He didn’t have to wait long for Gloria to come barging into the room, anger clear on her face.

“Young Master, have you fed your brain to your loins? Raping housemaids… do you know how disadvantageous such rumours can be? Forget about the bad reputation, the resentment generated by the people can pollute your Aura and reduce your magical capabilities!”

Rheas stood up from the bath and walked towards her, pushing his curls out of his eyes with one hand as water streamed down his body, leaving wet footprints on the floor. He stopped near her and grabbed her shoulders tightly, his fingers digging into her skin.

His eyes wild, he brought his face close to hers and yelled, “Do you know that brother has an expert guarding him? Do you know what this means? The family is leaning resources his way! This can’t go on… if we allow it to continue, they’ll give me up. This isn’t the time for your games. Know your place, bitch. You are my servant! You are supposed to give everything you have to further my cause. I don’t need your sass.

Maidservant? Who cares about a fucking maidservant? Reputation?! What will I do with it if I am no longer the heir?! I need you to think of how we’ll deal with the threat from brother.”

Disgust marred Gloria’s perfect visage as his spittle flecked on her face. In a smooth motion, joining her palms, she put the joined palms into the gap between their faces and separated them violently outwards, dislodging his grip on her shoulders. Unbalanced, he fell forward, right into a knee to his groin. Eyes bugging out, he sank to his knees with his thighs clamped, rendered speechless by the pain and the shock.

Cleaning her face with Aura, Gloria looked down at him as she said, “I think that you are getting something wrong here, Rheas. All I have and all I am has come from the Pavone Clan. Thus, my loyalty is to the Clan, not to any individual. In fact, my Pride dictates that I become its next leader.”

“How dare you?! You hit me, bitch!” Rheas’ eyes were bloodshot as he tried to struggle to his feet.

“My power is Superbia, whenever I exceed someone once, the next time I conflict with them, my specs are Enhanced while theirs are diminished, do it enough times and the gains are permanent. Similarly, if I lose, I suffer from the same penalties. The only…”

Rheas interrupted her with his fist, “Shut up! Who wants to know your pow…”

“Don’t interrupt your superiors, maggot!” dodging the punch with a tilt of her head, she dug her foot into his solar plexus, expelling the air in his lungs and sending him staggering into the bath with a huge splash. He emerged coughing and sputtering.

“As I was saying, the only Precept of my power is that I need to explain it to my opponent for it to work.”

Just as she finished speaking, a metaphorical weight settled on him and her Aura became more exuberant.

She walked towards him, each step seeming to fall on his heart. He shivered as he waded backwards, scrambling to retreat as he watched her come. His back pressed up against the wall and she reached him, reaching out a slender hand towards his neck.

Suddenly, his expression became surreptitious as with a flash of emerald, he whipped Invidia out of the water and buried it to the hilt in her chest.

His demented laughter reverberated in the bathroom as he taunted her. “Pride? Superbia? Hah. Don’t make me laugh. You are just a servant. A slave. How dare you overstep your bounds and have such an ability. I’m so jealous, so damn envious, absolutely covetous of it. Give. It. To. Me!”

He felt the shackles of Superbia loosen as his self-confidence inflated. He waited eagerly for the power to flow into him. He waited… and waited.

His palms began to sweat as his gaze settled on the distinct lack of bleeding where the dagger had punctured her and moving upward met her apathetic eyes.

Her indifferent voice plunged him into hell. “A dangerous weapon for assassinations, this one.” She gently pulled the dagger out of her chest and licked the lone drop of blood off it, the wound sealing itself shut rapidly. “My healing seems to have deteriorated to let a maggot such as you make me bleed. It seems more sessions with Epione to discuss the healing arts are in order.” She played around with the dagger and gripped it backhandedly, the hilt morphing to suit her smaller hand. “Very nice. Not only can it penetrate Aura, it also puts the one injured in Reserva as long as contact is maintained. It can also steal skills I see. However, it is but the weapon of a coward lacking confidence in themselves. Truly an appropriate match.”

Rheas stuttered, “H-how?”

She didn’t immediately answer, using the dagger to slowly cut away her clothing till she too was naked. Smirking contemptuously at Rheas, who was swallowing his saliva, his eyes transfixed by her undulating breasts, she brought the dagger beneath his chin so that he was forced to look at her eyes.

“Cup the back of your head with your palms.” Her voice seemed to have a strange charm and his eyes glazed over as he obeyed. “You see, Rheas, I’ve known you for six years now, watched you grow up as I accompanied you every step of the way. I know, I know it without the hint of doubt that I am superior to you in every way possible.”

She sat at the edge of the stone tub and put her legs into the water. Using her legs to spread his apart, she used her toes under the water to caress his balls that were still warm and swollen from the kneeing. “Mind, body or emotional maturity, you are inferior to me. Thus, it was logical that your power would be inferior to mine. I simply used Superbia to make Invidia submit.” She began working on his erection with her feet in a practised manner, each stroke making him shudder as his glazed eyes remained locked with hers. “Your dagger listens to me now. That is why you cannot dismiss it and are locked in Reserva at. My. Mercy!” with a final jerk, he came, the cloudy liquid floating up to the top of the water.

Her eyes glowed as they remained locked with the climaxing boy’s. “Domino.” Her voice thrummed with her Aura as a link formed between them, an unequal one with her in the position of power.

She pulled the plug, letting the dirty water drain away. Dousing both of their bodies with buckets of hot water, she ordered the hypnotized boy to sit on the edge of the tub near the wall and settled herself down on his lap. She pressed her buttocks against his erection and felt it getting harder and throbbing against the soft cushions of her flesh.

Leaning back into his embrace, her face buried into his neck, she let his arms surround her. Her waist length brown hair lay flipped over his back, rivulets of water running down him as it dried. Deeply inhaling his scent, she ordered him to do as he wished with his hands.

True to his instincts, even dazed, Rheas went for her breasts. She chuckled softly as he kneaded her breasts and teased her nipples just the way she liked it done, exactly the way she had taught him over nearly three years. She glowed with Pride, and moaned with pleasure, at the fact that she had left her mark even on his instincts. Their bond grew stronger with her realization.

In an uncharacteristically soft and vulnerable voice, she haltingly spoke of her innermost feelings even as he reached for her vaginal lips. “Even though I find you inferior in every possible way, I have… somehow… fallen in love with you.” Her body heated up as his fingers worked on her and she buried her face, flushed with embarrassment and arousal, in the crook of his neck. A flicker of intelligence passed deep within his glazed eyes, only to be submerged by a wave of pleasure from her grinding her hips against his erection.

“So,” she continued, “when I saw that maidservant, I was furious.” Her fingernails dug into his flesh, drawing blood. “It hurt my pride that you would go for solace to any whore you find near at hand.” His intelligence recovered slightly, his face twisted in pain and his hands paused. Sensing his difference, she stopped and began licking the wound, healing it with her Aura while grinding her hips against his member. Unknown to her, the pleasure, instead of drowning out his sobriety, strengthened it, for her words had hurt more than the physical wounds. He knew remorse. So, he displayed it in the only way he knew how. He submitted.

With a jolt of power, the bond solidified and set. A part of his Destiny condensed on her as his consecration to his conqueror.

The joy in her voice was palpable and her smile the most beautiful he had ever seen. “Six years, six whole years and you are well and truly mine.”

“Yes,” he assented softly and buried his face in her chest and cried.