That's not Wizard Magic! 69

There is an R-18 Section in this chapter.

Chapter 69: Third Day of Winter Break, Part 2

– Harry Sitri –

Once the absurdity of the situation properly settled in, all I could do was laugh.

I held my fiancée’s curvy body tightly against mine as I flew around the outside of Gremory Manor, banking hard between ornate towers while red-gold beams of demonic energy tore past us.

Behind us, Runy-tan rode on the back of an Ultimate-Class camel.

Her crimson twin tails streamed behind her tiny crown as Camey-chan galloped through the air without wings, each thunderous step landing on empty space and sending ripples through the underworld atmosphere. The camel’s eyes glowed like miniature suns while another beam gathered inside its open mouth.

“THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH, LADY RUNEAS!” Rias screamed over my shoulder. “YOU’RE GOING TO DESTROY THE GARDENS! THEN MOTHER IS GOING TO GET REALLY MAD!”

Runy-tan gasped in outrage. “I have no idea who this Lady Runeas person is!” she shouted back. “My name is Runy-tan! I am an adorable and beautiful young devil!”

The energy in Camey-chan’s mouth grew brighter.

“And I shall not stop until you accept the glory of camels!”

“NEVER!”

The resulting beam missed us by several feet and sheared the top from a decorative tower.

The severed stone spiraled into the courtyard below.

Three Gremory servants scattered, screaming.

I banked around the manor’s western wing, fighting to breathe through my laughter.

For as long as I had known her, I’d believed my mother was the most unhinged female devil in existence. I loved her with everything I had, but Serafall was still Serafall…

Now, watching a tiny ancient devil ride an airborne laser camel around the ancestral Gremory estate, I wasn’t sure anymore who held the crown. 

And technically Runeas is wearing an actual crown…

Rias saw my expression. She knew what I was thinking. “My family isn’t weird,” she whined. “I swear.”

“I’ve met your big brother…”

Rias buried her face against my shoulder. “He’s very dignified when Grayfia is watching.”

“That isn’t the defense you think it is.”

Camey-chan appeared above us. I didn’t see the camel approach. One moment, the sky ahead was clear. The next, a huge tan body was galloping upside down across the air directly over our heads. The camel twisted its neck and aimed downward.

A sphere of red-gold power formed between its teeth.

Rias looked up. Her blue eyes widened. “Harry?”

“I see it.”

“Harry!”

“I definitely see it.”

“DO SOMETHING!”

Camey-chan fired.

I summoned Viviane’s sword. Cold mist poured from my body, swirling around my arm before condensing into the magnificent silver-and-blue blade. The moment my fingers closed around its hilt, power surged through me.

Water answered. Ice sang in my blood. I swung the sword downward with both hands. A massive wave of demonic water erupted from the blade. It crashed into the camel’s beam in midair, blue against red-gold, the collision illuminating the entire estate.

For one impossible second, both forces held.

Then they exploded.

The shockwave hit us like a runaway train.

My wings folded involuntarily. Rias screamed in my ear as we were launched backward, spinning through the air in a tangle of limbs, hair, feathers, and offended Gremory heiress.

I managed to turn at the last second so I hit the ground first.

We crashed into a hedge.

Branches snapped around us. Leaves exploded into the air. Something thorny caught my sleeve, and the back of my head struck soft earth beneath the shrubbery.

Rias landed on top of me. Her face was pressed against my chest, her dress had ridden halfway up her thighs, and one of my hands had somehow ended up gripping her backside.

We lay there in silence.

“You saved me,” Rias murmured.

“Obviously.”

“You also grabbed my ass…”

“That was an emergency safety measure.”

Rias lifted her head and stared at me.

I squeezed experimentally. “A very effective one.”

Her lips twitched.

Then something small and crimson sailed over the hedge.

Runy-tan yelped as she struck the lawn on her backside, bounced once, then twice, before rolling to a stop against a stone planter. Her tiny crown landed beside her with a metallic clink. “Ow!”

Camey-chan landed a few yards away. The camel looked at me. Then at Rias. Then at Runy-tan, who was sitting in the grass with her dress tangled around her legs. For a long moment, Camey-chan chewed thoughtfully. I could have sworn the camel shrugged.

It turned and began wandering back toward the stables.

“Camey-chan?” Runy-tan called.

The camel continued walking.

“Camey-chan!”

Its tail flicked dismissively.

“Your beloved mother is calling you!”

Camey-chan picked up its pace.

Rias slowly pushed herself upright on my chest.

“You see?” she said, pointing after the retreating camel. “Even the camel thinks she’s insane.”

“Traitor!” Runy-tan shouted. “I raised you from a calf!”

A terrible stillness settled over the gardens.

Every remaining servant stopped moving.

Runy-tan’s face went pale.

Rias closed her eyes. “Oh no,” she whispered.

A door opened behind us.

Grayfia Lucifuge stepped into the garden.

Sirzechs followed her at a safe distance.

Behind him came Hermione and Akeno, both carrying books from the Gremory library. Hermione stared at the destroyed tower, the glowing trench carved across the courtyard, the shattered stable gate, and finally at Rias sitting on top of me in a hedge.

Akeno covered her mouth with one hand. Her shoulders began shaking.

Grayfia surveyed the destruction. Her gaze moved to Camey-chan. The Camel was not allowed to leave since it caused most of the damage. The camel lowered its head and abruptly became very interested in a patch of grass.

“Hah! That’s what you get for betraying your momma!” Runeas pointed at the Camel shamelessly. 

Grayfia looked at Runy-tan. “Lady Runeas.”

Runy-tan snatched up her crown and shoved it onto her head. “Who?”

“The western tower was built during the reign of Lord Bael the Twenty-Third.”

“Umu… How historic sounding...”

“The gardens were designed personally by Lady Venelana.”

Runy-tan’s smile faltered. “The rose gardens?”

Rias climbed out of the hedge so quickly that her knee struck me in the stomach. “I warned her!” she said, pointing at Runy-tan. “I specifically warned her that Mother would be angry!”

Runy-tan pointed back. “She rejected the camel truth!”

“Because camels are horrible!”

Camey-chan lifted its head and spat. The glob sailed across the garden and struck Sirzechs directly in the chest.

Silence fell.

Sirzechs looked down at his robes.

Camey-chan looked away.

Akeno collapsed against Hermione, howling with laughter.

Even Grayfia’s eyelid twitched.

Sirzechs wiped camel spit from his chest with two fingers. “I missed you too, Camey-chan.”

Rias made a sound of absolute betrayal. “Why does everyone in this family like that monster?”

“Because he’s adorable,” Runy-tan and Sirzechs answered together.

“He tried to vaporize me!”

“He was just playing,” Sirzechs said.

“The death beam went through a whole tower!”

Hermione finally reached the hedge and offered me a hand. I accepted it, letting her pull me upright. 

Rias brushed leaves from her dress while glaring at her ancestor. Runy-tan did the same, though she appeared far more concerned with straightening her tiny crown than the destruction around her.

Grayfia inhaled slowly. “Dinner will be served in twenty-three minutes,” she announced. “Lady Runeas, you will apologize to Lady Venelana for destroying her gardens.”

Runy-tan folded her arms. “I am the founder of this family.”

“You will apologize.”

“I am older than this estate.”

“You will apologize.”

“I could defeat everyone here.”

Grayfia stared at her.

Runy-tan’s shoulders slumped. “...I’ll apologize.”

“Thank you.” Grayfia turned to Sirzechs. “Sirzechs-sama, you will change your robes.”

He looked down at the spit coating his chest. “...Yes, Grayfia.”

“Rias-sama, you will clean the leaves from your hair.”

Rias immediately began picking twigs from her curls.

“Akeno-sama, please stop laughing.”

Akeno tried. She genuinely tried. Then Camey-chan spat at Sirzechs again. Akeno fell to her knees.

Grayfia’s expression became perfectly blank.

I decided that staying silent was the safest choice available.

Unfortunately, Runy-tan noticed my sword. Viviane’s blade remained in my hand, gleaming with pale silver-blue light. Mist rolled along its edge before evaporating into the air.

Runy-tan’s eyes widened. She vanished from beside the planter and appeared directly in front of me. “Ooh.”

I instinctively pulled the sword back.

She leaned closer, staring at the weapon with eyes far sharper than her childish behavior suggested. “Fey work,” she murmured. “Old fey work. Very old!”

“Viviane forged it.”

Runy-tan’s eyebrows rose. “The lake woman? She still owes me money.”

I blinked. “For what?”

“A camel I bred for her!”

Rias made a strangled noise behind me.

Runy-tan circled me, studying the sword, my stance, and the remnants of magic still hanging in the air. For the first time since she’d appeared, she looked every bit as ancient as she claimed to be. Then she leaned close and sniffed me.

“Why does everyone do that?” I asked.

“You smell like water, ice, sex, infinity, several women, and—”

Rias grabbed her ancestor by the shoulders and dragged her backward. “That is enough smelling my fiancé!”

Runy-tan’s serious expression vanished. “Fiancé?” She looked between us.

Rias lifted her chin proudly. “Harry is my fiancé.”

Runy-tan’s gaze dropped to Rias’s hand, which had slipped possessively around my arm. Then she looked at Hermione. “And you?”

“His Bishop and girlfriend.”

Runy-tan looked at Akeno.

“Future mistress,” Akeno said cheerfully.

Rias glared at her.

Runy-tan slowly turned back to me. A smile spread across her face. It was the same smile Serafall wore before doing something that made international law more complicated. “Oh,” she whispered. “You’re fun.”

“I get that a lot.”

A deep rumble came from behind us. The Ultimate-Class camel turned its long neck and stared directly at me. Something stirred inside my soul. It was the ability I’d inherited from Rossweisse through Magnum Opus—the supernatural instinct for riding and taming magical mounts. Until now, I’d considered it one of the less useful powers my Sacred Gear had copied.

The camel’s crimson eyes met mine. Power moved between us. Camey-chan walked back across the garden.

Rias retreated behind me. “Nooooooo.”

The camel stopped in front of me. Its enormous head lowered. Then Camey-chan bent its front legs and knelt.

The entire garden went silent. Runy-tan’s mouth fell open. Sirzechs forgot about the spit on his robes. Grayfia’s composure finally cracked, her eyebrows rising a fraction.

I stared at the Ultimate-Class laser camel kneeling at my feet.

Runy-tan grabbed my sleeve with both hands. Her eyes shone with religious fervor. “He has chosen you. THE PROPHECY HAS BEEN FULFILLED!”

Rias clutched my other arm. “Harry, don’t you dare go along with her bullshit...”

“You must ride him,” Runy-tan breathed.

“Harry, if you love me, you will not get on that camel!”

Camey-chan raised its head and looked at me expectantly. My newly acquired riding instincts surged with absolute confidence. 

I smiled. “Maybe just a quick ride?”

Rias saw it. Her face fell. “Harry...”

I turned back to Rias before my questionable new instincts could convince me that riding an Ultimate-Class camel was a reasonable idea.

