“Please,” Lord Phenex said, “say that again.”
He was sitting in a chair that looked like a throne. It was made out of gold with orange streaks through it; the back fanned out at the top to look like a set of wings, each feather of which was carved in detail.
The exceptionally ornate and wide chair had another one placed in front of the right wing. This chair was made of the same material and had a similar shape, just smaller, with the wings curled into semicircles that wrapped around the one who sat in it. That was Lady Phenex.
From the corner of the room, Fujimai watched her King’s face. There were no emotions given away. Lady Phenex was impassive, while her husband more openly showed his frustration. Either side of these seats, standing instead of sitting, Ruval Phenex looked nervous and Riven Phenex was wearing a mellow smirk out of place amongst the serious atmosphere.
A long red rug ran from the door up to the foot of the throne. It was upon this that Naruto knelt with his head bowed. Ravel was next to Fujimai in the corner of the room, along with the few other high ranking servants who were present. Fujimai spotted Ruval’s queen, a woman with black hair and red eyes, as well as the hulking frame of Lord Phenex’s Queen, a devil with a severe face and bulging muscles.
“I request a rating game,” Naruto said.
“When I heard that you were visiting your fiance regularly, I was delighted,” Lord Phenex said. “I thought that my son had finally grown up. You must be able to imagine how much this upsets me.”
“Repeat your terms,” Lady Phenex said.
Her voice was soft, and yet for Fujimai, that spelled MORE danger for Naruto, rather than less.
“If my team wins, you’ll end the engagement,” Naruto said. “If we lose, Rias and I will marry whenever you choose.”
“You offer terms like you have any power,” Lord Phenex said. “You are my son. You are a Phenex. I have put up with more back talk than I should have. I thought if I allowed you to protest in small ways, you would accept your duty when the time came.” His hands curled into fists. “I was wrong. I gave you an inch and you demand miles.”
“He just doesn’t understand. We can explain it to him properly, dad—” Ruval said.
“I am Lord Phenex. In this hall, you will address me as such.”
Fujimai shivered. She was Lady Phenex’s closest servant and followed the woman throughout her days. This was the man who loved to walk with his wife through their garden whenever he could spare time from work. He covered his eyes during the climactic clashes of Ruval’s rating games and hid in the third floor’s second bedroom when his wife was in a bad mood, because he thought she didn’t know about his spot. He smiled and liked wine and had a deep laugh.
He was also called the Red Commander. It was a name that wasn’t used much anymore. The name came from war, when Lord Phenex commanded armies against the Satan Clans. Fujimai had heard stories from other servants about the ruthless strategies he employed, meticulously gutting enemy forces. It was said that his armies, like the man himself, refused to die.
She hadn’t completely believed those stories, unable to reconcile them with the man she’d met and knew.
Today, she understood that he still had that side to him. He just preferred to live with a smile… Until his temper was set off.
“You will marry Rias Gremory,” Lord Phenex said.
Naruto lifted his enough that he could look into the Red Commander’s face. It must have been the first time he’d seen his father this angry, just as it was for Fujimai.
His blue eyes were unflinching.
“If we lose,” Naruto said.
“You are eighteen years of age. Two years shy of adulthood and a hundred years too young to make such a bold demand,” Lord Phenex said. “Are you so intent on embarrassing our family that you want to make a spectacle of your dissent for all to watch?”
“Not wishing to marry isn’t so bad, is it?” Riven asked.
The smiling young man was still dressed in his lab coat. Only he had neglected to bring any of his peerage along. His father’s glare fell on him along with a similarly reproachful look from Lady Phenex.
“You would be wise not to remind us of your choices,” Lady Phenex said.
Riven shrugged, unbothered, and leaned back, going silent.
“This is Rias’s proposal,” Naruto said.
“Then are you going along with it to appease her?” Lord Phenex asked.
“I think she’s right, so I’m supporting her with all I have,” Naruto said.
Lord Phenex exhaled heavily. His breath carried embers on it. Despite letting out so much air, his chest remained puffed up and his figure looked larger than ever as he straightened in his seat.
“A son of the Phenex Clan refusing all courtship offers is an irritation.” Lord Phenex glanced briefly at Riven, who mysteriously did not meet his eyes. “You are in a different situation, Naruto. We have given our word. Phenex’s do not go back on our word.”
“I’d rather break a promise than make somebody miserable,” Naruto said. “But I never did that. You made a promise FOR me.”
Magic power gushed off of Lord Phenex. The golden streaks in his throne glowed like molten lava. The heat made Fujimai lift her arms in front of her lower face. Riven Phenex leaned back against the wall looking pale and likely to faint. Ruval wasn’t bothered by the heat, he looked nervous that his father was going this far. Ruval’s Queen, the woman with dark hair, put a hand on Ravel’s back, who was swaying where she stood. She bent down and whispered something, making sure that Ravel didn’t collapse the way that Riven looked likely to.
