The Demon King: The Seven Virtues Of Xenvalon (Volume 5)

Prologue: Family Gathering!

Larius breathed heavily.

His stomach was uneasy and his mind was racing. He hadn't felt this way in a great many years and though how he felt wasn't very pleasant, the sour feeling did provide vivid flashbacks of his humanity. 

Though, he was undead, it made him very happy to know that he still possessed fragments of his humanity. Even if one of those fragments was nervousness, he didn't care. He brushed his darkened grey hair aside, allowing all to gaze into his lifeless crimson eyes. He did a brief examination of himself, he didn't want a single part of him to look anything less than decent. 

His master had informed him of the meeting two days prior. He learned of who and how many would be attending and it caused his stomach some uneasiness. The attendees would consist of his master's siblings. He had no turmoil with any of them but he recalled the last meeting the siblings all had together and... well, he felt bad for the maids since they were the ones who had to clean up all the blood and the broken glass shards.

His master and her siblings were business partners, all four of them. 

The four of them all held a leading role within different divisions of their organization. Larius' master had absolute control over one of the more... illegal divisions. To sum it all up in a few words: her division was the guns for hire division. His master had control over five hundred selected individuals. These five-hundred were her operatives. People could hire them to carry out offensive or defensive jobs. Surprisingly, the killing of a person or group was much less pricy than protecting them. This, of course, was because killing usually didn't require much time or resources and it wasn't like the killers were going to clean up after themselves. 

Larius was one of his master's operatives as well, but... it was rare when he actually had to go out to perform a job. He was off the menu, in a way. When a client purchased a service such as the one his master provided, they had the option of choosing the specifics.

How the victim died, where they died, when they died, what's used to kill them, and they can even select an operative to do the deed. 

Larius was the one and only special operative because he only carried out the requests given to him from his master alone. He had devoted his false life to his master and her will. Therefore, he would accept the orders of no one else. Not even to the other leading members of the organizations. 

The door opened.

Larius moved his head in the direction of the person exited through the bedroom door. A lady of great elegance and class wearing all white revealed herself to the undead. Really, a woman that beautiful and graceful belonged nowhere near an undead like Larius. Yet, they were mere feet apart. A single glance at her flawless face or to merely gaze into her beautiful ruby eyes was enough to entrance any man. Even Larius felt a warming feeling somewhere in his chest at he peered at the radiant face of his master. She had long honey hair that flowed so smoothly down to her perfectly curved hips. Around her right eye, a monocle with a golden rim sat in place. 

His master caught sight of Larius. Her ruby eyes glistened beautifully as her luscious lips formed a honey sweet smile. Larius, instead of returning the smile, fell to one knee and lowered his head before her.

"Why, hello there, Larius." she greeted with a voice has sweet as the perfect smile on her face. "Have my siblings arrived?"

"Yes, Master." he replied. "They're awaiting your arrival in the dinning room, as you requested."

He felt her soft hand touch his head. She moved it in a side-to-side motion.

... She was petting him.