Her blue eyes narrowed suspiciously.

I leaned down and gave her a playful kiss. “I was just joking.”

Rias’s body slowly relaxed against mine. Relief softened her expression, though she still pinched my side hard enough to make me flinch. “That was mean.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“I’m a little sorry.”

Behind us, Runeas released a devastated wail. “No! The prophecy of the chosen camel rider has been broken!”

Camey-chan raised his head and produced a mournful groan.

I stared at Runeas. “What prophecy?”

“The one I just received.”

“From whom?”

“The camel spirits.”

Hermione glanced at Runeas in open disbelief. Then she looked at me and subtly mouthed, Is she like your mother? She made a small circular motion beside her head. A little crazy?

I mouthed back, Yes.

Hermione let out a strangled sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Of course she is.”

Runeas pointed dramatically at me. “The spirits have chosen you, Harry Sitri! One day, when the moon turns crimson and the Seven Humps align beneath the desert stars—”

“Camels only have one or two humps,” Hermione said automatically.

Runeas gasped. “Heretic.”

Grayfia stepped forward before the two women could begin arguing about camel anatomy. “Dinner will be served shortly,” she announced. “Everyone will need to clean themselves and change into appropriate clothing.” Her gaze paused on the leaves still tangled in Rias’s hair, the dirt streaked across my jacket, and the camel spit drying on Sirzechs’s robes. Then she turned toward Runeas. “Tonight, we are holding a small dinner party in honor of Harry-sama and Rias-sama. Will you be attending, Runeas-sama?”

Runeas grinned. “Of course! I only just woke up. I wish to check on my family after sleeping for more than a decade.” She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels. “It seems like lots of interesting things happened while I was gone. I missed all of it.”

Rias muttered something under her breath.

I leaned closer. “What was that?”

“I said I wish she’d slept longer.”

“I HEARD THAT!” Runeas shouted.

“Good!”

Grayfia’s mouth tightened. She had reached the point where her professionalism was the only thing standing between Gremory Manor and several homicides.

“What is for dinner?” The quiet voice came from directly behind Grayfia.

Grayfia spun around.

So did Sirzechs.

The fact that both of them had been startled was far more alarming than the voice itself. Grayfia was an Ultimate-Class devil with centuries of battlefield experience, and Sirzechs was one of the most powerful beings in existence.

Neither had sensed the woman arrive.

I hadn’t either.

Ophis stood less than three feet behind them.

She wore the same female Hogwarts uniform she’d chosen during her previous visit: fitted black robes, a white blouse, a pleated skirt, and a green-and-silver Slytherin tie. Her long black hair fell smoothly down her back. Her pale skin was flawless, her figure slender and beautiful, and her bottomless dark eyes were focused almost entirely on me.

She looked like a perfect young woman. She also felt like nothing. Just a complete blank where one of the most powerful beings in existence stood patiently waiting for an answer about dinner.

I gave her a slightly nervous smile. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

Ophis tilted her head. “You were not at Hogwarts.”

“It’s on winter break right now. You came looking for me again?”

“Yes.”

Rias gripped my arm tighter. Her nails pressed through my sleeve.

Grayfia’s gaze moved carefully between Ophis and me. “Harry-sama,” she said, choosing each word with tremendous caution, “is this another member of your peerage?”

Before I could answer, Runeas stepped forward. “That is not a devil, Fia-chan.”

Grayfia’s eyebrow twitched at the nickname, but Runeas was no longer paying attention to her. The ancient Gremory founder stared at Ophis with genuine fascination. Her eyes moved across the Dragon God’s borrowed school uniform, slender body, and unreadable face. “That is the Infinite Dragon Goddess.”

The garden went deathly silent.

Sirzechs’s expression froze.

Grayfia’s posture became perfectly rigid.

Runeas put both hands on her hips. “What are you doing here?”

Ophis pointed at me. “Harry.”

Akeno recovered first. “Harry seduced her too,” she supplied helpfully.

“Akeno!” Rias snapped.

Runeas gaped at me. Her mouth genuinely fell open. She looked at Ophis. Then at me. Then back at Ophis. “You seduced infinity?”

I turned my head to the side awkwardly. Avoiding her look. “...I didn’t seduce her.”

Ophis moved past Grayfia and Sirzechs. She stopped directly in front of me, looked up, and raised both arms.

I knew what that meant. After a moment’s hesitation, I released Rias and hugged Ophis. She settled against me immediately, sliding her arms around my waist and resting her cheek over my heart. 

“You are warm,” she said.

Runeas continued staring.

Akeno leaned toward Hermione. “He absolutely seduced her.”

“I noticed,” Hermione whispered.

Rias folded her arms. Her expression had become the dangerously calm look she wore when trying to decide whether she was allowed to be jealous of a primordial Dragon God.

“Ophis,” I said, keeping one arm around her, “how did you find me?”

“I looked.”

“That doesn’t explain anything.”

“It does.”

I waited for more of an answer. Ophis apparently considered the matter settled.

Grayfia recovered her composure through what I suspected was centuries of maid training. “Lady… Ophis,” she said, bowing with immaculate precision, “you are welcome within Gremory Manor. We were preparing to hold a private family dinner. If Harry-sama wishes it, we would be honored to have you join us.”

Every eye turned toward me. No pressure. I glanced down at the woman wrapped around my waist. “Would you like to have dinner with us?”

Ophis considered the question. “Is there pie?”

Grayfia didn’t blink. “There can be.”

“Then yes.”

Camey-chan wandered closer and sniffed Ophis’s hair. Ophis slowly turned her head. The camel froze. They stared at one another.

“Do you accept the glory of camels?” Runeas asked eagerly.

“No.”

Camey-chan immediately turned and walked away.

Runeas pressed both hands over her heart as though she’d been stabbed.

Sirzechs coughed into his fist to hide a laugh.

Grayfia clapped her hands once. “Everyone will prepare for dinner. Immediately.” No one argued.

Fifteen minutes later, I stood in one of Gremory Manor’s private changing rooms while Hermione helped me dress for dinner.

Or, more accurately, she was supposed to be helping me dress.

She had paused three times while fastening my shirt. The first pause had been to admire my chest. The second had been to run her fingers over my stomach. By the third, she had abandoned any pretence of performing a necessary task and simply placed both hands against my bare chest.

“I’m beginning to think you aren’t very good at this,” I said.

“I’m excellent at it.” Hermione slowly traced one of the lines of muscle beneath my ribs. “I’m conducting a thorough inspection before covering everything up.”

“I see.”

“It’s important to ensure formal clothing is fitted correctly.”

“Is that why you squeezed my arms earlier?”

“That was a separate inspection.”

I smiled, but my gaze drifted toward the changing-room door again. It remained firmly closed. Ophis was nowhere in sight.

Grayfia had escorted her ahead of everyone else to the dining room, mostly because nobody had been willing to tell the Infinite Dragon God that she was not invited. Ophis had followed without complaint after being promised food, and after I had assured her I would join her shortly.

That should have reassured me. It did not. I had learned that walls, doors, locks, protective wards, private moments, and basic social expectations possessed very little power over Ophis. If she decided she wanted to see me, she would simply appear.

Hermione followed my gaze. “She isn’t going to come through the door.”

“She could.”

“She might appear from the wardrobe instead.”

I looked sharply at the wardrobe.

Hermione laughed.

“That wasn’t helpful.”

“It wasn’t intended to be.” She resumed buttoning my shirt, although the amusement in her brown eyes made it difficult to believe she was taking her duty seriously. “Ophis cannot continue appearing whenever she wants,” Hermione said. “You need to establish boundaries with her.”

“I have tried.”

“Harry, telling her that something is dangerous and then giving her a sweet when she ignores you is not setting a boundary.”

“It distracts her.”

“It rewards her.”

“It does both.”

Hermione gave me a flat look.

I sighed. “Fine. You may have a point.”

She continued. “I have several points. Ophis is the leader of the Khaos Brigade, one of the most dangerous beings in existence, and powerful enough to walk through the Gremory family’s defenses without anyone noticing. She cannot simply wander into noble estates because she wants to have dinner with you.” Hermione smoothed the front of my shirt and reached for my formal jacket. “You keep indulging her whims,” she continued, “because she is incredibly beautiful, unimaginably powerful, and very cute.”

I grinned. “You think she’s cute?”

Hermione paused with my jacket held open. “I said what I said.” She leaned up and kissed my cheek.

I laughed, slipped my arms into the jacket, and allowed her to settle it across my shoulders. The garment was black with deep blue detailing, formal enough for dinner with the Gremory family without making me look as if I were attending a boring business meeting.

At least, I hoped so.

Hermione stepped back to inspect me.

She looked stunning herself. Her elegant evening dress hugged her figure beautifully, emphasizing every curve while remaining refined enough for a formal dinner. Her hair fell around her shoulders in carefully arranged waves, although a few rebellious curls had already escaped.

I reached out and pulled her against me. “You’re right,” I said.

“I know.”

“You’re smart.”

“I know that too.”

“And sexy.”

Her lips twitched. “Naturally.”

“And did I mention that you’re right?”

“Once or twice.”

My hand moved shamelessly over her dress and settled on one of her breasts. Hermione inhaled sharply but made no effort to stop me.

“You’re attempting to distract me,” she said.

“Is it working?”

“No.”

I squeezed gently.

Hermione’s eyelids fluttered. “It might be affecting the quality of my argument,” she amended.

“That’s all I need.”

She caught my wrist, though she still didn’t remove my hand. “Harry.”

“Hermione.”

“You need to speak to Ophis.”

“I will.”

“Properly.”

“Yes.”

“And you must explain that she cannot appear without warning whenever she misses you.”

“I understand.”

“She also cannot threaten people, abduct anyone, conquer territory as a present for you, or declare war on noble families because they upset you.”

“I don’t think she’s done the third one…”

“That you know of.”

That was an unsettling qualification.

Hermione studied my face, apparently deciding whether she believed me. Then she sighed and leaned against my chest.

“I know you care about her,” she said more softly. “And I know she cares about you in whatever strange way an ancient Dragon God understands affection. I’m not telling you to push her away.”

“I know.”

“But that makes boundaries more important, not less.”

I nodded.

Hermione was right. Ophis possessed enough power to ignore almost every rule in existence, but that did not mean I should allow her to ignore mine. If I wanted her to remain part of my life—and I did—then I needed to help her understand that caring about someone did not mean invading every part of their existence.

Even if she was incredibly beautiful, unimaginably powerful, and very cute.

I kissed Hermione’s forehead. “I’ll talk to her at dinner.”

“Good.”

“Now, we should probably go before Rias thinks you’ve seduced me in the changing room.” Hermione glanced down at where my hand still rested against her breast. “She would not be entirely wrong.”

“No, but you were supposed to be helping me dress.”

“I did help you.”

“You spent half the time touching my chest.”

Her expression became perfectly serious. “As your Bishop, it is my responsibility to ensure that my King is properly prepared for every important engagement.”

