The Lustful Villain: Every Milfs and Gilfs are Mine!-Chapter 277. What A Spoiled Brat Who Depends On His Family? (Oh Yeah, The Fraud Theo!)
They had barely made it three steps toward the training ground when a familiar voice came from the direction of the main entrance.
"Grandfather."
Theo stood at the far end of the courtyard.
He had clearly arrived recently, and his collar was slightly off, the way it gets when someone has been walking fast and hasn’t noticed. His eyes shifted from Rex to Diana and back to Rex, reflecting the expression of someone who was making a strong effort to appear composed but was not entirely succeeding.
Rex watched him without any particular expression.
Diana also looked at the courtyard stone.
"Theo," Therion said. "You’re late."
"I know. I had to..." Theo paused, clearly deciding not to finish that sentence. "But still, I came as soon as I could."
He crossed the courtyard with the deliberate step of someone who had made a decision somewhere between the gate and here, and when he reached Therion, he placed a hand briefly on the older man’s arm.
"Can I speak with you? Privately."
Therion looked at him the same way he looked at everything else: fully and for a long time, which made most people uncomfortable.
"One moment," he said to Rex, and then he turned and walked with Theo toward the far side of the courtyard, out of easy earshot.
Rex watched them go.
"This should be interesting," he said, to no one in particular.
Rex smirked. ’I do hope that loser tells his old man to kick my ass, but nope... not going to let that happen easily.’
Diana said nothing, but she was watching the two of them.
...
At the far end of the courtyard, Theo stood closer to his grandfather than he usually did and kept his voice at the level that meant he had thought about what he was going to say.
"You have to win this," Theo said. "Please, Grandfather..."
Therion looked at him.
"I know what his terms are," Theo said. "I was at the entrance, and I heard it clearly!"
"Then you know what the contest is about," Therion said.
"Grandfather." Theo’s jaw tightened slightly. "This is... about Diana! My childhood friend that’s supposed to be with me!"
"That much is clear to me," Therion said, in the tone of a man who found the obvious worth confirming.
"She and I—" Theo stopped, just to rearrange what he was about to say. "We’ve known each other since we were children, and you know that because we always played in the courtyard together!"
"You’ve always known that because you sometimes play with us... And I know her... I know her better than anyone in this courtyard does."
He glanced briefly in the direction of Rex and then looked back at his grandfather.
"I haven’t said what I needed to say to her yet," Theo said. "I’m aware of that..."
"I’ll take the blame for that, but... if you lose this today—if you let him take that deal off the table—then I lose the last real reason she would have to think about it."
Therion was quiet.
"I’m not asking you to win for the household," Theo said. "I’m asking you to win for me."
The silence between them had the texture of something that had been sitting in this family for a long time.
Therion’s face didn’t change, but something behind it did. It was the kind of change that happens to someone who has been a patriarch for decades and suddenly remembers that the people they built everything for are still living inside what they built. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
"You should have spoken to her," Therion said.
"I know," Theo said.
"A long time ago."
"I know that too."
"And yet you didn’t."
Theo met his grandfather’s gaze and didn’t argue, because there was nothing to argue about. "No. I didn’t."
Therion looked at him for another moment.
Then he glanced across the courtyard at Rex, who stood with his hands in his pockets, exuding a calm patience. He appeared not to be impatient but rather to possess an infinite capacity for waiting.
"He’s not a nobody," Therion said quietly.
It wasn’t a compliment exactly. It was more like the observation of someone who had evaluated many people and was not going to pretend this one didn’t meet a certain threshold.
"I don’t care about that," Theo said. "Grandfather... just please."
It was the last word that made a difference.
Therion had heard Theo say please a certain number of times in his life, and he knew the difference between the kind that was a request and the kind that was something closer to a person’s floor.
This one was the second kind.
He placed a hand on Theo’s shoulder for a moment, just a brief touch. It was the gesture he used when things were decided.
"Don’t you worry, kiddo," he said. "I’ll handle this, not only for you but also for the whole family."
"Grandfather—"
"I said I’ll handle it." He gave Theo a look. "I have never lost a contest in this courtyard because I AM the STRONGEST mage in Aethelgard."
"I don’t intend to begin today."
Theo exhaled. "Thank you."
"Don’t thank me yet," Therion said. "Thank me when it’s done."
"And then," he said, giving Theo a look that showed he had seen people make mistakes that could have been avoided for decades, "you are going to go and say what you should have said to that girl years ago."
"Whether it works or not," he added, "is a separate matter."
"But you are going to say it."
Theo nodded.
Therion turned and walked back toward the center of the courtyard.
Rex remained still as he observed Therion walking toward him.
’So that’s how it is,’ Rex thought, interpreting the recent events as he typically did—swiftly, with precision, and without revealing his thoughts.
His expression didn’t change.
He had anticipated something quite like this.
...
The training ground behind the Nightwing house was designed for a specific purpose, rather than merely for aesthetics. Low walls lined three sides, providing seating, while the fourth side faced the back of the house.
The surface was hard-packed and showed signs of regular use. There were already people seated in the chairs.
Rex looked at the gathered witnesses with the keen interest of someone who had been told to expect a formal event and was now adjusting to the fact that it was happening. There were about thirty people there.
They included household staff, what looked like neighborhood leaders who acted like they were invited to represent the community, and two or three people in formal wear who worked in minor institutional positions.
"You really planned this already, huh?" Rex cracked both his fists. "Are you sure we really need this much?"
"It’s in the tradition!" Therion smiled while cracking his back. "We, Nightwings, need to show what we’re capable of!"
’So much for validation, huh.’
Rex noticed Lily was sitting at the far end of the witnesses, on the left side of the seating wall. She had a notebook open on her knee and a pen in her hand.
She was looking at Rex with an expression that conveyed multiple emotions simultaneously, most of which suggested she was struggling to behave appropriately at a formal event.
But she takes her chances just to wave while smiling at him. And Rex could see there was Elizabeth next to her.
Elizabeth looked at Rex with the same look she used when she was really focused on something, which meant that she was very precise and didn’t miss anything or make a sound.
Rex saw her and put her in the part of his mind that said, "This is information that will matter later."
’I forgot there’s that Starlight I have to taste as well because she’s a great target for sure and has a lot of benefits I could use for the academy.’
And there’s Theo, sitting at the end of the right seating wall, looking like someone who had been told to be there and was there, but not making it easy for anyone to be happy about it.
Rex looked at him for just the right amount of time to finish the test. Then he looked at Therion, who was standing in the middle of the training ground and looked like he belonged there.
"Are we ready?" Therion asked.
"Ready when you are," Rex replied.
The corner of his mouth moved, just slightly, in the direction of something that might have been a smile if it had decided to become one.
’Come on, old man. Show me what you’ve got.’
