After getting dressed and properly readying myself for another “day”, I head out and meet the others. Delphie and Eli are waiting for me on the couch, with a box of the leftover pizza. Sophie stands uncomfortably by the fireplace in front of the others, and her usually sultry demeanor is a bit frazzled. I’m not entirely sure what it is about her that’s different, maybe just a stray hair not being tucked in or a rumple in her red dress, but I feel like she’s a bit off today.

“Oh Hei, good to see you up and about!” Eli rises from the couch and puts a hand on my shoulder. He’s as enthusiastic as ever, and as usual completely disregards anyone’s personal space. I suppose being the son of the Overlord would shape your personality a bit differently. “Want some pizza? You must be hungry!”

“I…yea sure I’ll take a slice.” At first, my mouth gets a bit dry, remembering the taste of vomit and wretched vomiting from my last life, but upon second inspection, the cold pizza in the box seems delicious. I’m ravenous!

“Here you go!” Delphie happily grabs a slice, her long black hair already all coiffed up. She waits for me to walk over with Eli and I take the torn off box top she gives me as a plate and sit in my favorite armchair. “Alright, Eli should you tell him, or shall I?” The normally shy Nephilim is extra bouncy today, and the Exiled Prince chuckles.

“You seem quite excited about it so why don’t you have the honors? Hei can be your guest of honor.” At the words ‘guest of honor’, Sophie whips here head over her shoulder, her hair violet hair flying as she shoots a glare at Eli. Uhh..guys, can you tone it down a bit? I don’t want Sophie to kill me.

“So…Hei. Hmm, how do I explain this. We got an invite today.” She begins, chewing on her lip a little nervously. “I told you we have garden parties in the Underworld right?”

“I think you mentioned something about that.” I notice how tense Sophie is while Delphie explains all this, though Eli remains absolutely relaxed. “Can you attend? Aren’t the Fallen still after us?”

“The Fallen are prohibited from openly attacking during the Marsalle Perenze.” Sophie says between gritted teeth. “However, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be dangers. They won’t come in and charge you with weapons like at Midas’s noodle shop, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get shanked in the bathroom.”

“Hehe…Soph is not a fan of the garden parties.” Delphie giggles awkwardly, trying to defuse some of the awkward atmosphere after her comment. “Anyways, all of our families are invited, and today’s party, as Soph mentioned, is the Marsalle Perenze, the biggest party in the Underworld. To be honest, I wasn’t going to go because of the danger but…”

“Then I got a letter from my backers in the Tarragon Family.” Eli steps in to help, “They are preparing to openly declare that I will be their candidate for the upcoming Succession War. Hence…”

“You have to go. Or you’ll appear weak.” Sophie grunts irritably from the corner. “But do you really need to drag these two into it? Hei doesn’t have the first clue how to behave in front of polite company. And Delphie’s brother may try something stupid after the stunt you guys pulled yesterday.”

“Heh…yea right. Taer won’t be bothering anyone again. You didn’t see him yesterday. Hei’s ability was amazing.” Eli says with amazement in his voice. However, as Delphie’s face grows a bit dark, he quickly moves on, “Ahem, so as Hei has guessed, I need to be there. And I would feel much more comfortable if you guys come with me. After all, a Candidate without an entourage would not be much of a Candidate right?”

“I see.” I see why Sophie feels uneasy today. Putting Delphie directly in the line of fire of the noble families is probably the last thing she wants. If they are anything like human nobles, they will probably be worse than snakes. “Delphie, you’re definitely going?”

“Mhm. I want to support Eli. It’s a big day!” Delphie says happily. “Also, I’ve always wanted to see the Marsalle Perenze. It only happens during the Succession so it’s worth dying for…uhm that’s a joke a joke Soph!”

“Tch.” Sophie goes back to the fireplace. When she heard Delphie’s reasoning she flickered over and started pulling the other girl’s hair. “Eli, you really know how to make trouble.”

“Can’t deny that.” The Exiled Prince smiles broadly as he looks to me. Sitting in my armchair, I take a bite of the cold pizza. It tastes like living and I decide that I like it. “So…Hei, you down to go to a party tonight

?”

“I’m in.” Chewing slowly, I swallow. The glob of cheese and crust doesn’t go down easily, but I resolve to have more to get my energy up. “Do we need to get dressed or something?”

“Technically yes. Unfortunately, the Tarragon family does not want to show their support until tonight, so we can’t go to their tailors. I have some clothes I can use, they might fit you. And Delphie can maybe wear some of Sophie’s…” Eli trails off as Sophie turns around with a red face. His gaze drops to her breasts and she breathes heavily. Immediately I see the problem. While Sophie is taller than Delphie, her ‘assets’ are a little on the smaller side. “Or…um, I dunno, maybe we can break into the Violet Manor again and get some of your clothes if that doesn’t work, Delphie?”

