Eternal Thief

Albert sighed, looking at Margret's hate-filled eyes, and asked, "You are indeed as vicious as ever. But what I can't understand is, if you can alter her family's memories, why not do the same with her? Shouldn't it be much easier to keep her under your control?" 

Margret retorted in anger, "You think I hadn't tried? Although my intentions with Snow were pure, and I never tried to do anything underhanded to her. But with Alina, trust me, the moment I saw her for the second time, I tried to change her memories so she could forget that boy. 

"But do you know what happened the moment I tried even peer into her knowledge sea? My soul suffered terrible damage. It was to the point that, for a moment, I thought I was a goner. If not for that seal I planted, you might have never seen me again!" Her eyes showed a lingering fear. She clearly wasn't joking, as that experience left deep trauma. 

Albert was shocked, and Edward squinted his eyes and said, "I still think you should've killed her the moment you found that she couldn't be controlled. But I think you never wanted to control her. You just wanted to make her your obedient pet!" 

Margret eyes flashed with killing intent as she glared at Edward, "Says the person who gets new women from his clans every generation to restock his collection of toys. Now out with it, who was the Shadow Devil Thief?" 

Edward glared back with a hint of malice, but he didn't want to argue with the madwoman, and since she revealed such a thing to them, his matter wasn't worth mentioning. 

So, he calmly said, "Approximately a hundred years ago, in the Shadow Devil Clan's territory, a thief emerged. It all started with small-time thefts. The most distinguishable trait of this thief was she always stole from the rich and then shared her loot with the needy and poor. 

"First, no one took notice because the sheer size of the thefts was not worth noticing by us. However, three years after the Shadow Devil Thief made her debut, she stole the treasury of the middle-sized clan under the Shadow Devil clan. A month later, another middle-sized clan fell victim, and then another. 

"It was then the Shadow Devil Clan took notice and took action. However, even after chasing Shadow Devil Thief's trails for years, they failed to capture even her shadow. 

"But those incompetent fools keep it all under tight wraps so that they won't lose their reputation." Edward coldly snorted.

"Heh, here I thought only my descendants were incompetent. I never thought you had gone through the same thing." Albert coldly commented at this moment. He was clearly unhappy about Edward hiding such a thing from him and even used the sky stealer to humiliate him while Edward himself had gone through the same thing. 

Edward shrugged his shoulder, "Buddy, it's your fault to let it all blow up to the entire world, and trust me, the sky stealer is far more terrifying than the Shadow Devil Thief ever was. So, it's not your fault that you got a more talented thief in your place. 

"Anyway, eighteen years passed since the first appearance of the Shadow Devil Thief, and she finally started to spread her wings as her range of thieveries grew from the Shadow Devil Territory to the other main clan territory. It was also that the other clans started to take notice of the Shadow Devil Thief. 

"In another twenty years, the Shadow Devil Thief became a nightmare for any clan that wasn't one of the ten main devil clans. Furthermore, the thief's guts were as high as the sky because she even established a secret mission center where she would steal for anyone who met her requirements. Thief she was, but she had become a messiah of the common folks. 

"It was also the time for the once-in-a-century matrimonial ritual of yours truly. It's a tradition of our devil race that every century, the ten main clans will send their most excellent woman to their ancestor to marry, which would bring them prosperity and keep their position." Edward stated with a hint of pride. 

Margret snickered with disdain, "Toys, as I said. You were always this fickle when it comes to beautiful women." 

Edward didn't mind Margret's disdainful eyes and chuckled, "And what's wrong with that? What's the point of having an endless life if you want to spend it in hiding? Besides, ten women per century for my protection is not a bad deal, don't you think?

"And I never forced anyone. In fact, they considered it their honor to serve me. Furthermore, since this is a ritual, I only keep them for 360 days before sending them back happy. They are free to marry others for all I care." 

"Shameless bastard!" Margret cussed with a scornful glare while Albert frowned and didn't say anything as he was aware of Edward's debaucher personality and lustful nature. 

Edward continued without paying the madwoman any heed, "Like usual, the ten clans sent their most excellent and beautiful women for the ritual. It then I saw her…" 

His eyes suddenly turn dreamy, "The youngest princess of Shadow Devil Clan, Eve Shadow. Her beauty was unmatched and nothing like anything I had ever seen. Everything paled in comparison to her. She was too perfect like a devil goddess has descended herself. She was even more beautiful than you." 

Margret squinted her eyes, looking at Edward's expression of longing, "Don't tell me she was…?" 

Edward finally snapped out of that unforgettable memory before killing intent shone in his eyes, "Indeed, she was the Shadow Devil Thief, and she was after my treasures! At that time, I wasn't informed about the Shadow Devil Thief since those bastards thought it was a triviality to report to their ancestors. 

"That insufferable enchantress was simply too good at her craft, and she seemed to know my nature too well and used it against me. She was able to steal my storage ring without even me realizing it." 

Albert and Margret shook their head in disappointment, but they weren't surprised by it at all since they knew Edward was fully capable of forgetting everything when beauty was involved. 

Edward's killing intent intensified, "But she made a terrible error. She underestimated me and overestimated her thievish abilities. My storage ring is no ordinary storage ring, but it's a living storage space ring that is directly connected to my Devil Scepter. 

"If someone is foolish enough to steal it, once they distance themselves from me to a certain extent, I'll instantly know, and its location can't be hidden because it can't be stored in a simple storage ring. 

"That thievish bitch might've realized it, but she was too greedy to give up on it. I tracked her down the moment she tried to escape. At that time, when she tried to retaliate, I realized that her cultivation was at the intermediate stage of the law awareness realm, and her cultivation method wasn't from the shadow devil clan but something far stronger. 

"She was able to exchange a hundred blows with me despite her lower cultivation, and when she felt the danger to her life and realized that she had picked the wrong target, she threw my storage ring and broke the gem on her pendant. 

"Before I realized it, she was gone, teleported somewhere." Edward gritted his teeth just by remembering that memory. 

Margret couldn't help but laugh in amusement, "Hah, at least I killed the troublemakers on my side!" 

Edward sneered in annoyance before a devilish smile appeared on his face, "Heh, it was only temporary, though. You know better than anyone that my target has never been able to live for long. She had just delayed the inevitable!"