chair, his mind still racing with thoughts. Just like Milo he'd been left wondering about greed and human nature, all thanks to the queen who couldn't be satisfied by what she had and instead wanted more and more no matter the price.

"About the family–"

"About them yes,' Milo interjected while taking the tray off of a maid's hands. She tried to put it down herself, but Milo insisted on helping. Once the tray was placed on the table, the king offered Raven a cup while picking up his own. "I have recalled Markus since we don't really need to investigate the family after my mother's confession."

"How do you already know? I haven't told you anything yet," Raven asked, his hands slowly reaching for the cup.

Taking a sip, Milo heaved a sigh. Then opening his eyes, he focused them on Raven.

"Viola, her familiars, she calls them Yukis, they're mostly invisible and relay to us, whatever they see happening around the castle," placing the cup down, Milo awkwardly scratched the side of his face for a moment. "And I mean everything since I became king, we never did so before, so I had an no idea your relationship with Maria was so intense…"

Having been told everything that happened in the room between Raven and Maria, Milo's mind felt like it was on fire. Neither he nor Viola were fond of animalistic lovemaking, and so the way Raven had fucked Maria left them both concerned and blushing.

"You mean to say you heard or at least saw everything?" Raven asked, his eyes squinted as stared at Milo with the use of his lie-catching ability.

Twirling his hand to the side, the young king didn't wanna explore much of what he'd been told or heard but still decided to conclude the line of questioning with an answer.

"I heard some and overheard some, but the Yukis can't share their vision–and please! Refrain from killing them if it upsets you that one of them was present in that room, they're numbered and mortal," a bit concerned that Raven might kill them the next time he sees them, Milo wanted to clear up that they weren't disposable like a summoned creature.

"Forget that," setting the cup aside, Raven posed concerns of his own. "I thought you'd be angrier seeing or rather, hearing what happened in there."

Seeing as Milo hadn't lied, Raven was confused as to how the king wasn't at least a little mad at him for treating his mother like a doormat and a slut. But with a scoff, Milo brushed off those concerns.

"She's been sleeping with random men for god knows how long? I even caught her cheating on father while her belly was stretched out from being pregnant with Tia.

Of course, I had no clue what was happening at that time as I was young, but when I did realize, it became quite clear to me what kind of woman she was, and is even to this day," the young king truly did not care for his mother, as long as she was alive she could've been turned into a slave and he would be fine with it. "Anyways, I assume you met your party's archer when she was headed upstairs?"

Squinting his eyes in curiosity, Raven nodded at Milo. He'd met Melicia on the steps, however, their interaction had been brief as she said she had something to handle in the queen's room.

"I told her everything, helped her get up to speed with our plans, hopefully as we speak, she's uncovering more with Viola and then would do as I asked and talk to Maria," Milo explained, casually picking up his tea cup again.

'Taking Maria with us, huh? I doubt she would survive the wilderness…' Closing his eyes, Raven attempted to connect to Mel's mind since she was still close by. Even though he wasn't sure if the message went through, he told the elf to take charge of Maria's training so that she would at least be able to survive their journey from the back of the line.

"Now, all we have to do is wait for the wedding, and do a show of power just as you'd suggested," Milo said, looking at Raven's face from behind the cup.

"Yeah, but before that…" Lifting his head up to match the king's gaze, Raven decided to focus on yet another important matter. "I have some important news for you from our true goddess, not the one who's been dead for a century."

"Wha…What?" The cup in Milo's hand lowered on its own, and the look of surprise only grew further as Raven revealed the true goddess of Athenian land. Not only that he demanded a church of her own, or at least for the previous abandoned ones to shift to a living goddess instead of a dead one.

But of course, the king wasn't sure what to make of the information he was given, and before he could give an answer, he needed some time to himself.