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Erebus was taken aback by the woman's remarks toward Edwards and it seemed to have caught the butler by surprise too, for his smile faltered only for a second before he smiled at the demon again, a new sadness in his eyes. Erebus gave an apologetic smile before he too entered the vehicle, sitting as far away from the girl as possible. She didn't seem to even want anything to do with him, but that was alright. He was sure that if he were in his situation, he wouldn't want to be touched either.

As he heard Edwards get into the driver's seat and pull out of the shops driveway, Erebus looked over at the woman. He hadn't caught her name, but he did have her file, which he had only looked at her abilities, her collar, and her looks. Yes, he could be superficial, but he had good intentions. "The only thing I ask that you do in my home is not burn it down. You may stay in the guest house for the first month if you wish, but please don't be mean to Edwards. He's a good man and will go to hell and back to give you what you want. Literally." He told her softly, trying to lay down the two rules he had of his home.

"You are free to wander my home, the guest house and the basement, but please stay away from my green house unless you are in control of your fire. I have so many projects in there that I could not bare to lose them. I will kill you if you harm them. I absorb flame also, so please, don't worry about that either." Erebus told her, turning his eyes away from the girl and out the window.

Erebus smiled as she told him her perspective on the butler, but he shook his head slightly as she continued to speak. "To Edwards, you are a person that he is to serve. And to me, you are not a slave. I'd give you freedom if I knew you would not run away, but I know better than to do something like that. Edwards is your butler too now. If you need anything, ask him and he will get it for you as soon as he can." Erebus told her, looking up toward the drivers seat. "He worked hard on getting everything prepared for your arrival. He's worked almost non stop for a week now. So please. Be nice to him." Edwards was a companion to Erebus and the demon could have this woman breaking down his spirits with her cruel words.

"And as for fireproof... It isn't my clothes." He said as he pulled his own hand up and it was instantly engulfed in flames. "I am a demon, son of Lucifer and I bathed in the fires of hell for seventeen years. Your pyromancy is hardly something for me to worry about, unless you want to see me naked." The coy smile returned to his lips as he adjusted his position and snapped his hand, extinguishing the flames as if they were a bug on his skin.

Erebus smiled softly at her as she told him that she wouldn't ask anything of the butler, which would probably bother the older man more than it would bother the demon. With a shrug of his shoulders, he watched as she stared at his hand and scoot back, like she hadn't ever touched fire before. But as the woman turned her eyes out the window before fishing out her music player and sticking the headphone over her head. It was his cue to shut up as they drove to his home.

The lake was only an hour away or so, and the weather had changed. Clouds now covered the sky and rain came down in sheets, soaking everything that entered it. As the car came to a stop, Edwards quickly pushed down the privacy window and turned to them, handing them umbrellas to protect the two from the rain. "Thank you Edwards." Erebus replied with a smile who returned it to him and looked over at Merlina. "Are you hungry, my lady? I would be pleased to cook you something while you take in the home. I am afraid that you shouldn't see the grounds until after the rain stops, but there are tunnels beneath the home to lead from the main house to the guest house."

Erebus smiled at the woman before leaving her to deal with the elderly man as he opened his door and opening the umbrella before stepping into the rain, shutting the door behind him. He quickly made his way toward the main house and stopped on the porch to shut and shake his umbrella to get the water off of it before leaving it in the outside umbrella 'rack' (basically a coat rack with grips to hold the metal of the umbrellas so that the handles don't slip through and the umbrellas can dry without growing mildew.) He fished the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, entering the grand entryway. He loved the smell of the wood in his home, felt it gave it a more homey feel. The lights were on and the fire was up and going to keep the house warm although not too warm. After a few moments to take in his home, as he always did, he looked out the open door to the limo and waited for the butler and Merlina to exit the car and come into the house.

The butler smiled happily as Merlina asked him for coffee and he nodded happily. As they got out of the car, Edwards rushed toward the house beside the woman and let her enter the house before him, as was proper as he shook his umbrella and hung it up on the rack to let it dry. "What kind of coffee do you want, my lady? We have many different flavors and many different strengths." The butler asked her softly once they were inside and the door was shut to keep out the cold.

