My Taboo Harem!

Marcus merely smiled.

"Danton, you are my brother." He said it with the smooth ease like he had spent years dressing calculation in the finer clothes of affection. "Knowing everything there is to know about the Dragon, and plundering certain parts of his inheritance before he understands their worth, will play a considerable role in defeating the bastard."

He began walking away from the altar, his polished shoes passing over stone still faintly distorted by the recent arrival of the Void-Djinns. Danton fell into step beside him, both hands resting inside his pockets, while after they walked beyond Anahita followed several paces behind with her head lowered and her mismatched wings folded elegantly against her back.

"You know how desperately he intends to interfere with our ultimate mission," Marcus continued. "Phei wants to prevent us from awakening our true potentials and bringing our brothers back into this world. Why would I exclude you from something that may determine whether we succeed in defeating him or not?"

Danton listened without interrupting.

Behind them, the altar continued to hum beneath the remnants of elven essence, while faint wounds in space drifted through the colossal hall like bruises reality had not yet managed to heal.

"I mean..." Danton glanced sideways at him. "Helel, anyone who knows you as well as I do would naturally assume you intended to keep the Dragon’s powers and every Pages of the Tome for yourself."

Marcus’s smile remained in place, though its warmth thinned around the edges.

Danton looked ahead again, speaking with the careless honesty; he was powerful enough to make honesty another form of provocation:

"Everyone understands what a single Page may contain. Power beyond ordinary anything we can fathom despite our own immerse and immeasurable powers. I am talking about things said to contain knowledge refined across primordial eras. Records of abilities the Cosmic Dragon’s own descendants no longer remember possessing. One Page could make an ancient family tear itself apart; several could reshape the balance between the World of Powers itself and even the Realms beyond."

His gaze briefly returned to Marcus:

"And that is before considering Phei’s unknown abilities. His Void-Ice and... well, whatever that he used to look into your soul and reduce the soul of an Angel Progenitor to an unfortunate relationship with dining-hall marble."

Marcus’s jaw tightened.

Danton’s smile brightened.

"Anyone would want all of that for himself, even the powerful entities beyond," he finished. "I know I would... after all if I were you in my place I would keep such plan of getting secrets to myself"

A brief silence passed between them.

Then Marcus laughed; the sound of his laughter emerged a fraction too late and carried a strained note he could not completely conceal.

"That is where you and I differ," he said. "You are my brother, Danton. Surely that must mean something."

Danton stared at him for half a heartbeat.

Then he burst into laughter.

The sound rolled freely through the underground hall, striking the black walls and returning in broad echoes until even the suspended sigils overhead appeared to tremble in their slow revolutions.

Anahita continued behind them without lifting her face, though the attendant who had released her slowed uncertainly near the sealed cave doors.

Marcus looked toward Danton with growing irritation:

"What is so amusing?"

Danton’s laughter gradually softened, yet the heat beginning to gather around his body did not:

Golden fire appeared in thin threads along the seams of his coat, bright enough to stain the black floor beneath him with moving light.

"You mean to tell me this is brotherly affection?" he asked. "Because trust me; there was no possibility whatsoever that I would have shared my Void-Djinns with you unless you explained why you needed them. Nor would I have trusted you to complete any mission alone even with Void-Djinns after the magnificent competence your side displayed during the interview."

He spoke lightly, almost pleasantly, but the Flames of Beginning crawling around him carried no humour.

Marcus’s face lost a little colour.

The Jörmungandr Prince was laughing...

...he was also not laughing at all.

The fire surrounding Danton did not erupt or lash outward but it breathed with him, each pulse carrying enough pressure to remind the hall what had forced the invading Void back into obedience only moments earlier.

Danton stopped walking.

Marcus took another step before realizing it, then turned to face him.

"If this revelation truly came from brotherly love," Danton said, "why does Kyle know nothing about these Pages?"

Marcus said nothing.

"Why does Brett know nothing?"

Danton tilted his head slightly.

"Why do none of our other brothers know that the scattered Primordial Dragon Tome may soon begin returning to its incarnation?"

The faint smile on Marcus’s face disappeared, he cleared his throat and adjusted one of his cuffs, using the small movement to collect himself.

