The Tyrant's Pet

"Welcome back, Conan. Missed me?" Abel's grin stretched even broader. His hair was dripping as they all stood under the pouring rain and his clothes were damp, sticking to his skin that gave a glimpse of his toned body.

Conan studied Abel and their distance, only to realize he woke up in a coffin that Abel had to dig. Did Aries hate him so much that she buried his body while he was trapped in that world? Before Conan's thoughts go wild, he halted upon hearing the familiar adorable face.

"Good to see you again, Handsome Uncle~!" Conan's eyes shifted to the voice, only to see Sunny in Isaiah's arms under a parasol. "I missed bonding with you."

Sunny, as usual, had this adorable grin that reached her squinting eyes. Her expression didn't match her all-black attire.

"All black…" whispered Conan, scanning the unfamiliar faces and looking down at him curiously. He didn't dwell on their faces or the natural aura they were emitting, but his focus was on their clothes. "Why are you all wearing black? Were you holding my funeral?"

"Handsome Uncle is always so funny! Sunny didn't expect that's what you would say the moment you wake up from your two-year slumber!" Sunny chuckled happily, bringing a frown to Conan's face.

"He is strange." Suddenly, a meek voice of a woman reached Conan's ears, making him shift his eyes to a pale woman standing next to Isaiah. "He looks silly as well."

"You look like you're about to kick the bucket!" Conan harrumphed on instinct, causing a loud 'pfft' from someone in the group. Conan shifted his glare to a young man, who was trying to hold his laughter until he was hunching in. "Who are these people?"

"It took you exactly three minutes to ask that question." Another man with shiny silver hair raised three fingers — from his thumb to the middle — which caught Conan's attention. "Quite slow, I'd say."

The woman standing next to the silver-haired man elbowed him lightly. "Shut up, Sam." 𝐟𝓇ℯ𝒆we𝒃𝘯𝒐νe𝑙.co𝚖

"Father isn't lying, though." Another boy around his teen chimed in, gazing down at Conan while nodding in agreement. "He is quite slow."

"Please have mercy on my dearest advisor. He's been through a lot for the past two years." Abel chuckled as he glanced at the people around him. "His brain needs a little bit of a break."

"Weren't you all on a break for the past two years, though?" the young man named Claude, who was previously holding his laughter, joined the conversation.

"Don't expose them like that." The young teen, Law, lazily returned while gazing at Conan and then at Abel with an air of nonchalance. "It will hurt their pride."

"Abel is useless," Tilly joined in, pursing her lips when her brother's eyes landed on her. She raised a finger and pointed at Isaiah beside her. "That's what my husband said."

Isaiah kept his stoic face as if he heard nothing, while Sunny giggled.

"..." Meanwhile, Conan's expression died the longer he listened to this conversation unfolding. Just what in hell was this casual conversation while he was still lying in this damn coffin?

"It's raining heavily." Finally, someone who noticed that they were standing under the pouring rain spoke. "We should get him out of there and hurry inside. I'm famished."

"Oh, dear. That's not good. Let's go inside, love." Samael, the silver-haired man, crooned beside her. "I'll surely make you something —"

"Mother, let's head in. I'll help you in the kitchen until everyone wakes up." Law jumped to his mother's side and held her hand before his father could even think of anything indecent. "Come. I'm also hungry."

The woman with hazel hair and bright olive eyes chuckled, letting her son drag her back to the forbidden mansion. "Tilly and Sir Isaiah, let's go. We can't let the newlywed do the hard labor, can we? Let the gentlemen do the job."

"Tilly likes biscuits, Lilou." Tilly's remarks were only heard by Isaiah as she turned around to follow.

Since Isaiah was holding Sunny and the parasol, he had no choice but to follow Tilly's steps. Isaiah didn't even look back, telling himself he would rather enjoy the last minutes of his peace before Conan finds out Isaiah was the person who buried him.

"Damn!" Samael snapped his tongue in irritation, turning to Abel. "See that? My wife keeps saying I am competing with our children for attention when, in fact, they see me as the enemy. They make me look like the bad guy — I just saved the world!"

"Congratulations, then." Abel casually nodded.

"No need."

Abel smiled. "It's a must, for your mother didn't have any reason to until now."

"Hah…" Samael gazed at Abel from head to toe before he grinned, raising his thumb to Abel. "I like you more and more."

"The feeling is mutual."

"I'm glad that you two are going along well, but will you just talk like that?" Claude interrupted their exchange, staring at Conan with a complicated expression. "Water will soon flood the coffin while he is still there. Half of his body was still under the soil."

"Claude." Claude turned his head to Rufus — the man who didn't speak a word since the beginning — and caught the shovel flying toward him on instinct. "Start digging. I don't think we should rely on them."

"Oy, Rufus. How can you say that? My uncle and I are simply trying to get to know each other! What is wrong with that?" Samael frowned while Abel nodded in agreement.

"Haha! Uncle, there's nothing wrong with that, but we have a man to rescue."

"That's the point, my dearest grandchild. We are doing a rescue, and not just burying a body," Abel argued in a knowing tone.

"Oh, Lord." Conan kept his eyes on the dark sky, ignoring the rain landing on his face. "Please bring me back to the Spirit World. I don't want to deal with another spawn of evil on top of the emperor of this land."

"Poor thing." Samael shook his head, jumping off to the grave pit to start digging. "Don't worry, Conan. I will get you out of here and shower you with love."

"You have all my love as well, dearest Conan." Abel crooned.

"Please take that love back." Conan closed his eyes while the men started digging, listening to Abel and Samael's conversation before Claude joined in to add more twists and insanity.