Hearing Ravel's explanation, Takumi almost lost it.
Dude—your brother didn't just get his peerage candidates poached by me. His fiancée got poached too. At this point it's not stealing someone's wall corner—it's me taking his whole house.
Takumi didn't feel guilty at all. Instead, he lowered his voice and pressed her. "No matter what, your brother swung at me first. I'm the head of the Morax Clan now, and your brother barged in and disrespected me like that. Should I take this as the Phenex Clan… trying to pick a fight with me?"
Every word carried a heavy pressure that made Ravel feel like she couldn't breathe.
The Phenex Clan only held a Marquis seat.
Even their strongest member was just an High-Class devil.
They were famous mainly because of their special treasure product—Phenex Tears, but Takumi wasn't just a Maou-class powerhouse; he was also the host of the Boosted Gear. More importantly, Takumi was now engaged to Sona Sitri of the Sitri Clan.
Just the forces behind him alone were more than the Phenex Clan could afford to provoke.
If Riser's stunt really made Takumi turn his sights on the Phenex Clan… their entire house could be pushed into a massive crisis.
Ravel—who'd never dealt with anything like this—panicked so hard tears immediately spilled out.
"My brother… he—no… we would never dare disrespect you, Takumi-sama. He… he just… lost control for a moment."
Ravel stumbled over her words, trying to cover for her brother—and plead for her Clan.
Takumi lifted a hand, tilting up Ravel's delicate little face, meeting her flustered eyes. Her pupils were shining with tears now, pitiful and pretty in a way that was honestly adorable.
And as she stared at Takumi, Ravel's gaze slowly shifted—from panic… to shyness. She'd never been this close to a man before. She could even feel Takumi's breath brushing her face.
It tickled, and it made her heart hammer.
Takumi's fingertip lightly touched Ravel's soft cheek as he teased her. "Ravel… you really don't want to see me become enemies with your Clan, do you~?"
"I—I don't… I don't want to become your enemy either, Takumi-sama…" Ravel whispered, her eyes glossy with tears, her cheeks burning red.
Seeing her looking that ripe for the picking, Takumi's gaze naturally locked onto her moist pink lips.
Stare——
Unfortunately, Koneko's stare was way too obvious. It prickled like a needle in his back and made him uncomfortable.
In the end, Takumi let go and put on a proper gentleman act.
When he stepped back, Ravel actually felt a faint, reluctant tug in her chest, but once she realized what she was feeling, she immediately got flustered and backed up two steps as well.
With a soft little whimper, she hurriedly cast a teleportation circle and vanished from the attic.
"She runs fast."
Takumi muttered, while a few strands of golden hair caught between his fingers were swallowed and absorbed by his cells.
The Phenex bloodline was instantly obtained—then analyzed and optimized.
[Ding! Obtained trait: Phenex Bloodline (Purple)]
[Phenex Bloodline (Purple): You possess the purest Phenex bloodline. Even if your body is completely erased, you can regenerate. You also wield karmic hellfire that can burn enemies to ash.]
"Nice. That patches up another weakness in my body."
Before, his immortality required at least a few cells of his flesh to remain. Otherwise, he had to rely on his divinity to resurrect, but now it was different— even if his flesh was completely wiped out, he could still revive off his spirit.
Of course, if he got killed too many times and his spirit scattered, resurrection would be hindered, but to Takumi, that kind of problem didn't even count as a problem.
Pulling his focus back, Takumi turned and looked at Koneko.
"Stop staring. I'm not an animal."
"Senpai is a huge perv. Hentai."
Koneko's deadpan face turned faintly red as she delivered the roast without changing her expression.
With it being basically undeniable, Takumi had no comeback, so he switched to senpai authority. "Koneko—big nerve. You really just said that about me?"
He slapped a palm over Koneko's cheeks and disciplined her like he was kneading dough.
Koneko's face, bright red now, tried to resist—and Takumi immediately shoved a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
Then he did it again.
And again.
Takumi bullied Koneko for a full ten-plus minutes like that.
Koneko—getting treated like an actual cat being petted—looked at Takumi with a strange new glimmer in her eyes…
Even though she kept calling him "Hentai," once she was actually being touched like that, she realized she… didn't really hate it.
"Ara ara~ Takumi-kun, you can't only focus on Koneko, you know~"
Akeno slid in close, wrapped Takumi's head up in her arms, and pushed him right into her chest.
Breathing in Takumi's scent, Akeno's face bloomed with a satisfied smile.
Takumi—who'd been bullying Koneko—immediately found the tables turned, getting bullied by Akeno instead.
He enjoyed it.
It took quite a while before he finally fought his way out of that soft trap. "Phew…"
After gulping down a few breaths of fresh air, Takumi still forced himself to stand up straight.
"Akeno, it's getting late. If we keep going, it won't be good. You and Rias are both important to me. I want to leave you with a better first impression."
"For now… leave Rias a message for me: the engagement issue is on me. If the Phenex Clan wants trouble—tell them to come to me."
Hearing how firm Takumi sounded, Akeno's expression turned openly envious.
"I'm so jealous of President~ She got to take the first bite of a man as responsible as you, Takumi-kun."
"Senpai… in that sense… really does have some backbone."
Koneko—who was sitting off to the side, obediently staying put after Takumi had sweet-talked her with divine wine—also chimed in.
"You didn't call me a scumbag for once. Thanks, Koneko."
Takumi gave Koneko's head a practiced rub—seconds of it—then headed out.
Watching Takumi leave, Akeno's eyes turned tender as water. She could feel it—Takumi's earlier, scorching gaze, like he wanted to devour her whole, but in the end, he held back.
Not because the timing was wrong.
Not because he couldn't handle it, but because Takumi wanted her first time to be at a better moment, with a better experience.
"Mmm… that kind of thoughtfulness really gets to a girl~"
Akeno's heart warmed—and the affection inside her only grew stronger. From that alone, it was obvious: Takumi truly respected her, and truly cared.
If it were only raw desire, he wouldn't bother thinking about any of this. Before, it might've been more like… she liked him. Love at first sight, but now… Akeno felt like she'd genuinely fallen in love with him.