After Merlina answered and Edwards went off to go make her coffee and get dinner started, Erebus turned to her and looked her over. "I assume that you have already taken a shower for today, but would you like a tour of the home? Or would you simply like me to take you to the bedroom designated for you?" The demon asked her with a smile as he slipped off his shoes and stood back up to await her answer.

In the kitchen, Edwards went about making the coffee the way Merlina had wanted, before delivering a tray of coffee, cream, and sugar and putting it on the coffee table in the living room before he went back in the kitchen to make dinner. He wasn't sure what Merlina would want, wasn't sure just yet what she did and didn't like in her food. Instead of going and bothering the young lady again, he simply prepared several different dishes from pork chops to salmon with sides of mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, rice and more. If Edwards loved anything more than serving people, it was cooking and the long years that Erebus had given him had also given him enough time to perfect his cooking techniques to make food taste absolutely wonderful. The butler was happy to make their meal as they did whatever they wanted to do. It was none of his business what the other two did in the home, his only business was to make the food, keep the home clean, and serve his masters, even if the young lady was a slave as well.

Edwards was hoping that she'd come around to both him and Master Erebus as it seemed that the master needed someone other than the older man to talk to. The demon seemed lonely as he sat in the home all day, rarely going outside or smiling anymore. The butler really hoped that this went well... Demon's never let their possessions go if they were still breathing and the butler had been smart enough to get his contract with Erebus in writing, but the lovely lady... She'd been bought. It hadn't been her choice and Edwards only hoped that Erebus didn't lose his temper with her.

Erebus gave a small smile as Merlina tried to speak to Edwards who quickly disappeared before she could finish what she was saying, simply to let him do something for her. It seemed unlike Edwards to whisk off before someone finished speaking to him, but he loved to serve people and if he had to do something against what he usually did in order to serve the young lady, it seemed he would. The demon could only laugh under his breath as she arced an eye brow and looked around the entryway. She seemed to be thinking of something she didn’t want to think about as the light passed through her eyes and it was very familiar to him. He often had that same look as he thought of his own home, his father or his sisters. His smile faded as his mind wandered to his father and as if on cue, the male’s voice rumbled through his head like acid on his brain. "You called?" His father asked and under his breath, Erebus spoke out loud. Unlike his father, he couldn’t communicate the way the devil could.

Clearing his throat as if he hadn’t spoke, Erebus gave a distracted smile as the young woman before him accepted his invitation. "Like I said earlier. Please don’t worry about Edwards doing things for you. I gave him immortality in exchange for a thousand years of his service to me and those around me. After two hundred years, he has come to love his job and serving people makes him happy. To each their own, y’know?" He said with a shrug as he walked toward the living room where Edwards had just placed down the tray with coffee and such. As the woman tried to let the man down softly, but Edwards shook his head and held up his hands in a way to show her that he wasn’t a threat. "My lady, I get up at three each morning. I live to serve those around me for the next seven hundred and ninety four years. Please. Allow me to serve you the same way I serve master Erebus. Now I must go and finish dinner." He bowed slowly before he walked back into the kitchen without waiting for an answer.

Erebus shook his head softly and laughed again, a soft chuckle under his breath as the humor of it fluttered in his grey violet eyes as he turned them to Merlina. "I’ve never seem Edwards act this way. You must bring out a side of him that he never knew he had either. As your coffee cools, we shall head up to the top floor and work our way down. Staring with your room, if you don’t want to stay in the guest house." With that, the demon pointed to the stairs and headed toward the stairs. Once he got to the top floor, he headed down the hallway going in the opposite direction of his room and opened the door at the end of the hallway to the wide open room decked out in feminine furniture. Edwards sure did go out of his way to make this room a room that a woman would enjoy. It was a surprise at what it looked like, even for the owner of the home since he hadn’t been there to delegate what furniture to get for the room. He trusted his butler to make it the room it was and lucky he did. Erebus wasn’t good with anything feminine… Other than the body, of course.

