My Wives are Beautiful Demons

The entrance to the great hall of the Baal Clan was marked by an unusual silence, broken only by the echo of Vergil and Ada's footsteps.

The heavy shoji doors, decorated with Japanese symbols, opened as Ei, the clan's servant, guided them to the center of the hall.

Raphaeline sat on her throne, looking a little nervous, but nonetheless, she seemed more arrogant than ever. There was something about the way she sat that seemed different, as if she were waiting for something she didn't want to admit to herself.

Vergil, without showing any respect for the grandeur of the place or the authority of the queen, walked with an indifferent, almost disdainful posture, his eyes locked on the figure waiting for him.

'It's a nice place...' he muttered, surveying the interior of the throne room.

He was there for a very specific reason: he had a debt to collect. And, as everyone knew, Vergil wasn't the type of man to leave a deal unfulfilled.

Raphaeline, seeing him approach with that malicious smile on his lips, frowned. She hadn't expected him to come with so much... confidence. She, the imposing queen of the Baal Clan, the woman who held her domain with an iron fist, was about to fulfill a promise that would cost her more than her soul.

"I didn't think you'd come," she said with a firm voice, but there was a slight tremble beneath her words. She couldn't hide the tension building within her. "So, you've come to collect your reward, haven't you?"

Vergil looked at her with a cynical expression, but the glint in his eyes revealed his amusement. He knew exactly how things worked, and he also knew that Raphaeline wasn't just there to fulfill a deal... she was there because he had something she needed to give, and he was ready to take it.

"Well, of course, I came. I need to visit my mother-in-law, don't I?" he replied with a mocking, almost disinterested tone. "You made a bet with someone who knows how to collect debts, dear. And, as you should know, I don't leave debts unsettled."

He took a step forward, his eyes now fixed on her in a way that seemed to disregard all of her authority. Vergil wasn't impressed by the grand hall, the imposing guards, or the symbols of power adorning the space, and that woman, as respected as she was, was just another obstacle who had dared to play with his fate.

Raphaeline, however, found herself uncomfortable under Vergil's gaze. She wasn't the type to shrink before anyone, but there was something about him that made her feel vulnerable.

After all... she had lost.

She had bet her soul, right? But now, seeing the man who had conquered her, she felt a shame she couldn't comprehend. It was a strange, disconcerting feeling, as if she had revealed something very personal and fragile. She, the Queen of the Baal Clan, was standing before someone who, with a simple look, made her feel... strangely small...

"Do you really think you can just come in here and take whatever you want?" she asked, trying to maintain her queenly composure, but her voice betrayed a hint of insecurity. She knew Vergil didn't have the power to do that, but there was something in his tone, something that unsettled her.

She hated herself for feeling this way.

Vergil moved closer, his steps echoing insolently, as if he were dominating the space, as if it were he who had the power there. He stopped in front of Raphaeline and looked directly into her eyes, his smile now widening in a nearly predatory manner.

"Well, you were the one who made the bet, weren't you?" Vergil said in a soft voice, but laced with sarcasm. "I'm just fulfilling my part of the deal. Now, as for your reward... I think you're going to have to give all of yourself, Lady Raphaeline."

Raphaeline tried to maintain her rigid posture, but a slight blush colored her cheeks. She couldn't deny it, he was right. She had bet her soul with him, and now he was here to claim the reward he was entitled to. Her shame grew with every word he spoke, but she tried not to show it.

"You... are taking advantage of this," she said, trying to maintain her dignity, but the nervousness in her voice was unmistakable.

Vergil, in a nonchalant gesture, shrugged. "I'm just claiming what's rightfully mine," he said with a cynical smile. "Don't you think, after everything that happened, you could offer me more than empty words?"

Raphaeline clenched her teeth, clearly annoyed. She knew she could no longer escape. All she could do was try to keep her composure and handle the situation the best she could. But with every move Vergil made, she felt... smaller. The queen of the Baal Clan, the one who had never bowed to anyone, was now facing a man who made her feel ashamed, like a mere girl being manipulated.

Ada, standing beside Vergil, watched in silence. She had never seen her mother so... uncomfortable. Raphaeline, who had always been her figure of authority, the one who intimidated her with a simple look, now seemed... vulnerable. And worse, she was being completely challenged by someone who appeared to be enjoying it.

Ada felt a mixture of confusion and disbelief. How could anyone make the woman she feared shrink in such a way? The idea that her mother, so proud and powerful, was now being reduced to something... more delicate, almost submissive, didn't make sense to her. She watched the exchange of glances between Vergil and her mother, feeling the heat of shame and insecurity grow in the atmosphere. It was as if Raphaeline's power was slowly fading, and Ada didn't know how to handle it.

"I'm not disrespecting you, Raphaeline," Vergil said in a soft tone, but laced with sarcasm. "I'm just saying you should be more... generous. After all, you made a bet with someone who knows how to take what's theirs. And now you have to pay the bill."

Raphaeline tried to stay firm, but the blush on her face betrayed her shame. She hated this. The man before her was challenging her pride in every possible way, and there was nothing she could do but give in.

Vergil leaned in slightly, the smile on his lips widening in an almost arrogant manner. "Or are you going to make me wait longer, Queen?" He moved even closer, now just inches away from her, and his gaze became even more intimidating, but at the same time... seductive.