Naruto didn’t move an inch.
“For as long as you are part of this family, the Lord’s word IS your word,” Lord Phenex said. “I will brook no argument on this! You are young and stupid, unaware of the world, but I am not! What starts with refusing a betrothal is the beginning. If those thoughts are allowed to take root, dangerous ones follow. Which decision will you question next? How the clan decides our business? Will you demand a better position within our territory? And if you get your way again and again, what’s to stop you from questioning more? Maybe you’ll decide that YOU would make a better lord.”
Lord Phenex’s wings burst out of his back. Lady Phenex tilted her head to the side just enough to move her hair away from the fire. She still gave nothing away on her face, allowing her husband room to talk.
“United, families are strong. Divided, they’re as frail as a dead branch. That is why the Lord’s word is final!” The heat faded into Lord Phenex’s body, disappearing from the room even faster than it appeared. “You will marry Rias Gremory or you will not bear our name.”
The words were said in a tired voice devoid of the earlier bluster. They rang much louder within the room. Ravel gasped and Ruval’s queen was too surprised to comfort her this time.
“Dad—Lord Phenex, that’s too far,” Ruval pleaded.
“I have to say, I agree,” Riven said in a weak voice. His skin was sweaty as he weakly peeled himself away from the wall, recovering from the heat, though he was still smiling. “That conclusion is too sweeping for this level of experiment.”
“You are both young too,” Lord Phenex said. “Neither of you understand.”
“I do,” Lady Phenex said. “We will accept the rating game.”
Lord Phenex looked sharply at his wife, who gave him a calm one in return.
“A lord’s word means more when he does not hide behind it,” Lady Phenex said. “Sometimes, a demonstration is in order.”
They regarded each other for ten seconds.
“Very well. I leave the details in your hands,” Lord Phenex said.
“Thank you, dear husband,” Lady Phenex said, covering her mouth while her eyes crinkled in a smile.
“This family meeting is adjourned,” Lord Phenex said.
Naruto didn’t get up. He could have; to Fujimai’s eyes, he hadn’t been shaken for a moment. He chose to give time so that his father could leave first. Lord Phenex’s servants followed him out.
Ruval and Riven left next. Ruval ruffled Naruto’s hair on the way by. His Queen did something similar for Ravel, whispering a goodbye in the girl’s ear.
Fujimai was glad she did. It must have been strange for Ravel, standing amongst servants.
She would usually have been in the center of the room beside her brothers. However, she was being punished like Naruto, although her misdeed wasn’t nearly as grave. Swearing herself to a family’s service without premission was a minor scandal. Given the status of the Gremory Family, it was a small mistake that would be forgiven soon. Still, for now, she had been relegated to watching among the servants.
“My peerage is missing me, so I’ll be off,” Riven announced next to the door. “As much as I trust them, we were in the middle of a pretty important experiment that I really must oversee. Tell Riser I’m sorry I missed him.”
Lady Phenex huffed. Riser had refused the summons, saying he had to prepare for an upcoming rating game of his own. Everyone knew the truth: unless you dragged him there, he’d choose to miss any official summons that he could.
As Riven left, female voices filtered in from outside.
“You can’t go in!” Bafeel said.
“Why not? It can’t be any more boring than waiting out here,” Kurama said.
“Because you’re not just going to wait! You’ll say something, or DO something—”
Naruto got up.
“I'll deal with that, Mom,” he said.
“Go,” Lady Phenex said.
Naruto walked out and Ravel went after him. The entire room emptied so quickly except for Fujimai and her master.
Lady Phenex sagged in her chair. She put her arm on one of the wing armrests and buried her face in her elbow.
Fujimai stepped forward. “Are you alright, my lady?”
“I’ve been better,” was the muffled reply. Moments later, Lady Phenex lifted her head and got up. She looked tired but not defeated. With a clap of her hand, the far side of the room changed.
It was rare for official meetings to be held inside of Castle Phenex. This room, tall and made from stone with red banners and rugs, dominated by those fearsome thrones and big enough to fit a hundred devils, was rarely used in this state. Typically, it was used differently, as became obvious when a magic circle appeared after Lady Phenex’s clap.
A square forty feet by fifty feet in the corner went from austere stone to being filled by plush seats and an ornate table. Lady Phenex approached one of the cushioned chairs and sat down. Her perfect posture had disappeared.
“This is my fault, my lady,” Fujimai said
“Bollocks,” Lady Phenex said. “Do you think I don’t know my children? They’re troublemakers to the core, as much as I love them. So forget the formalities, Fujimai. The meeting has been adjourned. Take a seat and tell me what happened.”
Fujimai bowed her head. “If that’s what you want, Viridia.”
She relaxed in a similar way to her master. Fujimai went to another chair and sat down facing her master. For a bit, they were both silent.