“To be honest…I uhh…don’t have any formal clothes.” The impoverished Nephilim noblewoman looks about ready to cry as she admits to the depths of her family’s situation, “I…sold them last month.”

“Oh…well we could visit the tailor. Though I’m a bit short on cash until the Tarragon Family pledges their support.” Eli grunts awkwardly, “Um, Sophie do you think you could float me some System Coins…just until…”

“Pfft. Coming crawling to me again, huh Eli?” The dangerous daughter of assassins harrumphs and puts her hands on her hips. For a second, I swear I feel a flash of killing intent. “Nope. This is your mess, don’t expect to me to help. Stuff it, Eli.”

“Ahh…comeon. Remember that time I bought you that rare Nethergulper…” Eli pleads.

“That was ten years ago, Eli. And you found it in a cave pool…”

“Well…I mean…it was cool right?”

“It ate five of my favorite fish…”

“Damnit…I forgot about that.”

Before Sophie gets mad enough to stab the Exiled Prince, I decide that I should step in.

“Hey guys, I have plenty of System Coins. I don’t mind buying us some clothes if you find a tailor.” My voice drops into the argument but no one notices except Delphie since they are too busy fighting.

“Oh no, you don’t have to do that, Hei. I wouldn’t want you to strain your wallet.” She tries to say, but I just shake my head.

“You saved my life. My money is your money, if you ever need it. Just think of it as…medical fees.” I tell her, putting a hand on her hand. She blushes a rosy color and starts to look like a real violet a little bit. “Seriously, I have plenty of System Coins, how much is a dress in the Underworld?”

“Well…I guess for something normal, like ten?” She says while biting her lip and I can tell she’s holding back.

“That’s for a junk dress. If you’re going to the Marsalle Perenze and you don’t want to embarrass yourself, it’s going to cost at least 100 System Coins. Probably more because it’s a rush order.” Sophie finally notices what’s going on and stops bickering with Eli. I think when I put my hand on Sophie’s, her eyes snapped over like lightning and I quickly let go before I draw too much aggro. “You really have that much lying around?”

“Will this be enough for all of us? I don’t know prices in the Underworld.” I open a trade window from the System because I don’t want to physically manifest so many coins. Putting up a number for offer, I throw in ten thousand System Coins. “I have a lot more, so don’t worry about spending it.”

“What the…” The Nephilim’s eyes bug out. Delphie immediately jumps off the couch as if frightened.

“H-Hei! You can’t go around flashing that kind of money. Do you want to get robbed?”

“Damn…dude, I didn’t know you were loaded.”

“Tch. Showoff.”

I ignore Sophie’s dark glare and enjoy basking in the admiration of Delphie and Eli for just a second.

“Is this a lot down here? I thought since you guys are part of the noble families, that you owned a lot industries and such.” My words cause Delphie to go scarlet, her incredibly pale skin changing shades like a chameleon.

“Ehh…I suppose. But unless your family is big like Sophie’s the wealth is usually not easy to bring out all the time. Now once the Tarragon Family backs me, I’ll definitely be able to a lot more.” Eli explains while Delphie pointedly looks away in embarrassment. I guess her family does not own many industries anymore. “Still, Hei, I appreciate the gesture, but are you sure you’re okay with spending so much money? It’s just a party, I’m sure we can find another way besides breaking your bank…”

“No…seriously. I participated in a Dungeon on the surface…and anyways, this much really won’t affect my finances so feel free to use it.” I manifest ten Purple System Coins each worth 1000 normal System Coins each and throw them on the table. When they land, one of them bounces off and Delphie dives forward to catch it before it hits the floor.

“Phew…” She breathes in relief before seeing all of us looking down at her on the floor. Smoothing her dress, she reluctantly puts the coin back onto the table with the others while sitting back on the couch as if nothing happened. “Hei, you shouldn’t throw money around like that. My father always told me that it’s very disrespectful.”

“Uhh…right.” I scratch my head while Eli whistles and Sophie turns her head away as if embarrassed for her friend. “Anyways, shall we go shopping then? Sophie, you should get something too. It will be my treat since you’re letting me stay here. And you bought dinner yesterday.”

“Heh…you think you can afford my tastes?” Sophie grabs the sides of her sultry red dress and I note the number of intricate folds and ribbons embroidering every centimeter of it. “Even the men my father hopes will marry me aren’t foolish enough to offer to buy me anything. I’m the daughter of the Roses after all. We own the Underworld.”

*Ping*

I toss another Purple System Coin at her and she snatches it out of the air with surprised expression. Slowly, it turns into a grin. Delphie cheers and Eli smiles as she pockets it.

“Fine. Today, I’ll teach you the meaning of regret, Hei.”