Rias let out a tired sigh as she flopped back into her bed. Despite her weariness, she still felt a residual happiness. She had just arrived home from an anime convention in Lilith, where she had gone with her precious Rook, Koneko. While there she met a really nice boy.
She raised her arm over herself, looking at the silver bracelet he had bought her, smiling to herself. She had spent a lot of time with Damocles and Shiro, going to all the stalls and having a blast explaining everything to them. The rest of her peerage and all her other friends indulged her, but she could tell that they were not truly interested.
Shiro however, was super interested. The small girl did not speak often, but when she did it was to ask relevant questions based on Rias had told her. The rest of the time, she just kept her intense, clever eyes on Rias, listening carefully as the red head spoke about her favourite shows and franchises. Her older brother was not as interested as the younger girl, but he still gave her explanations plenty of attention.
When she first saw him with Koneko, she was worried that he had nefarious plans for the small girl. Trying to kidnap her or something similar. Those worries seemed a bit silly now, seeing how affectionate and kind he was to his own sister. Shiro was absolutely adorable, almost a mirror to Koneko and she very clearly loved her older brother.
Seeing how the two interacted, Rias was struck with the stark difference between how Damocles treated Shiro and how her own brother treated her. He teased her, but only very gently, leaving both of them with smiles. He didn't gush over her cuteness or loudly draw attention to her, just quietly gave her physical affection and small smiles when she looked at him.
It left Rias feeling very strange. As bad as if made her feel, she couldn't help but feel like she preferred the way Damocles treated Shiro. She loved her big brother, but he seemed to make it his mission in life to embarrass her, especially in public. Seeing Shiro enjoying a calm day out with her brother, Rias couldn't help but find herself jealous of the smaller girl.
Another thing that struck her about the day was how quickly Koneko warmed up to the siblings. She was still very withdrawn and closed off, only speaking a few words at a time and being extremely slow to trust strangers. The fact that she let Damocles pet her head was amazing, she still didn't allow Akeno to do that!
Towards the end of the afternoon, the Convention was winding down and Damocles had suggested getting them all souvenirs. The two groups had split up to buy each other gifts, and when they had returned showed their choices to each other.
Damocles had bought her a tasteful silver bracelet worn by a character from one of the shows she had told him about and Koneko a charm showing a stylized kitten. She had bought both of the siblings a necklace with the symbol for the main character of Drag So-Ball. She was surprised when instead of putting it away and thanking her, they instead put it on right then and there, apparently not at all embarrassed to show off such a nerdy item.
Still smiling at the memories, she was interrupted by a knock at her door. "Young Lady, dinner will soon be served."
She called out a thank you to the maid at her door, before sighing and freshening up for her family dinner. Today was a special occasion, her brother had been able to get away from work and wanted to eat with the family. So, she would be taking her dinner in the Main Dining Hall and not her personal one where she usually ate with her Peerage.
She donned a tasteful ballgown, silently hit by the frequent pang of disappointment that her father had decreed she was no longer allowed to wear a Kimono to dinner. Silly old man, stuck in his ways. He didn't understand what real culture was these days! Sighing at the injustice of it all, she started moving towards the Main Dining Hall.
As she entered, she was hit with the loud sound of her older brother shouting "RIA-TAN!" As he he moved around the room and scooped her up into a crushing hug.
Unbidden, she suddenly recollected the way the boy she met earlier showed affection to his little sister. She was hit with a longing for a gentle smile and a reassuring pat on the head, rather than this... enthusiasm.
"Good to see you... Nii-san..." She choked out, still encompassed in her older siblings embrace.
"I wish you kids would stop speaking that damned language." Muttered her father, an exasperated look on his face, "Honestly, it just sounds silly."
Her mother lightly chided hem, "Come now Zeo, let the kids have their thing. Remember how I learned Norman for you?"
The Head of the Gremory household rolled his eyes, but it was undercut by his fond smile. "Okay kids, break it up. Give your sister some time to breath, Sirzechs."
Her brother released her with a boisterous laugh, ruffling her hair, "Sorry about that Ria-tan. I haven't seen you in so long, I got a bit excited."
"It's fine Nii-san." She got out after catching her breath, "I'm happy to see you too."
Her brother yelled, "You're so cute Ria-tan! I'm so glad I'm your brother!"
Rolling her eyes, she moved to sit down at the table, waiting for her parents to sit first as she was taught in her etiquette classes. Sirzechs pouted at the cold shoulder, but sat down next to after their parents were seated, seeming to perk up once again.
"So Ria-tan, how was the Anime Convention?"