“I understand Naruto and Rias hatching this plan of theirs,” Viridia said. “Obviously, Rias had already come up with it. My son doesn’t seem to have taken much convincing. You could hardly stop them from making their mind up. But how did Ravel enter that girl’s service?”
“I tried to stop it,” Fujimai said. “Naruto stopped me.”
“He stopped YOU?” Viridia asked. “I find that hard to believe.”
“You must believe it!” Fujimai said. “He is strong, Viridia. More than he’s let on to you. His queen scares me.”
“Yasaka’s student?” Viridia asked.
“She’s no student,” Fujimai said. “I don’t know how Naruto tamed her, but I finally understand what she is. I lost contact with my old contacts amongst the youkai for months. Recently, they’ve been responding again. Do you recall my report about a war?”
Viridia frowned. “Yes. But it didn’t happen.”
“Because the new king who pushed for it disappeared,” Fujimai said. “After defeating the four faction leaders and unifying all the youkai, they vanished. She came here. Kurama is that king.”
“That shouldn’t be possible. She’s close to a baby.”
“I know what I felt,” Fujimai said. “You must consider her an Ultimate Class devil and plan accordingly.”
Viridia took a deep breath. “Is that where the boy gets his confidence from? He acquires treasured servants like they grow from trees.”
“You know it’s not about his peerage,” Fujimai said. “Naruto would fight this battle alone if he had to.”
“He’d lose.”
Fujimai should have agreed it was that obvious… Yet she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. That wasn’t the point anyway.
“He’d prefer to fight and lose than to do nothing,” Fujimai said.
Viridia groaned. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. By Lilith, I need some tea.”
Fujimai didn’t need to hear anything else. She began to prepare tea, activating magic circles that were already etched onto the table. When a tea kettle had been prepared, Lady Phenex heated it by lighting the bottom with fire magic. Soon they were both sipping from tea cups.
“Why did you accept the rating game?” Fujimai asked. “Were you afraid he would leave the family?”
“There was no reason to chance it,” Viridia said. “Naruto inherited his father’s stubbornness. Nothing good will come from pitting those two against each other. It doesn’t matter this way. Naruto has given his own word now, without anyone speaking for him. If he loses, he’ll marry Rias without protest. Once they’re beaten this whole matter will be behind us.”
Viridia sipped her tea before setting the teacup down.
“I’ll have to leave nothing to chance,” she said. “For the happiness of my family, we’ll finish this quickly and decisively. I’ll let Zeoticus pick one of their opponents, if he agrees to this… I imagine that he will, with his son breathing down his neck. Fetch me a pen and paper after this, Fujimai, so that I can send him a letter and ensure we’re on the same page. As for my choice…”
“You won’t choose Riser, will you?” Fujimai asked. “Rias predicted he would be your pick.”
“A safe choice to beat two rookies,” Viridia said. “However, my Queen thinks a lot of my son and peerage, and I’m inclined to agree. I would not send Riser against Griselda Quarta in a million years, nor would I make him face Kurama. Your daughter is dangerous as well.”
“Daughters,” Fujimai said.
“Oh?” Viridia quirked her eyebrow.
“Shirone has soaked up everything I can teach her,” Fujimai said. “Her talent in senjutsu is equal to her sister’s youjutsu genius. She experienced a major breakthrough when we visited the human world when her body acclimated to the world’s natural energy, accentuating her abilities even more.”
“In other words, your skills as a teacher have made my headache even worse than it otherwise would’ve been,” Viridia said.
“It seems so,” Fujimai said.
Her master chuckled. She got up, correcting her posture as she prepared to leave the room.
“Well, I have an errand,” Lady Phenex said. “Riven has already gone, but Ruval is staying the night. He’s always been such a good boy. I should pay him a visit.” She crinkled her eyes. “Take the evening to rest, Fujimai. My kids have worked you hard.”
“Yes,” Fujimai said. “A night off sounds nice.”
Her voice was absent. Viridia smiled and left the room, allowing Fujimai to go on her own way. Eventually, she did just that, but Fujimai did it slowly. As she walked, she rubbed her wrist.
She could still feel Naruto’s fingers holding it. There had been so much strength in his grip.
Ever since the night that he saved her, she considered Naruto to be her owner. Viridia was her King and friend. She would follow her lady’s orders. But at the end of the day, it was Naruto to whom she belonged. It had been the girls’ father before him, a man who lacked Naruto’s character AND his power. The only thing he had that Naruto lacked was his authority.
He would order her like it was second nature. Now, when she belonged to a man whose orders were worth following, he wouldn’t command her.
Fujimai shivered, feeling a phantom sensation of Naruto’s fingers all over again.
She stepped into the hallway and made her mind up. She would just have to show Naruto what he had.
He was a bright enough boy to know what to do from there.