Millicas followed through with his plan. He waited until his mother and the rest of the kitchen staff brought out his cake. He received a bunch of well wishes before finally getting the chance to eat his dessert. Once he finished his slice of cake, he spent around a half hour ensuring he spoke with some of the guests he wasn't as familiar with.
Millicas stuck mostly to safe topics and small talk. Just enough to not offend. He wasn't in a position where he had to invest too much time getting to know the political allies of the House of Gremory. That was Rias's job as the heir of Zeoticus.
Once he had finished his rounds, he quietly slipped away. No one realistically expected him to open his gifts within the ballroom. It would have been far too impractical with the number of gifts given to him. He was quite lucky the maids of the castle collected his gifts from the guests as they entered the castle.
After a quick stop to his bedroom within the castle, he had a small mountain of gifts teleported away to his apartment. He'd have to send thank you letters later after he went through the gifts. It would be the polite thing to do. He also didn't want to imagine what his mother would do to him if he didn't at least do that much.
He soon followed his gifts, teleporting himself right into his apartment. He spent a few moments reviewing the magical defenses he left behind. Several different types of wards layered his apartment, some more subtle than others. A quick check over the alarm component of his wards showed nothing had happened while he was away.
He could never be too careful. Millicas was a weak link hostile entities could use to get to his father. He hadn't been specifically targeted yet, but he would rather be safe than sorry. He'd dealt with a few random roaming stray devils with Rias in Kuoh before. Kuoh was never guaranteed to be perfectly safe.
Millicas left his gifts inside his bedroom in his small apartment. He headed into his living room, letting himself collapse onto his sofa. He grabbed the television remote and turned on some random anime to idly watch. He laid down on the couch, quietly thinking.
He was going to skip school tomorrow. He had all those gifts to go through, a conversation to have with Lord Phenex early in the morning, and his date with Ravel. Millicas didn't feel like trying to keep up appearances at school tomorrow with all of that on his plate.
Yes, he was simply too busy to attend school. He wasn't trying to avoid Rias or anything. He totally wasn't double checking his wards to make sure he locked down the ability for people to teleport directly into his abode without permission. That would be silly!
Right as he triple checked his ward, he felt a magical knock against it. Someone was politely using their magic to knock upon his anti-teleportation ward instead of trying to brute force through it.
It couldn't have been Rias. Zeoticus wouldn't have had enough time to speak with her since Millicas's departure. Plus, it was Rias. She would have run headfirst into his anti-teleportation ward.
Millicas manipulated his ward from the couch, sending a pulse of magic that essentially asked for the other person to identify who they were with their own magical signature. A second passed before a signature he was familiar with came through. His father had apparently noticed him slip away from his own birthday party.
"Damn it," Millicas muttered to himself before allowing Sirzechs through his ward. He was just thankful his father didn't destroy it by accident this time.
Millicas didn't bother to rise from his couch as his father appeared by the entrance door of his apartment.
He heard Sirzechs whistle, "Still as empty as ever, huh? When are you going to decorate this place? You know your mom would be thrilled if you asked her to go out on a day trip to help you pick out decorations."
His father wasn't wrong about his apartment being sparsely decorated. His apartment had a single bedroom, a combined living room and kitchen, and one bathroom. Of those rooms, none of them were heavily personalized. He had a few photos hung up in his room, but the living room and kitchen only had basic modern furniture.
Millicas groaned, "Cleaning would be even more annoying than it already is. I'm fine with keeping things simple."
He heard his father's footsteps on the wooden floor of his apartment entrance way connected to his kitchen and living room.
"Just use magic to…"
Millicas interrupted his father, "I'm going to tell Mother you told me to use magic to clean."
Sirzechs frowned as he moved to sit on the armchair to the right of Millicas's sofa, "Please don't. It can be a secret we both take to our graves. Isn't saving your time worth a little risk?"
"Father, are you trying to get Mother to give me a lesson on proper work ethic again? Cleaning things by hand is one of the only things she adamantly demands. I swear, I'll throw you under the bus if I get caught."
He grinned, "I have a feeling your mom might just forgive me if I get you to go through with decorating this place. Crazy. It's been over a year since you moved out. You're making me feel old."
Millicas rolled his eyes, "You are old, old man."
Sirzechs dramatically grasped his heart, "Your words wound me. My grown-up son is going to toss me away to a retirement home any minute now. I'm going to be condemned to a fate of playing bingo with Zekram Bael."
Millicas vaguely recalled the name but couldn't put a face to it, "Is that someone related to Grandmother?"
Sirzechs groaned "You actually are making me feel my age. Zekram Bael is related to Venelana distantly. Zekram was the first head of the House of Bael. He's a very important individual in the Underworld."
Millicas gave him a thumbs up, "Interesting history lesson Father. However, please consider the following…"
Millicas pointed towards the anime on his television.
His father turned his attention to the television. The two silently watched the television together for a few minutes before his father turned his attention back to him.