Her irritation stood no chance against her excitement to to talk about her favourite subject, the still warm memories of the day driving her rapid speech, "It was great! They had a stand for..."
She started explaining all the sights and experiences at the convention, her parents not understanding a single word, but happy to see that she enjoyed herself. Sirzechs listened intently, not seeing the appeal in the things she enjoyed but knowing that she loved them.
Her excited rendition of the various stalls and booths at the convention was interrupted by the servants bringing in the meal that had been prepared.
As the dishes were placed down and the Noble Devils started to dig in, Venenala asked her daughter in a teasing tone, "What was this I heard about you spending a lot of the time with a boy? The people watching you couldn't stop talking about how adorable Koneko and his sister were together."
Rias responded after swallowing, "Oh, you mean Damocles?"
Sirzechs choked.
Zeoticus mused, "The Sagan boy? I've heard a bit about him. He officially adopted a Reincarnated Devil into his Family, did you know that?"
Rias nodded happily, "He told me! That's so cool, I could tell Shiro was super thankful for it too, she really likes him a lot! By the way, I wanted to ask; Damocles said his Reveal was soon, am I scheduled to attend?"
"Yes." Her father nodded, "He might only be a Baron now, but if I know the blood of Remora, there's no way he will stay at that rank. Befriending him when he's weak will only make it pay off more when he's strong."
Rolling her eyes, Venelana interjected, "More importantly, it seems you became friends. Not showing up would..."
She was cut off by Sirzechs who recovered from his shock, "RIAS! How did you two meet, did he approach you? Did he do anything weird?"
She blinked, surprised, "No, he didn't do anything. Koneko found him first, she wanted some of his sweets. Nii, what's wrong?"
"Yes, dear." Her mother said with a falsely sweet smile, "What's the matter? He adopted a Reincarnated Devil. He should have no reason to oppose us Reformists, right?" The last word was painfully sharp.
The matriarch narrowed her eyes at her son, who was now squirming and looking a bit shifty. "Rias." Venelana addressed her, "You should go finish your dinner with your peerage. Your brother and us have some boring adult things to discuss."
Desperately wanting to eavesdrop on the conversation, but still feeling the phantom sting on her bottom from the last time she attempted that, Rias took the dismissal for what it was. As she walked out of the dining hall into the Gremory Manor, she heard one last thing before a silencing ward was activated.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"It was Serafall! I just..."
She was worried now. What had her big brother done to her new friend?
I hummed as I twirled the spoon in my hands, waiting for the timer to finish on the oven. I had a study session planned with my peerage, which meant I had to prepare snacks to keep them placated. As I did, I allowed the satisfaction of a well laid plan coming to fruition to fill me. With one heiress down, the next would have to wait until my Reveal.
Still, Fairy Feast is some broken shit. How the hell did I manage to make baked treats taste good when they contained catnip? What the hell. Still, I was thankful that I could accomplish that, as it meant my bait worked exactly as I planned. Without it, I would have had to be significantly more obvious with my approach.
Speaking of, Shiro deserves a reward for playing her part so well. I should ask her if she wants anything...
My train of thought was interrupted when Naomi walked into the kitchen, "Damocles? Serafall is here to see you."
Fucking hell, what now?
Despite being the one sitting behind the stately desk, the person who held the power in this meeting was obvious. It was not me.
That rankled.
"You are growing up quite fast." Serafall observed, sipping the tea that Naomi had prepared. "It's good to see you are healthy."
"Thank you." I replied, "Putting my house in order has been quite the experience."
She nodded, "It is very sad to see that you feel like you have to grow so fast. A word of advice, us Devils can force ourselves to mature faster, but we are only young once. You should enjoy your youth more, you don't have to rush."
I bit my lip, trying not to reply to the very reason I had to move so fast lately. It's true, I was attempting to jump-start my puberty and grow up faster, but it was more a comfort thing than anything else. I had no idea how she even noticed, there had been no obvious progress yet.
Being in a child's body was still weird.
"Still, that's not why I'm here. I'm her to help you with putting your house in order."
"Oh, how so?" I raised an eyebrow.
"When your reveal happens, you will need to have a Queen by your side. Usually this isn't expected for young Devils, but you are older than usual, so not having one would be seen as a sign of weakness."
I could see where this was going. "I take it you have a suggestion for me?"
She smiled, before reaching into her cleavage and pulling out an entire folder.
Of course she would use a storage spell there. Why would I expect any different?
She slid the folder over to me, speaking as I opened it and took in the first page, "I have taken the liberty to ask some of my scribes to put this together for you. Every one in that folder has the pedigree and courtly training to not reflect badly on you at your reveal."
