Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!-Chapter 636: Another Night With The Valkyrie - Part 1 (18+)

The party, at last, everyone of note had arrived and settled in. Soldiers of war, the king and the queen, along with the Mistress and her underlings. Even the Red madam was present in all her fashionable glory. As for the remaining guests, they were mostly Raven's closest aides as well as any women that he'd accepted into his harem. From Moxy, Tanya, Rose and the trio of older ladies with families to Linkle, Shamisha, Daine and family.

His greetings had taken long, and after hours upon hours of shaking hands and sharing hugs, Raven finally settled under one of the gazebos where Helga was already sitting. Being the only one with whom he hadn't talked, he wanted to extend her the same courtesy before retiring for the night in preparation for what was to come.

"Dragon's blood wine," leaning back on her chair with one of her arms thrown behind the backrest, Helga rocked herself back and forth with a glass of wine lifted near her lips. "Where did you find a bottle? Doubt the dragoness over there gave you a vial."

Bringing the glass to her lips, she took a light sip–her pointing finger stretched towards Gallaria amidst the crowd. The dragoness was sitting by the buffet line and keeping to herself. Her face and appearance had been contorted by magic to melt into the crowd, keeping her identity as a dragon a well-kept secret.

"Not exactly, but we can talk about that later…" Turning his attention back to the valkyrie, Raven glanced at her from the tip of her toes to her shining blonde crown. Dressed rather lasciviously in a glittering golden dress and an open back, she was showing a lot more of her skin than ever otherwise. "What's with the outfit? Trying to fish for a new husband in the crowd?"

Eyeing Raven sideways, Helga took another sip of the iron-rich liquid before moving her crossed legs on top of the table. A pair of silver heels and the hem of her dress barely covering an inch of her thighs, the valkyrie sat unbridled, with a flash of her panties apparent to the hero on her side.

"Is my outfit a problem?" She asked, squinting sharply.

Moving his hand onto her legs, Raven pushed them off the table.

"No, but your change in personality certainly is." Something was off with the blonde and Raven knew the moment he'd seen her drinking by herself in such a slutty attire. Leaning closer as the valkyrie's expression soured, he grabbed her hand and made her look at him. For a moment, she fought his pull, but giving in after a few seconds, she was about to lash out when Raven spoke up first. "What happened in our city happened, we can't change that, and you trying to catch a fling or a distraction or whatever this is, isn't gonna help you cope with what happened."

"I'm not trying to cope with anything," Helga retorted, pulling her hand away from him.

"It's not your fault that you weren't here, and trust me, we've sent a good enough message to the gods that they won't mess with our city anymore."

"Just…" Looking away from the man, Helga closed her eyes and tried to clear her head. Then, with a deep breath, she heaved a heavy sigh. "I-I thought Athenia would be the one place that my daughters can come back to and they won't have to worry about being reeled into some damned god's ploys, but…"

Huffing another sigh, one filled with her frustration, the valkyrie turned to look at her glass. Twirling the blood liquid, she wandered once more through the path that she'd taken. A past dripped in blood and countless souls still waiting for her death–how could she expect anything but unrest, anything but the horrors that she herself had bestowed on her soul?

"What the fuck am I even doing? Training them to fight the horrors that I've been running from my whole life–" Right as she tried to look at Raven, a tight backhanded slap stung her cheeks. The sound of the blow rippled through the courtyard, and everyone who knew who the blonde was fell quiet in an instant.

Even Helga was shocked that Raven had the gall to slap her. So much so that instead of anger, what flooded through her heart was sheer confusion at his actions. As for Raven? He simply glared at the valkyrie, his expression neither here nor there.

"Aria told me about those scars on your back, you carry so much on your shoulders, and now, you wanna give up? Now that there's an end in sight to this madness?"

"What do you even mean?"

"We're gonna put an end to the council and the demon lord for good–I don't know how, when, what and where, but if that's what it takes to make everyone, including you, happy, then I'll find some way to do it." Slowly turning to the crowd, glaring at them, Raven jerked his hand to swat their attention away from them. At first, some simply stared, but then soon enough as they realized what he meant, the party slowly returned to its original chaos.

"Kid…I know you mean well, but–"

"Oh, shut up already," interrupted her words, Raven grabbed Helga by the hand and pulled her closer. Looking right into her eyes while their noses touched, he stared as deep as her soul and whispered. "I won't have one of my future wives be a downer during a celebration. Besides, you look the most breathtaking while you're angry and fierce, a grimace doesn't suit you in the least at all."

Not easily swayed, for she'd had just as many lovers as the hero in front, Helga cracked just a smile as she asked.

"Is this how you flirt with a girl? Slap her around and then tell her that she's pretty?"

"Depends on the girl, but right now? I would say yes," moving a finger onto Helga's lips, Raven parted them gently. Running his thumb across her well-lined teeth, he moved his head closer and bound the gazebo in a cloak of darkness away from the sight of others. "So tell me, is it working?"

With a smirk riding on both of their lips, the duo finally kissed each other. But before going any further, knowing full well that Helga's daughters were somewhere around in the crowd playing with their friends, Raven teleported them inside the mansion to prevent any unnecessary problems.

"By the way," breaking the kiss just for a moment, Helga looked into Raven's eyes and whispered. "I haven't said yes to being your wife, but you keep trying and maybe someday…"

Her voice laced with desire, Helga led Raven on further as she wasn't yet ready to completely put her past to the past and move on to a new husband, at least not until her daughters were marriage-ready. Even so, sitting side by side on the bed, she desired Raven's touch and being a barbarian, her kinks, well…needless to say, were a bit extreme.