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Loretta Siren

Erebus watched her carefully as she inspected the room with surprise at how the room seemed to suit her, but she didn’t go to see the attached bathroom, just looked around the bedroom itself and out the window, in the closet which would have a few more clothes in it tomorrow when the package of female clothes arrived. There had to be at least a few things in the box that would suit her. Edwards was pretty good at getting a verity of things, just in case. They would probably have to send things back in exchange for a few more things that fit her style once they figured out what that was, but… There would be more clothes in her closet soon.

He smiled at her words and nodded his head a little. "Yes, this is all Edwards. As well as the clothes that will be delivered here tomorrow for you. I figure that you can go through the boxes and find out what fits and what you like and we can return what doesn’t fit and what you don’t like. Edwards is rather good at picking out clothes for people, but we have tons of catalogs in Edwards rooms, if you want to take a look and order some things that you like." The demon told her before the thoughts turned to who was now in his home and how he’d have to get used to sharing it with someone other than Edwards. Not only that, but…

The demon leaned up against the door frame as he watched her look around the room and sit down on the bed. She seemed to like it enough and he silently hoped that she chose to stay in this room, just in case he had visitors… Like his sisters… He didn’t want Merlina hanging around them too much, especially Harli and Fortuna. (Fortuna will be added as a mistress later as will Rium). Delirium was much more relaxed than his other two sisters and he hoped that none of his sisters came to his home. Erebus had done enough hiding and relocating, but he knew that at least Fortuna knew where he was. Hell, she knew where everyone in her family was at all times, even the youngest two sisters, who were parading around as slaves. With a sigh, he tried to clear them from his head and distract himself with Merlina.

"You know… You should stay in this house… I never know when my siblings are going to pop over to my home and I really don’t want them staying in the main house or with you in the guest house… They can be rather talkative about me and… Well… My family doesn’t really keep secrets about one another…" He said, his hand raising to run through his raven colored hair, avoiding the horns on his head that he had gotten used to avoiding after so long of stabbing himself. Erebus rarely even realized that they were there anymore. He only hoped that they didn't bother his new guest too much since he typically forgot that they were there at all and he hadn't even thought to ask her if she was alright with him purchasing her... Man, he felt like a d**k in that moment...

Erebus let the young lady wander about her new room, leaning against the door jam and simply watched her with interest, taking in what she enjoyed. She seemed to like the fact that she had her own bathroom, which was good because Edwards had insisted that they redo it in preparation for their new guest and had even gone out of his way to get the best feeling towels and linens for the lady's room. Which now that it was done and she was happy, made the demon want to go and thank the elderly looking gentleman.

As she emerged and arched a brow at his comment but he turned to face her at her rhetorical question, the easy look falling from his face, revealing a rather strained look. "My siblings... They would share what would give you an upper hand with me. They would share things that I have done in my past that I deeply regret and some of the things that I wish to forget. They would share what I have done in the army down in hell and the women and children that were slaughtered at my hands in that seventeen years that I resided in that hell. I do not wish you to know any of the things that I have done in my past, and likewise, I will not ask you anything about yours. You share it, if you wish to, otherwise, it is none of my business." His voice had grown cold as he spoke of his past and all of his deeds, his eyes growing almost dead in color, becoming a cloudy dark purple rather than their violet color.

As he turned away from her to compose himself, he was relieved that she asked a question to distract him from his spiraling thoughts. "I'm afraid not. Edwards has a way about him, a need deep in his soul to make other lives easier since he cannot do so for himself and not even your stubbornness can overwhelm his own. I'll talk to him and tell him to take a backseat to your needs of independence, but do not be surprised if he does not heed it." Erebus turned back to look at the woman in her room before he turned and moved from the doorway. "Please follow me and I'll show you a few other things you'll need to know. My room is this door here and this is the library. Most of the books here are classics and poetry. If you want certain books, please tell Edwards and he will order them for you." Erebus explained as he pointed to the door at the other end of the hall as his own and then opened the one in between the two bedrooms as the library.