It became increasingly difficult to tell what the Underworld celebrated this time around when it came to the Red Dragon Emperor. The first handful of times, the events held in his name had been out of courtesy. With the minimum required to pass for a moment of celebration. They still were spectacles worthy of a hero of the Underworld, for even the most conservative Pillar lords were less than excited about the idea of getting on the Great Satans' bad side. Especially with someone known as "destruction incarnate" as the main patron of the Red One's master.
All the same, the quick climb to success was unprecedented. Gossiping stopped all on its own when the boy that so obviously grew thanks to Lucifer's favor broke every record, and won against every challenge on his path to his dreams. One year had been enough for him where ancient devil lords had taken decades, or even centuries. Only abnormalities such as the former Dragon King Tannin could be labeled with the same rate of success as this simple boy; although the draconic nature of the two of them was difficult not to notice.
Well, what could be expected? Even among the reincarnated devils, not two individuals were ever created equal. The existence of mutation pieces was proof enough. So, thinking logically, the appearance of someone like Issei Hyoudou was more question of "when" instead of "if".
"You look dissatisfied. I thought you were more comfortable in these social events that in the Rating Games." A gentle masculine voice snapped Latia Astaroth, recently appointed heiress of the Astaroth clan, of her musings.
There were many devils like Latia: Refined ladies with figures that easily seduced any reincarnated devil too used to the Human World, dressed in dressed of exquisite making, and the aura of nobility that marked them as belonging to their proud race. But there were seldom gentlemen like the young man approaching her.
"It is. Although I must admit I find myself envious of how often these parties are held in the Red Dragon Emperor's name." She shook her head with an expression between sorrow and annoyance, but quickly gave her full attention to the devil in front of her "Heir of the Great King."
Sairaorg Bael smiled at her, puffing up his obscenely burly chest to the point that it felt as though the fabric of his suit would rip if he did it more. He didn't seem to realize this, and these dark clothes were probably custom made for his appearance; as devils rarely trained their bodies like the young Bael here did. Granted, that made him stand out quite a bit amidst the high-class devils, who did not share the familiarity to these hyper masculine figures unlike humanity.
Or at least that's what Latia figured after that one session of watching a strange series filled with muscle men standing around and projecting their anger management issues into a psychic vessel to punch each other with. She might've scoffed at the idea of going to Rias' territory to "open up her horizons"; but this occurrence was one of the few that slowly made her change her mind. At least because she could now narrowly avoid making a fool of herself by staring to much at Sairaorg's thick shoulders and chest.
Again, she'd heard of the special appeal of a "heroic button" struggling to hold a shirt too tight for the wearer; but she'd never actually understood it until she began noticing the young man more and more. Now, she held nothing but respect to the tailors that figured out a way to increase someone's appeal by tenfold without having their creations accused of being poorly made.
"Lady of Astaroth." Sairaorg brought her out of her musings with his own greeting, hiding part of his chest from her view with his hand as he bowed slightly. She quickly lifted the skirt of her dress and returned the greeting with the motion, pretending not to have been lost in thought ogling the man.
"Milady." Kushia Abaddon followed her master's action and bowed. Latia didn't know how to feel about her, given that she could feel the odd vibe she gave off whenever the two Pillar heirs were together. But it didn't come up blatantly enough that Latia felt it appropriate, nor in need, of calling her out on it.
Indeed, relationships between high class devils were complicated.
"Miss from Abaddon." Latia nodded her way, doing the bare minimum to acknowledge her existence before going back to seeing Rias' Pawn be overwhelmed by noble devils "It is praiseworthy to see that your group has taken such a liking to the Red Dragon Emperor. I don't think I'd be so pleased in your place."
"Honor who honor deserves." Sairaorg replied with a chuckle "We've exchanged blows, trained together. I know his desire to be pure, so I have nothing to complain about. I'll catch up in my own way."
Really… That sounded unlikely when he was comparing himself to someone who could double his power every ten seconds on base form. Yet Latia did not mention it.
There are many noble devils like her. Rias, for example, was the premier young devil lady to be compared to. Though unlike Latia, Rias had been blessed with the same powers that Sairaorg had been denied. Perhaps due to chance, perhaps due to destiny. Yet what it caused was for young girls like Latia to see Rias Gremory as this unreachable entity that was unlike any of them. An idol of sorts, more wishful thinking than a real person.