I scrolled through the the pages, noting idly that the pictures displayed in the profiles shared some common features. Did they think that 'young, white-haired and serious' was my type or something?
"Give that a read through, if you find any candidates that catch your eye let me know and I will set up an interview with them, see if you click." Serafall continued, "We have time, so there is no rush but..."
I interrupted her. Honestly, I had grown tired of these games the Satans played with me. My patience was wearing rather thin with them. The constant buzz of the spy wards against Information Defence was grating, their presumption and grave overstep of their authority when it came to matters internal to my house was just icing on a particularly foul cake.
"I thank you for your efforts on my behalf, Lady Leviathan." I opened the folder flat, turning it around so that she can see the page I had stopped on, Seras Invicta, a member of a vassal house to the Sitri.
"However, showing too strong a tie to the House of Sitri would send the wrong message, making it seem as if we are in talks for an alliance, would it not? Yet, Lord and Lady Sitri have not shared any correspondence with me ever since I signed the contract, as we agreed."
I leant over the folder, fixing her with a severe gaze, "The House of Sitri is ancient, Lady Leviathan. However, you forget. The House of Sagan is just as old. We might have lost most of our power, our vassals and our retainers, but there are debts owed to this House. Old agreements, still valid."
I stood, adding some height between us, but still being annoyingly shorter than I was used to, "I am already in talks with someone to become my Queen. Should they fall through, I would be more than happy to coordinate with you to secure another candidate. But, as you said, we have time. I would like to see where my current talks lead me."
Serafall looked at me, deciphering the hidden meanings behind my speech, obviously realising she may have pushed too far too soon. She now had two options, as I saw it. Either she backed off now and kept the possibility for further 'friendly' advice open, or she doubled down and forced me to accept one of her Manchurian Candidates.
Of course, she could just kill me. But that would be a gamble with my unknown relationship to Zekram and the fact that I had recently met Rias. I don't know if she was aware of that meeting, but the more High Nobles that had personally met me the harder it became to make me 'go on a long vacation.' Especially with my Reveal already being planned and guests already invited.
In the end, it was likely me youth that convinced her to pick the second option, my lack of experience meaning that I would most probably botch the 'talks' I was in, especially if it was with people old enough to owe debts to the Sagan.
"Very well, I see I won't change you mind." She stood up, grabbing the folder and making it once again disappear into her cleavage, "However, it would be wise to accept aid when it is offered. Just something to keep in mind."
With that warning, our meeting was at an end.
Kasane had always enjoyed reading.
Getting the time to sit down and get involved in a book had become rarer and rarer as she grew older, but she cherished those brief moments of studious relaxation.
The Sagan manor had all sorts of non-fiction books, detailing the history of this world and the race she was now a part of, this on top of the fact that she frequently was granted time off for personal pursuits was something she had come to highly appreciate.
It was difficult to get out of the mindset of constant conflict and danger, but moments like this where she was allowed to just sit in one of the comfortable, stately chairs and just disappear into a book was when it was easiest to relax.
Her focus on the account of the Heavenly War was broken when she sensed someone else enter the Library. Expecting her sister, she was instead surprised to see that is was little Shiro. She was rather fond of the girl, her cute appearance and quiet attitude making her truly difficult to dislike.
The younger girl paused upon seeing her, but then continued on and picked up a book on the visualization of elemental magic. Seeing her settle into one of the other chairs, Kasane returned to her own tome.
She was once again broken out of her concentration by a small huff. Shiro had closed her book and looked rather restless, agitated in a way that was unusual for the child.
Still, having seen how she usually enjoyed her books, Kasane knew what the issue was, "Damocles not here?"
Shiro's gaze snapped over to her, before the small girl nodded. "Meeting." Was her terse reply.
Kasane nodded, understanding how annoying it could be when something that was scheduled was suddenly cancelled or changed. Perhaps that is what prompted her to lightly pat the chair she was sitting on as she moved over to the side.
Shiro's eyes widened, before returning as she slightly tiled her head in query.
Kasane nodded, having done the action, so she would commit.
Shiro hesitated for a bit, but picked up her book and came over to sit next to Kasane, curling up to her side out of habit before stiffening, freezing as if she had done something wrong. Kasane didn't react, merely turning back to her book. Shiro sighed and relaxed slightly, opening up her own as the tension slowly bled out of her.
As the time passed, Kasane found that reading with a warm body snuggled up to her like this was surprisingly comfortable.
'I can see why Damocles likes this so much.' An absent thought crossed her mind, before she was once again engrossed by the text.