My Wives Are Seven Beautiful Demonesses-Chapter 166 - No. How I Became Papa!

[Location: Morningstar Manor, New York]

"...Are you talking badly about me, my king~"

The voice came from behind me.

Soft. Teasing. Absolutely unrepentant.

I froze.

Not metaphorically. Not dramatically. I actually stopped breathing for half a second, because the temperature in the room dipped—not in the way Erebus did it, not with pressure or weight, but with presence. Like the room had just accepted a new constant.

Grayfia’s fingers tightened around the teacup in her hand.

Zeraphira’s eyes narrowed by exactly three millimetres.

Selene made a delighted, borderline feral noise.

"Ooooooh?"

I turned—slowly, cautiously, as if I were afraid reality would punch me if I moved too fast.

She stepped out of the shadow beneath me just like Erebus.

A feminine figure wrapped in flowing blood-ink shadows, hair long and drifting like a silk banner in moonlight—rose-pink at the tips, but darkening into void-black at the roots. A cracked porcelain mask covered half her face, revealing only one glowing eye:

A golden eye.

I swallowed.

Hard.

"...Astra," I said carefully. "You’re—"

She tilted her head, the porcelain mask catching the chandelier light. The crack running through it shifted slightly, like it was alive, and her single visible golden eye curved into something very close to a smile.

"—Very happy to finally be acknowledged?" she offered sweetly. "Yes. Thank you, my king."

Selene slapped both hands over her mouth, vibrating in place."Oh my god oh my god oh my god she’s HOT."

"SELENE," Zeraphira snapped without taking her eyes off Astra.

"What? I’m being culturally appreciative!"

Gabriel stood up from her chair so fast that it almost toppled over.

"U-Um! Hello!" she said, bowing instinctively. "I’m Gabriel! It’s very nice to meet you, Miss Shadow! Are you... ah... friendly?"

Astra turned.

She looked at Gabriel for a long moment.

Then she bowed. Perfectly. Graceful, precise.

"Designation: Astra," she said gently. "I am pleased to meet you, Lady Gabriel. You smell... kind."

Gabriel blinked."...I do?"

"You do," Astra confirmed solemnly.

Gabriel smiled as she’d just been knighted.

Grayfia finally set her teacup down.

It cracked.

Not shattered—cracked. A hairline fracture ran along the porcelain.

"So who...were you before you became... MY master’s... subject?"

The emphasis on my could have sliced diamonds.

Astra didn’t react to the possessive tone. Instead, she brought one shadow-gloved hand to her chest and gave a small, elegant nod.

"I do not possess a ’before’ in the way living beings define it," she said pleasantly.

Selene immediately raised her hand like she was in class.

"Follow-up question! That is ominous as hell. Elaborate immediately."

"Astra," I cut in, already feeling a headache forming, "just... the short version."

She turned her golden eye toward me, and the air around my feet darkened affectionately.

"As you command, my king."

Zeraphira’s eyebrow twitched.

Astra continued.

"I was named Mana Sangine, Head of the Elder Council, subordinate of the Late Vampire King, Alucard Dracul Tepes. Former subordinate."

Zeraphira’s eyebrow twitched harder.

Selene’s hand was still in the air.

Gabriel gasped like Astra had just said she used to kick puppies for fun.

"...Elder," Grayfia repeated softly.

Not loud. Not dramatic.

But the air temperature dropped a few degrees anyway.

Astra inclined her head politely. "Former."

"That’s not the reassuring part," Selene muttered.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Okay. Great. Fantastic. Love that for me. My shadow is an ex–apocalyptic council member. Sure. Normal Tuesday."

Eris, who had been sitting cross-legged on the rug with a cookie, looked up.

"Papa," she announced proudly, crumbs on her cheek, "you caught a boss monster."

I stared at her.

"...I did, didn’t I?"

Astra turned toward Eris immediately and lowered herself to one knee, head bowed.

"Princess," she said with quiet reverence.

Eris beamed. "Hi!"

Grayfia’s eye twitched now, too.

Zeraphira folded her hands in her lap. Calm. Regal. Absolutely not spiralling internally.

"Explain," she said.

Not loud.

But it wasn’t a request.

I looked at Astra. "Short version. Very short. Like... pamphlet length."

Astra nodded. "Understood."

She stood gracefully, hands folded in front of her.

"I once governed bloodlines, territory, and ritual law beneath the authority of the Vampire King. I was... efficient."

"That’s one word for it," I muttered.

Selene leaned sideways toward me and stage-whispered, "Did you overthrow her? Is this enemies-to-servant trope? I need tags."

"Selene."

"Right. Quiet. Respectful. Serious."

She was vibrating.

Astra continued serenely.

"I encountered my king during a territorial incursion. I miscalculated his capacity."

Zeraphira’s eyes slid to me.

I coughed. "She means I got lucky."

Astra tilted her head. "Luck is merely probability kneeling before inevitability."

Selene slapped the table. "THAT LINE. I’m stealing that."

Gabriel raised her hand timidly. "U-Um... Miss Astra? Are you... still... um... evil?"

Astra considered that.

"I no longer possess independent ambition," she said. "My purpose is aligned with my king’s continued existence and emotional stability."

Everyone looked at me.

"Why did you say that last part like that?" Selene asked.

I did not appreciate this group dynamic.

Grayfia spoke, voice cool as winter glass. "You mentioned emotional stability."