And it felt like the same was happening with Issei Hyoudou. Just at a larger, and even more impossible to bridge, scale.
"At least you talk about competing. It feels like we're turning into the followers of Heaven at this point, given how the Red One is treated nowadays."
"That's not something you should be saying after signing peace with the other two Factions." Kushia interjected, making Latia's eye twitch as she was not talking to her.
"Yeah, that does sound very inappropriate." Sairaorg frowned at Latia, which forced her to school her features.
"Peace doesn't erase the centuries of fanatical hatred that has been shown to our kind." Latia replied neutrally "And I don't even mean that which Heaven perpetuated, but the resentment that mankind itself nurtured."
"You weren't pursued like our ancestors were, right?" Sairaorg mused, crossing his arms and making the fabric of his suit stretch magnifically a bit more "I don't see why you'd bring this up."
"A peace treaty is exactly that, Sairaorg." Latia replied, a bit more annoyed now "It's not an agreement to not condemn the crimes that have been committed. War might be war indeed. But I would not stop holding in contempt those that went too far, just like I'd not hold others from doing the same to those on our side."
"That's a very politician-like response."
"Conflict is mess. Starting it is messy, maintaining it is messy, finishing it is messy." Latia closed her eyes while the Red Dragon Emperor was dragged by the ear by Rias for staring too much at one of the ladies from the Extra Demons "It just so happens that we were too naïve to understand this simple fact until our original Great Satans were gone."
Sairaorg turned back to her with more solemnity in his face.
"But it's not something you have to worry about now."
"I'll have to, eventually. Better start soon." Latia released a tired sigh "With the Trihexa sealed, and the world still in disarray… We don't know. Uncle Ajuka is holding the Underworld to the best of his ability, but we just don't know. One day, it might be our turn to hold it all together. And I can't be found lacking. Not anymore."
"You say it like Lord Ajuka and everyone else in power are not doing their absolute best to solve issues as they come up." Sairaorg pressed his lips to the side "You don't have to take on the world alone."
"Goodness, no. I have enough with my clan and the mess that Diodora's betrayal left behind." Latia couldn't quite hide the resentment from her voice as she spoke "I can barely take on the duties of a house head as it is. I wouldn't want anything more on my plate."
"You'll grow into it. Just gotta take a step at a time." He said it so easily, so matter-of-fact, that Latia didn't know whether to feel bemused or relieved. It sounded like he believed it too. And, as someone who'd fought on the side of the DxD team, Latia felt inclined to believe him.
"There might not be time." She still whispered. If a handsome man's words could dispel all her insecurities and problems, she'd have tried to seduced this man a long time ago. Not that the idea had crossed her mind, but it's the point that she was trying to make to herself "Doing my best is the most I can do."
"And that's enough." Sairaorg nodded to himself with satisfaction "Trust the process, as humans say."
Latia pressed her lips tightly.
"Coming from the Great King, it sure is reassuring."
"Glad to be helpful." He gave her a wide smile.
Latia took another glass of wine to distract herself from the warmth on her face.
"Don't let my father hear you saying that." Sairaorg shook his head.
"I thought he had warmed up to the idea." Or at least that's what the rumor mill said. Not that she'd put all of her faith in gossiping, but people rarely ever talked behind the Bael's back without good reason.
"Seems like he's willing to hear me out in my endeavors, at least. He's just not super excited about me being the heir." Sairaorg sighed.
"How about joining a different house?" She blurted out, not even daring to look him straight to the face. Maybe Latia had drank a little too fast before Sairaorg approached to greet her, maybe the familiarity and now-expected small talk made her relax a bit, or maybe the closeness between them had grown enough after meeting time and again that Latia could no longer ignore his Greek God-like build in that sharp suit.
The human sculptor that was all the rage back when sculpting was considered noble would've killed to see Sairaorg like this.
She could still feel the young woman from Abaddon drilling holes into the back of her head with a glare even through the side glance she gave the Bael heir.
"Haha! Well, I don't know about that!" Sairaorg scratched the back of his head, sounding honestly amused "It never read to me like that'd be on the table."
Latia felt a pang of annoyance make her click her tongue. She knew better than to behave like a raptured innocent girl, but somewhere in her mind she had to wonder what could possibly happen in the man's mind to have him willfully ignorant to the same hint that put his Queen on guard.