“And was I?”

Hermione ran her palm down my chest one last time. “Thoroughly.”

A soft knock came at the door. Rias entered without waiting for an answer. She’d changed into a beautiful crimson dinner dress that hugged her waist and emphasized every generous curve. Her hair had been brushed until it shone, and the leaves were finally gone.

She looked stunning. She also looked worried. “Harry,” she said, “we need to talk about Ophis.”

Hermione stepped away from my collar. “I was just explaining the same thing.”

Rias approached and slipped both arms around one of mine. “I’m not asking you to send her away. That would probably be suicidal.”

“Comforting.”

“But she can’t simply appear whenever she wants and claim you.”

“She has been doing exactly that,” Hermione observed.

“I know.” 

Rias leaned her head against my shoulder. “I don’t dislike her,” she admitted. “I don’t know her well enough to dislike her. She’s just… Ophis.”

“The Infinite Dragon God,” Hermione added.

“The leader of the Khaos Brigade,” Rias continued. “A being who could destroy entire factions if someone upset her. And she looks at you like you’re the first thing she’s ever wanted.”

That was uncomfortably accurate.

I placed my hand over Rias’s. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Properly?”

“Yes.”

“Before you sleep with her?”

Hermione choked.

I stared at Rias. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“I haven’t even kissed her.”

“Your Sacred Gear has ruined my ability to trust reasonable timelines.”

Hermione turned away, but not before I saw her smile.

Another knock sounded.

This time Grayfia opened the door. “Dinner is ready.” Her expression remained flawless, but her eyes lingered on me with the faint exhaustion of a woman who had been informed that an ancient Dragon God might be courting her mistress’s fiancé. “Lady Ophis has already seated herself.”

Rias stiffened. “Where?”

Grayfia paused. “In Harry-sama’s chair.”

Of course she is.

…The Gremory dining room could have seated a hundred guests.

When Hermione, Rias, Akeno, and I entered the dining room, the first thing I noticed was Venelana and Zeoticus Gremory repeatedly glancing across the table at Ophis.

They were attempting to be subtle.

They were failing spectacularly.

Venelana maintained an elegant smile, but every few seconds, her blue eyes flicked toward the Infinite Dragon God sitting in their dining room. Zeoticus was even worse. He kept looking at Ophis, looking at Grayfia, and then looking back at Ophis as though hoping he had somehow misunderstood the situation.

Grayfia had obviously told them who their unexpected guest was.

Ophis sat near the middle of the long table, occupying the chair meant for me. She had positioned herself on one side of it instead of sitting properly in the center, leaving just enough room for me to join her.

She expected me to share the chair. Or, more likely, she expected me to sit down and allow her to climb onto my lap.

Hermione quietly muttered, “This should go well…”

I glanced around the table and noticed several missing faces. Other than Akeno, none of Rias’s peerage were present. Kiba, Koneko, Gasper, and Crom Junior had all been expected at dinner. Rias had mentioned it earlier when she described the seating plan, complete with a lengthy warning about not mistaking Gasper for a girl and an even longer warning about not calling Crom cute.

Grayfia had probably changed the arrangements the moment Ophis appeared. That was sensible. Kiba and Gasper didn’t need to be trapped in a room with the Infinite Dragon God. Koneko had enough problems without unexpectedly encountering Kuroka’s new owner. As for Crom, he took his duty to protect Rias so seriously that he would have spent the entire meal glaring at Ophis and calculating whether he could drag Rias to safety before the mansion disappeared.

He was probably the most upset about being excluded. I could almost hear him now. ‘Onee-sama is eating dinner with a dangerous intruder, and I have been banished to the children’s table.’

Ophis patted herself again. “You sit here.”

Every person at the table watched me.

I walked over, slid my arms around Ophis, and picked her up. 

Genuine surprise crossed her perfect face. Her dark eyes widened, and the faintest hint of pink appeared across her pale cheeks. She weighed almost nothing. It was like lifting a beautiful woman-shaped absence from reality. I turned and plopped her into the chair beside mine.

Rias immediately pulled her chair closer from the same side, refusing to surrender my left completely. The result left Ophis seated slightly beyond her while Rias pressed herself possessively against my arm.

Across the table, Sirzechs and Zeoticus gaped at me.

I had just picked up the Infinite Dragon God without permission and moved her like she was an inconveniently placed girlfriend.

Runeas, meanwhile, looked at me with enormous approval. She raised both thumbs.

I ignored her. “Ophis,” I said firmly, “I don’t mind you visiting me—”

Ophis watched me in silence.

“—But tonight is an important dinner between my family and Rias’s family. I can’t have a date with you tonight.”

Sirzechs choked on his wine. Grayfia placed one hand between his shoulders as the strongest devil in existence coughed helplessly into his napkin.

“He’s crazier than his mother,” Sirzechs muttered.

Hermione gave me an approving nod from across the table. Apparently, I had passed whatever test she was silently administering.

Ophis remained still for several seconds. She looked at me. Then at Rias. “I apologize,” she said.

Rias blinked.

Ophis inclined her head toward her. “I dropped in rudely. My cat, Kuroka, has been teaching me how to speak and act with… people… but I am still… inexperienced.”

I snickered. Somewhere in the world, I imagined Kuroka sneezing inexplicably.

Rias’s possessive grip loosened slightly. “Thank you for apologizing,” she said carefully. “I don’t mind you spending time with Harry. I only want you to respect that he already has other commitments.”

Ophis nodded. “I will learn.” It was a simple answer, but it seemed sincere.

Rias studied her for another moment before nodding.

The tension around the table eased.

Grayfia gave a nearly imperceptible signal. 

The doors opened, and an army of maids and butlers entered carrying dinner. Platters covered in roasted meats, grilled vegetables, fresh bread, glazed roots, spiced rice, delicate pastries, and dishes I couldn’t identify were placed across the table. A golden roast sat at the center, surrounded by red fruits and herbs. Crystal glasses filled themselves with wine, water, or juice depending on the person seated before them.

Ophis forgot about our relationship discussion immediately. Her attention locked onto the food.

A maid placed a bowl of creamy soup in front of her.

Ophis took one spoonful. Her dark eyes widened. “This is good.”

The maid looked as though she’d just received a blessing from Heaven. “T-Thank y-you, L-Lady Ophis.”

Ophis took another spoonful. Then another. With the Dragon God temporarily distracted, I turned toward Rias and her parents.

I had met Zeoticus and Venelana before, but we had never spoken for long. There had always been another crisis, a political issue, or Serafall climbing into my lap and derailing the conversation.

Venelana was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Her long brown hair was styled elegantly behind her shoulders, and her violet eyes carried the same sharp intelligence I often saw in Rias. The fitted crimson gown she wore made it obvious where Rias had inherited her figure.

Zeoticus sat beside her, handsome, composed, and far less intimidating than I expected from the head of one of the Underworld’s most powerful families.

He raised his glass toward me. “You handled Camey-chan well.”

Rias stared at her father. “He fired a beam at us!”

Zeoticus smiled. “You’ll find that dealing with Runeas’s camels is generally less productive than preparing for them.”

Venelana looked toward me. “I’m pleased we finally have an opportunity to speak properly, Harry.”

“So am I.”

“You’ve made our daughter happier.”

Rias’s confidence vanished. “M-Mother.”

“You have.” Venelana smiled at her warmly. “She talks about you constantly. Your training, your classes. She always sounds happier than she did before Hogwarts.”

Rias’s face steadily turned as crimson as her hair.

Akeno rested her chin on one hand. “She also talks about Harry in her sleep.”

“Akeno!”

“Sometimes she moans his name.”

“AKENO!”

Grayfia looked at the ceiling with the expression of a woman asking the universe why she continued serving this family.

I slid my hand beneath the table and took Rias’s. She squeezed immediately.

Zeoticus watched the small movement. “I’ll admit,” he said, “when Sirzechs first proposed breaking Rias’s old engagement by arranging another one, I had concerns.”

“Father…” Rias warned.

“They weren’t about you personally,” he assured me. “We knew very little about you. You had only recently appeared, your powers were developing at an unprecedented rate, and Serafall was being unusually secretive.”

“Serafall is never secretive,” Sirzechs said around a mouthful of roast potato. “She announces everything.”

“That was what made it concerning.”

Fair point.

Zeoticus set down his glass. “But I’ve watched you with Rias. You respect her. You don’t treat her as an ornament or political prize. More importantly, she chose to continue the relationship after meeting you.”

“I did,” Rias said firmly.

“I approve,” Zeoticus concluded. “As her father, and as the head of House Gremory.”

Rias’s fingers tightened around mine. The approval mattered to her, even if she’d never admit how much.

Venelana nodded. “I approve as well. Truthfully, I always hoped the Sitri and Gremory houses would unite one day.” Her smile took on an oddly nostalgic quality. “You know, Selene and I used to be lovers.”

Rias and Hermione spat out their wine simultaneously! Rias coughed into her napkin. Hermione stared at Venelana with streaming eyes, having inhaled at exactly the wrong moment.

Akeno calmly patted Rias’s back.

I sat frozen. “My grandmother?” I asked.

“Selene Sitri,” Venelana confirmed.

Zeoticus chuckled. “I’ve seen the videos. They’re hot.”

Sirzechs’s glass shattered in his hand.

Grayfia closed her eyes.

Rias slowly turned toward her father. “...What videos?” 

Zeoticus realized his mistake.

Venelana gave him a look that could have frozen an Ultimate-Class camel.

“I was referring to something else!” he said quickly.

“No, you weren’t,” Runeas said with a grin. “Were they recorded on those crystal things? I like those! Do you still have copies!?”

“Ancestor…” Zeoticus pleaded.

I leaned back in my chair and contemplated the existence of my grandmother’s sex tape. Selene Sitri. The dignified, terrifying matriarch who managed hospitals, banks, farms, insurance firms, and most of the Underworld’s medical infrastructure. My grandmother apparently had recordings of herself sleeping with Rias’s mother.

Suddenly, Serafall’s behavior didn’t seem quite so far removed from the family tree… She might actually have been one of its more predictable branches.

Hermione wiped wine from her mouth.

Ophis looked up from her third bowl of soup. “What is a sex tape?”

“No,” Rias said immediately.

Runeas raised her hand. “I can explain!”

“No!”

Grayfia as an experienced maid was able to steer Ophis’ curiosity away from Runeas. “Dessert will be served later,” she announced.

Ophis’s attention shifted instantly. “There is dessert? What kind?”

“Chocolate torte, strawberry parfait, lemon tart, and several varieties of ice cream.”

Ophis stared at her empty soup bowl. “I want all of them.”

“Of course.” Grayfia had just prevented an ancient devil from explaining pornography to the Infinite Dragon God by weaponizing dessert.

I understood, in that moment, why Sirzechs had made her his Queen.

Venelana delicately sipped her wine. “To clarify, Selene and I were young. It was long before I married Zeoticus.”

