"Mr. Butler, it seems like you have much better qualifications to become the head of this household than Sir Marcus. And thus, I am handing the house over to you."

Kael could feel the power within the ring he held. It was not only a status symbol used to display one’s authority, but it also contained blood magic.

The ring ensured that anyone who wore it became a Spencer, regardless of their origin, and gained the qualification to become the family head.

And now that the butler had the ring on, he was the new head of House Spencer.

The ring resisted a little since it already had a current master, but subduing it was easy for Kael.

"S-Sir, I cannot! I am merely a butler-"

"And now you are the head of the Spencer family. So enjoy your new freedom. I don’t want to interfere too much, but your previous family head annoyed me more than he should have."

Kael was not a cruel person, and that was why he did not kill Sir Marcus.

In fact, he was merciful enough to leave Sir Marcus in a state where he could start over again...even if he had no access to his previous money.

As for the butler...Kael had plans for him.

"I am not going to ask for much in return. All I want you to do is focus on your legitimate businesses and cut off the rotten roots. Also, stop funding the temple and focus on expanding the business."

The butler looked overwhelmed and scared at the same time.

"I understand the business part, but cutting off the temple...won’t we make an enemy of them?"

The butler was right to be worried under normal circumstances. But this time, he had Kael as an ally.

"You won’t make an enemy of the temple. Not if you tell them that the one who forced you to do this is Grand Master Kael. I am sure they will understand."

Kael’s declaration was followed by silence. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Neither Sir Marcus nor the butler spoke for a long moment. Then Sir Marcus made a choking noise.

"Y-You...! How can you be Grand Master Kael? You are just a kid and-"

"I did hear that the Grand Master appointed this time was awfully young, but I did not realize how young...I understand. I will do as you asked, Grand Master."

The butler quickly gave in once he heard the name of his benefactor.

After all, everyone knew about the conflict between the temple and Grand Master Kael. There was no need to ask why he wanted the temple’s support cut off.

This was also a good deal for the Spencer family, who spent a huge amount of money on the temple and its activities.

Kael knew all this, and that was why it felt even more satisfying when the butler gave him his word.

"Grand Master Kael, I, Joseph Kard of House Kard and the current head of the Spencer family, promise you that I will do as you have asked me to. I promise not to let you down."

The man bowed before Kael to show his loyalty.

"Hmm, I will leave it up to you then. Lyra, it’s time for us to head home now. The kids and Iris must be worried about us. Let’s not keep them waiting for too long."

Kael declared as he moved to pick up Lyra.

The beast looked bored, and her eyes lingered on the couch in a way that told everyone exactly what she wanted to do to it.

Kael noticed it as well and simply patted her on the head.

"Alright, go ahead and destroy this thing if you don’t like it. I am sure Sir Joseph can buy something better with the newly recovered funds. And also make sure to send some my way."

Kael told the Demon Queen, and she wasted no time obliterating the thing in front of her.

One second, the couch was there, and the next it had turned into ashes.

Kael decided not to linger around any longer either. It was time for him and Lyra to go home.

[Lyra’s Trust +5]

[Lyra’s Affection +10]

[Lyra’s Mental Stability +10]

The sudden message startled Kael, and he looked down to notice how happy Lyra looked.

It seemed that her mood had improved after taking her stress out, and it made Kael happy as well.

"It seems like you had a fun time. Now, let’s buy something tasty on our way home and have a relaxing evening. We won’t have to worry about money for a while."

Kael told the beast in his arms, and Lyra purred to show her happiness. It seemed that things were going even better than he had expected.

__________

’Ah, this was satisfying. I finally feel my stress melting away after using my powers to put that human in his place. But I should have made him beg more and maybe even disfigured his face.’

Lyra was in a good mood. Her mood was so good that she was even skipping ahead of Kael and leading the way home.

"Wow! Your...puppy sure looks happy. Did something good happen? And maybe you should keep it on a leash as well."

Her behavior did not strike her as odd until a shopkeeper commented on it. But Kael just brushed the comment off with a laugh.

"It’s fine. She’s trained, so she won’t attack others without provocation."

The shopkeeper shrugged at his easy-going nature before looking around for a few seconds. Then she leaned closer to speak directly into his ear.

"Hey, you better be careful. There are rare-beast hunters around. Don’t let them catch your puppy if you care about it."

The shopkeeper warned him, and Lyra wanted to scoff at the concern.

There was no need for Kael to look after her. She had regained more than enough mana to blast away anyone who came her way. She could protect herself and Kael as well.

After all, he was hers, and she had a tendency to protect the things that belonged to her.

’Huh! That’s odd. Why did I consider this human mine? He’s the one keeping me hostage-’

"I see. Thank you for the information. I will make sure to protect Lyra well."

Kael picked her up, and Lyra struggled against his hold for a few seconds before giving in and snuggling against his side.

Well, it did not matter when or why she had started considering Kael as ’hers.’ She would make sure to protect him, just as she protected the other things important to her.