"Why should I burden myself with dead weights?"

Danton’s eyebrow rose, he’d not expected such honesty.

Marcus spread one hand, allowing irritation to tear through the last of his performance.

"What use would there be in telling them? Kyle has already disgraced himself after getting arrested and going to prison himself. Right now Brett can barely survive the Dragon’s attention without folding into whatever frightened little creature he becomes around him. The others possess neither the resources nor the access required to help acquire the Pages."

His voice hardened:

"I do not share sensitive knowledge merely to satisfy sentimental ideas of brotherhood. If they cannot contribute to obtaining what we seek, then they have no reason to know it exists."

Understanding brightened Danton’s face:

"Oh, I see."

The golden flames drew closer to his body, losing their earlier pressure as amusement reclaimed him.

"...so, had I arrived without the Void-Djinns, and without a way to make this sacred hunt more successful, I would not know about the Tome either?"

Marcus scoffed, the last veil of brotherly affection finally discarded:

"Certainly not."

For one quiet moment, Danton simply looked at him and then his laughter returned, louder and far more genuine than before.

"There he is!"

He stepped forward and threw one arm loosely around Marcus’s shoulders, pulling him along with enough force to make the Heavenchild Prince stumble before recovering his dignity.

"That is the Helel I know."

Marcus pushed his arm away, though he could not prevent a reluctant smile from appearing.

There was something strangely easier about being understood after the lie had failed.

Danton expected selfishness from Helel and respected it far more than manufactured affection of brotherhood.

They resumed walking together, leaving the great altar behind as they entered one of the enormous arched passages leading toward the upper estate. Anahita followed in silence, while the prison attendant remained behind, wise enough to understand that whatever conversation now unfolded had climbed far above his permitted curiosity.

Danton glanced over his shoulder once.

Anahita moved beneath the cold rune-light with flawless obedience, silver-blonde hair falling around her shoulders and both wings folded close enough to preserve the illusion that she remained owned.

Then he looked back at Marcus.

"So, what is the plan?"

Marcus’s expression sharpened immediately.

"First, we complete the larger theft. The Void-Djinns will strip the other Legacy Families of everything useful, open the Coffer, and secure resources we need for the next stage."

Marcus glanced toward Anahita without turning his head fully.

"Once we have acquired what we need from the other Legacies, one or two of the Void-Djinns will be reassigned to watch and help her."

Anahita continued walking as though the words had nothing to do with her.

Danton’s eyes narrowed with interest.

"Anahita will have infiltrated Phei’s circle by then," Marcus explained. "The more useful she proves, the more he will trust her. The more he trusts her, the closer he will bring her to himself, his household, and everything he believes belongs only to him."

His mouth curved with quiet contempt.

"From the looks of it; the Dragon does not know the Pages exist. He will not consciously search for them, I still think his bloodline will still answer their presence. The fragments will call to him, and he will be drawn toward them without understanding the force guiding his decisions; so instead of just searching like headless chickens, we wait and still from him instead."

Danton nodded slowly.

"The Tome attempting to reassemble itself through its incarnation."

"Exactly. Wherever the pull takes him, Anahita will remain close. If he enters a ruin, she accompanies him. If he discovers some sealed inheritance, she stands beside him. If a Page appears inside his home, she will already possess the access necessary to reach it."

Marcus’s eyes gleamed.

"And the Void-Djinns will never be far from her."

The passage around them broadened, its black walls carved with old angelic victories and kneeling races whose names had long since been removed from history. Their footsteps travelled through the stone, accompanied by the quiet movement of Anahita’s bare feet behind them.

"The instant any Page reveals itself," Marcus continued, "the Djinns will take it before Phei can touch it. They do not need to fight him neither do they need to challenge his household or test themselves against whatever powers he has yet to reveal. They only need to cross the distance between him and the Page faster than his hand can close."

Danton hummed thoughtfully.

Marcus glanced toward him. "What?"

"It is a good plan," Danton said. "Elegant, patient, and appropriately parasitic."

Marcus smiled.

"But it will not work every time for each new page."

The smile faded.

Danton’s golden eyes brightened as a new thought took shape behind them.

"So why do we not spice it up a little?"

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