“Mostly,” Zeoticus said. Her eyes slid toward him. He lowered his gaze to his plate.

Rias covered her face with both hands. “I want to die.”

I kissed her temple. “...I’m just saying the sex tape isn’t the strangest thing your family has done today.”

“That does not help,” Rias whined.

Runeas pointed her fork at me. “You haven’t heard about the Gremory fertility festival.”

THE WHAT!?

Every Gremory at the table shouted at once. “NO!”

Runeas pouted and returned to her food.

Dinner continued with somewhat safer topics.

Venelana asked about my first months in the Underworld and my impressions of Sitri territory. Zeoticus wanted to know about Viviane’s sword and how it had pushed me into Ultimate Class. I told them about discovering Ingvild in the hidden hospital room, cutting through the fey curse, and watching Selene adopt her into the family.

The table grew quieter when I described Ingvild waking after almost a century.

Venelana’s expression softened. “I’ll visit Selene soon,” she promised. “A new daughter deserves a proper gift.”

Rias nodded. “I’d like to meet Ingvild too.”

“She’s nervous around people,” I told her. 

“Then I won’t overwhelm her.”

The main course was cleared away. Dessert arrived.

Ophis received every option Grayfia had promised, arranged in a precise semicircle around her. Her eyes moved from one plate to the next with more concentration than I had seen her give most political matters.

She tried the chocolate torte first. Her pupils seemed to deepen. “Harry.”

“Yes?”

“We should come here again. These devils make food as good as the Hogwarts elves…”

Rias pressed closer to my side. “You may visit,” she said, “if you ask first.”

Ophis considered that. Then nodded. “I will ask.”

It was progress. Strange, potentially world-altering progress, but progress nonetheless.

Runeas watched the three of us with a wide smile. “You really are interesting, Harry Sitri.”

Before I could ask what she meant, Ophis turned toward me with chocolate on the corner of her mouth. “I have decided.”

The table quieted again.

Ophis set down her fork. “I would like to court Harry properly.”

Rias went rigid beside me.

Hermione slowly lowered her wineglass.

Akeno’s smile became delighted.

Sirzechs muttered something about needing a stronger drink.

Runeas clapped her hands.

Ophis looked directly at Rias. “You are his fiancée. Teach me the rules...”

Rias stared at the Infinite Dragon God. Then she looked at me. Her expression promised that this was somehow entirely my fault.

I reached for my wine.

– Sirzechs –

After dinner, Sirzechs retreated to his father’s study.

Retreated was the correct word.

He sat in one of the high-backed leather chairs before Zeoticus’s desk while Grayfia stood beside him, immaculate as ever. His mother occupied the sofa near the fire, his father stood behind the desk, and Runeas had claimed the windowsill despite there being several perfectly serviceable chairs available.

Both his parents were scolding him.

“How,” Zeoticus demanded, “did you neglect to inform us that Harry Sitri was also courting the second most powerful being in existence?”

Sirzechs winced. “Technically, Ophis is courting him…”

“That distinction does not help,” Venelana told him flatly.

“It might be politically relevant...”

“It wasn’t politically relevant when she was sitting at our dinner table announcing that she loved our daughter’s fiancé!”

Sirzechs glanced at Grayfia for support. His wife glared at him. He looked away again. There would be no private stress relief tonight. No slow removal of her maid uniform, no massage, no stern orders to lie back and let her take care of him.

He might not even receive a goodnight kiss.

“Serafall may have mentioned it to Ajuka and me once or twice,” he admitted.

Venelana stared. “And?”

“We thought she was joking...”

Grayfia’s glare intensified.

Sirzechs shifted in his chair. “In my defense, Serafall says a great many things!” His chances of receiving affection that evening dropped further. Sirzechs rubbed his forehead. “...Fine. We should have taken her more seriously.”

Venelana folded her arms beneath her breasts. “Yes, you should have.”

Runeas swung her legs idly over the side of the windowsill. “I don’t understand why everyone is making such a fuss.”

Four pairs of eyes turned toward her.

The ancient Gremory founder shrugged. “Back in my day, this would have been celebrated as an extraordinary achievement by devilkind. A young devil earning the love of the Infinite Dragon God?” Her crimson eyes gleamed. “There would have been feasts, statues, and at least one extremely inappropriate commemorative tapestry.”

Sirzechs wasn’t certain whether she approved of Harry or merely appreciated the scale of the accomplishment. “Of course,” Runeas continued, “that bastard Lucifer would have demanded Harry use Ophis to destroy Heaven.”

The room grew quieter.

Runeas’s playful expression faded.

Sirzechs felt the old weight of his title settle over him.

Runeas had known the original Lucifer. She’d lived beneath the old Satans, fought in conflicts that had been reduced to sanitized paragraphs in modern history texts, and seen what the previous rulers had demanded from their descendants.

She knew exactly what the old Lucifer would have done with someone like Harry. Ophis would have been treated as a weapon. Harry would have been treated as the hand holding it. And then it all would have blown up in everyone’s faces.

Runeas looked toward the fire. “I’m glad times have changed.”

So was Sirzechs. He swallowed. He had fought a civil war to ensure they did. “We won’t use Harry that way,” he said. “And we won’t attempt to control Ophis through him.”

Runeas studied him for several seconds. Then she smiled. “Good. Maybe wearing Lucifer’s name hasn’t completely rotted your brain.”

“Thank you,” Sirzechs said dryly.

Zeoticus settled into the chair behind his desk. “What are Harry and Rias doing now?”

Grayfia answered immediately. “They returned to Rias-sama’s chambers with Hermione-sama and Akeno-sama. They are currently playing games. Lady Ophis accompanied them initially, but she appears to have departed now that dinner is over.”

Sirzechs exhaled. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. Not because Ophis had done anything threatening. She’d been remarkably polite after Harry corrected her behavior. That might have been the most frightening part. The Infinite Dragon God had listened to him. Harry had lifted her bodily from his chair, placed her beside him, and calmly told her that she couldn’t have a date because he was spending the evening with Rias’s family.

Ophis had blushed. Then apologized.

Sirzechs had fought gods, survived the Civil War, and developed a form of Destruction capable of erasing souls from existence. He still couldn’t imagine possessing that kind of courage. 

Or insanity. Probably both.

Runeas perked up. “Games?”

“Rias-sama is teaching Harry-sama how to play one of her favorite cooperative video games,” Grayfia said. “Hermione-sama is reading the instruction manual. Akeno-sama appears to be deliberately sabotaging the group for her own amusement.” 

Yes, Grayfia was shamelessly spying on them all through the wards…

“Video games?” Runeas asked. “Those human things? I played those the last time I was awake.” Her eyes brightened. “They were fun.”

Sirzechs leaned back in his chair. “Human technology has advanced considerably in the last ten years. If you thought video games were interesting before, what they have now will blow you away.”

Runeas vanished. One moment she was sitting on the windowsill. The next, there was an empty space and a faint impression in the curtain where her shoulder had been.

Everyone stared at it.

Zeoticus sighed. “No one can control that woman’s whims.”

“She’ll be in Rias’s room,” Sirzechs pointed out.

Grayfia closed her eyes for a moment, presumably updating the evening’s security plans and calculating how much damage Runeas might inflict upon Rias’s electronics.

“Crom Junior is stationed outside Rias-sama’s door,” she said.

Sirzechs winced.

“Someone should warn him.”

A distant explosion shook dust from the study ceiling.

They all looked upward.

A muffled male voice shouted something about protecting his onee-sama.

Runeas’s delighted laughter echoed through several floors of the manor.

Grayfia turned toward the door.

Zeoticus raised one hand. “Give them a moment.”

Another crash followed.

Then Rias shouted, “GET OFF THE TELEVISION!”

Sirzechs smiled despite himself.

Runeas had been awake for less than a day, and the estate already felt more like the home he remembered from childhood.

More dangerous, certainly. But warmer too.

Venelana chuckled. “All things considered, this has been a lovely evening.”

Grayfia paused near the door.

Venelana’s smile became soft as she looked around at her family. “Our daughter is engaged to a wonderful young man. Harry clearly cares about her, and she is happier than I’ve seen her in years.”

Sirzechs relaxed slightly. It was true. His original reasons for arranging the engagement had been desperate and political. He’d wanted to free Rias from Riser without starting a war with the Phenex family, and Harry had seemed like the only alternative powerful enough to force the issue. He’d barely known the boy then. He’d known only that Harry was Serafall’s son, that his growth was extraordinary, and that House Sitri would protect the match against political retaliation. He hadn’t anticipated Rias genuinely falling in love. He certainly hadn’t anticipated Harry becoming attached to her just as quickly.

Venelana reached for her wineglass. “Now,” she said, “who wants to wager on whether Rias will finally lose her virginity tonight…?”

Sirzechs inhaled his own saliva…

– Harry –

Rias had claimed my left side.

Hermione had claimed my right.

Akeno, having apparently decided that sides were for women lacking ambition, had claimed my lap. “I spent all afternoon in the library,” she said, settling her back against my chest. “I believe I’m owed compensation.”

“You spent all afternoon tormenting Hermione in the library,” Rias corrected.

Akeno tilted her head thoughtfully. “That was exhausting too.”

Hermione shifted closer beneath my arm, her head resting against my shoulder. “She showed me six different books that she claimed were essential records of Gremory history.”

“They were historically significant.”

“They were pornography…”

“Historical pornography,” Akeno said. “Several of the positions have fallen out of fashion.”

I looked down at her. “Were there illustrations?”

Hermione elbowed me in the ribs.

“Ow!”

“You are not encouraging her.”

“I was asking an academic question.”

“You sounded exactly like Akeno!”

Akeno beamed. “Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment,” Hermione said.

“It was to me.”

Rias made an irritated sound and snuggled more firmly against my side, as if Akeno’s occupation of my lap required her to reinforce her own territorial claim. Her bedroom was warm and comfortable after the formal dinner downstairs. The fire crackled softly in the hearth, magical lights had been dimmed along the walls, and the enormous television opposite the couch displayed the opening menu of some cooperative adventure game Rias had spent the last ten minutes explaining.

I had understood perhaps half of it.

There were four heroes, several colored resources, a complicated equipment system, and something called friendly fire that caused Akeno far too much amusement.

Ophis had already left.

She had stayed through dessert, eaten enough sugar to concern several trained healers, and then asked Rias to explain the proper rules for courting me. The two of them had spoken quietly for several minutes while repeatedly glancing in my direction.

Whenever I tried to listen, Rias told me it was private.

Whenever I asked Ophis what they were discussing, she looked toward Rias and said, “Stuff.”

I was reasonably certain Rias had taught her that word specifically to annoy me.

Ophis had eventually disappeared without warning, leaving behind three empty ice-cream bowls and the troubling promise that she would “prepare properly” before our next meeting.

Rias refused to tell me what that meant.

Hermione claimed she didn’t know.

Akeno claimed she knew but would only reveal it in exchange for intimate favors.

I suspected all three of them were conspiring against me.