Even Rias faced this problem, apparently. So maybe it wasn't Sairaorg himself who was the problem. But the fact that males, devil or not, could not take a hint.
"…I suppose that it'd be even more difficult a topic for the Bael." Latia replied while clenching her chest muscles, holding back her breathing so she wouldn't sigh at her foolish move flying over her target's head.
"Even without that, getting married it's a matter of compatibility. Don't you think?" Sairaorg asked in a more serious tone "Can't really commit to a person who can't get what you're trying to do."
His words made Latia's self-compassion stop for a moment.
She chewed on what that meant for him, what it meant for herself.
"You're very right there." Latia put an arm under her breasts, not thinking of accentuating them but more out of habit than anything, and moved her drink toward him. Like she wanted to point with it "Way too many houses have fallen to ruin already to be complacent in that regard."
"Haha! You're still looking a bit too big picture here. Isn't it fine to think about such a big commitment as a personal relationship first, and a political movement second?" Sairaorg didn't sound like he reproached her. But instead that he found her words curious.
"You said that compatibility is important. I'd add that finding someone with a different, but complementary, opinion is as much a matter of personal preference as it is a good social move." She made a circle with her drink before taking a sip without breaking eye contact "A good partner is open-minded, and being flexible is simply good business."
Sairaorg lifted his hands like he was accepting defeat.
"I guess I can't argue on building ties against someone working toward inheriting their noble house."
"And I'd not challenge your ability to build everlasting bonds." Latia turned to the Abaddon young woman, who smiled at her out of politeness "Especially given the bravery of fighting on the front lines for everyone's sake."
"I'm just doing what I can." Sairaorg shrugged awkwardly.
"And that's been more than enough." Latia assured him "It's not something someone like me can do."
"Everyone's helping in their own way, I'm sure." Sairaorg chuckled.
"I don't feel inferior because of my lack of combat capabilities." Even though Rias Gremory could do what Latia did on top of fighting. But sharing such insecurities would not be very well-received when it came to her cousin "My skills simply lie elsewhere."
"Like being alone in a social gathering?" Now he was being cheeky. Did he know she'd been waiting to be approaching by him?
"I don't have to work all the time toward strengthening the bonds of my house." Latia assured him with a huff "Although one must wonder what it'd take for the Great King to offer a friendly meeting."
Sairaorg chuckled again.
"Once more, don't let my father hear that."
Latia scoffed when the Queen by Sairaorg's side looked content with his reply.
"Tough crowd, huh."
"I want to believe there's a way to make everyone happy. That if we put our minds into it, we can reach a future where everyone can be okay with the result." Sairaorg smiled dreamily, and Latia started feeling like Kushia had hanged around for a little too long while they talked.
"Then you're thinking too hard about it." Latia finished her drink and handed it to a passing servant while taking another, all by just switching the wine glasses with her fingers "People say that the best answer is often the simplest, after all."
Emboldened by her annoyance, she lifted her hand.
"May I be invited to dance?"
How many more tries did it take? Had her mother had to put up with a thickness in the head similar to this? Did she find it as endearing as Latia did when it didn't come to her need to be attended by her partner?
Ugh… What a thing to think about in such an intimate situation.
"…I'm beginning to think I've been slighting you for a while." Sairaorg wasn't massive in the same way other devils were. But the difference in height and build still made it so that, when Latia rested her head against his naked and sweating torso, she felt small and frail by comparison.
He hands holding her by the waist only helped to reinforce the idea, but the idea made something inside her burn instead of making her pathetic. It was intoxicating, something she wanted to feel more and more. Even though she'd finally stopped being clingy and let herself flop on top of him.
"You have…" She wheezed while fighting to keep her eyes open. She'd known that his physical strength would be great, but she didn't imagine that translated to his stamina because he didn't have that much demonic power.
She stood… Well, laid, corrected. And very much happy about it.
"How long did it take me to take the hint?" Sairaorg still kept that friendly, almost peaceful tone even though she'd been squealing a minute before. It felt reassuring, to be honest. Even if a bit annoying, like she'd been thinking before letting herself drop.
How could someone feel so full without eating a single bite?
"Long enough." She replied with the same tiredness, ready to drop the topic if it meant that she'd be able to rest. And yet… "You'll have to work really hard to make it up to me."
Sairaorg could only chuckle.
"I'm looking forward to it."
Yeah, so did Latia.
She couldn't wait to wake up and get spoiled a lot again.