"No... no," Raphaeline said, her voice wavering now. "I will... I will fulfill my part, Vergil." She took a deep breath, as if trying to prepare herself for what was to come. "But... don't think I'll do this with pleasure."

Vergil laughed, a low laugh full of malice. "I know, Raphaeline. I know. But... maybe the pleasure won't be on your part. Maybe it'll be... a little different pleasure."

Ada couldn't understand what was happening. She looked at Vergil, a mix of confusion and surprise in her eyes. She had never seen such an intense, power-shifting exchange. Her mother, who had always been the dominant figure, was now being manipulated in a way Ada never imagined possible. And she, who had always feared her mother, was now watching her almost surrender to Vergil.

"I... don't understand," Ada murmured, her voice low, so Vergil and Raphaeline wouldn't hear.

Vergil, noticing Ada's discomfort, gave her a quick glance. "You'll understand, Ada," he said gently. "Sometimes, the dynamic between two powerful people isn't as simple as it seems. Your mother, for example, is much more... human than you think."

Raphaeline shot Ada a fierce look, but then quickly shrank back, feeling the shame tighten in her chest. She wanted to respond, but the words escaped her. She wanted to maintain her dignity, but she was beginning to realize that Vergil wasn't just there to claim her soul... He was there to dominate in a much more subtle, insidious way.

"And so, Raphaeline," Vergil continued, his voice sweet as poison. "Are you going to fulfill your part of the deal, or are you going to make me wait a little longer?"

Raphaeline was on the verge of losing all composure. Vergil, with that smile of someone who already knew what they were doing, was pressing her more and more, provoking a discomfort she hadn't felt in a long time. The queen of the Baal Clan, who had always been admired for her strength and authority, was now feeling vulnerable, like a simple young woman in front of someone who saw no limits to what he could do with her.

With a sudden movement, Raphaeline approached Vergil. He watched her with an almost disinterested gaze, but his body was tense, alert, knowing she was about to do something. Raphaeline, realizing she could no longer maintain the facade of coldness, moved toward him with the delicacy of a serpent about to strike.

She leaned in, getting so close that Vergil could feel the floral scent and the intensity of her demonic power, an energy that still emanated an aura of command. But instead of doing what he expected — another provocation, a sharp word — she whispered something, something so deep and secret that even the atmosphere in the throne room seemed to falter. With an almost intimate gesture, she drew close to his ear and, in a whisper only he could hear, spoke her original name in the ancient demonic tongue of her clan.

Her name sounded like a flame igniting, a deep, resonating sound, like a forgotten melody now heard after centuries of silence. When she whispered it, the word had the power to directly enter Vergil's soul, as though a door he never knew existed was suddenly opened.

"Raphaeline..." he murmured, but it was not the same Raphaeline he knew now. It was something much deeper, more intimate. Something with the weight of centuries of power, of secrets kept, and of an untold history. Her name, revealed in that demonic language, was like an electric shock. In a single second, Vergil understood everything about her. He didn't just see who she was at her core; he felt what she felt, knew the fears she carried, the scars she tried to hide behind her impenetrable posture.

Raphaeline pulled back slightly, her eyes still fixed on him, and for the first time, something vulnerable shone in her gaze. She no longer seemed like the unbeatable Queen of the Baal Clan. She was human, more than anyone could have perceived, and in that moment, she was offering a part of herself that no one had ever had the privilege of seeing. She was offering her true identity, something far beyond the facade of power she projected to the world.

Vergil, who had been enjoying the humiliation he had been inflicting, stood still. The shock in his mind and the sudden understanding made him pause for a moment. He had his own scars, his own ghosts, but nothing had prepared him to grasp the complexity of the woman before him. Raphaeline, the woman he thought he knew, had transformed before his eyes. She was not just a leader of a demonic clan; she was a being with a past as intricate as his own, with dilemmas that resonated much deeper than any bet or provocation.

The tension in the air was palpable. Vergil looked at her with an expression that mixed surprise and something deeper, something he didn't want to acknowledge. He had no control over it, and for the first time, he felt a mix of respect and curiosity for Raphaeline, something he had not felt until that moment. She was no longer just a "debt" to be collected — she was a force to be understood, a marked soul, as complex as any demonic being.

Raphaeline, seeing the silence that had settled between them, felt more exposed than she ever imagined. Vergil's gaze, which had once been full of mockery and disdain, now carried something different. Something she couldn't understand, but that left her uncomfortably exposed.

Vergil then leaned slightly toward her, his eyes softer than before. "So, this is what my Raphaeline is like..." he said, more to himself than to her, as if the understanding was a discovery. "I didn't know. Not until now."

Raphaeline didn't know what to make of his words. She felt the shame tighten in her chest, but there was also something... comforting in it. It was as though, finally, she had shown who she truly was, without masks, without the weight of her position. He saw her now, not as a distant figure, but as someone who shared, even if for a second, a fraction of her pain, of her history.

She looked at him with an expression that mixed bewilderment and something more. "You think you can just understand everything about me in a second?" she replied, trying to regain her composure, but her voice came out softer, more vulnerable than she wished. She didn't know what to do with the impact of that revelation, nor with his gaze that seemed to have penetrated her soul.

"I understood enough," Vergil responded calmly, his eyes fixed on hers. "I understood enough to know that you're not what everyone thinks you are. And maybe I've underestimated what you carry."

"But it's okay... You're mine now... I'll take very good care of you..."