Akeno wriggled in my lap until she found a more comfortable position.

I tightened my arm around her waist. “If you keep doing that, we aren’t going to play the game.”

“Promises, promises.”

Rias grabbed one of the controllers and shoved it into my free hand. “We are playing. I’ve been waiting weeks to show Harry this! Hogwarts doesn’t have electricity! The savages!” She selected the first mission. Four brightly colored characters appeared on the screen inside a burning village while dramatic music filled the room.

Hermione had the instruction manual open across her knees. Of course she did.

“You don’t need to read the entire thing,” Rias told her. “No one reads the manual!”

Hermione turned a page. “The combat system includes elemental interactions, status effects, equipment durability, cooperative abilities, and environmental hazards. Why would they provide an instruction manual if we weren’t expected to read it…?”

“So we can ignore it and complain when we don’t understand something,” I said. The traits of a true gamer…

Hermione stared at me as if I had personally offended the concept of literacy.

Akeno’s character fired an arrow into mine.

My warrior collapsed face-first into the burning village. “Er… What just happened?”

“Friendly fire,” Akeno said sweetly. “I’m still learning the controls.” She fired another arrow into Rias. 

“AKENO!”

“Oh dear. These buttons are terribly confusing…”

“There are four of them! How is that confusing!”

Hermione sighed, took her controller in both hands, and began directing her character toward the first objective while reciting information from the manual. “If we remain close together, our abilities receive a cooperative damage bonus. Harry, you should move ahead because your character has the highest defense. Rias can support you with fire magic, and I’ll—”

Akeno shot a barrel beside her. 

It exploded.

Hermione’s character flew off a cliff…

Akeno covered her mouth. “Ara Ara.”

Hermione slowly lowered the manual. “You did that on purpose.”

“I would never.”

“You have attacked every member of the group.”

“I’m exploring the game’s systems.”

Hermione’s eyes narrowed. “Harry, hold her arms.”

Akeno leaned back against me and smiled. “Yes, Harry. Hold me.”

Before I could decide whether obeying Hermione would improve or worsen the situation, a heavy impact sounded outside the bedroom.

The four of us went still.

Another bang followed.

Then came a muffled male shout. “HALT! ONEE-SAMA HAS ORDERED THAT SHE IS NOT TO BE DISTURBED!” Crom Junior. Rias had stationed her Dragon Trap Pawn outside the bedroom before we began playing. He’d taken the duty with the grave intensity of a knight defending the final gate against an invading army. The fact that the supposed army consisted mostly of servants bringing snacks had not lessened his commitment.

A cheerful voice answered him from the corridor. “BUT I WANT TO PLAY TOO!”

“You do not have permission to enter!”

“I’m the founder of this family. I give myself permission.”

There was a crash. Something struck the wall hard enough to rattle the figures in Rias’s display cabinets.

“...Crom?” Rias called.

“I am unharmed, Onee-sama!” A second impact followed. “...Mostly unharmed.” 

There was a burst of demonic power, a dragon’s startled roar, and one final tremendous bang.  A small dark shape flew past the window.

Rias stared after it. “Was that Crom?”

The bedroom doors slammed open. Runeas skipped inside. “I have come to play some of those video games!” She looked entirely untouched by the battle outside. Her crimson twin tails bounced with every step, her tiny crown remained perfectly straight, and her short dress didn’t have so much as a wrinkle.

Behind her, the corridor looked as if it had been struck by a localized hurricane. One suit of decorative armor had been embedded in the wall. A long carpet had folded in on itself, and a Crom-shaped indentation marked the door opposite Rias’s room.

Runeas barely glanced at us. Her eyes had already locked onto the enormous television. They widened. She vanished. One moment she was standing in the doorway. The next she was crouching on top of the television with both hands pressed against its thin frame. “Whoa!” Runeas leaned over the front, staring at the screen from several inches away. “It’s so much thinner!”

The television wobbled dangerously beneath her.

Rias shot to her feet, dislodging my arm. “GET OFF THE TELEVISION!”

“And the picture is so much better now!” Runeas continued, ignoring her. She poked the screen directly over my fallen character. Colors rippled around her fingertip. “All this advancement in only ten years?”

“RUNEAS!”

Runeas shifted her weight. The television leaned forward.

Rias made a noise I had previously heard only when Camey-chan charged a beam at us. “GET OFF THE TELEVISION!”

Runeas looked down at her descendant. “Why?”

“Because you’re going to break it!”

“I won’t break it.”

The television creaked.

“You’re breaking it right now!”

“I’m very light.”

“You just threw an Ultimate-Class dragon through a wall!”

“He was blocking the door!”

“That was his job!”

“He took it too seriously...”

A shadow passed the window in the opposite direction.

Crom Junior flew back into view, wings beating furiously. His formal jacket was torn, his black hair stood in several directions, and murderous draconic energy rolled from his body. He pointed through the glass at Runeas. “You!”

Runeas waved cheerfully. “Hello!”

Crom struck the protective barrier around the window and bounced off it. He disappeared downward. A few seconds later, something crashed into the gardens. The wards on her window were set up by her Satan Class brother. 

“...Ow.”

Rias pressed both hands over her face…

Hermione stared from the ruined corridor to the television and finally toward me. “Is every ancient member of a devil family completely insane?”

Akeno remained comfortably seated on my lap throughout the entire exchange. She rested her head against my shoulder and watched Runeas with open delight. “She’s just as fun as she was when we were kids. I like her.”

“Of course you do,” Rias muttered.

Runeas jumped down from the television. The screen rocked back and forth before settling into place. Rias lunged forward and caught it with both hands anyway, checking the frame for damage with frantic concern.

Runeas turned toward us. Her gaze moved over Hermione tucked against my side, Akeno sitting on my lap, and the empty space Rias had just abandoned. Her grin widened. “Is this one of those naughty video games?”

“No,” Hermione answered immediately.

“It could become one,” Akeno said.

“No,” Rias and Hermione said together.

Runeas appeared directly in front of the couch. She snatched the spare controller from the table and turned it around in her hands. “These used to have fewer buttons...”

“You have played video games before?” I asked.

“I was awake ten years ago, not a thousand.” She dropped onto the carpet between the couch and the television, crossing her legs beneath herself. “Sirzechs showed me several. I beat him at the fighting ones!” Runeas selected a character.

Rias hurried toward her. “Wait! You can’t just press things. We need to start the mission again.”

“Why?”

“Because Akeno killed everyone.”

“By accident,” Akeno lied immediately.

Hermione and Rias both glared at her.

Runeas examined the battlefield still frozen on the screen. My character lay dead in the village, Hermione’s wizard had fallen into a ravine, and Rias’s sorceress was burning beside an exploded barrel. Only Akeno’s archer remained alive, standing safely on a hill above the destruction.

Runeas nodded approvingly. “She’s good.”

Akeno placed one hand over mine where it rested on her waist. “Finally, someone appreciates my talents.”

Rias snatched another controller and dropped onto the couch beside me again. “Fine. We’re restarting. Harry is the warrior. Hermione is the mage. Akeno is no longer allowed to use ranged weapons.”

Akeno pouted. “You’re limiting my creative freedom.”

“You shot me in the back!”

“I was aiming at Harry.”

“That is not better!”

Runeas bounced excitedly on the carpet. “What am I?”

Rias scrolled through the remaining characters until she reached a heavily armored beast rider mounted on an enormous reptilian creature.

Runeas stared at it. Her expression became deeply offended. “Where is the camel?” she asked.

Rias closed her eyes. “There isn’t a camel.”

Runeas slowly turned toward me. “Can we add one?”

“I don’t think so.”

Runeas’ eyes narrowed at the screen. Power gathered faintly around her fingers.

Hermione noticed it too. “You cannot use demonic magic to alter the game.”

“Why not?”

“Because that isn’t how software works.”

Runeas pouted. “I don’t know what that is.”

Hermione’s face fell. “You’re going to make me explain software, aren’t you?” Hermione reached for the instruction manual.

Rias groaned.

Akeno shifted suggestively in my lap.

A few hours later, it was well past midnight. The bedroom looked like a battlefield fought entirely with controllers, sugar, and terrible decisions.

Empty wine bottles crowded the low table. Bowls that had once held crisps and sweets were scattered across the carpet. Candy wrappers had somehow reached every corner of the room, including the top of one display cabinet. Several plates remained covered in crumbs, melted chocolate, and the remnants of the late-night snacks Grayfia had reluctantly allowed servants to deliver.

Runeas had discovered fizzy human candy and spent twenty minutes insisting the popping sensation inside her mouth was an attack.

Then she’d eaten three more packets.

We had played cooperative adventures, racing games, fighting games, and something involving brightly colored creatures competing in a sporting event. Runeas had demanded a rematch every time she lost and changed the rules every time she began losing again. Akeno had sabotaged everyone indiscriminately. Hermione had studied every instruction manual with religious intensity. Rias had become increasingly competitive as the night continued.

Crom Junior had refused to participate.

He’d stood in the ruined doorway with his arms folded, glaring at Runeas until Grayfia arrived, repaired the damage, and ordered him to stop dripping blood on the carpet.

By midnight, we had all consumed far too much alcohol.

Runeas, despite being old as fuck, was also very short.

Her tolerance had proven disastrous.

She had been the first to pass out.

The ancient founder of House Gremory lay face-down on the carpet, her cheek pressed against a cushion and her backside raised prominently into the air. Her tiny crown had slipped over one crimson pigtail. She still held a controller in one hand, and every so often, her thumb twitched against a button as if she were continuing to play in her dreams.

“Nasty blue turtle,” she mumbled.

Akeno and Hermione hadn’t lasted much longer.

Akeno had fallen asleep stretched across one end of the couch, her long black hair spilling over the cushions. She looked remarkably peaceful for a woman who had spent several hours betraying every alliance she formed.

Hermione lay half on top of her.

More precisely, Hermione’s head rested on one of Akeno’s enormous breasts, using it as a pillow. One of Hermione’s arms had slipped around Akeno’s waist, while Akeno’s hand rested loosely in her curls.

I stared at them for several seconds.

They looked comfortable. Suspiciously comfortable.

I wondered whether they had become friends while spending the afternoon together in the library. Hermione had complained constantly about Akeno’s teasing, but she’d also laughed whenever she thought nobody was watching. Akeno, for all her shamelessness, had been gentler with Hermione than she usually was with people.

Or perhaps Hermione was simply drunk enough to mistake Akeno’s chest for bedding.

Both explanations seemed plausible.

I looked down at Runeas again. Her backside swayed slightly as she breathed. That position could not possibly be comfortable.

As a Sitri, I possessed extraordinary control over water in all its forms. That included the water and other fluids within my own body. Removing poison, adjusting hydration, or clearing alcohol from my blood required little more than concentration.

A pulse of demonic power passed through me.

The lingering warmth behind my eyes disappeared. My thoughts sharpened immediately, and the pleasant heaviness left my limbs.

I was sober again.

