The Tyrant's Pet

Abel leaned back leisurely. His arms spread on the armrest, sitting on the head seat, eyes on Conan. Unlike his usual table manners, Conan just gobbled up the food he could reach as if Sunny's spirit possessed him.

"Handsome Uncle, didn't you eat anything for the past two years?" asked Sunny, pursing her lips as she gazed at the disappearing food on the table. Her mother prepared a feast for all of them, but at this rate, she wouldn't fill her stomach because Conan suddenly earned an appetite after his slumber.

"What do you think we've been doing for the past two years in that damn world?" Conan's reply was almost uninterpretable, speaking with his mouth full.

"Sunny, baby, here." Sunny turned her head to her mother, who was sitting just right beside her. "Your grandpa and uncles had a harsh two years, so they're famished."

"Sunny had a tough two years as well." Sunny pouted while her mother smiled subtly, patting the little girl's head.

"I'll make you more later, hmm?"

"Mother, if you just keep feeding her, Sunny will just continue to inflate. I'm afraid she'd someday float in the sky like a balloon." Law — sitting on his mother's right — raised his concern, warranting a glare from his little sister. "What? I'm just concerned."

"Cousin, aren't you a little harsh to your little sister?" Claude, sitting from across Law and beside Tilly, cocked his head to the side. "You should focus on how you'll get taller. You're almost at the age of marrying, but you still look like a kid."

Claude smirked while Law frowned, glancing at Sunny to wink at her. The little girl giggled, raising her chin at her brother as if taunting him.

"Claude, stop teasing your cousins, please?" The woman, Lilou, shook her head mildly. "Finish your meal so that..."

Lilou trailed off as the food on Claude's plate disappeared in a blink of an eye. Her face scrunched up slightly, shifting her eyes to Conan, who was eating everything within his reach.

"That's mine... " Claude frowned, only to hear Law snicker.

"Serves you right." Law arched his brow tauntingly, resuming his meal lest Conan go crazy and steal his food as well.

Thanks to Conan's appetite, Sunny and Law also didn't waste time eating, afraid their food will get stolen by Conan. The meal continued in silence, with Conan not caring about anything other than filling his stomach.

There were a few who barely touched their food: Abel, Samael on his left, Tilly on his right, and Rufus sitting in the farthest seat. Abel scanned the people surrounding the long dining table.

At this point, he already got himself familiar with these people. Strange because Abel rarely remembered names, or rather, he purposely doesn't because he never gave a damn.

"Hah!" Conan rubbed his tummy after just a few minutes, burping as he felt revitalized after having a feast. "That hit the spot."

When Conan raised his head, his brows rose upon seeing the eyes cast upon him. He blinked and blinked, realizing he forgot his table manners and just ate like a pig.

Conan cleared his throat, raising his fist before his lips.

"Apologies for my lack of manners. I'm not usually like this, but it's been two years since I had a decent meal." Even his tone sounded polite as if he just suddenly turned into a different person. "Thank you for the food."

"Don't apologize. I'm glad you liked the food." Lilou flashed him an understanding smile. "I was worried you will not like it since it's usually our butler who prepares everything."

"It was perfect, my lady. You have my gratitude." Conan tilted his head down slightly, only to freeze momentarily. He raised his head once again, eyes dilated, staring at the people who had been with him since the beginning of the meal.

"He's really slow," mumbled Law whilst shaking his head.

"Your Majesty!" Conan gasped, setting his shaking eyes on the head seat where Abel was sitting. "Who…?"

Abel smiled. "They're my family, Conan."

Conan gasped once again, wide-eyed. He scanned the people once again, only to see them looking back at him. Just one look and he figured that the woman who made this meal seemed to be the only normal person in this place.

"Huh?" Conan furrowed his brows as his eyes lingered on Lilou. "You're not a Grimsbanne, are you?"

"She is," answered Samael who had this bright silver hair. "She's my wife and those two are my children, apparently."

"Sam."

"That's right. He's our father, apparently." This time, Law mumbled to himself.

"Ahh…" Conan rocked his head, assessing that family of four.

He slowly raised a finger, pointing at Samael and then at Law before Sunny. His finger shifted to Claude, who was just beside him, and the pale woman next to Claude. "Ahh… so you are the Grimsbanne and the rest are married into the family."

"Quite a large family, isn't it?" Abel chuckled, only to stop when Claude commented.

"I have eighteen uncles. The Grimsbanne is quite small compared to the La Crox, to be honest."

"Ameria had twenty children?" Abel cocked his head to the side, aware that Claude was a product of incest.

"Ameria's husband had other wives." This time, Tilly answered Abel's question before eating a small bite of biscuit.

"Hah…" Annoyance immediately resurfaced on Abel's face, stretching his neck from one side to another. "So that good-for-nothing took in several wives, huh? I wonder where is his grave?"

"Don't worry. Uncle Hell beat the crap out of him." Claude grinned, making Abel glance at Samael. The latter shrugged nonchalantly.

"If you can bring him back from the dead, then do so. I will beat him again," said Samael, unintentionally appeasing Abel's irritation."

"You…" Abel pointed at Samael. "Good job."

"Hehe. That's what he gets for being a piece of shit."

"Ahem!" Conan cleared his throat to interfere with Samael and Abel's conversation before they get side-tracked again. "Anyway, since the Grimsbanne are here, that means something very wrong happened in the past two years, right?"

"Obviously." Samael nodded. "To be honest, just like you, we're also not updated on what happened in the past two years. We came fresh from a deadly war."

"What do you mean by that?" Conan furrowed his brows while curiosity also swirled in Abel's eyes.

Abel didn't have any proper conversation with them, and this was the first. Thus, this was news to him.

"We were inside the Hell's Gate."