The air between us was still.
Rias looked at me across the candlelit table, her gaze soft, yet laced with something deeper—frustration? Sadness?
Then she spoke.
"Do you really have no hope that I'll win?"
I blinked.
"Huh?"
She frowned. "That's why you didn't react, isn't it? When Riser called me his fiancée, you just… sat there. Like it didn't matter. Like you'd already accepted it."
Her voice wasn't accusing, just… disappointed. The sound of it made my chest tighten.
I leaned forward slightly. "It's not that I've given up. Not even close."
"Then why?" she asked quietly. "Why do you look like someone who doesn't care?"
I closed my eyes for a moment, gathering my thoughts.
"Because I know something Riser doesn't," I said. "Something even you might've forgotten."
She tilted her head slightly, silently urging me to continue.
"I know you'd never marry someone you don't love. Not out of obligation, not because of pressure, and definitely not to someone like him. Even if the whole Underworld tried to force it… I know you'd resist."
I opened my eyes, meeting hers with calm determination.
"I'm not stoic because I've given up. I'm calm… because I trust you. And because I'll make damn sure you won't have to marry him."
Rias's lips parted slightly, her eyes searching mine.
That… was cheesy, wasn't it?
Yeah, even I could feel the dramatic weight of my own words. It was the kind of thing you'd hear in a late-night romance drama.
She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she slowly stood up from where she was sitting across the table and walked around to my side.
I watched in silence as she sat down beside me, her movements smooth and elegant despite the loose negligee that brushed softly against her skin.
And then—
She leaned her head against my shoulder.
The warmth of her skin, the softness of her hair—it all settled against me like a puzzle piece clicking into place.
"Your smell always calms me down," she whispered.
My heart skipped a beat. Now that's a first time. Even with Kalawar, I don't think my heart skipped a beat.
"I'm not sure why," she continued. "But it's warm. Familiar. Comforting. Even before I realized it, it was already a part of me."
What was I supposed to say to something like that? Thanks, maybe.
Was she flirting with me? Was she just emotional?
For a long moment, we just sat there. The candle flickered, casting soft shadows across the table and her hair. The mountain wind gently howled outside the wooden walls of the mansion.
"I don't want to lose," she said quietly, her voice barely audible. "But it's more than that. I don't want to be taken. Not like that. Not by someone like him."
"You won't be," I said, more firmly than I meant to. "I won't let that happen."
She chuckled softly. "That's very knightly of you."
"Yeah, well," I murmured, "even if I'm technically a pawn… maybe I'm a pawn that can take down a king."
"Or a phoenix," she added.
We both smiled.
It was a quiet, small moment—but it felt like something shifted.
Not just between us, but within her.
Rias Gremory—the proud, dignified, powerful high-class devil who carried herself with grace and authority—was leaning on me. Trusting me. Not as her servant, not even as a piece on her board… but as me.
I say I am very good at this.
The silence returned. But it wasn't awkward. It was peaceful.
I could hear her breathing, slow and relaxed. Her body leaned more into mine, and I didn't move an inch.
Maybe I should kiss her. I thought. Nah, I should do that after I win the Rating game. It would be like a reward for my hard work.
After a while, she finally spoke again.
"Thank you, Ise."
I turned my head slightly. "For what?"
"For always being here. For listening. For… seeing me as Rias. Just Rias."
"Always, Rias," I said.
I think this is the first time I called her by her given name.
~~~
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