It was a deeply useful ability. It also felt vaguely like cheating.

I turned toward Rias, expecting to find her slumped against the other side of the couch. She stood near the foot of her bed. Completely steady. Her crimson hair fell beautifully around her shoulders, her blue eyes were clear, and a knowing smile curved across her lips. She didn’t look even slightly drunk.

I frowned. “How are you still standing?”

Rias’s smile widened. “I’m a Gremory.”

“That isn’t an explanation.”

“I have excellent tolerance.”

“You drank more than Runeas.”

“Runeas tried to drink wine from the bottle while hanging upside down.”

“She still drank most of it.”

Rias placed one hand over her stomach. A faint pulse of crimson-black energy flickered beneath her palm.

I stared. “Are you using the Power of Destruction inside your stomach? To destroy the alcohol? That seems medically questionable.”

“I’m very talented.” Rias took a graceful step toward me, proving her point. “Besides, it worked.” Her eyes moved toward the couch.

Hermione remained asleep against Akeno’s chest. Neither woman stirred. Runeas muttered something about camel spirits, kicked one foot, and went still again.

Rias looked back at me. Her expression changed. The competitive excitement from the games faded, replaced by something warmer and far more dangerous. She grinned. “They’re all asleep.” Rias stepped closer. “Do you understand what that means?”

I looked around the bedroom.

Akeno was unconscious. Hermione was unconscious. Runeas was unconscious in a position that placed her dignity in serious danger. The doors were closed once again, the manor had gone quiet, and everyone else should have retired for the evening.

“You have me all to yourself,” I said.

Rias’s pupils widened. “Exactly.” She grabbed both sides of my jacket and pulled me toward her.

I barely caught my balance. “Rias—”

Rias continued backing toward the bed, dragging me with her. “And you still haven’t finished what you started this afternoon.”

My mouth went dry. “You mean the tour?”

Rias gave me a flat look. “I mean what you started before the tour.”

“Oh.”

Her smile returned. “Yes. Oh.” She released my jacket.

For a moment, we simply stood opposite one another.

Then Rias reached behind herself and slowly lowered the fastening of her dress. The crimson fabric loosened around her body before sliding down her curves and pooling at her feet.

My breath caught.

Beneath it, she wore red lingerie chosen with obvious intent. The delicate material framed her generous chest, while a matching thong disappeared between the curves of her backside. Her pale skin seemed almost luminous in the warm bedroom light.

She stepped out of the fallen dress and turned slightly, letting me see her.

Every coherent thought left my head.

Rias watched my expression closely. For all her confidence, I saw the vulnerability beneath it. She wanted me to look at her. More importantly, she wanted to know that I desired what I saw. “You’re staring…” she whispered.

“I’m trying to remember how words work.”

Her cheeks flushed.

It was strange how easily genuine praise affected her. Rias could flirt, tease, and press herself against me without shame, but sincere admiration still slipped through every defense she possessed.

She approached me slowly. “Do you like it?”

“You know I do.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

I slid my hands around her waist. “You’re beautiful.”

Rias softened against me. “Only beautiful?”

“Stunning!”

“...Better.”

“Perfect!”

Her smile became radiant. “Much better.” Then she kissed me. There was nothing hesitant about it. Her arms wound around my neck as she pressed her body against mine. I held her tightly, feeling the heat of her bare skin through my clothes while her lips moved eagerly against mine.

My hands traveled up her back.

Rias made a soft sound into my mouth and pulled me closer. The kiss deepened, carrying all the lust we’d interrupted earlier that afternoon. Hours of stolen touches, possessive glances, and Akeno occupying my lap seemed to pour into it at once.

Her fingers found the buttons of my jacket. She pushed it from my shoulders without breaking the kiss. The jacket struck the floor. Her hands moved to my shirt next, working impatiently at the fastenings. She managed two before abandoning precision and pulling hard enough that another button bounced across the carpet.

I broke the kiss long enough to look down. “That was expensive.”

“I’ll buy you another.”

“You’re destroying my clothes.”

“I’m a Gremory.” Her lips brushed mine again. “We’re passionate.”

I laughed.

Rias used the opportunity to push the shirt from my shoulders. Her palms slid across my chest, and whatever teasing reply I’d intended to make disappeared.

Her blue eyes darkened as she looked at me. “Mine,” she whispered. It sounded almost reverent.

I cupped her face and kissed her again, more slowly this time. “Yours.”

Rias shivered.

She guided my hands back to her waist before reaching for the fastening of my trousers.

Behind us, Runeas suddenly snorted. We froze. The ancient devil shifted on the floor, hugged her cushion more tightly, and mumbled, “Camey-chan… use Hyper Hump…”

Silence followed.

Rias stared at her ancestor. Then she looked at me. “If she wakes up,” she whispered, “I’m killing her.”

I kissed her again before she could threaten anyone else.

Rias melted into it almost immediately. Her hands resumed their work, removing the last barriers between us as she drew me toward the enormous bed.

This time, neither of us intended to stop.

(R-18 Start)

Rias sat on the edge of the bed and reached behind her back.

The clasp of her bra came free with a quiet click.

For a moment, she held the loosened cups against herself, watching me with a mixture of confidence and nervous anticipation. Then she drew the red lace away and let it fall beside her dress.

I forgot how to breathe.

Her breasts were magnificent—enormous, pale, and heavy, tipped with stiff pink nipples. They settled naturally against her chest, rising and falling with every increasingly shallow breath she took.

Rias shifted beneath my stare. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Looking at me as though you’ve never seen breasts before.”

“I’ve never seen yours before.”

Her cheeks turned pink, but she pushed her shoulders back proudly. The movement made her breasts sway.

My trousers suddenly felt painfully tight.

I hooked my fingers into their waistband and pulled them down with my underwear. My hard cock sprang free, thick and rigid against my stomach.

Rias gasped. All her practiced confidence disappeared. Her blue eyes widened as they traveled slowly from the base to the tip. Her lips parted, but no sound emerged at first. “That’s…” She swallowed. “I’ve been waiting so long to finally see it.”

I gave her a cocky look. Hehe… “Worth the wait?”

Her gaze remained fixed on me. “Ask me again when I can think.” She lay back across the bed and lifted her hips. Her thumbs caught the sides of her red thong, slowly drawing it down her thighs. The scrap of lace slipped past her knees before she kicked it away.

Dark crimson curls formed a neat patch between her legs, matching the brilliant hair spilling across her pillows. Beneath them, her pussy was already glistening. Her pink lips were swollen and wet, parting slightly when she spread her thighs for me.

“Harry,” she whispered.

Hearing my name in that breathless voice shattered the last of my restraint. I climbed onto the bed and settled between her legs. Rias reached for me immediately, pulling me down until my chest pressed against hers. Her soft breasts flattened beneath my weight, surrounding me with warmth.

I lowered my mouth to one of her nipples.

Rias arched sharply when I sucked it between my lips. Her fingers plunged into my hair as I circled the sensitive peak with my tongue. 

“Oh—Harry.”

I braced myself on one arm and filled my other hand with her breast, kneading its weight while I sucked. She trembled beneath me, her hips beginning to move restlessly.

My cock pressed between her thighs. I rocked forward, rubbing its length through the heat gathering between them. The head dragged over her wet pussy, spreading her arousal across my skin without entering her.

Rias moaned and tightened her legs around my hips.

I released her nipple with a wet sound before moving to the other breast. She squirmed when I sucked harder, pushing herself against my mouth while my cock continued sliding over her slick lips.

Each movement brought the head against her clit.

Her nails scraped across my scalp. “You’re teasing me,” she breathed.

I lifted my head, leaving her nipple wet and swollen. “We’ve waited this long.”

Rias stared up at me, flushed, panting, and completely exposed beneath my body.

Then she hooked one leg around my waist and pulled me firmly against her. “We’ve waited long enough.”

I caught Rias’s thigh beneath one hand and pressed her legs tightly together around my cock.

Her soft flesh enveloped me. The wet heat of her pussy rested against the underside of my shaft, her swollen lips sliding along me as I pushed forward between her thighs.

Rias gasped into my mouth.

I drew back slowly, then thrust again. Her slick arousal coated my cock, turning each movement smoother. The head slipped over her clit before emerging between her thighs, only to disappear again when I pulled back.

“Oh, that feels…” Her words dissolved into a moan. “Harry.”

I kissed her before she could finish. Rias immediately opened for me, curling her tongue around mine while her arms wound tightly around my neck. Her massive breasts pressed against my chest, their hardened nipples dragging over my skin with every thrust.

She squeezed her thighs together, making the pressure around my cock almost unbearable.

I broke our kiss with a groan. “You’re doing that deliberately.”

“Of course I am.” Her smug smile lasted until I lowered my mouth to her breast.

I sucked one nipple between my lips while continuing to fuck the space between her thighs. Rias arched beneath me, thrusting her chest into my face. One hand tangled in my hair while the other gripped my shoulder.

I swirled my tongue around the stiff peak and drew it deeper into my mouth. Her breast filled my hand as I kneaded it, squeezing the soft weight while she trembled.

My cock rubbed repeatedly across her pussy. Each forward stroke pushed its head against her clit, drawing a sharp gasp from her. Her wetness soaked my shaft and spread across the insides of her pale thighs.

“Again,” she whispered.

I thrust harder.

Rias cried out, her legs clamping around me as I dragged my cock over her sensitive flesh. I released her nipple and moved to the other, sucking and gently biting until she squirmed beneath me.

Her hips began meeting mine. We found a rough, urgent rhythm together—my cock sliding between her thighs, her pussy grinding against its underside, our bodies striking with soft, wet sounds.

I lifted my head and kissed her again.

Rias moaned into my mouth, her lips hungry and possessive. She held me as though she wanted to pull every part of me against her at once.

“Mine,” she breathed between kisses.

I drove forward, pressing the entire length of my cock against her wet pussy. “Yours.”

Her eyes fluttered closed.

I kissed along her neck, then returned to her breasts, sucking one nipple while my thumb rolled the other. Rias writhed beneath me, her composure unraveling with every stroke.

The head of my cock slipped over her clit again.

Her back arched violently. “Harry!”

I kept the same angle, rubbing against that spot with short, firm thrusts. Rias’s thighs shook around me. Her nails dug into my shoulders as her hips bucked helplessly against my cock.

I raised my head and watched her.

Her crimson hair covered the pillows like fire. Her lips were swollen from kissing, her breasts glistened where I had sucked them, and her entire body trembled beneath mine.

– Rias –

Rias stared up at the naked man poised above her.

Harry’s black hair was disordered from her fingers, his lips damp from their kisses. His broad shoulders framed her vision, and the muscles of his chest shifted as he supported himself over her. Between their bodies, his thick cock slid through the wetness coating her pussy, teasing her without giving her what she had wanted for months.

Her fiancé. Her future husband. The man she had chosen after so many years of being told whom she would marry.

Rias wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him closer. “Take my virginity,” she whispered.