"Why are they… playing card games on motorcycles?" Satan Lucifer sounded extremely confused.
Millicas hummed, "Don't know. Do you think Satan Beelzebub could make something like those cards?"
His father rubbed his chin in deep thought, "I don't doubt it. Ajuka is an absolute genius. Playing cards that can summon magical projections to battle one another… Hm."
Millicas muted the television, before sitting up on the sofa. He spent enough time entertaining his father. He wanted to know the actual reason he came by when he probably should have still been attending to lingering guests at the Gremory castle.
"Is there a reason you came looking for me, Father?"
Millicas's question pulled Sirzechs out of his thoughts.
His father met his gaze, "Besides you leaving your birthday early? What type of father wouldn't be concerned about that?"
Millicas shrugged, "Lord Bael, probably. Sairaorg has never had anything good to say about his father."
Sirzechs sighed, "I can't believe my mother is related to that man. The difference between the two is like Heaven and Hell."
"I guess? I haven't met Lord Bael in person. I've seen him a few times at Grandfather's gatherings though. He wasn't at my birthday party."
"The birthday party you should still be attending, Millicas. You know, I went searching for you around the ballroom. I couldn't figure out where you were until my mother informed me of some interesting developments."
"I wasn't kidding when I said you make me feel old. I've been trying my best to keep you out of politics, to give you a chance to grow up however you want. Yet, you went and betrothed yourself just to get Rias out of her betrothal. I don't know if I should laugh or cry. I don't think you realize how much your grandma has been begging me to arrange marriages for you before this mess."
"Grandmother did say something similar. I appreciate that you gave me the opportunities that you did, Father. I haven't found anyone special in my life, so I saw no harm in effectively killing two birds with one stone. Rias gets out of her betrothal and now I have one of my own."
Sirzechs leaned further back into his armchair, "Pragmatic in a way. I hope you don't end up regretting your choice. I'm not going to tell you it was the wrong thing to do. Frankly, I couldn't be prouder of you. You're hiding out here to get away from Rias, right? Once she finds out what you did…"
"Am not!" Millicas childishly burst out.
Sirzechs smirked, "Sure, Millicas. Sure. Anyways, have you come up with a plan for your date tomorrow? You know your mom is going to question me about this once she discovers what happened. Give me the details."
"I was going to keep things somewhat simple. I plan to take her to that one pasta restaurant in the Underworld you brought Mother to for your anniversary last year. It should be fine, right? We'll have a chance to sit down and speak with one another."
"Dolce's Heart Ristorante? Good to know, not a bad choice. Can you do me one little favor though?"
"What?" Millicas questioned.
"Can you make sure to take pictures? I think your mom might make me sleep outside in the castle courtyard if I don't at least ask."
"I don't see an issue with taking a few pictures during my date. Actually, that's a very good idea to show the Phenex family my sincerity behind this endeavor," Millicas muttered.
Sirzechs got up from the armchair, heading over to stand in front of Millicas.
"Right, I'm going to head out. Happy birthday once again, kiddo. I'm not going to try to force you to go back to your party. Your grandpa is already trying to wrap it up. Call me tomorrow or stop by to let me know how your date goes."
"Will do, Father," Millicas had no reason not to at least call his father.
Sirzechs reached out, affectionately ruffling the top of Millicas's head, "I really am proud of you. Love you Millicas."
Millicas lightly swatted at his father's hand, "Love you too Father. Even if you're a decrepit fossil."
A teleportation circle appeared under Sirzechs feet as he took a step back, "Brat. I'm not a fossil yet. I'm not even a grandpa!"
"Yet," Millicas happily replied moments before his father disappeared.
The split-second half-grimace on his father's face had been priceless.
Millicas stretched as he opened his eyes to a new day. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining in through his windows, and someone was loudly knocking upon his front door.
"Milicas!"
He had a lot he needed to get done today. Lord Phenex expected him to call early in the day to provide details for the date he had planned with Ravel. He should probably get that out of the way as soon as possible.
He was feeling hungry though and did want to pick up some new slacks and a dress shirt before his date. He also still needed to write thank-you letters for those gifts he opened last night.
"Millicas! Are you home?!"
Decisions, decisions. Well, he supposed he better get his day started. Millicas quickly changed into a casual outfit. He didn't plan to attend school today, after all.
Once he was changed, a teleportation circle appeared under his feet. He planned on grabbing some breakfast at a diner he knew in the Underworld. He'd have the perfect opportunity to call Lord Phenex while he was sitting down waiting for his breakfast. After eating, he'd do some shopping at one of the malls in the Underworld.
Millicas had his morning roughly planned out. Absolutely nothing could ruin it. He just had to ignore the manic voice of his aunt. Said aunt who was currently pounding on his apartment room door.
Nothing good would come out of dealing with a hyper energetic Rias this early in the morning. He'd give her at least one full day to calm down.
She would calm down… right?