Astra nodded. "Yes."

"...Explain."

"When his will fractures," Astra said gently, "our cohesion weakens. If his spirit collapses, we begin to... dissolve."

Silence.

Gabriel’s eyes went wide. "L-Like ghosts?"

"More like spilt ink," Selene whispered, suddenly less hyper.

Grayfia’s gaze shifted to me.

Not accusatory.

Protective.

That was somehow worse.

I waved both hands. "Okay! Cool! No fracturing! Very stable! Mentally thriving! Let’s move on!"

Zeraphira watched me for a long moment.

She smiled.

That politician’s smile that meant she was filing this information away for later emotional blackmail.

"How many," she asked Astra, "are like you?"

Oh no.

Astra looked at me.

I looked at the ceiling.

The ceiling offered no assistance.

"...A few," I said.

Selene leaned over the table. "Define ’few.’ Anime few or military few?"

"Military."

She fell back into her chair. "Oh no."

Gabriel perked up. "Oh! So you have many friends!"

I pointed at her. "Yes. Exactly. Friends. That is the word we are using."

Grayfia was very quiet.

Too quiet.

Her teacup crack extended slightly.

"Astra," she said softly, "state your combat capacity."

Astra answered cheerfully. "Reduced."

Grayfia’s eyes sharpened. "Percentage."

"Approximately twenty-three percent of former peak output."

Everyone relaxed slightly.

Then Astra added, "Sustained."

Everyone tensed again.

Selene squinted. "Is that good or bad?"

Ezravia adjusted her glasses. "It means she is permanently operating at a level that would likely still erase most mid-tier threats."

"Oh," Selene said. "Casual."

Zeraphira tapped one finger against her armrest. "And your loyalty is absolute?"

Astra didn’t hesitate.

"Yes."

Grayfia’s gaze shifted to Erebus.

Erebus, who had been standing silently behind me like a gothic statue, spoke.

"It is structurally enforced."

That did not make Grayfia feel better.

"Structurally," Selene echoed. "Love that word. Super comforting. Not ominous at all."

Gabriel tilted her head. "Does that mean you like Master Dominic?"

Astra turned to her.

"I revere him," she said.

I choked.

"Revere is a strong word—"

"You pulled me from annihilation," she continued gently. "You gave me continuity."

Selene gasped. "HE ADOPTED HER."

I pointed at her. "NO, I DID NOT."

Eris looked between us.

Then she nodded very seriously. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Papa adopts a lot."

Zeraphira closed her eyes.

Grayfia inhaled slowly through her nose.

"...Papa suits him, right?" Selene whispered.

Gabriel smiled brightly. "Yes, it suits him!"

"It does not," I said immediately.

Astra tilted her head. "Designation acceptable."

"Stop enabling this!"

Eris tugged on Astra’s sleeve. "Can you call him Papa too?"

Astra looked at me.

I stared back in horror.

She smiled softly behind the cracked porcelain mask.

"...If it pleases the Princess."

"IT DOESN’T," I yelped.

Selene was wheezing.

Ezravia was writing something down.

Ravvy raised a hand. "If he’s Papa, does that make us...?"

"No," Zeraphira said instantly. "It does not."

Grayfia looked like she was calculating murder.

I cleared my throat loudly. "New rule. No Papa. Absolutely not. I am too young for this title. I refuse."

Eris gasped. "Papa doesn’t want to be Papa?"

I deflated immediately. "...You can say it."

Selene fell out of her chair laughing.

Astra nodded solemnly. "Understood. Public restriction. Private allowance."

"That is NOT— you know what, moving on."

"While we are on the topic, I presume Eris was also in the sealed dimension?" Grayfia

Grayfia’s crimson eyes shifted from Astra to Eris with sharp, quiet focus.

"While we are on the topic," she said smoothly, though the air temperature suggested several blizzards were forming emotionally, "I presume Eris was also in the sealed dimension?"

Every gaze in the room snapped to me.

I had never wanted to become wallpaper more in my life.

Eris, meanwhile, happily raised both hands like she was in class.

"I was!"

"Of course you were," Selene muttered. "Of course, the child was inside the eldritch trauma cube."

I looked at her, Selene, not knowing how right she was.

"As a matter of fact, she was inside a treasure chest my shadow soldiers found while searching for loot on the fiftieth floor."

Silence.

Not the dramatic, thunder-crash kind.

The soft, stunned, processing kind.

Gabriel raised her hand slowly. "...Like... a present?"

Selene turned to her. "Yes. A present. A child. In a box. From a murder tower."

Gabriel paused.

"...Oh."

Zeraphira’s smile had not changed.

That was the most concerning part.

"A treasure chest," she repeated pleasantly.

"Yep," I said, nodding with the confidence of a man actively digging his own grave. "Very standard dungeon behaviour. Totally normal. You open a chest, you get—"

"A child," Ezravia finished flatly.

"Sometimes!"

Grayfia’s voice was smooth as polished steel.

"Describe the chest."

Why did that sound like an interrogation?

"It was... wooden?"

Zeraphira looked at me.

"Dominic."

"Yes?"

"Do not test me today."

I sighed. "It was a high-grade relic chest. Named Ancient Treasure Chest of the Vampire King. Exact words. The chest was massive, ornate, covered in dragon-blood metal and wrapped in cursed chains."

***

Stone me, I can take it!

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