Harry stilled. His blue eyes searched hers, the lust in them tempered by immediate concern. “Are you certain?”

She loved him for asking. She also wanted to strangle him for making her wait another second. “I’m certain.” She reached between them and curled her fingers around his cock, guiding its broad head against her entrance. “I want you, Harry. Now.”

His expression softened. “I love you,” he said.

The words struck her more deeply than any spell could have. “I love you too.”

Harry kissed her as he pushed forward.

Rias felt the blunt head spread her open. Her breath caught at the pressure. He moved slowly, allowing her body time to stretch, but even that first inch felt enormous.

She tightened her legs around him, refusing to retreat.

Harry’s mouth remained against hers. One hand cupped her cheek while the other held her hip steady. He advanced carefully, filling her a fraction at a time.

The pressure sharpened into pain.

Rias gasped into his mouth when he reached the final resistance. She knew what was coming. She had read about it, questioned Akeno about it, and privately endured several of Serafall’s far too enthusiastic explanations.

None of that prepared her for the reality.

Harry hesitated.

“Keep going,” she told him.

He pushed. Rias felt the moment her hymen tore. A bright sting shot through her pelvis, sharp enough to make her nails bite into his shoulders. She cried out, her body clenching instinctively around the invasion.

Harry stopped at once. “Rias?”

“I’m fine.” Her voice emerged strained. “Don’t pull out.”

He remained motionless, giving her time to adjust. His cock felt impossibly large inside her, stretching her around its thickness while her pussy pulsed from the pain. Harry kissed her forehead, then her cheek. “We can stop.”

“No.” Rias loosened her grip on his shoulders and drew a slow breath. “I want all of you.” She meant far more than his body.

Harry seemed to understand. He eased deeper.

The lingering pain gradually mixed with a heavy, intimate fullness. Rias felt every inch slide through her, separating tender walls that had never held a man before. He kept pushing until his hips met hers and his cock was buried as deeply inside her as her body would permit.

Rias gasped. She had imagined this moment many times. None of those fantasies had captured the sheer intensity of being completely filled by him. Harry was inside her,  joined with her in the most intimate way possible, his weight above her and his breath warm against her lips.

Her fiancé had taken her virginity.

She belonged to him. More importantly, he belonged to her.

Harry remained still. “How does it feel?”

Rias shifted experimentally. The movement sent a strange mixture of soreness and pleasure through her. His cock pressed against places inside her that had never been touched, making her body tighten involuntarily around him.

“Big,” she admitted.

The corner of his mouth lifted.

“Do not look so pleased with yourself!”

“Hehe. You called it big...”

Rias pulled him down by the back of his neck and kissed him before his smugness became unbearable.

Harry responded immediately. His mouth opened against hers, his tongue sliding between her lips as his body settled more firmly over her. The kiss helped distract her from the ache between her thighs.

She moved her hips again. This time pleasure answered. Rias moaned softly.

Harry noticed. He drew back by the smallest amount before pressing inside her again.

The slow stroke made her breath catch. His cock dragged across her sensitive inner walls, withdrawing almost to the head before gradually filling her again. 

“Oooooh!”

“Good?”

Rias nodded shyly.

Harry repeated the movement.

Her body remained tight from inexperience, gripping him during each retreat and stretching around him when he pushed forward. The pain faded with every careful thrust, replaced by warm pressure that gathered low in her stomach.

Rias lifted her hips to meet him.

Harry’s restraint slipped.

He kissed her harder and thrust a little more firmly. Their hips met with a soft slap. Rias gasped, but there was barely any pain this time.

“Again,” she whispered.

He obeyed.

Rias wrapped herself around him. Her arms around his neck, legs locked behind his back. Harry’s cock moved inside her with deep, measured strokes, each one carrying more strength than the last.

She felt exquisitely vulnerable beneath him. Her naked body was completely exposed, her breasts shifting with every movement while he fucked her for the first time.

Yet she had never felt safer.

Harry watched her constantly. His eyes searched her face for discomfort, slowing whenever her expression tightened and increasing his pace when she arched eagerly beneath him. Rias loved his care. She also wanted him to lose it. She caught his lower lip between her teeth and tugged.

Harry groaned.

His next thrust struck deeper.

Rias cried out, the sound escaping before she could contain it. Pleasure spread outward from the point where his cock pressed inside her. “There,” she gasped.

Harry adjusted his angle and drove into the same place again.

Her fingernails raked down his back. “Yes!”

He braced himself above her and established a steady rhythm, repeatedly striking the sensitive spot. Rias’s breasts bounced beneath him, their heavy weight shifting with every thrust.

Harry lowered his mouth and sucked one nipple.

The added sensation tore a helpless moan from her.

Rias pushed her chest upward, offering herself to him. His lips closed firmly around the hardened peak, tongue circling it as he continued fucking her.

Her pussy grew wetter around him. She could hear it now. The slick sounds of his cock sliding in and out, mingling with their breathing and the rhythmic slap of his hips against hers.

The vulgarity of it thrilled her.

She was Rias Gremory, heiress of one of the great noble houses. She had spent her life sitting straight, speaking politely, and embodying the dignity expected of her bloodline.

Now she lay naked beneath her fiancé, spreading her legs while he filled her again and again.

She had never felt more free!

Harry released her nipple and kissed across the swell of her breast. His hand filled the other, squeezing and kneading while his thumb rubbed its stiff peak.

Rias moaned his name.

He thrust harder.

The bed began to creak beneath them.

Somewhere beyond the haze of pleasure, Rias remembered they were not alone. Hermione and Akeno remained asleep on the couch. Runeas lay on the carpet nearby.

The thought should have stopped her. Instead, it made her pussy tighten.

Harry’s breath hitched. “You liked that?”

Rias’s face burned. “Be quiet!”

“You squeezed me!”

“I did not!”

He drove deep and held himself there.

Rias bit her lip to suppress a cry.

Harry leaned close to her ear. “Are you thinking about them waking up so they can watch?”

Her denial died when he withdrew and thrust back inside. “Oh, fuck.” The words came out far louder than she intended. Rias glanced toward the couch. Neither sleeping woman moved. Runeas mumbled something incomprehensible into her cushion but remained unconscious.

Harry kissed the side of Rias’s neck. “Quiet.”

“You’re the one making me—”

He struck that sensitive place again.

Rias smothered her cry against his shoulder. She bit him, not hard enough to break skin but firmly enough to make him groan.

His pace quickened.

The careful tenderness of the beginning gave way to mounting passion. Harry’s hips struck hers with increasing force, driving his cock into her tight pussy while she clung to him.

The bed shook beneath them.

Rias abandoned any attempt to remain passive. She met every thrust, moving with him and pulling him deeper with her legs. Her body had adjusted to his size, and the fullness that had initially bordered on painful now felt necessary.

Every time he withdrew, she wanted him back. Every time he filled her, she wanted more. 

She slid her hands over his shoulders and down his back, feeling powerful muscles work beneath heated skin. Harry was perfect above her. Strong, flushed, and increasingly lost in what they were doing.

Rias wanted that loss of control. She wanted to know she could affect him as profoundly as he affected her. “You’re mine,” she whispered.

Harry lifted his head.

“Say it,” Rias demanded.

“I’m yours.”

“And I’m yours.”

His eyes darkened. Harry kissed her with sudden, possessive force. His hand slipped between their bodies, finding her clit where their hips met.

Rias jerked.

His thumb rubbed the swollen nub in firm circles while he continued thrusting.

Pleasure surged through her. She broke their kiss with a strangled gasp. “Harry.”

He kept the same rhythm.

Rias’s thoughts began unraveling. His cock filled her, his thumb worked her clit, and his mouth returned to her breasts. Every part of her seemed to be receiving attention at once.

The pressure low in her stomach tightened rapidly.

She recognized the approach of an orgasm, but it felt different from anything she had experienced alone. Deeper. The pleasure seemed to build around Harry’s cock, gathering each time her pussy stretched to take him. “Don’t stop.”

“I won’t.”

Rias held his head against her breast as he sucked her nipple. Her hips moved desperately beneath him, no longer maintaining any graceful rhythm. She chased the pleasure without shame.

Harry’s thrusts grew rougher.

Her breasts bounced wildly. Her thighs trembled around his waist. Each wet impact pushed her closer.

“I’m going to—”

The orgasm struck before she finished!

Rias arched off the bed. Her pussy clenched violently around Harry’s cock, gripping him in rhythmic waves. Pleasure exploded through her pelvis and raced along every nerve. Her vision whitened at the edges!

She cried his name into the room!

Harry covered her mouth with his, swallowing the sound as she shook beneath him. His thumb continued rubbing her clit, extending the climax until it became almost unbearable.

Rias clawed at his shoulders. Her legs locked around him. She felt her pussy fluttering and contracting, milking his cock while her body surrendered completely to the sensation.

Harry slowed but did not stop.

Each gentle thrust carried her through the aftershocks. Rias sagged beneath him, panting against his lips.

“That was…” She couldn’t complete the thought.

Harry kissed her softly. “Beautiful...”

Rias smiled despite herself. Then he thrust again. Her oversensitive body jolted. “Harry!”

“You told me not to stop.”

“I may have been temporarily insane.”

“Should I stop now…?” he asked. 

Rias looked into his eyes. His expression remained tender, but she could feel the strain in him. His cock was still rigid inside her, and his muscles trembled from the effort of maintaining control. She tightened deliberately around him.

Harry groaned.

“No,” Rias said. “I want you to finish.”

His gaze sharpened. “Where?”

The question sent another pulse of heat through her. Rias knew what she wanted. She had known from the moment she pulled him toward the bed. “Inside me.”

Harry went still. “Rias…”

“We’re devils. Human pregnancy does not happen easily for us, and I know the protective spells.” She stroked his cheek. “I want to feel it!”

His cock throbbed inside her.

Rias smiled. “You like that idea.”

“You have no idea.”

“I think I can feel exactly how much you like it.”

Harry laughed breathlessly and kissed her.

When he began moving again, the last of his restraint was gone. He drove into her with deep, powerful strokes, no longer holding back the strength of his body. Rias welcomed it. She spread her legs wider and took everything he gave her.

Their bodies struck together rapidly.

The bedframe groaned.

Harry buried his face against her neck, breathing harshly while his hips pounded between her thighs. His cock reached deep inside her, filling and stretching her with every thrust.

Rias clung to him, overwhelmed by the intensity.

She whispered encouragement against his ear. His name, declarations of love, possessive promises she barely understood herself. “Cum inside me,” she breathed. “Fill me!”

Harry’s rhythm faltered.

Rias tightened her legs and drew him as deep as possible.

His entire body tensed. He thrust once, twice, then buried himself completely.

Rias felt the first hot pulse of cum flood deep inside her. Harry groaned her name. More followed! Thick, powerful spurts that filled her pussy with warmth. She gasped at the sensation, her body tightening around him in response.

Harry held himself deep and continued emptying inside her.

The intimacy of it sent Rias over the edge again. Her second orgasm was softer but deeper, rolling through her while his cock pulsed inside her. She held him tightly, their bodies joined as they trembled through the aftermath together.

Neither moved for a long time. Harry’s weight gradually settled over her, warm and comforting. Rias stroked his hair while their breathing slowed.

She could feel his cum inside her. The thought made her smile.

Harry lifted his head. “Are you all right?”

Rias considered the soreness between her thighs, the lingering ache from losing her virginity, and the exhausted satisfaction filling the rest of her body. “I’m wonderful.”

He kissed her. This kiss was different, slow, tender, absent the urgency that had consumed them earlier.

Rias held his face between her hands. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too.” Harry carefully withdrew.

The sensation made her shiver. Warm cum immediately began leaking from her pussy and spreading across her inner thighs.

Harry glanced down.

Rias followed his gaze and blushed, but she refused to cover herself. She was proud of the sight. Proud that she had chosen this moment and this man.

Harry gathered her into his arms and rolled onto his back, pulling her against his chest.

Rias settled across him, one leg draped over his hips and her breasts pressed against his side. His fingers moved gently through her crimson hair.

Across the room, Akeno shifted in her sleep.

Rias froze.

Akeno’s eyes remained closed, but the faintest smile curved across her lips.

Rias stared suspiciously.

Had she been awake?

Hermione snuggled more deeply against Akeno’s chest, and the smile disappeared.

Rias decided she did not want to know. She rested her head over Harry’s heart instead. Its steady rhythm soothed her. For the first time, she felt as though the engagement truly belonged to them. It was no longer merely a political solution arranged by Sirzechs, Serafall, and their families.

Harry was hers because he had chosen her. She was his because she had chosen him. Everything else—the noble houses, political alliances, peerages, and impossible Dragon Gods asking for courtship lessons—could wait until morning.

Rias closed her eyes.

Harry’s arms tightened around her.

Safe, satisfied, and loved, she allowed herself to rest.

(R-18 End)

– Ophis –

Ophis returned to her private room inside the Khaos Brigade’s stronghold in the Dimensional Gap.

The transition made no sound. One instant, she had been standing in a corridor of Gremory Manor. The next, she occupied the center of a sparse chamber surrounded by the endless purple distortion of the Gap.

Kuroka was waiting for her.

The Nekoshou lounged sideways across Ophis’s bed, wearing a black kimono loose enough to expose most of her cleavage and one pale thigh. Her two black cat tails swayed lazily behind her as she scrolled through something on her phone. “Welcome back, nya.”

Ophis looked at the cat.

Kuroka tossed the phone aside and rolled onto her stomach, propping her chin between both hands. “So? How did it go?”

“Hogwarts was empty.”

Kuroka’s ears twitched. “Empty?”

“The students are on something called winter break.”

“Oh, right.” Kuroka nodded wisely, as if she had known that all along. “Humans and young devils take holidays from school so they don’t lose their minds from studying.”

“But I found Harry,” Ophis continued. “He was in the Underworld.”

Kuroka’s golden eyes brightened. “Of course you did. What was he doing?”

“Being attacked by a camel.”

Silence filled the room.

Kuroka slowly sat upright. “A camel?”

“Yes.”

“Like the desert animal?”

“Yes.”

“Was it a… magical camel?”

“It was Ultimate Class.”

Kuroka gaped at her.

Ophis stared back.

The cat’s lips twitched. She made a strangled sound, slapped both hands over her mouth, and fell sideways across the bed. Her shoulders shook violently.

Ophis waited.

Kuroka finally rolled onto her back, laughing openly. “Of course Harry would get attacked by an Ultimate-Class laser camel, nya! That boy attracts insanity like catnip attracts kittens.”

Ophis did not understand what was so amusing. She decided Kuroka was being strange again.

“What happened after the camel?” the Nekoshou asked once she had recovered enough to speak.

“I attended dinner.”

“You invited yourself, didn’t you?”

“...Yes.”

Kuroka’s expression became patient in a way Ophis found mildly irritating. “Did Harry like that?”

“...No.”

“Oh.”

“He said I dropped in rudely.”

“And how did that make you feel?”

Ophis considered the question. “...Bad.”

Kuroka’s amusement faded. She sat properly and folded her legs beneath herself. “What did you do?”

“I apologized to Rias Gremory. Harry was spending time with her family.”

Kuroka’s brows rose. “You apologized?”

“...Yes.”

“That’s…” Kuroka stopped, apparently searching for the correct words. “That’s really good, Ophis.”

“I know.”

Kuroka smiled. It was not the teasing smile she wore when discussing Harry’s body or suggesting increasingly impractical lingerie. It was small and warm.

Ophis found it pleasant.

She had learned more about Harry’s future marriage partners during dinner. Rias Gremory was possessive but not unreasonable. She had allowed Ophis to remain after the apology and had even agreed to explain the rules of courting Harry properly.

Hermione Granger watched everything with sharp brown eyes and concerned herself with Harry’s decisions. She seemed to occupy a position of intellectual authority despite lacking the formal rank of Queen.

Akeno Himejima was more difficult to understand. She had responded to almost every situation with amusement and appeared to enjoy creating trouble deliberately.

They all loved Harry.

Ophis did not like that.

She also did not entirely dislike them.

The contradiction remained frustrating.

Kuroka studied her face. “Did you learn anything useful?”

“I learned more about Harry’s future marriage partners.”

“Ooh.” Kuroka’s ears stood straight up. “Were you jealous, nya?”

Once, Ophis would not have tolerated that question. She was the Ouroboros Dragon. She was infinity given shape, older than civilizations and stronger than nearly every being in existence. Those who served her did not tease her. They did not question her feelings or ask whether she was jealous of young devils. The last person who had spoken to her with such casual disrespect had ceased existing before finishing his sentence.

Ophis looked at Kuroka.

The cat looked back, still smiling, although the tip of one tail twitched nervously.

Ophis had never had a friend before.

She had possessed followers, servants, worshippers, petitioners, and countless temporary allies. She had even possessed enemies whose company she sometimes found less unpleasant than that of her supposed subordinates.

But never a friend.

Kuroka might be one.

Ophis found her pleasant in moderate doses. “Yes,” Ophis said.

Kuroka blinked. “Really?”

“I was jealous.” The admission left a strange sensation inside her chest. She did not enjoy seeing Rias holding Harry’s arm. She had disliked being moved from his chair. She wanted to sit in his lap, feel his arms around her, and listen to the warmth moving through his body.

She wanted that warmth for herself.

But Harry had not rejected her. He had corrected her behavior and still invited her to dinner. Rias had agreed to help her. That made the jealousy quieter.

“I need your help,” Ophis said. “I must perfect my strategy to win Harry Sitri and keep his warmth for myself.”

Kuroka’s grin returned at full strength. “Leave it to me, nya.” She placed one hand against her chest, pushing her breasts together beneath the loose kimono. “Kuroka-sama is a master of seduction, romance, and feminine charm.” Kuroka held the pose confidently.

Ophis examined her. “How many romances have you been in?”

The cat froze. Her ears folded sideways. One tail stopped moving. The other curled around her thigh. “Well…” Kuroka’s cheeks slowly turned pink. “That depends on what counts as a romance...”

“A romantic relationship between two sentient partners,” Ophis said flatly. 

“Then none...” Kuroka admitted.  Kuroka’s blush deepened. “But that doesn’t mean my advice isn’t good!”

“You said you were a master when it came to winning over males...”

“I am! …Theoretically… I’ve read things, nya.” Kuroka crawled toward the edge of the bed. “Seduction is about confidence, presentation, and knowing what the other person wants. I’m very good at all three.”

Ophis still was not certain. “You sent Harry naked pictures.”

“Exactly!”

“He did not sleep with you.”

Kuroka recoiled as though struck. “Ouch!”

Ophis decided to change the subject before Kuroka began making the strange crying sounds she sometimes used to manipulate others. “How is the Khaos Brigade?”

The cat’s playful expression disappeared. “...Bad.”

“How bad?”

“On the verge of collapse, nya.”

Ophis waited.

Kuroka sighed and drew her kimono more securely around herself. “Diodora Astaroth’s capture scared most of the devil members. They think the Maous learned everything he knew—the secret facilities, the snakes, the experiments, the alliances, all of it.”

“Did they?” Ophis asked.

“...Probably?”

Ophis had given Diodora power long ago. She barely remembered the exchange. He had wanted strength, and she had wanted soldiers who could someday help remove Great Red from the Dimensional Gap.

Diodora had concealed many things from her.

That no longer surprised Ophis.

“Most of the devils have already fled,” Kuroka continued. “Some went back to their noble families. Others disappeared into isolated territories or the human world. A few are trying to bargain with Ajuka Beelzebub before someone else exposes them first.”

“And the Fallen Angels?”

“They won’t stay without the devils. Not after Kokabiel died.”

“The angels?”

“They were never loyal. They joined because they hated the other factions getting stronger and wanted your power to keep the balance. Now they’re leaving too.”

Ophis should have been angry.

She had spent decades building the Khaos Brigade. She had distributed fragments of her power, gathered exiled supernatural beings, tolerated fools, and listened to endless promises of loyalty. All of it had been intended to defeat Great Red and reclaim her silence.

Now those forces were abandoning her. She searched for anger. None came. “Do I care?” she asked.

Kuroka studied her cautiously. “Do you?”

Ophis thought of the Brigade’s leaders. Most had wanted her snakes, her protection, or the authority attached to her name. They had spoken of loyalty while privately planning how to exploit her.

The more she spoke with Kuroka, the more obvious that became. Eventually, they would have betrayed her. They apparently believed infinity could be stolen in pieces and turned against its source.

Foolish!

“No,” Ophis decided. “I do not care.”

Kuroka released a breath. “Honestly? That might be for the best. The Brigade was full of assholes.”

“Are you leaving?”

Kuroka’s ears lifted.

Ophis waited for the answer.

“No,” Kuroka said quietly. “I’m your kitty, remember?”

Warmth flickered faintly in Ophis’s chest. Not Harry’s warmth. Something smaller. Different. Pleasant. “Yes,” Ophis said. “You are.”

Kuroka smiled again. “So what do we do about everyone else?”

“Let them leave.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes. Observe them. Tell me if they threaten Harry, his family, or my cat.”

Kuroka’s golden eyes softened. “And Great Red?”

For a million years, Ophis had wanted only silence. She had wanted her home returned and the red dragon removed.

Now she imagined the empty Dimensional Gap without Kuroka’s teasing, Harry’s warmth, pumpkin pie, chocolate torte, or the strange people she was beginning to understand.

The thought no longer felt like victory. “Great Red can wait,” Ophis said.

Kuroka stared at her for several seconds before a slow grin spread across her face. “All right, nya. Then we focus on Operation Seduce Harry.”

Ophis frowned. “You have never successfully seduced anyone.”

Kuroka’s grin faltered. “We require a better name.”

“Fine. Operation Court Harry Properly.”

“Acceptable.”

XXX